Bhagat Singh's Last Wish: To Meet Chachaji Just Once

When speaking of armed revolution, it is impossible for the name of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh not to arise, for at a very young age he carved a distinct place for himself as a traveler on the path of revolution, not only in India but in world history. But how many know that Bhagat Singh’s inspiration to choose this path of revolution came from nowhere else than his father Sardar Kishan Singh and his two uncles, Sardar Ajit Singh and Sardar Swaran Singh? Among them, especially the life of Sardar Ajit Singh, his struggles for the nation’s freedom, and his tireless efforts transformed the doted child of his mother and grandmother into the *krantidharma* (bound by the duty of revolution) Bhagat Singh who became an icon for the youth, a name that instantly causes a surge of self-sacrifice for the motherland in one's heart. Indeed, it was Sardar Ajit Singh who was Bhagat Singh’s inspiration, following whose ideals Bhagat Singh sacrificed his life for the nation. Truth be told, the very foundation of Bhagat Singh's revolutionary life was laid by Sardar Ajit Singh, whose nirvana (liberation/passing) day falls on 15 August.

As Bhagat Singh came of age, he heard three things above all else—his uncle Ajit Singh’s exile, his flight abroad after escaping from India, and his rebellion against the British. The very first literature Bhagat Singh read was by Sardar Ajit Singh, and it was this that awakened in his heart a sense of devotion to the motherland. Later in life, he witnessed the stream of tears flowing from the eyes of his aunt Harnam Kaur (the dharmapatni of Sardar Ajit Singh). In his childhood, he heard her ask every single day, "Bhagowale , has any letter arrived from your uncle?" All these impressions were deeply etched onto the canvas of Bhagat Singh’s mind, making him an ardent admirer of his uncle without ever having met him. Indeed, right up to his arrest, he did not even know whether Sardar Ajit Singh was still alive or dead.

The place Sardar Ajit Singh occupied in Bhagat Singh's mind and heart can be understood from the feelings Bhagat Singh harbored—even while awaiting the gallows—for the uncle who had sacrificed his all for India's freedom. We all know that bequeathing material wealth is commonplace, but examples of bequeathing a legacy of emotion are exceedingly rare, and Bhagat Singh left precisely such a testament of devotion for his illustrious uncle. Even before Sardar Bhagat Singh attained consciousness of the world around him, his uncle Sardar Ajit Singh had absconded after rebelling against the British Raj, and Bhagat Singh was never able to obtain his darshan (reverent sight). Bhagat Singh laid down his life for the country following in the footsteps of his beloved uncle, and until his last breath, his longing remained to catch just one glimpse of the uncle who had transmitted to him, through unseen threads, a fiery zeal for patriotism.

During the time when Bhagat Singh and his fellow revolutionaries in Lahore Jail were on a hunger strike as a protest against the mistreatment meted out to their comrades in court and prison, and against treating political prisoners like common criminals, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru—being present in Lahore at the time—went to the jail to meet these revolutionaries. He described Bhagat Singh's eager desire to know about his uncle in his autobiography as follows—

I was in Lahore when the hunger strike had completed a month. I was given permission to meet a few prisoners in jail, and I went to see them. It was the first time I saw Bhagat Singh, Yatindranath Das, and a few others. Bhagat Singh had an attractive and intellectual face—exceptionally calm. There was no trace of anger in it. He looked at me and spoke with utmost gentleness. Bhagat Singh’s chief desire seemed to be to see his uncle Sardar Ajit Singh, or at least to get news of him, who had been exiled along with Lala Lajpat Rai in 1907. For many years he lived in exile abroad. There were some uncertain reports that he had settled in South America, but I do not think there is any definite information about him. I do not even know whether he is alive or dead.

Lala Pindi Das, who played a leading role in making Bhagat Singh a traveler on the path of revolution, writes:

When I met Bhagat Singh for the last time, I asked—"Tell me, Bhagat, any last wish, any final message?" Bhagat Singh replied, "Uncle, there is only and only one wish: if only someone could bring me to meet my uncle (Sardar Ajit Singh) before I die, so I could see him whom I fell in love with, following in whose footsteps I entered this valley of tears, and whose love carried me to my destination." "I returned with a handkerchief over my eyes." This desire was conveyed to appropriate quarters as well, but without success, and my Bhagat departed from this world bearing his last wish in his heart.

