Without Fear: The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh

In stock

Free & Quick Delivery Worldwide

Bhagat Singh (1907-1931) lived at a time when India’s freedom struggle was beginning to flag and when Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent, passive resistance to partial liberation wa beginning to test the patience of the people. The youth of India was inspired by Bhagat Singh’s call to arms and enthused by the defiance and dare-devilry of the army wing of the Hindustan socialist Republican Association to which he and his comrades, Sukhdev and Rajgure, belonged. His call, Inquilab Zindabad! Became the war-cry of the fight for freedom. When Bhagat Singh was executed by the British after a sham trial for his involvement in the Lahore Conspiracy Case at the age of twenty-three, he was glorified by the Indians as a martyr for his youth, his defiance and his reckless bravery. It was only many years later, after Independence in 1947, that his writings came to light. Today, it is these that set Bhagat Singh apart and reveal him as not just a hot-headed revolutionary who believed in the cult of the bomb but a widely-read intellectual inspired by the writings of Marx and Lenin, to whom the betterment of Indian society was as important as the ouster of the British. In this book, commemorating the hundredth birth anniversary of this iconic young man, Kuldip Nayar takes a close looks at the man behind the martyr: his beliefs, his intellectual leanings, his dreams and his despair. He also explains why Hans Raj Vohra betrayed Bhagat Singh and his comrades and throws new light on Sukhdev, whose loyalties have been questioned by some historians. But most of all it puts in perspective Bhagat Singh’s use of violence, so strongly condemned by Gandhi and many others as being extremist. Bhagat Singh’s intent was never to kill the largest number or strike terror in the hearts of the British through the gruesomeness of his attacks; his fearlessness was not fuelled by the empty bravura of guns and youth. It was held together by the wisdom of his reading and the strength of his beliefs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kuldip Nayar

Kuldip Nayar, born in Sialkot (Pakistan), was educated in Punjab University (Lahore), here he earned the degrees of BA (Hons), LLB. He did M.Sc. in journalism at the North-Western University in the US. The Gurunanak Dev University, Amritsar, also conferred on him a doctorate on philosophy. Kuldip Nayar is a renowned journalist, who has held several prestigious positions in newspapers like The Statesman, The Indian Express besides heading the United News of India (UNI), a premier news agency. Mr. Nayar was India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He was the correspondent of The Times, London, for 25 years. He retired from the Rajya Sabha in August 2003. HE has been chairperson of Citizens of Democracy (CFD), a human rights organization. Mr. Nayar is the recipient of several academic awards, including Lord Astor Award for Press Freedom, Haldi Ghati Award, Bhai Vir Singh, Munshi Prem Chand, Sarojini Naidu Harmony, Pride of India (America) and Shiromani Gurudwara, Freedom of Information. He is a member of the Hall of Fame on the North-Western University. He is a prolific writer and has numerous works on his credit, including Between the Lines, India: The Critical Years, India after Nehru, In Jail, Report on Afghanistan, Tragedy of Punjab, India House, The Martyr: Bhagat Singh’s Experiments in Revolution.

reviews

0 in total

There are no reviews yet.

Bibliographic information

Title
Without Fear: The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
9788172236922
Length
244p.
Subjects