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E.V.Ramasamy Periyar on Bhagat Singh

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On 138th birth anniversary of E.V. Ramasamy Periyar, I recall his views on Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh became a national hero immediately after the Assembly Bomb Explosion on April 9, 1929. Till then he was known as a thinking young nationalist among the Naujawan Bharat Sabha activists in areas around Punjab. He had also grown into a popular ideologue in the underground circle of revolutionaries of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). However, it was this daring act on April 9 which catapulted him to national fame. As planned in advance, the court hearings during the trial were used as a platform to address the fellow Indians and sensitise them about HSRA’s ideology and programme. His writings from the prison were surreptitiously sent out and published by the nationalist press. The martyrdom of Bhagat Singh on March 23, 1931 led to a widespread condemnation of the act and also support for the politics he espoused in his short life. One of the most articulate and