Sukhdev Thapar was a great Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter from Bharat. He was not just an ally of Shri. Bhagat Singh and Shri. Shivaram Rajguru but also an important brain behind many of the revolutionary activities of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association against the illegitimate British imperialists, which made the latter tremble in fear as the result of the former’s efforts in awakening the political awareness and consciousness of the people of Bharat. Sukhdev Thapar was thus, an intellectual-thinker and revolutionary-freedom fighter.
Sukhdev Thapar was born in Ludhiana in undivided Punjab in the erstwhile British ruled Bharat on the 15th of May, 1907. He came from a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family. His father was Ramlal Thapar and mother was Ralli Devi. Sukhdev’s parents died when he was young. His uncle, Lala Achintram took care of Sukhdev when his parents died. Lala Achintram was a great patriot and often stood up against the British authorities. Sukhdev was greatly inspired by the sacrificing and courageous nature of his uncle. In fact, it was after his uncle’s arrest by the British for his revolutionary activities against the former. He studied at the Sanatan Dharm school in Lyallpur as a young kid. He refused to salute the British officers, who visited his school even as a young lad.
Later, he went to pursue higher education at the National College in Lahore. It was there that he met Bhagat Singh and Bhagawati Charan among others. He was inspired to join the freedom struggle after the extremely violent incident on the 13th of April, 1919 at Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab.
Sukhdev Thapar was a great thinker. He read about the various revolutions in the world including the Russian revolution and the French revolution. He was especially inspired by the Russian revolution. He was quite influenced by Lenin’s revolutionary ideas. He joined National College at Lahore in 1921, where he came into contact with stalwart freedom fighters cum revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Yashpal and Bhagawati Charan. He was also a member of Naujawan Bharat Sena founded by Bhagat Singh in 1926. He was a good debater and gave fiery speeches in Punjab igniting the freedom struggle in the erstwhile undivided Punjab region of Bharat.
In 1927, the Kakori train conspiracy was carried out by the HRA – Hindustan Republican Association. Ram Prasad Bismil and 4 other revolutionaries were hanged and 16 were given life imprisonment.
Sukhdev was involved in multiple incidents. In 1928, the Simon Commission led by Sir John Simon was constituted but there was no Indian in the group. Protests in Lahore against the Simon Commission was led by Lala Lajpat Rai, the revered guide of the HRA or the Hindustan Republican Association, which later became the HSRA or the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. HSRA was a revolutionary group of freedom fighters founded by Sachindra Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil and others. Sukhdev became a revolutionary after joining HSRA. He was brutally lathi-charged, which resulted in the death of Lalaji. The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association decide to take revenge for the attack on Lalaji. The members of the HSRA wanted to take revenge on those, who had attacked Lalaji. The plan was to kill Officer James Scott, who was Superintendent of Police. Unfortunately, instead of Scott, Deputy Superintendent of Police, John Saunders was mistakenly shot at by Shivaram Rajguru on the 17th of December of 1928. Sukhdev was indicted in this Conspiracy case known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case along with Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru. Later, the members of the HRA were also taken into custody for carrying out the Bombing of the Central Assembly in Delhi.
Sukhdev Thapar was the Chief of the Punjab unit of HSRA. He was involved in the Assault case in the Lahore Conspiracy case (1929-30). An FIR was filed in 1929 by Hamilton Harding, Senior Superintendent of Police at R.S.Pandit, Special Magistrate in April 1929, which referred to Sukhdev as Accused No 1 in the assassination of John Saunders. The FIR title was known as ‘Crown versus Sukhdev and Others’. Hans Raj Vohra from the HSRA turned approver for the British. He provided testimony for the British in return for his own freedom. Sukhdev was also a part of the conspiracy to bomb inside the Central Assembly in New Delhi. However, the HSRA or the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army had no interest in having anyone killed in the bombing. They merely wanted to draw the attention of the public to the injustice meted out to the Indians by the British and to ‘make the deaf British hear the sufferings of the Bharatiya people.’
In prison, Sukhdev Thapar was one among those protesting against the extreme torture of Indian political prisoners by the British. They were part of a hunger strike to fight for justice on behalf the political prisoners. The hunger strike went on for 63 days. The British police officials force fed the protesting prisoners. Later, the protest was called off after the British rulers acquiesced to certain demands of the political prisoners. One of the protesting prisoners, shri. Jatindranath passed away.
In the end, Sukhdev Thapar, Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru were all hanged on the 23rd of March of 1931 for their involvement in the Lahore Conspiracy ( assassination of John Saunders ) as well as for their role in the bombing of the Delhi Central Assembly. 23rd March is remembered as Shaheed Diwas or Martyrs’ Day in India.
23rd March of 1931 was indeed an extremely sad day for Bharat Mata, who lost three of her most precious children. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo Thapar and S. Rajguru were hanged on that day at Lahore Central Jail. In fact, they were hanged one day, earlier than planned – another conspiracy by the British authorities because the latter were very afraid of ‘The Trio’, who were very popular Freedom Fighters, who by their willingness to die for the motherland had earned the immense respect and love from the Bharatiya masses. All the three freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were all less than twenty five years old, when they made the supreme sacrifice for the Bharat Mata!
They were later cremated at Hussainiwala on the banks of the Sutlej River in Ferozepur in Punjab.
The Execution was condemned by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar! In his write-up in ‘Janata’, he wrote – ‘The decision to execute the Trio was not made in the spirit of real justice but rather because British government led by the Labor Party feared a conservative backlash and the need for appeasement.’ It is often said that their lives could have been saved if there were more persistent efforts to have them freed by the so called ‘liberal’ freedom fighters like Gandhi and Nehru.
Today, there are many symbols reminding us of the legacy of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar. These include the National Martyrs’ Memorial at Hussainiwala in Bharat, where the Trio Freedom Fighters (Sukdev Thapar, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru) were cremated. There is also a Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies affiliated to the University of Delhi, which was built in the honour of Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar. There is also an Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminal at the birthplace of Shaheed Sukhdev ji, which is the biggest interstate bus terminal in the region.
Thus, Sukhdev Thapar was an Intellectual-Thinker-Freedom Fighter from Bharat. The Trio of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were all extremely intelligent young people, who understood and foresaw the impact of their most tremendous and ultimate sacrifice for their motherland on the minds and hearts of the people of Bharat. The persons, who serve humanity and their motherlands are forever remembered as legends.
The Intellectual-Thinker-Freedom Fighter from Bharat!
By: Dr.S. Padmapriya, Author, Thinker and Academician, Chennai, Bharat!
writerpriya@gmail.com