Sardar Ajit Singh—this is the name regarding whom Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the renowned freedom fighter and leader of the militant wing of the Indian National Congress, once declared: "He is worthy of becoming the first President of independent India." When Tilak sang this eulogy to Sardar Ajit Singh's struggle, sacrifice, and devotion to the nation in these words, Ajit Singh was a mere 25 years old. How could Tilak have known then that along with freedom, the tragedy of Partition would descend upon the nation, and unable to endure that agony, this warrior who had tormented the British Empire would depart from this world far away from the festivities and bustle of independence!

Sardar Ajit Singh, uncle of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and one of the earliest revolutionaries of Punjab to challenge British power, was born on 23 January 1881 in Khatkar Kalan, a small village in the Banga police station jurisdiction of Nawanshahr tehsil in Punjab’s Jalandhar district, as the second son of Sardar Arjan Singh. His elder brother was Sardar Kishan Singh, father of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, while his younger brother was Sardar Swaran Singh. The zamindar (landlord) who held the estate comprising this village owned several small forts across various villages in addition to the fort in this village; hence, owing to this large fort, the place came to be called Garh Kalan (Great Fort). Sardar Ajit Singh's ancestors were originally residents of Narli village near Lahore. This dates back to the era of Mughal rule in India. In his youth, an ancestor of Sardar Ajit Singh set out from Narli toward Haridwar carrying the urn containing the funerary ashes of family members cremated in Narli, to immerse them in the Ganga at Haridwar. To rest for a night along the way, he requested permission from the watchman of Garh Kalan to stay overnight. As destiny would have it, the watchman went to the zamindar for permission, and the zamindar summoned the young man to his quarters, where he was seated conversing with his wife and young daughter. The entire family, especially the young woman, was deeply impressed by their conversation with the youth. Before parting the next day, upon learning that the young man was as yet unmarried, the zamindar requested him to stay at their fort again on his return journey from Haridwar. The youth understood his intention, and when he returned after immersing the ashes in Haridwar, the zamindar wedded his daughter to him with great pomp, bestowing this large fort upon the newlywed couple as a dowry for their residence. From then on, the fort came to be known as Khat Garh Kalan (Dowry Great Fort) instead of Garh Kalan, which in course of time became corrupted into Khatkar Kalan. It was in the lineage of this young couple that our hero, Sardar Ajit Singh Ji, was born.

After receiving the zamindari of this fort and surrounding areas upon marriage, Sardar Ajit Singh's ancestors came to be recognized as the zamindars of the region. In the struggles against the Mughals, they would send contingents of soldiers to the provincial rulers, and during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji in particular, they supported him wholeheartedly with mind, body, and wealth. The flag that served as the symbol of pride and honor for the Sikhs was crafted and unfurled under the patronage of Sardar Ajit Singh's ancestors, for which a special building had been constructed where this flag flew day and night, and in whose honor people gathered from far and wide. This place came to be known as Jhanda Ji. Ajit Singh Ji's ancestors held this flag in such high esteem that when people from their ancestral village of Narli came to implore them to return, they stated that this flag was dearer to them than life itself and that they could not even dream of leaving it behind. The devotion to country and dharma (moral order and duty) was so fierce in this family that when, after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the predatory gaze of the British fell upon Punjab, Sardar Ajit Singh's grandfather, Sardar Fateh Singh, took an oath to resist the British and plunged himself entirely into the war against them. He fought valiantly in the First Anglo-Sikh War—in the opening battle at Mudki, a small village about 20 miles from Ferozepur on 18 December 1845; in the skirmish at Aliwal on 28 January 1846; and in the decisive battle at Sabraon on the banks of the Sutlej River on 10 February 1846.

The consequence of participating in these battles against the British was that most of Sardar Fateh Singh’s zamindari was confiscated and his family endured immense hardship, yet he never compromised on his principles. Later, during the Revolution of 1857, when many kings, feudal lords, and zamindars sided with the British against their own people who were fighting for freedom, a wealthy jagirdar and British-appointed honorary magistrate, Majithia Sardar Surat Singh—who had received vast estates from the British in return for aiding them in 1857—invited Sardar Fateh Singh to assist the British as well, promising that in return, all the zamindari confiscated for his participation in the Anglo-Sikh War would be restored to him. But true to his family's heritage, Sardar Fateh Singh did not hesitate for a single moment in flatly refusing to aid the British against his own countrymen. The rebellious outrage that all this ignited in Sardar Fateh Singh was passed down as a family heirloom to his son, Sardar Arjan Singh. It was this very legacy that, turning into a thirst for change, brought him into the yajna-mandap (sacrificial pavilion) of social revolution.

