Freedom fighter Sardar Bhagat Singh was hanged by the British on accusations of anti-government activities on March 23, 1931. Here, Gandhi pays tribute to the patriotism of the young martyr while disagreeing with his revolutionary methods. Excerpted from Gandhi's article in Young India. Bhagat Singh and his two associates have been hanged. The Congress made many attempts to save their lives and the Government entertained many hopes of it, but all has been in a vain. Bhagat Singh did not wish to live. He refused to apologize, or even file an appeal.

The title appears to be somewhat confusing but it is a fact, stranger than fiction. He had the largest inning of an active, daring and impetuous revolutionary. Born in Chandan Nagar, a small French pocket near Kolkata, it was a congenial ground for the growth of revolutionary movement, and is proud of producing Kanailal Datta and Rash Behari Bose. The moral and intellectual background came from Motilal Roy, the editor of Prabartak, which inspired many a youngster.

August 9th is a memorable date in India's revolutionary movement. On this day in 1897, Damodar Chaphekar was arrested, subsequently to become India's first martyr. On this date again in 1925, 10 intrepid young men stopped a running train in U.P and decamped with substantial cash. Again 9th August, 1942, saw the beginning of the Quit India Movement, the first in our long war of independence led by the Congress which swerved from non-violence and produced different types of leaders like Jai Prakash Narain (J.P) and Aruna Asaf Ali.

MANIFESTO OF THE HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION* [ Prepared by B.C. Vohra, it was widely distributed at the time of the Lahore Session of the Congress in 1929.] The food on which the tender plant of liberty thrives is the blood of the martyr. FOR DECADES THIS LIFE BLOOD TO THE PLANT OF India's liberty is being supplied by revolutionaries.

[It was published in Young India (Ahmedabad), dated February 12, 1925, and reproduced by M.N. Gupta in his book. They Lived Dangerously, PPH, New Delhi, 1969.] I THINK IT IS MY DUTY TO REMIND YOU OF THE promise you made some time back that you would retire from the political field at the time when the revolutionaries will once more emerge from their silence and enter into the Indian political arena. The experiment with the non-violent non-cooperation movement is now over.

[Bhagat Singh wrote this letter to Jaidev Gupta, a close friend from his schools days, for some books. It gives an idea of the type of books he used to study in jail. It also shows as to how keen he was about the intellectual development of his comrades.] Lahore Central Jail 24.7.30 MY DEAR JAIDEV, Please take following books in my name from Dwarkadas Library and send them through Kulvir on Sunday: Militarism (Kari Liebknecht) Why Men Fight (B.

[Our case before the Special Tribunal opened on May 5, 1930. On May 12 the presiding judge lost his temper on the question of a song. He ordered that the accused be handcuffed. The accused resisted. They were removed from the court by force and sent back to the jails. The accused boycotted the court from the next day onward and demanded that the presiding judge must apologize, on he should be removed.