Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
British domination led to the rise of Indian nationalism while people began to resist colonial domination. The British came to India, thousands of kilometers, to exploit our human, natural, mineral and other resources. Because of their bad rule, the movement of freedom began and many people have sacrificed their lives. On July 31, 1940, Udham Singh was hanged to death in London.
Udham Singh (Birth name Sher Singh; December 26, 1899 – July 31, 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to the Ghadar party and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant of Punjab in India, March 13, 1940. Amritsar in 1919, for which O'Dwyer was responsible and of which Singh himself was a witness. Sher Singh’s mother died at the age of about three and her father died a few years later. Orphan at a young age, he and his older brother were admitted to the central orphanage from Khalsa to Amritsar in 1907. They were introduced to the Sikh religion at the orphanage, and Sher Singh was renamed Udham Singh. Singh was furious because of the Massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. On April 13, 1919, at least 10,000 people gathered in Jallianwala Bagh for a peaceful protest against the acts of Rowlatt, legislation adopted by the British that year, which allowed certain political affairs to be tried without juries and allowed the internment of the accused without trial. The British officer Reginald Dyer arrived on the protest site and ordered his troops to seal the exit and open fire on the unarmed crowd, killing without discrimination. Singh served water for participants at the time of the attack and looked at it. It sparked him a hatred for colonial domination.
Punjab's Lieutenant-Governor at the time, Michael O'Dwyer, not only tolerated the actions of Reginald Dyer, but also justified them. Later, Michael O'Dwyer returned to London. Singh came to London and decided on his action. He learned that Michael O'Dwyer would attend an event at the Caxton Hall in Westminster on March 13, 1940 and chose this opportunity to assassinate him. Singh reached the corridor with a loaded pistol, and after O'Dwyer had a speech, Singh pulled him twice. O'Dwyer fell to the ground and succumbed to the ball wounds. Singh was then tried and found guilty of murder and hanged on July 31, 1940. During his detention, he used the name “Ram Mohammad Singh Azad”, which represents the three main religions respectively (Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism) in united India. Singh's actions have mentioned various reactions in India. The general feeling of the public was positive, with several Indian nationalists, including many supporters of the congress, supporting his action and considering him as a hero and a martyr. The revolutionary Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose approved Singh's actions. But the Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru denounced the assassination. Singh's patriotic feelings can be understood because before the judge has adopted the trouble, Singh said: “I am not afraid of dying. I am proud to die.… I have great sympathy with the workers of England, but I am against the dirty British government. ”
Like all Indians, we respect this great hero and martyr.
(The sources of this article are, a) Britannica.com/biography/udham-singh and b) wikipedia.org/wiki/udham_singh)
