Bhagat Singh: a media role model
It is well-known that colonial rule in India was very repressive towards the support of the freedom movement in the media, as is evident from the prison sentences given to peaceful freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Surendranath Bannerjee and Lokmanya Tilak for their writings.
Imagine how repressive the attitude of the government would have been towards revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh when they tried to use the very limited space available to them in the media to spread their ideas and articulate their demands for freedom and social-economic justice.
So it is all the more fascinating to understand how the revolutionaries were nevertheless able to turn the tables on the government and used the media effectively for their cause on several important occasions and in several interesting ways. Why, one of them even managed to become a busy reporter with Hindustan Times (then an evening newspaper) and managed to obtain a seat from where he could drop a box on the Finance Minister's head in the legislative assembly. (The Minister turned out to be a sport and when the reporter later went to the UK invited him for tea in his house).
A full time freedom fighter who still found time to write
Bhagat Singh was hanged at the age of 23. His first writing showing great political maturity was done at the age of only 16. In just seven years, he wrote many articles which are still cherished and widely read. These are still being published and re-published countless times and are also quoted time and again.
It is amazing and inspiring that Bhagat Singh wrote all this at such a young age and that too in the middle of all his other activities as a leading freedom fighter and organiser. This was possible only because of extremely hard work driven by very high levels of commitment, plus very creative use of whatever little opportunities existed. Bhagat Singh and some of his colleagues even turned their jail cells into a mini library and a campaign office.
What really helped to prepare Bhagat Singh for this role was his love for books from his childhood days. He was very well read on various struggles and freedom movements at a very young age, and this served him very well in his writings.
Despite all the restrictions imposed by colonial rule, some journals and newspapers devoted to the message of Indian freedom always continued, although these had to be closed from time to time. Bhagat Singh and his colleagues wrote mainly for these newspapers and journals including Pratap, Bande Mataram, Kirti (Punjabi) and Matwale. To escape detection, he used several pen names including Balwant Singh, Vidrohi, B.S. Sindhu.
One of Bhagat Singh's colleagues, Bhagwati Charan Vohra, was also an accomplished writer capable of tackling complex issues. His wife, Durga Devi, and her sister, Susheela, were also famous freedom fighters. In some writings under pen names, it is not clear who was the main author, or whether it was a joint effort of several close colleagues.
Bhagat Singh's first essay on the Punjabi language and script written in 1924 at the age of 16 reveals his deep thinking and commitment to communal harmony. This essay fetched the first prize (of Rs. 50) of Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan.
Most of Bhagat Singh's earlier writings are on other freedom fighters and their struggles. Chand journal brought out a special issue on freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives and Bhagat Singh contributed to this. He also translated Dan Breen's "My Fight for Irish Freedom' into Hindi. In his later writings, he wrote more about the basic values and programmes which he wanted to spread for achieving freedom, equality, justice and communal harmony.
In his short life Bhagat Singh worked as a journalist first in Pratap in Kanpur and later with Kirti journal in Punjab. During his escape to Delhi to flee police attention, he found a job in Vir Arjun newspaper. A colleague, Sidhant Lankar, has left memories praising Bhagat Singh's competence in handling news. But most of his work in newspapers was done as a freelance contributor.
Some of his most durable work is in the form of messages, manifestos and statements to be read out in courts of law on behalf of himself and other prisoners of the freedom movement. Seldom has such meticulous care gone into court statements prepared in jail. Bhagat Singh and his colleagues used these court statements to convey their beliefs to people in a very powerful way.
Getting the message across amid raids and secrecy
To have a wider impact, these statements and messages had to be published in at least some newspapers and this responsibility fell to those few colleagues who had not been imprisoned yet. This was a very difficult task as firstly, press statements had to be prepared with photographs of revolutionaries for greater impact.
With the technology available at that time, preparing several prints of photos and delivering them by messenger to editors was a very risky proposition. In fact, some leading revolutionaries were apprehended by the police with photos and blocks and sent to prison. Some newspaper offices such as those of Bande Mataram were raided and if pictures were found, strong action was taken.
When it became known that Bhagat Singh had only a few days left outside prison walls, a decision was taken to obtain a photograph which could be widely publicised. Hence the famous photo with the hat was taken at a studio in Kashmiri Gate in Delhi. However, delivery of the prints was delayed till the newsmaker - Bhagat Singh - was already in jail.
It now became a risky proposition to go to the studio to obtain prints, but somehow these were taken, copies made and sent to many newspapers. Editors sat on these photos for several days, none daring to be the first to print, till Bande Mataram broke the impasse and was promptly raided by the police.
Chaman Lal - Reporter Extraordinaire and friend
In these difficult conditions it was very helpful to have your own man in some leading newspaper. This too was achieved when Chaman Lal joined Hindustan Times in 1925 at the age of 22. By this time he had already served first in Darpan and Bande Mataram newspapers (both associated with the freedom movement). He had already lived at an ashram in Amritsar established by Sardar Kishan Singh, father of Bhagat Singh, where the teenage Bhagat Singh also lived.
Chaman Lal had also lived with Mahatma Gandhi at his ashram and claimed to have his confidence too. But his heart was more with Bhagat Singh and he founded a Delhi branch of Naujavan Bharat Sabha while also working for Hindustan Times.
Chaman Lal's contacts in both streams of the freedom movement helped him to get very interesting news and he soon became a favourite of HT editor J. N. Sahni, who recalled later that Chaman Lal 'had the devil's energy and an insatiable curiosity for news" and that as a local reporter" he had few equals." As soon as he had finished his reporting duties, Chaman Lal would take to the streets and start beating a drum to attract people for his Naujawan Sabha meetings.
His presence in a leading paper like HT enabled the revolutionaries to get in some news and pictures of their liking. There is some indication that Bhagat Singh gave Chaman Lal advance information of some critical actions so that these could be well covered later in the newspaper.
Chaman Lal the revolutionary could not always control his feelings and so it was that he dropped a box on the Finance Minister in the Legislative Assembly. He lost his press pass after this. He was arrested twice, his second release taking place on the basis of a surety by Maulana Azad. In 1937, he wrote a book 'The Vanishing Empire' predicting that the British Empire would collapse by 1947. After independence he became a Buddhist monk.
It is clear that revolutionaries worked with dedication and a lot of creativity to obtain and use whatever media space they could within the constraints of those days. Bhagat Singh himself wrote tirelessly in four languages - Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu (He also had some grasp of Bangla). Some of his classics like 'Why I Am An Atheist' were written originally in English. Such tireless and dedicated efforts will always remain inspiring for members of the media.
References:
1. Bhagat Singh Aur Unke Sathiyon Ke Dastavez, edited by Jagmohan Singh and Chaman Lal, Rajkamal Prakashan, N.Delhi
2. Sardar Bhagat Singh, Patra Aur Dastavez, edited by Virendra Sandhu, Rajpal , Delhi
3. Shahid Bhagat Singh Aur Unke Vichar, Bharat Dogra, Jagmohan Singh, Madhu Dogra, Social Change Papers, Delhi
4. Bhikshu Chaman Lal, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Oral History Transcript
5. Kama Maclean, a Revolutionary History of Interwar India, Penguin Books.
Bharat Dogra is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and initiatives. He is the co-author of a book and two booklets on Shahid Bhagat Singh.