Bhagat singh, the final hours

Even eight decades after his execution, Bhagat Singh remains the most famous - and beloved - martyr in the collective consciousness of India. However, what has remained ambiguous throughout these years is the exact sequence of events and the identity of the officials involved in defining the execution in Lahore Central Prison on March 23, 1931. The British government kept the names of its officers kept secret for fear of punishment. . There were two assassination attempts - on then Punjab Governor Geoffrey Montmorency and Police Director Khan Bahadur Sheikh Abdul Aziz, investigating officer against Singh, the month before the hanging.

Last week, Bhagat Singh was 104 years old. This article, based on information gleaned from hitherto inaccessible records in India and Pakistan, brings together an interesting account of Bhagat Singh's recent moments.

The meeting to discuss the law and order situation in Punjab took place at noon on March 16, 1931 at the Governor's House in Lahore. It is headed by Punjab Governor Geoffrey Montmorency, who is still in pain from the bullet wounds he sustained after being shot by freedom fighter Hari Kishan Talwar at a ceremony at Punjab University in Lahore a month ago.

Aside from the Governor, the then Chief Secretary of Punjab was DJ Boyd, Interior Minister CMG Ogilvy, Inspector General of Police Chariz Steed, Inspector General of Prisons A.A. Parker, Deputy Commissioner of Lahore A. Among those attending the meeting.

The meeting backed off the preparations for the proposed imminent executions of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev that had been scheduled on the morning of March 24. The Governor reviewed the arrangements and expressed satisfaction with the law and order situation in the state.

Challenging to the end

A dust storm swept across Lahore on the night of March 22nd. Previously, Judge M.V Bhaide of the International Court of Justice in Lahore had rejected petitions challenging the powers of a special court to issue death warrants. Thus executions became inevitable.

By dawn on March 23, the storm had settled. Prison officials at the Central Prison spoke in a muted tone in the room of the prison director, Major B. Dr.. Chopra. Punjab government allowed last meeting with Bhagat Singh to take place at 10 am. His lawyer, Bran Nath Mehta, met him. The moment Mehta left, after surreptitiously receiving four sets of handwritten papers from Bhagat Singh, a team of officers led by Steed, Parker, Roberts, Harding and Chopra met Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh rejected their unwanted advice to seek pardon from the British government with contempt.

The executions had advanced one day and were to take place on the evening of 23 March.

The information was passed on to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev by Chief Prison Commissioner Chhattar Singh. The disturbed and troubled Shattar Singh suggested to Bhagat Singh to recite the name of God. But Bhagat Singh was busy reading a book on Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Moment of calculation

Bhagat Singh had asked a Muslim sweeper, Bibi, to bring him food for the evening before his execution. Bibi willingly accepted the request and promised to bring home-cooked food for him. However, due to the security crackdown, Bibi was unable to enter the prison that evening.

There was a flurry of activity inside and outside Lahore prison because the authorities feared unrest.

As noon passed and the clock approached evening, civilian officers and district police set up outside the prison. They were led by Sheikh Abd al-Hamid, an additional district judge, Lahore; Ray Sahib Lala Natu Ram, city judge; Sudarshan Singh, Deputy Police Director, Kasur; Ammar Singh, Deputy Director of Police (Medina), Lahore; C. R. Morris, Deputy Police Director, Headquarters, Lahore; And hundreds of armed police.

With the Governor shot in their minds, the officers and policemen were concerned for their security. The investigation officer in the case of Khan Bahadur Sheikh Abdul Aziz, SP, special investigation, was shot a few days ago but survived.

Steed, Parker, Roberts, Harding, Chopra and Deputy Prison Director Khan Sahib Muhammad Akbar were present inside the prison. Al-Jallad, called Masih from Shahdra, near Lahore, was also ready. The moment the three revolutionaries were taken out of their cells, they cried, "Long live the revolution."

Bindi Das Sudhi, the local congressional secretary, lived in Lahore near the central prison. And I heard the slogans clearly in his house. After hearing the screams of the three men walking their way to their deaths, the other prisoners joined them in slogans.

Nothing to hide

Deputy Commissioner A. Lin Roberts was a talkative officer in the 1909 batch of ICS. When the three young men reached the hanging site, he spoke to Bhagat Singh. Singh said confidently that people would soon see and remember how Indian freedom fighters would bravely accept death.

They refused to wear masks on their necks. In fact, Bhagat Singh threw the mask on the district judge. Singh and his comrades hugged each other one last time and shouted, "Down with the British Empire."

Christ pulled the crane. Bhagat Singh was the first to be hanged. Rajuru and Sukhdev followed.

Lt. Col. JJ Harper Nelson, Director of the King Edward Medical College in Lahore, and Lieutenant Colonel NS Sudhi, a civil surgeon in Lahore, were in the prison at the time of the execution, but they did not witness the hanging. After the hanging operations, the civil surgeon confirmed the death of the three.

A large crowd gathered outside the prison, but two cars were driven by Deputy Police Inspector Kasur Sudarshan Singh and Deputy Police Commissioner (City) Ammar Singh accompanied by three trucks of soldiers from the Black Watch Regiment took the bodies and left to cremate the bodies at 10pm. Sudarshan Granthi and a priest named Jagdish picked up trees from Kasur and set the bodies on fire outside the village of Ganda Singh Wala at night. The bodies were still burning when people arrived from various areas, including Firuzipur, and a noise ensued.

The bodies were later dumped into the Satlog River.

The author is an Indian administrative services employee based in Punjab.