In that era, most Indians believed: "We are weak, divided, unarmed. In contrast, the British are powerful and organized; hence we can do nothing to them, we cannot harm them. We tried in 1857, but what came of it except that we were beaten down, crushed, and humiliated even further? They are now the rulers, and we are the ruled. They are destined to remain rulers, and we are destined to remain ruled. Slavery and servitude—that alone is our fate, and that alone is our future." When, due to national circumstances and British diplomatic machinations, our country was submerged in this depression of inferiority, all hopes of national resurgence had vanished. A fallen nation rises through self-esteem nurtured in the light of patriotism and national pride; but in that dense gale of inferiority, where could the lamps of patriotism and national pride burn? Glories be to the spiritual radiance of Rishi Dayananda, who discovered a new foundation and planted the trees of self-respect and love for the motherland in the fertile soil of past glory!

Soon, the flowers of awakening and enlightenment blossomed on these trees, and the nation was awakened by an intellectual revolution. When Sardar Arjan Singh saw Rishi Dayananda, he was drawn to him; when he heard his address, he was moved; and when he conversed with him, he became entirely his. Sardar Arjan Singh was the first Sikh citizen of this vast country to become a participant in this intellectual revolution. He possessed an obsession—with patriotism, with faith, with industriousness; he soon became the yajna-mandap of this intellectual revolution in his region. Three sons were born in the house of Sardar Arjan Singh—Sardar Kishan Singh, Sardar Ajit Singh, and Sardar Swaran Singh. Sardar Kishan Singh's personality was vast and deep like the ocean. From Lokmanya Tilak to Mahatma Gandhi, he participated with full fervor in all movements. The government prosecuted him politically 42 times for his movements against the British for India's independence. In his lifetime, he suffered about two and a half years of imprisonment and was kept under house arrest for two years. In the other stream where storms of rebellion and revolution raged—whether it was the trial of the bomb thrown at Lord Hardinge, or the first peasant revolution of 'Pagri Sambhal Jatta', or the struggle for human rights in prisons, or the Ghadar Movement—he served as a collaborator and advisor to them all.

Sardar Ajit Singh began his public life with the Congress movement, but soon his trajectory shifted in a new direction. In the country, the foundation of armed rebellion had been laid by the Chapekar brothers in Poona on 22 June 1917 with the assassination of Plague Commissioner Rand and Lieutenant Ayerst. Independent of that stream, Sardar Ajit Singh laid the foundation for a nationwide mass revolution (the fulfillment of the 1857 Mutiny). His personality was so formidable that this foundation soon began to take the shape of an edifice. How grand the blueprint of this edifice was can be gauged from the fact that Sardar Ajit Singh, through his revolutionary organization 'Bharat Mata Society', accurately anticipated the First World War (when no one else had even dreamed of it) and decided to send his colleague Lala Har Dayal to America, Sufi Amba Prasad to Afghanistan-Iran, Sardar Niranjan Singh to Brazil, and several other comrades to other nations, so that they might organize armed forces abroad that could join forces with the power emerging within India during the war. Sardar Ajit Singh himself was to remain in India to prepare for a mass revolution by bringing together the armed forces and political leaders. Circumstances, however, forced Sardar Ajit Singh to go abroad as well. There, for 39 years, he kept the flame of Indian revolution burning, and during the World Wars, he was the first to organize an Azad Hind Army.

Sardar Swaran Singh was the torchbearer who carried the light of revolution into every household through the Bharat Mata Society. Speech and pen were both his weapons. Prison tortures broke his physical health, and he was martyred in the prime of youth at the age of 23. In Sardar Kishan Singh's home was born Bhagat Singh. His death-conquering valor left such an indelible mark on the public psyche that his historical achievement—of transforming the stream of radical revolution into the stream of mass revolution established by his uncle Sardar Ajit Singh—remained obscured from public sight. The new generation of the country was never told that the first Constitution of India was drafted by none other than Sardar Ajit Singh, nor was the new generation informed that Sardar Bhagat Singh was the very first herald of socialism in this nation.

