Ideas made Bhagat Singh, not just hanging: Students

Karam Prakash

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 23

Eighty-seven years after his hanging, Bhagat Singh remains the youth icon in India, believe students of Punjabi University, Patiala.

It was on March 23, 1931, when Bhagat Singh and his two comrades-in-arms Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in Lahore by the British.

It was the ideology of Bhagat Singh that was more important than his hanging, said students of the Education Department at the university. They stressed, “Bhagat Singh is described as someone who fought for the freedom of the country by resorting to violent means. His aim was never bloodshed. He always held human life scared.”

Commenting on the use of Bhagat Singh’s name by different political parties in the country, Gurpreet Singh, president of the PSU, Laalkar, said, “ All political parties in the country have tried to appropriate his name but failed because they couldn’t follow and propagate his ideas.” 

A student from the Education Department of Punjabi University, Harpreet Kaur, said, “We are restricting his influence by just describing him as a nationalist. He always wished to create a cult of self-believing individuals, who were ready to work for the mankind. “

“The real tribute that we as youth can pay to the great freedom fighter is not by fighting over his ideology but by living up to his ideals,” another student said.

“Different parties tried to hijack his identity, but all parties, including the CPI, failed to idealise and live up to his ideas, which are more important,” said the youth.  

Highlighting Syria violence

Two students were seen holding placards with pictures of dead persons in Syria in the recent bombings. These placards read saying ‘dead conscience’. Gurdeep Singh, a student of law, said, “I know we have gathered to pay tributes to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, but I thought it was a right platform to highlight the issue.”

Gurdeep Singh said Bhagat Singh also propagated the idea of serving the mankind. “So as a youth, I am doing my bit to make people aware of the Syria killings,” he said.

Another student, Parminder Kaur, said, “I think our mainstream media is ignoring the issue. There is a lot of news on the social media about it but there is no major coverage on television and in the print media.”