Remembering Udham Singh on his death anniversary

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Shaheed Udham Singh

Udham Singh, a Punjabi revolutionary in the struggle for Independence, is one of the freedom fighters whose name fills the heart and mind of the youth with determination and dedication to do something for the sake of the nation. He was given the title of Shaheed-i-Azam (the great martyr).On this day of the year 1933, he was hanged for murdering Michael O Dwyer.

 

Born as ‘Sher Singh’ in the village Sunam in Sangrur district of Punjab, he became an orphan at an early age and was taken away by Central Khalsa Orphanage, Putlighar. After joining the orphanage, he was renamed as Udham Singh. He was an eyewitness to one of the most inhuman incidents of the world, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which painted the pages of world history in black. At a tender age, he made up his mind to kill Dwyer and take the revenge.

A well-known figure of the Indian Independence Movement, Singh also played a role in two Hollywood movies – Elephant Boy and the four feathers to earn some extra income for extending help to his party – The Gadar Party.

On March 13, 1940, a meeting of East India Association and Royal Asian Society was taking place at Caxton Hall in London which Udham Singh attended with a single-minded purpose of the assassination of former Lt Governor of Punjab, Dwyer. After the meeting, he fired on him twice. However, he did not try to run from the spot. Instead, he waited for the authorities to turn up and arrest him. His name continues to shine in the history of India’s freedom struggle and he is regarded as one of the bravest fighters.

This year, Chandumajra, an MP from Anandpur Sahib, demanded that the Parliament should have a portrait of Udham Singh. Also, his statue shall be erected at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to mark 100 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in the coming April of 2019.

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