Paying Tribute to the Noble soul on his death anniversary. He was sentenced to death on this day and was hanged on July 31, 1940 at Pentonville Prison. In 1974, his remains were sent back to India and he was cremated in his village in Suna.
On 13th March 1940, Our martyr Udham Singh assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in London as a revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre .
Thev picture of Udham Singh that have been posted are tear-inducing. Think about doing this in London! And this expression on his face when he was caught!!
INTRODUCTION
▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️
Born onđš December 26, 1899,đš at the village of Sunam in Punjab’s Sangrur district, this is the story of Udham Singh, the little-known freedom fighter who promised within himself to take avenge of the pathetic Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Having lost his parents at an early age, he and his elder brother were taken in by an orphanage in Amritsar. During those time, Punjab was witness to intense political turmoil and Singh grew up observing the changes taking place around him.
In July 1940, a great son of Bharat died in Barnsbury, England, UK at the age of just 40 after taking revenge of Jalianawala Bag Massacre, in fact, Singh was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On 31 July 1940, Singh was hanged at Pentonville Prison.
13th April, 1919, The Jallianwallabag Massacre :
The Jallianwalabagh Massacre 13th April (1919) Jallianwalabagh as a disused garden at Amritsar in Punjab where thousands of People assembled for peaceful demonstrations in protest against the arrest of Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Kitchlew.
The repressive measures adopted by theGovernment in the wake of Anti-Rowlatt Act Movement ultimately culminated in the Jallianawalabag massacre. The situation in the Punjab had been uneasy for sometime. Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Michael O Dwyer ( fig middle right ) and Reginal Dyer was Colonel( fig middle left)
On 13th April, 1919 nearly ten thousand unarmed people gathered in a meeting at Jallianwallabagh, in the city of Amritsar at the Punjab. Brigadier Reginald Dyer, the military-administrator of Amritsar and without issuing any of warning fired from 50 rifles for ten consecutive minutes 1600 rounds into the crowd. The official report put the toll at 379 dead and about 1200 wounded. Not only in Amritsar, martial law was declared in the five districts of the Punjab and
barbarous repressions were continued on the people. The entire country protested vehemently and expressed their indignation against the foreign government. Gandhiji declared that
“This satanic government cannot be mended, it must be ended”.
It must be mentioned here that Rabindranath Tagore did not accept Knighthood in protest against the incident calling a monstrous progeny of a monstrous war".
BUT WAS THIS OVER, No OUR HERO TOOK THE REVENGE.
Caxton Hall, Westminster, London, 13 March 1940
Udham Singh (aka Ram Mohammed Singh Azad) Udham Singh watched the chairman of the meeting Lord Zetland, gathering up his notes as another member of the panel answered a question. He looked at his watch and saw thal it was half past four the meeting was nearly over. he Tudor Room was packed with guests and other interested parties.Two banks of chairs sat in front of the pane. with channels through the midde and to both sides ie chairs were ful as were tne channels, and Udham was standing in position to the right of the speakers, bythe first seated row. Zetland who was Secretary of State for India,put his hands to his mouth as he let out a yawn. Two places to his right sat the man Udham had come to see.
Sir Michael O'Dwyer was a distinguished-looking gentleman with silvery-white hair and pale skin. Age had caught up with him and the skin around his jaw line had begun to sag. But his eyes retained the steely determination that had seen him through his time as Governor of the Punjab two decades earlier - or at least that's what he wanted the public to believe. He sat perfectly still, listening with interest to those around him. What a shame, thought Udham, that O'Dwyer hadn't listened to the voices of the people he'd governed all those years ago. Lord Zetland brought the meeting to a close and the audience gave a small round of polite applause.
As he heard the clapping. Udham found himself drifting back to that fateful afternoon in Amritsar in 1919; to the event that had set him on this path and given his life purpose. There he was stumbling aim-lessly through the smoke-filled darkness.
For twenty-one years Udham had bided his time, travelling to many countries and planning his revenge.
Eventually he'd found himself in England, in the heart of the beast that had taken hold of his motherland.
Now here he was, a revolver tucked into his waist-band, ready to satisfy the ghosts of Amritsar; to help those restless spirits find their peace.
'So many you kill,' he whispered, directing his remark at O'Dwyer. Not that anyone could hear him. People had begun to stand up, preparing to leave.
He pushed his way through the crowd, past chatting white men and women, until he was in frontof the panel. His eyes hardened and is heart raced. He pulled out the gun. lookinig directly at ODwyer The old man seemed unable to understand what was going on at first The skin around his eves began to crease however, when the truth dawned His mouth opened and formed a perleet O.....City of Ghosts ...Bali Rai.
Others injured in the shooting included Sir Louis Dane, Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland, and Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington. Singh was arrested immediately and tried for the killing
Udham Singh was arrested and tried for the killing. On 1st April 1940, he was formally charged with the murder of Michael O Dwyer and while awaiting his trial, he went on a 42-day hunger strike where he had to be forcibly fed. Singh was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On 31st July 1940, four months after he was charged for the murder, he was hanged at Pentonville Prison.
Following his conviction, he made a speech which the judge directed should not be released to the press. However, political activists who had set up the Shaheed Udham Singh Trust and working with the Indian Workers Association (GB), ran a campaign to have the court record of his statement published along with other material.This proved successful in 1996, when his speech was published along with three further files covering the trial, and the Ghadar Directory, a document compiled by British intelligence in 1934 detailing 792 people regarded as a threat including Udham Singh.
He started the speech with a denunciation of British Imperialism:
"I say down with British Imperialism. You say India do not have peace. We have only slavery Generations of so called civilisation has brought us everything filthy and degenerating. known to the human race. All you have to do is read your own history. If you have any human decency about you, you should die with shame. The brutality and blood thirsty way in which the so called intellectuals who call themselves rulers of civilisation in the world are bastard blood . . ."
At this point he was interrupted by the judge, but after some discussion he continued:
"I do not care about sentence of death. It means nothing at all. I do not care about dying or anything. I do not worry about it at all. I am dying for a purpose.’ Thumping the rail of the dock, he exclaimed, ‘We are suffering from the British Empire.’ Udham Singh continued more quietly. ‘I am not afraid to die. I am proud to die, to have to free my native land and I hope that when I am gone, I hope that in my place will come thousands of my countrymen to drive you dirty dogs out; to free my country.
"I am standing before an English jury. I am in an English court. You people go to India and when you come back you are given a prize and put in the House of Commons. We come to England and we are sentenced to death.’
"I never meant anything; but I will take it. I do not care anything about it, but when you dirty dogs come to India there comes a time when you will be cleaned out of India. All your British Imperialism will be smashed.’
"Machine guns on the streets of India mow down thousands of poor women and children wherever your so-called flag of democracy and Christianity flies.’
"Your conduct, your conduct – I am talking about the British government. I have nothing against the English people at all. I have more English friends living in England than I have in India. I have great sympathy with the workers of England. I am against the Imperialist Government.’
"You people are suffering – workers. Everyone are suffering through these dirty dogs; these mad beasts. India is only slavery. Killing, mutilating and destroying – British Imperialism. People do not read about it in the papers. We know what is going on in India."
At this point the judge refused to hear any more, but Singh continued:
"You ask me what I have to say. I am saying it. Because you people are dirty. You do not want to hear from us what you are doing in India.
He then thrust his glasses back into his pocket, and exclaimed three words in Hindustani and then shouted:
'Down with British Imperialism! Down with British dirty dogs!"
He turned to leave the dock, spitting across the solicitor’s table...... Wikipedia
On 31 July 1940, Singh was hanged at Pentonville Prison.