It would be no exaggeration to say that, inspired by the teachings of Maharshi Dayananda, Sardar Arjan Singh courageously opened the doors of his house—hitherto closed by superstition and traditionalist inertia—and clearing the rugged path, erected a yajna-vedi (sacrificial altar) in his courtyard. Sardar Kishan Singh plastered and consecrated the courtyard up to that doorway, installing a grand havan-kund (sacrificial fire pit) upon that altar. Sardar Ajit Singh arranged the samidhas (sacrificial firewood) in that fire pit and placed a glowing ember within it. Sardar Swaran Singh fanned it into a roaring flame. And then, the flames rose higher and higher! Sardar Ajit Singh went far away in search of fuel for those flames and could not return soon. Those flames would have died out, but Sardar Kishan Singh acted as their guardian, protecting them. Bhagat Singh, rather than searching here and there for fuel, cast his very life into the fire as fuel, fanning the flames and thrusting them skyward so fiercely that they spread across the entire nation, transforming every courtyard in the country into a havan-kund.

Sardar Ajit Singh's primary education took place in his village, and he acquired knowledge of Persian, Urdu, and Arabic from his father, who was well-versed in these languages as well as proficient in the Unani system of medicine. Ajit Singh Ji passed his middle school examination from a school in Banga. While he was in middle school, one day his father, an admirer of the Arya Samaj, took him to the annual function of the local Arya Samaj, where a speaker delivered a profound discourse on the importance of swadeshi (indigenous goods). As a result, immediately upon returning to the village, the entire family renounced foreign clothes and fully adopted swadeshi in their daily life. This had a deep impact on Ajit Singh, firming his conviction that without liberation from British subjugation, there was no other path to the country's progress and the happiness of its people.

Ajit Singh's cousin studied at a mission school where Indians were looked down upon and their dharma and culture were mocked. When this was discussed at home, it caused Ajit Singh immense pain; hence, he urged his uncle that they ought to start their own school in Jalandhar, where the teachers would be patriots who would awaken national fervor among the students. The local Arya Samajis of Jalandhar were also eager to start a school there; thus, Sardar Ajit Singh's uncle, with the cooperation of local citizens, established a school in Jalandhar. Sundar Das, a prominent Arya Samaji scholar and fierce patriot, took charge as its headmaster. Reading his books written on the nation’s ancient history and heroes filled the students with an ardent desire to serve the motherland, and it was natural that Ajit Singh, already imbued with such samskaras (cultural impressions), was deeply influenced. After passing matriculation from this school in 1893, he enrolled in D.A.V. College, Lahore, where listening to the thoughts of Principal Shri Hansraj, reading the biographies of Garibaldi and Mazzini in the library, and studying the book *Shaheedon ki Kahaniyan* (Stories of Martyrs) written by Mulkraj Bhalla further strengthened his dedication to national service. After finishing his studies there, he went to Law College, Bareilly, to study law, but he could not complete his studies as he chose to follow in his father's footsteps and immerse himself in social service.

At that time, the nation was reeling under the horrors of floods and droughts. Joining forces with his elder brother Sardar Kishan Singh, Ajit Singh undertook intensive tours of the famine-affected regions of Berar (Central Provinces, 1898) and Ahmedabad and other areas (Gujarat, 1900), the flood-ravaged regions of Srinagar (Kashmir, 1904), and the earthquake-devastated regions of Kangra (Himachal Pradesh, 1905), serving the sick, helpless, hungry, and thirsty people with wholehearted devotion. His experiences across all these places made him realize that no permanent solution to these problems could be found until British Raj was eradicated from India and a true democracy established in the country. From that point on, he made the nation's independence his life's mission. During these relief efforts in 1903, he met Namo (later Harnam Kaur), who had been orphaned by the famine; rising far above distinctions of caste and high-low social status, he married Namo, setting an inspiring example before society.

