The seeds of the freedom sown in Bhagat by his family found right nursing ground in D.A.V. School. His feelings for nationalism and opposition to the British rule were intensifying. The martyrs of the battle against British were becoming his role models.
In the early part of the 20th century some Punjabi farmers had gone to Canada to settle there. Canada was also a British colony. An impression was created by the colonial rulers that the citizens of a colony of the British Empire were entitled to go to any other colony freely and could settle anywhere. That was how the farmers had gone to sparsely populated vast land of Canada to settle there and make fortune.
But little did the simple Punjabi farmers realise that the whitemen was never true to his word. It had no intention of letting the brown people from Asia find home in areas he had reserved as white areas. And Canada and colonial Australia were to be whitemen’s exclusive lands. Some brazen and some subtle laws were passed in such areas that disqualified the Asians.
Under such discriminatory laws those farmers were repatriated from Canada to their native land Punjab. These farmers knew too well the treacherous face of British colonialists and they decided to retaliate. They founded an organisation called ‘Gadar Party’ and started ‘Gadar’ movement in 1914-15. They revealed to the locals how British were cheating them. Their bitter experience naturally made them openly hostile to the Englishmen.
The leader of the Gadar party, was a youngman named Kartar Singh Sarabha. The party carried out some militant activities. Sarabha was arrested by police in 1916 in a case called ‘Lahore Conspiracy’. The British considered him the most dangerous militant and after a brief trial hanged him at the young age of only 20 years.
Gadar Party people had contacts with Kishan Singh when his family lived in Banga. Bhagat Singh had a dim memories of those people as he then was a little kid. Now he understood their story better. Bhagat Singh admired the sacrifice of young Kartar Singh Sarabha.
Martyr Sarabha had become hero and inspiration of Bhagat Singh. He would always keep a pocket size photograph of Sarabha in his left pocket of the shirt close to his heart. While doing chores he always hummed the patriotic songs Sarabha used to sing.
One day, his mother asked him about the songs he hummed most of the time.
“They are Sarabha songs,” Bhagat informed. He showed Sarabha’s photo to his mother proudly announcing, “Ma! He is the one who is my guru, my brother and my comrade.”
Jalianwala Bagh massacre
In 1919, the British government passed a black law called ‘Rawlett Act’. It gave the police authorities sweeping powers to arrest any one and put in jail on mere suspicion. Civil rights of Indians were drastically curtailed. The law was aimed at crushing the freedom movements and allied activities.
Whole country exploded in anger. Protest marches, demonstrations and anti-Rawlett Act meetings rocked the country. The police resorted to brutal methods to stifle the protests. It worsened the situation. The police firings and lathi charges besides indiscriminate arrests became order of the day.
To weaken the opposition the British tried to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. But the attempt miserably failed. Both the communities showed solidarity by standing together against the black law.
On a protest march in Delhi the police opened fire. Some protesters were killed and several others were injured. It triggered more angry protests and the condemnation of the British rule.
The cities were put under curfew and prohibitory orders. On 13th April, 1919 on Baisakhi day, the people gathered in Jalianwala Bagh of Amritsar to celebrate the festival as every year. The festival as usual attracted a large number of women and children too besides menfolk. The festivities were on.
Some people erected a stage and started making speeches condemning the Rawlett Act and the police brutalities against innocent people. The British authorities were waiting for just such opportunity to teach a macabre lesson to the natives.
General O’Dyer arrived on the scene with hundreds of soldiers. Jalianwala Bagh was a big high walled compound with only one narrow exit. The exit was sealed by a machine gun manned by soldiers. General O’Dyer ordered the firing on the Baisakhi mob.
Hundreds of guns boomed. The bullets rained on the crowd. Thousand plus men, women, children were killed, injured or maimed. The high walls had turned the bagh in a trap. Some in desperation ran to walls and tried to climb them to escape. Bullets brought them down. The ones who jumped to the other side died or broke their bones. There was a dry well in the Jalianwala compound. Dozens jumped into it to escape the bullets. It was a massacre of innocents.
The news shocked the nation and the world.
The entire nation mourned the death of the hundreds of innocents and the vast numbers injured. Young Bhagat Singh’s heart bled for the victims. It was yet another wound inflicted by the British on his psyche.
12 year old Bhagat was too sensitive to just silently weep. He must do something to ease his pain and to console himself.
Amritsar was only 20 miles off Lahore. He slipped off his home and reached Amritsar dodging police pickets and eluding the curfew regulations. The young boy managed to reach Jalianwala Bagh. He sneaked in and saw the blood socked soil. Bhagat had taken along a bottle which he filled with that soil. For him it was a sacred soil, the reminder of the sacrifices of his countrymen and the brutality of the colonial rulers.
Evading the police check points Bhagat was able to reach his home safely. His mother and the sister were looking for him greatly worried when he did not show up all day long after departing without telling anything to anyone.
“Where have you been all day long? We were all very…,” the mother could not complete her sentence.
Bhagat had interjected, “Look here! It will explain my absence.” He showed them the bottle filled with the crimson soil and revealed, “It is the soil of the Jalianwala Bagh sanctified by the blood of my innocent countrymen. I will keep it as a cherished memento. It would always remind me of my duty to take revenge on the evil British.”
He respectfully placed the bottle on top of his bookshelf as his mother and the sister stared at him in awe.
They could see a glorious freedom fighter taking shape in their Bhagat.
