IT was indeed a true homage to great revolutionary Bhagat Singh on his 80th martyrdom day in New Delhi on March 23. A well-researched book, Bhagat Singh Revisited, which highlights various aspects of his life was released on the day in the presence of eminent historians and intellectuals like Prof. Bimal Prasad, Prof. Aparna Basu, Prof. Devendra Swaroop Agrawal, Shri Triloki Nath Chaturvedi, Shri Ram Bahadur Rai, Prof. Ramchandra Pradhan, Dr Subhash Kashyap, Dr Brij Kishore Sharma, Shri Laxminivas Jhunjhunwala, Dr Meenakshi Jain, Col. Hari Singh and others.
The book has been written by a Ghaziabad-based researcher Dr Chandrapal Singh, who has been conducting research on various issues concerning the national life. It took about five years for him to complete the book. The 368 pages book has been priced at Rs 595. It has been published by Original Publisher, New Delhi.
Releasing the book, Prof. Aparna Basu, said the author Dr Chandrapal Singh has successfully presented Bhagat Singh in correct historical context. “I feel the attempts on the part of left historians to portrait Bhagat Singh as a Marxist ideologue was basically to draw benefit from his popularity. Fact is that he was not a blind follower of any ideology. He was also associated with Arya Samaj and many other ideologies,” she said.
She further said Bhagat Singh was not afraid to die. “Right from very beginning he wanted to sacrifice him for liberation of the country. He left home at the age of 16, which itself reflects the burning desire in his heart for freedom,” she said adding that all primary and secondary evidences have been looked into by the author for the book. The author studied all documents related to Bhagat Singh and went into great detail the authenticity of those documents, she added.
Presiding over the function, former Governor Shri Triloki Nath Chaturvedi described the book as unique. “The book is based on deep research and provides logical answers to the questions pertaining to Bhagat Singh. It must be translated into Hindi and some other languages so that it could reach the common man,” he said adding that Bhagat Singh could not be said a Marxist ideologue and the leftists tried to draw undue benefit from his legacy.
Noted journalist Shri Ram Bahadur Rai described the book as ‘the real tribute to Bhagat Singh on his 80th martyrdom day’. “It is indeed a shodh grantha (research book) which provides a different vision. It also tells us how we should read and look at Bhagat Singh today. The book also provides us a vision if we wish to change the present system based on his ideals,” he said. Prof. Ramchandra Pradhan said whatever Shri Chandrapal Singh wrote in the book is based on cleansing evidences.
Prof. Devendra Swaroop Agrawal, stressed the need to educate the young generation of the country about the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh. “Though, there is a long list of martyrs in our country, Bhagat Singh is different from all of them. He deliberately chose the path of martyrdom because he wanted to awaken the countrymen. Another important thing is that till April 8, 1929, the day when Bhagat Singh threw a bomb in the corridors of the assembly, the revolutionaries were called misguided patriots. Bhagat Singh changed this thinking also. Repeated attempts were made in the country during the last some years to present Bhagat Singh in a quite opposite context. This book proved them all wrong,” he said.
Earlier, introducing the book, author Dr Chandrapal Singh said Bhagat Singh was a unique personality in many forms. “His work in jail was more important than outside. The left historians presented him as more of a Marxists ideologue than a martyr and patriot. This myth has been proved wrong with cleansing facts. Much research has been done before writing the book,” he said. Prof. Bimal Prasad conducted the proceedings.
By Pramod Kumar
