Two decades of bonds of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar

3rd March every year is the most sentimental day especially for we Punjabis and also for whole of our nation when young trio Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed to death by Britishers in Lahore jail this day in the year 1931.

- BRIJ BHUSHAN GOYAL

3rd March every year is the most sentimental day especially for we Punjabis and also for whole of our nation when young trio Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed to death by Britishers in Lahore jail this day in the year 1931. They were in their twenties. Nation wept and anguish was widespread then.

But, today even after 94 years of their martyrdom the towering message of communal harmony, justice and economic liberty given by their struggle stands as tall and conspicuous as it was then. Rather it is more relevant as country is facing complex socio-political-economic shackles which are accentuated by global free economy. We lament them martyrdom even more today.

Sukhdev was born on 15th May, 1907 in Naughara Mohalla in Ludhiana and Bhagat Singh, born on 27th Sep. 1907 in a village Banga, District Lyallpur (Chack No. 105 RB) which is now part of Pakistan after our Punjab's unfortunate partition in 1947 at the time of independence. Due to death of his father when Sukhdev was at tender age of 4, his mother moved family to Lyallpur to live in the care of Lala Chint Ram Thapar, paternal uncle at Lyallpur who was a respected nationalist.

S. Ajit Singh, a prominent freedom fighter (Bhagat Singh's paternal uncle) had proximity with Shere-e-Punjab Lala Lajpat Rai as both were foremost in the then Undivided Punjab's agitations against the British rulers' dictates of excessive land revenues and irrigation rates, particularly protests in the year beginning 2007. Lala Chint Ram was also their trusted compatriot as he supported them and also collected funds for many a meeting.