While living in Bareilly, to provide a solid foundation for revolutionary activities, Ajit Singh Ji, along with his elder brother Sardar Kishan Singh, conceived the idea of establishing relations with the King of Nepal and purchasing land along the Nepal-India border so that revolutionaries could take refuge in Nepal after carrying out revolutionary acts. Around this time, in January 1903, the then Viceroy Lord Curzon organized a Delhi Durbar to which all Indian princes and rulers were invited. Ajit Singh, along with his elder brother Kishan Singh Ji, attended this Durbar with the objective of forging a strong united front among them all against the British. Before the Durbar even began, Ajit Singh built good relations with the ministers of the Kashmir and Jodhpur princely states and the Maharaja of Baroda, persuading them to encourage all princely rulers to forge close ties among themselves and form marital alliances. The underlying vision was to unite all princely states and ignite a powerful uprising against the British along the lines of 1857.

In this Durbar, Ajit Singh Ji and Kishan Singh Ji achieved expected success. Later, Arya Samaji sannyasis (ascetics) Swami Prakashanand and Swami Shankaranand greatly assisted Ajit Singh in this endeavor by traveling across the country as preachers of Vedic dharma. They also received firm assurances from several princely states regarding the supply of arms and ammunition to the revolutionaries. Among the very few people aware of all these efforts, the prominent ones were Motilal Ghosh, proprietor of the *Amrita Bazar Patrika*, and Kalicharan Chatterjee, editor of *The Tribune*. Before launching this uprising, Ajit Singh Ji wanted to thoroughly comprehend the mindset of the British, and keeping this in mind, he took up teaching Urdu and Punjabi to British officers, missionaries, and others, which aided him immensely in reading the minds of the British and the missionaries.

In 1906, a grand session of the Congress was held in Calcutta, which Ajit Singh Ji attended thinking that it might help bring those dissatisfied with the Congress's policy of begging before the British onto a single platform. Upon arriving there, he came into contact with several organizations working against the British in Bengal, and inspired by them, he decided to form a similar organization in Punjab. Immediately upon returning to Punjab, he, along with Sardar Kishan Singh, Swaran Singh, Lala Ghasita Ram, and Sufi Amba Prasad, founded the Bharat Mata Society—a secret organization whose objective was to liberate India from the shackles of servitude by any means necessary. This organization had two primary weapons: speeches and publications. For this purpose, Ajit Singh established the Bharat Mata Book Agency, which served as the chief center for publishing anti-government literature. The key figure behind this was Sufi Amba Prasad, a great patriot and pillar of intellect among revolutionaries. *Bharat Mata* (Hindi), *India* (English), *Peshwa* (Urdu), and *Panjabee* (English) were the newspapers published under the banner of this organization. In addition, countless pamphlets and books were published by the Society, most of which called for armed rebellion. Although the government confiscated them, this only increased their fame. Within the government apparatus, the activities of the Bharat Mata Society came to be described as a 'mini 1857'.

Around this time, tremendous discontent began to spread among the farmers in Punjab due to excessive land tax imposed by British rule and flawed policies. Ajit Singh saw this as a golden opportunity to rally the people against British rule, and he soon emerged as the commander of this rebellion, especially after Lala Lajpat Rai disappointed the farmers who had gone to request him to lead their movement, telling them that since the bill had already been passed, the Congress could do nothing about it. After creating an anti-government atmosphere across the region and explaining to the people the disastrous impact of the government bills on their agriculture, Ajit Singh organized a massive rally against the government in Lyallpur on 3 March 1907, wherein Banke Dayal, editor of the newspaper *Jhang Sayal*, recited the song *Pagri Sambhal Jatta, Pagri Sambhal*. The fame of this song spread so far and wide that it became a mantra for the struggling farmers, and this movement of Sardar Ajit Singh came to be known as the Pagri Sambhal Jatta Movement.

Although Lalaji had not originally joined this movement, Ajit Singh wanted him to be part of it. To this end, through a person named Rambhaj Dutt, he sent an invitation to Lalaji and his associates to attend the rally, without disclosing that the chief organizer of the rally was Ajit Singh himself. Lalaji attended the rally and stirred the people to their core with his fiery speech. Since the year was 1907—the fiftieth anniversary of the First War of Independence of 1857—the British government was terrified that this movement might cause serious trouble for them. Thus, a circular was issued instructing Indian soldiers in the army not to listen to Ajit Singh under any circumstances; however, this only catapulted his fame even further. After the Lyallpur rally, he toured almost all major cities of Punjab, inspiring people to rise up against the British government. His influence grew to such an extent that Indian soldiers serving in the army would come to him and promise their full support.

