Bhagat Singh (Jail Diary)

Great son of India, Shaheed Bhagat Singh was executed by the Britishers on V 23rd March, 1931. He dedicated his life to free motherland frOm the cruel clutches of the British.

His Jail Diary was handed over, along with other belongings to his father, Sardar Kishan Singh after his execution. After Sardar Kishan Singh's death, the notebook, along with other papers of Bhagat Singh, was passed on to his another son, Shri Kulbir Singh. After his death, it has passed to his son, Shri Babar Singh. It was the dream of Shri Babar Singh that the Indian masses get to know through this historical diary what were the actual thoughts of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Also general people can also see the original writings of Bhagat Singh because he is the hero of every caste, religion, poor, rich, farmers, labourers and everyone who loves Bharat.

Bhagat Singh's deep thinking and vision, love for mankind can be seen by his these words, "Our political parties consist of men who have but one idea, i.e. to fight against the alien rulers. That idea is quite laudable, but cannot be termed a revolutionary idea. We must make it clear that revolution does not merely mean an upheaval or a sanguinary. strife. Revolution necessarily implies the programme of systematic reconstruction of society on new and better adapted basis, after complete destruction of the existing state of affairs (i.e. regime)."

Publication of this Jail Diary is a befitting tribute to the hero of India's freedom struggle since it will infuse feeling of nationalism, patriotism and dedication among the readers.

Yadvinder Singh Sindhu (Grandson ofShaheed Bhagat Singh) President, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Brigade and Vice Chairman, All India Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial Trust.

Contact: yadvindersandhu@yahoo.co.in

Whenever we read of Bhagat Singh, a question always comes up - from where did he get inspiration, courage and power to do all that he did at such a young age - he was yet to be 24 when he was hanged? The present work can help us to a large extent in finding an answer to this question.

This book is an assimilation of thoughts, of great philosophers, thinkers, writers and leaders, such as freedom, justice, dignity and honour drawn from various different senses by Bhagat Singh during his last imprisonment (1929-1931) in the Central Jail, Lahore (Punjab). Bhagat Singh wrote these pages for Indians to tell them what is freedom, what is liberty and how to snatch these noble things from the soulless and ruthless Britishers who had reduced Indians into debased and downtrodden citizens.

These 'jail Diary' are written in a beautiful cloth-bound (red) notebook. It consists of 202 leaves (404 pages) of a little over 21 cm x 16 cm size, tied together with a long tag. Each page is stamped in black with its number at the upper right hand corner. In order to avoid any adverse effect of weather, dust, etc., the pages have been laminated. This has, unfortunately, affected the quality of our scanning. The following entry on page 1 of the 'notebook' shows that it was handed over to Bhagat Singh by the jail authorities on 12th September, 1929.

The Jail Diary was handed over, along with other belongings of Bhagat Singh, to his father, Sardar Kishan Singh after Bhagat Singh's execution. After Sardar Kishan Singh's death, the notebook (along with other papers of Bhagat Singh) was passed on to his son, Shri Kubir Singh. After his death, it has passed to his son, Shri Babar Singh. It was the dream of Shri Babar Singh that the Indian masses also get to know through this jail diary what were the actual thoughts of Bhagat Singh and general people can also see the original writings of Bhagat Singh because he is the hero of every caste, religion, poor, rich, farmers, labourers.

Bhagat Singh's deep thinking and vision, love for mankind can be seen by his these words, "Our political parties consist of men who have but one idea, i.e. to fight against the alien rulers. That idea is quite laudable, but cannot be termed a revolutionary idea. We must make it clear that revolution does not merely mean an upheaval or a sanguinary strife. Revolution necessarily implies the programme of systematic reconstruction of society on new and better adapted basis, after complete destruction of the existing state of affairs (i.e. regime)."

Page 43 of his jail diary shows his thoughts on man and mankind: "I am a man and all that affects mankind concerns me."

Bhagat Singh was a full-blooded revolutionary and a clear sighted visionary; he looked to the future. In fact, future was in his bones.

What was, one might ask, that future like which Bhagat Singh had envisioned? How did he want to translate it into reality? In the present circumstances, Bhagat Singh's Jail Diary alone can answer these questions.

This book would not be complete without the blessings of Sh. Jitender Mehraji (Babaji), President Akhil Bharatiya Khatri Sabha, my mother Smt. Surinder Kaur, my sister Mrs Manjula Toor, my brother-in-law Mr Bhupender Singh Toor.

I am very much thankful to advocate Tarishi Mahajan for giving me the motivation, inspiration and support to make this book happen in real.

I am thankful to the following people for their continuous support-S.K. Sharma, Umed Singh, Sharif Choudhary, Vipin Jha, Deepak Sharma (Senior Journalist), Om Prakash (Senior Correspondent) & Ms. Anita Bhati (Senior Correspondent).

** Sample Pages**