Shaheedi Diwas or Martyrs’ Day is celebrated on March 23 every year to remember the sacrifices made by Bhagat Singh Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar and to pay tribute to these freedom fighters who gave their lives for India’s independence from the British rule. This day is remembered as a dark chapter in the pages of history as the British government hanged Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Hari Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar.
The three young revolutionaries wanted to avenge the death of Indian freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. In 1928, A Simon commission was set up in India by the British government. In October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai, the nationalist leader of the famous Lal-Bal-Pal trio, had protested against it and the police superintendent James Scott ordered a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Soon violence erupted and Lala was assaulted and injured by the police. This led to his demise later. Hence, to avenge the killing of Lala, the three friends Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru plotted the assassination of James Scott. They accidentally killed an assistant police superintendent John Saunders who was mistaken as Scott. After this, the three of them escaped and were on a run. However, in 1929, they bombed the Delhi assembly and were arrested by the British Police. They awaited their trial in the prison but continued protesting against Britishers.
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Bhagat Singh, the charismatic socialist freedom fighter, was born in Banga village of Faisalabad district (previously called Lyallpur), now in Pakistan’s Punjab province, in 1907. Singh became actively involved in India’s freedom movement at an early age after quitting formal education at the age of thirteen. He left home for Kanpur after his parents tried to get him married. His two acts of violence against the Britishers and subsequent execution at the age of 23 made him a folk hero of the Indian independence movement.
Sukhdev Thapar, the great revolutionary was born on 15 May 1907 in Punjab and Shivaram Hari Rajguru, an Indian revolutionary from Maharashtra was born on24 August 1908.
In India, there are seven days declared as Martyrs’ Days or Shaheedi Diwas (at national level also known as (Sarvodaya day). They are observed in honour of those who are recognised as martyrs for the nation.
Besides this day, 30th January, is observed as Martyr day as on this day, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.Â
19 May is designated as Bhasha Shahid Divas(“Language Martyrs Day”) as the Bengali Language Movement of Barak Valley in the state of Assam held protest against the decision of the Government of Assam to make Assamese the only official language of the state even though a significant proportion of population were Bengali people. On 19 May 1961, during protest at Silchar railway station, 15 people were martyred by state police.
21 October is Police Martyrs’ Day (or Police Commemoration Day), observed by police departments nationwide. On this day in 1959, a Central Reserve Police Force patrol at the Indo-Tibetan border in Ladakh at Kongka Pass was ambushed by Chinese forces, as part of the ongoing Sino-Indian border dispute.
17 November, is observed as Martyrs day especially in Odisha being the death anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai, the “Lion of Punjab”, a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj who died a few weeks after sustaining severe injuries during a baton charge by police when he led a peaceful protest march against the British Simon Commission.
19 November is observed as Martyrs’ Day, being the birthday of Rani Lakshmibai, queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, and to honour those who gave their lives in the rebellion of 1857, of which she was a leading figure.
24 November is observed as Martyrs’ Day, being the death anniversary of Ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur who was ordered death sentence by Mughal king Aurangzeb.
The young ones must learn from the life of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Hari Rajguru, the Valiant freedom fighters who gave their all to motherland, and follow the path of courage and selflessness as exhibited by them.
The nation will always be indebted to them for their spirit of patriotism and selfless sacrifice.
Let all of us pay our respectful Homage and tributes to martyrs recalling their supreme sacrifice.   Â