On 2 April, a massive rally was organized in Rawalpindi, which both Ajit Singh and Lalaji went to attend, but the administration banned the rally. Lalaji went to court to seek legal recourse, whereas Ajit Singh Ji began addressing the assembled crowd. Seeing this, the military commander ordered the people to disperse, and when they refused, he ordered the soldiers to open fire. But the tables turned: the Indian soldiers turned their guns on the commander, warning that if he issued such an order again, they would fire at him instead. Seeing the situation worsen, the commander retreated, but seeing the soldiers side with them boosted the people's morale tremendously. As a result, people began harassing the British, burning government offices and churches, and uprooting railway tracks and telegraph wires; the situation deteriorated to such an extent that it became virtually impossible for the British to control the situation across almost all of Punjab. The Governor of Punjab, Lord Ibbetson, wrote in an urgent telegram to Lord Hardinge that Punjab was on the brink of rebellion under the leadership of Ajit Singh and his comrades, and immediate action was necessary to halt it. Prior to this, on 29 August 1906, Lord Minto had already written a letter to the Secretary of State for India, Lord Morley, stating that while all this turmoil purported to be in the name of a peasant movement, its real purpose was to engineer an armed rebellion with the help of Indian soldiers.

Panicked by these circumstances and the threat of rebellion, the government arrested Sardar Kishan Singh, Sardar Swaran Singh, Lala Ghasita Ram, Lala Goverdhan Das, and Pandit Ram Chandra Peshawari, among others, and issued warrants against Sardar Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai on 4 May 1907. Lalaji was arrested on 9 May, but Ajit Singh absconded and surrendered on 2 June only after completing essential tasks related to the Society. Like Lalaji, he too was deported to Mandalay Jail in Burma—the very prison where Bahadur Shah Zafar had been exiled after the War of 1857 and Baba Ram Singh Kuka after the Kuka Revolt of 1882. Following this deportation, while the Congress made every possible effort to secure Lalaji's release, Ajit Singh Ji was abandoned to his fate. In its defense of Lalaji, the Congress stooped so low as to consider associating Lalaji with Sardar Ajit Singh an insult to Lalaji. Under Congress pressure, Lalaji was released, but the government was in no mood to release Ajit Singh. However, within a few days, the government realized that a imprisoned Ajit Singh was igniting far more outrage than a free Ajit Singh could ever generate, as the 'Pagri Sambhal Movement' launched by him continued to spread. Under these circumstances, using the pretext of celebrating the accession of George V, the government released him as well.

This was a time when all three sons of Sardar Arjan Singh were incarcerated in prison—Sardar Kishan Singh was confined in Central Jail for participating in the freedom struggle, Sardar Ajit Singh in Mandalay Jail, and Sardar Swaran Singh was serving a sentence alongside his elder brother Sardar Kishan Singh. It was during these circumstances that at their home, his eldest daughter-in-law, the wife of Sardar Kishan Singh, gave birth to her second son on 27 September 1907. At the time of this child's birth, only his mother Shrimati Vidyavati, grandfather Arjan Singh, and grandmother Jai Kaur were at home. But whether the birth of this child was inherently auspicious or good days had arrived, on the third day after his birth, his father Sardar Kishan Singh and uncle Sardar Swaran Singh returned home released on bail, and around the same time, his other uncle Sardar Ajit Singh was also released. Thus, with his birth, a spring of happiness suddenly swept through the household, and his arrival was deemed deeply auspicious. His grandmother named this fortunate child 'Bhagowala', meaning 'the fortunate one'. It was from this name that the child later came to be called Bhagat Singh.

Shortly after his release, Ajit Singh attended the annual session of the Congress held in Surat at the end of December, supporting Tilak's militant stance against the moderates. It was impressed by his revolutionary ideas and style of functioning that Tilak had made the statement about him mentioned earlier. Returning to Punjab, Ajit Singh resumed his focus on the Bharat Mata Society and the Bharat Mata Book Agency, and within a short time made the Urdu publication *Peshwa* an integral part of the lives of aware Punjabis. To evade the gaze of the secret police, Ajit Singh divided the work into two wings—secret and open—entrusting the secret work to Hardayal Singh while keeping the open work to himself so that activities could proceed without hindrance. It was Ajit Singh Ji who, recognizing his extraordinary literary capability, entrusted Master Amir Chand—who was later executed in the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case—with the task of writing and publishing revolutionary literature.

