LEARNING FROM NETAJI'S LIFE

SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE IS A BIG SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR YOUTH. NOTABLY, DESPITE FREQUENT ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, HE CONTINUED TO ADDRESS COUNTLESS AND NUMEROUS YOUTH CONFERENCES ACROSS INDIA

- DR BHUVAN LALL

March 23, 1931 was a sad but historical day in the history of India. On that day, three Indian revolutionaries and patriotic souls, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged to death by the British. Their sole attribute, contrived as crime by the white skinned Imperialists, was "waging war and crusade against the British cruellest King" to liberate India from their brutal clutches. As the news reached Indian households, the entire nation plunged into mourning. The entire nation shut down their shutters and businesses were closed as a mark of protest against the imperialistic cruelty. The nation cried for the young, brave, and selfless revolutionaries. There was a general feeling of betrayal across the nation.

Patriotic Indians and nationalists alleged that Mahatma Gandhi had entered and concluded the Gar hi-Irwin Pact or Delhi Pact just weeks in advance without ensuring the commutation of the death sentences of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev. Capital punishment was an act of violence. Gandhi, as the defender of non-violence, could have opposed it by force of his arguments and perseverance, as also by resorting to keeping fast and hunger strike. Possibly, he could have saved the innocent and precious young lives of Bhagat Singh and his comrades, the firebrand youth leaders of India. However, he chose not to.