Shaheed Uddam Singh Kills Michael Dwyer,
"He is a mad man" - said Gandhi !
"His act was a senseless deed" - said Nehru !
"We condemn his act of terror and apologise and hope we are not punished for it" - - resolution passed by Congress !
He was Shaheed Udham Singh and the senseless deed he did was that he killed Michael Dwyer.
Udham Singh was a 19 years old volunteer who was serving Water to the 20,000 people gathered in the garden on festival of Baisakhi.
They were brutally massacred by Gen.Dwyer and Udham Singh was live witness to it.
He wanted to avenge the brutality and get some sense of justice to these martyrs.
British GOVT didn’t take any action.
Congress couldn't get British to act on Dwyer.
So Dwyer happily retired to England and was leading a peaceful rich life.
Meanwhile, Udham singh joined Gadhar Party and fought for freedom.
He was jailed for 5 years and there he was inspired by death and martyrdom of Bhagat Singh who wanted to take action on Dwyer.
After release, he escaped from India through Kashmir. He went to Germany and then to London.
He joined as engineer and pursued Dwyer for 6 years. He procured a gun, learnt shooting and then found that on 13, March, 1940 Dwyer was speaking in Caxton hall, London.
He hid a gun in a book in which he had carved a place for gun. Sat in front row and shot two bullets into heart and lung of Dwyer.
He died instantly.
He didn’t escape. He bravely courted arrest.
He told these words to the judge:
"I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. He was the real culprit. He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him. For full 21 years, I have been trying to seek vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not scared of death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my people starving in India under the British rule. I have protested against this, it was my duty. What greater honour could be bestowed on me than death for the sake of my motherland?”
He was sentenced to death in the court.
He fasted for 42 days in the jail and was brutally tortured and hanged on July 31, 1940
Meanwhile in India congress condemned his act. Gandhi and Nehru abused him for making British angry and they forced Congress to pass a resolution against killing of Dwyer.
They were very busy those days helping British recruit Indian soldiers for World War - II and they didn’t want Punjab to get upset wirh British.
This is our great freedom fighting party which condemned killing of a monster like Dwyer who massacred 1526 people in Punjab.
Udham Singh was buried in London and like other freedom fighter's, he is forgotten in India.
No textbooks talk about him.
Few people know about him.
I am happy that they are making a movie on this patriot and coincidently it will be released on Gandhiji's birthday on Oct 2. His story is a great and inspiring one.
Mayawati named a District in Uttarakhand after him in 1995, perhaps the only good deed she has done in her life and in 1974 his remains were exhumed and brought to Bharat and he was cremated here.
His ashes are in an urn in Jalian Wala Bagh.
Let this message be passed to generations next.
Really ????
13th March 1940. That was seven long years before India got its Independence in 1947
Gandhi and Nehru were activists and Freedom Fighters what more could they do ?. Hundreds of Freedom Fighters were rotting in the Andamans Cellular Jail. How do I know ? I was Born there and my Dad was the Jailer after we got our Independence and all Political Prisoners were released.
Had Gandhi & Nehru stirred up Indians against the British at that point of time, there would have been more Blood shed. Britain could have dropped a bomb on Indians like the Allied Forces did on the Japanese at Hiroshima.
Agree General Dyer (and Michael Dwyer) was an evil man and deserved to be killed for giving the orders; but who pulled the triggers that killed the people assembled there at Jallian Walah Bagh ?
Riflemen of the 9th Gurkha Rifles, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Sind Rifles of British Indian Army
No. of participants 50 riflemen. Indians working for the British. Did they have a choice ? No.
They had to save their own skins.
Hypothetical Scene July 2021:
BJP Agri Minister gets shot by a Man who supports the Protesting Farmers
What do you expect Rahul Gandhi or for that matter any Congress Party member to say ?
Should they condone the act ?
Ofcourse the whole nation will condemn the man who shot an elected politician for what ever reason, even if they agree with the assasin's reasons.
Every Assassin is a Cold Blooded Murderer and will be meeted out punishment as determined by Law of the Democratic Country.
Will RSS/BJP Leaders openly cheer the men who killed Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi ? If Not Why Not ?
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 in the compound of Birla Gandhi's House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in New Delhi.