The sharp revolutionary tone of his works, pamphlets, editorials, speeches, and statements once again made the British government suspicious of him, and rumors began to circulate that this time he would be arrested and awarded the death penalty. Getting wind of this, and to fulfill his vow for India's independence, he adopted the alias 'Mirza Hassan Khan' and along with his comrades Sufi Amba Prasad, Zia-ul-Haq, and Harkesh Latha, reached Iran via Karachi in the final days of 1908, transforming it through his efforts into a hub for Indians opposing British rule. By 1910, their activities and the newspaper *Hayat* became a severe thorn in the side of the British government. Under British pressure, the Iranian government took action and shut down all activities, as the British government feared that Germany might unite Turkey and Iran and advance toward India via Afghanistan, which would become a massive headache for the British Raj. Finding it pointless to stay under such circumstances, he left his most trusted comrade Sufi Amba Prasad in Shiraz to continue revolutionary activities, and traveling via Baku (Russia), Turkey, and Germany, reached Paris and founded the Indian Revolutionary Association.

Soon, he forged links with eminent figures and organizations working abroad for India's freedom, such as Shyamji Krishna Varma, Madame Bhikaji Cama, Veer Savarkar, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (Sarojini Naidu's brother), and Mahadev Rao (a very close associate of Rash Behari Bose). From Paris, he proceeded to Switzerland, where he established close ties with an international revolutionary organization that comprised revolutionaries from nations across the world and served as a formidable platform for united struggle against imperialist powers. After staying in Switzerland until 1913, he took up residence in Germany. Amidst all this, he continued his efforts for India's independence by establishing contact with communist leaders like Lenin and Trotsky, and later with leaders like Mussolini who emerged as symbols of Fascism. As conditions in Europe deteriorated during the First World War, he moved to Brazil out of single-minded dedication to his goal. Sufi Amba Prasad was later martyred during the First World War while fighting alongside Iranian nationalists against the British. Even today, his tomb in the Iranian city of Shiraz awaits someone to bring his mortal remains to India and unite that heroic son of Bharat Mata with his mother; but alas, in a nation where people do not even know the name of Sufi Amba Prasad, entertaining such an expectation is futile.

While living in Brazil, he came into contact with the Ghadar Party in 1918 and worked ceaselessly alongside it. During this time, he also wrote a letter to Bhagat Singh suggesting that the young Bhagat come to Brazil to study the revolutionary struggles of various nations. Bhagat Singh replied by urging him to return to India, stating that since the nation was ripe for revolution, he should return to India and assume command of the struggle. In 1939, he returned to Europe and engaged once again in revolutionary efforts. It was during this period that he met Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whom he introduced to Hitler, appealing for assistance in India's struggle for independence; however, upon realizing that Hitler merely wished to use Indians against the British, both eminent leaders severed ties with him.

Thereafter, he came to Italy and founded the Friends of India Society, aimed at securing Italian support for India's liberation struggle. Through Rome Radio—which he referred to as Azad Hind Radio—he broadcast speeches and programs in Hindustani and Persian, calling upon listeners, especially soldiers, to rise up against the British Raj. Meanwhile, with the assistance of an Indian nationalist named Mohammad Shedai, Ajit Singh initiated the major undertaking of persuading Indian soldiers of the British army captured by Italy to fight against the British on behalf of Netaji's Azad Hind Fauj. Owing to his organizational skill, powerful speeches, and formidable propaganda, over 10,000 Indian soldiers became wholeheartedly ready to fight against the British. It had been agreed between the Italian government and Ajit Singh that these soldiers would fight against the British solely on Indian soil for India's freedom and would not be deployed anywhere else; however, due to political instability and Italy's defeat, this plan failed.

