Gandhi and the Hanging of Bhagat Singh

Gandhi and Bhagat Singh were two individula wih divergent political thought. Bhagat Singh believed in armed struggle to oust the British while Gandhi believd in Ahmisa and non voilence and thus was more accomodating to the British.

 Obviously a clash was expected and during that period ( early 20th century), one fact stands out. This was confirmed by Gandhi's personal secretary Sitaramiah who brought  that Bhagat Singh was more popular than Gandhi, Gandhi was a whimsical and shrewd politician and he resolved that Bhagat Singh must be finished politically so that he remained the undisputed leader.

Thus when the famous trial of Bhagat Singh commenced , Gandhi maintained a studious silence. Many requests were made to him about Bhat Singh, which he steadfastly ignored. When Bhagat Singh was awarded the death sentence , Gandhi was again requested to appeal to the Viceroy to commute the sentence of Bhagat Singh to life in jail. Gandhi again refused and onecan find it hard to explain now why Gandhi reacted like this.

Gandhis's reason for refusing to intercede with the Viceroy or make any appeal was simple: He dreaded that a live Bhagat Singh would be a threat to his authority and more important his philosophy.
History records that Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged by the British at night against all canons of Jail law and the prison manual and Gandhi kept quiet. At that time Gandhi's popularity touched rock bottom and he was greeted with black flags when he visited Karachi and other places after the hanging. Many videos are available of that period and was succintly brought out in the film"Bhagat Singh" starring Ajay Devgun.

The episode leaves a sour taste in the mouth and the fact is Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged and Gandhi we can surmise heaved a sigh of relief. There are many facates of Gandh's life that need to be published and some more research done on them. The hanging of Bhagat Singh and his comrades is one of themas well as his hounding out Subhas Bose from the Congress party. I am afraid all this  shows Gandhi in very poor light . Please refer wwwemge.blogspot.com ( my personal blog) for photos