[Reader-list] Fwdfyi: [RR] Bhagat Singh: Promoting Terrorism?

Tue Apr 6 21:12:54 IST 2010

Dear all,
Bhagath Singh though used violence to protest the british rule, kill the
british officer who murdered thousands of innocents at Jalianwalabagh,who
had gathered there peacefully to listen to the message of non-violent
struggle for freedom, to even suggest that Bhagath Singh was terrorist is
travesty and curious over reach of intellectual terrorism. Bhagath Singh not
only owned the act of violence, faced the rule of laws, judiciary, the
verdict and accepted with grace the death penalty unlike the present day
Kobad Ghandys, varavara raos and sympathisers of naxal movement.
regards,rajen.

On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Patrice Riemens <patrice at xs4all.nl> wrote:

>
> FollFollowing the posting on Bhagat Singh in Pakistan, here a rejoinder
> fromPakistan that was sent to me by a Pakistani friend ...
>
> Cheers, p+3D!
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Khurram Ali Shafique <khurramsoffice at yahoo.com>
> Date: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 2:58 AM
> Subject: [RR] Bhagat Singh: Promoting Terrorism?
> To: therepublicofrumi at yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
>
> On March 23 this year, when most Pakistani celebrated the 70th anniversary
> of Pakistan Resolution, some observed the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh
> (1907-1931) who had been hanged on charges of terrorism on the same date in
> 1931. Especially under the present circumstances, an average Pakistani may
> ask a few questions to be considered dispassionately.
>
> Bhagat Singh was a member of HSRA, a leftist terrorist organization in
> India
> in the 1920s ("when expediency will demand it the Party will unhesitatingly
> enter into a desperate campaign of terrorism," said the party's manifesto;
> see *Wikipedia
> entry*<
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan_Socialist_Republican_Association#Objectives_and_Ideology
> >).
> In 1928, Hindu leader Lala Lajpat Rai succumbed to injuries suffered from
> baton charge by police during a public protest. Singh sought to avenge him
> by assassinating the police chief but his bullet killed another police
> officer instead. He fled the scene and later threw a bomb in the Central
> Legislative Assembly that did not kill anyone but created panic. He got
> arrested and defended his position throughout his trial. He was convicted
> for murder and hanged on March 23, 1931.
>
> In India, Singh is celebrated as a hero. Among Marxists, his pamphlet `Why
> I
> am an Atheist' is especially popular as a tool for promoting atheism among
> youth. Pakistan too has an association with him, since he was born in a
> village near Lyallpur (now called Faisalabad) and got executed in Lahore.
> In
> September 2007, Lt Gen (Retired) Khalid Maqool (governor of Punjab in the
> Musharraf era) addressed a birth centenary seminar on Bhagat Singh, paid
> tribute to him and promised a memorial (see *Daily
> Times*<
> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C02%5Cstory_2-9-2007_pg7_33
> >).
>
>
> Showing due respect to Bhagat Singh as an icon respected by our neighboring
> India is one thing. Preaching his ideas to our own youth and presenting him
> as a role model for Pakistanis are different matters altogether. The
> country
> is being accused of harboring terrorists. The international media,
> especially Indian media, often seems to be giving an impression as if most
> Pakistanis harbor a longing for becoming suicide bombers. What kind of
> image
> shall we receive if at this time some of our lobbies are found to be
> promoting a "hero" whose recorded statement after throwing a bomb in the
> assembly was, "We are sorry to admit that we... have been forced to shed
> human blood. But the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of the 'Great
> Revolution'… is inevitable."
>
> The implications are:
>
>   - Is this the kind of image we desire to associated with Pakistan?
>   - Is this the message we want to give to our youth?
>   - Precisely why did India release not one, but two, biopics about Bhagat
>   Singh defending terrorism soon after 09/11 (both movies were released on
>   June 7, 2002)?
>
> However, the biggest question is that at a time when the country is already
> combating terrorism, why on earth we need to promote terrorism? We may
> compare the following excerpts from the pamphlet distributed by Singh after
> bombing the assembly with the video messages released by the militants of
> today:
>
> "It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear, with these immortal words
> uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we
> strongly justify this action of ours… In these extremely provocative
> circumstances, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, in all
> seriousness, realizing their full responsibility, had decided and ordered
> its army to do this particular action… We are sorry to admit that we who
> attach so great a sanctity to human life, who dream of a glorious future,
> when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, have been forced
> to shed human blood. But the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of the
> 'Great Revolution' that will bring freedom to all, rendering the
> exploitation of man by man impossible, is inevitable. Long Live the
> Revolution."
>
> Really, do you have to promote terrorism? This is an honest question which
> the mainstream Pakistanis may be entitled to ask some of their leftist
> brothers.
>
>   *
>   <
> http://khurramsdesk.blogspot.com/2010/03/bhagat-singh-promoting-terrorism.html
> >
>   *
>   - *Post your comments or read others'
> <
> http://khurramsdesk.blogspot.com/2010/03/bhagat-singh-promoting-terrorism.html
> >
>   ***
>
>
>
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-- 
Rajen.