Following Italy's defeat in the Second World War, the Allied forces arrested Ajit Singh on 2 May 1945. Spending a life of captivity in various prisons across Italy and Germany from May 1945 to December 1946, he was ultimately brought to London. His health was continuously deteriorating, and as soon as this news reached India, clamors demanding his release and return to India gathered strength. Independence was now near; the Interim Government had assumed office on 2 September 1946; hence Ajit Singh's old comrades and several Congress leaders began pressuring Nehru for his release. As a result, he was handed over to officials of the Indian Embassy in London; however, acting on instructions from Nehru, the embassy barred him from participating in events and ceremonies organized in his honor. Finally, the day arrived when, after a full 38 years, Ajit Singh returned to that very Karachi which he had left in 1908 to evade British repression. Railway workers and the general public accorded him a grand welcome.

Yet he realized that his wife Harnam Kaur still could not believe that he was indeed her husband. This was natural, for when Ajit Singh had left the country, he was a mere 28 years old, and when he returned, he was 66 years of age. Time alters so much, and here an interval of 38 years had elapsed. Over these years, he had become a scholar of 40 languages, and it was exceedingly difficult to recognize whether this was the same Ajit Singh or someone else. Unable to believe it, Harnam Kaur asked several questions to confirm his identity, but even after receiving correct answers, his wife remained unconvinced. How could she be? How could a woman who had waited day and night for nearly 40 years, leading a solitary and ascetic life sustained only by his memories, accept that the husband she waited for had returned to her side? History remembers those who are its central figures, but it forgets the figures through whose support alone the central characters fulfill their roles. Until the devotion of Harnam Kaur Ji is remembered, the memory of Sardar Ajit Singh remains incomplete. For it is true that everyone sees the torch of revolution from afar and the hands holding that torch; yet it is those sesame and mustard seeds—crushed in the oil-mill to give their oil and drain themselves of vitality so that the flame of that torch remains ablaze—that keep the torch lit.

Ajit Singh knew this all too well, and that was why one day he touched Harnam Kaur's feet to express his veneration for her. Harnam Kaur spent almost her entire life in solitude, showering her affection on her elder sister-in-law's sons, Jagat Singh (who passed away at the age of 11) and Bhagat Singh. Every day she would ask, "Jagat, has any letter arrived from your uncle?" and every day Jagat Singh would beat his chest playfully and say, "Aunt, do not worry, I will search for uncle and bring him back." But cruel time struck, and Jagat Singh, who comforted his aunt, passed away, leaving everyone weeping. Days rolled by, and the aunt's question was now directed to Bhagat Singh: "Why, Bhagowale, has any letter arrived from your uncle?" and Bhagat, like his brother, would beat his chest and say, "Aunt, do not worry, I will bring uncle back." These children were her only solace; otherwise, she was alone before, and became alone once again a few days after her husband's return. After her death, in accordance with her wishes, her final rites were performed near Bhagat Singh's memorial. Her sacrifice too can never be forgotten.

Anyway, we were speaking of Ajit Singh Ji, who after Karachi went for a short time to Delhi, where he conversed with Nehru about the nation's future. On 9 April 1947, he went to Lahore, where he received an emotional welcome from people across all sections of society. But by then, the seeds of India's Partition had grown into a poisonous tree, and violence and carnage raged everywhere. All this shattered him to the core, for this was not the India, this was not the freedom for which he and his comrades had consumed themselves and sacrificed their everything. This shock further deteriorated his failing health. He was taken for rest to the hill town of Dalhousie in Himachal, but his health continued to decline. On 15 August 1947, while all of India was celebrating the joy of independence and the Goddess of Freedom was opening her eyes, this warrior of the freedom struggle was closing his eyes with the words: "Thank you, God, my goal is fulfilled." His memorial constructed at Panjpulla near Dalhousie will forever inspire us. What a supreme irony that Dalhousie, who tormented Indians, remains immortalized in the name of a town in this country, while Sardar Ajit Singh, who sacrificed himself bit by bit, has receded into anonymity! In a nation where a plaque can be installed in the Cellular Jail in the name of Gandhi Ji—who had no connection to it—and where a sacred lake at a shrine like Kedarnath can be renamed Gandhi Sarovar, should not the name of this Dalhousie have been changed to Ajit Singh Nagar?

With these lines, millions of obeisances and humble tributes to this noble soul—

How will they ever understand the price of this freedom,
They all received freedom sitting at home.
How do I explain to them that you consumed yourself,
Only then did the darkness vanish and a new light dawn.

– Vishal Agarwal (The author is a scholar of Indian history and culture, and an educationist. The author's Rashtra Aradhak series on great Indian personalities is well worth reading.)

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