A Revolutionary’s Life: Bandi Jeewan

Bandi Jeewan by Sachindra Nath SanyalMy rating: 4 of 5 stars The book which according to a British secret report sent "more young men to the jails and gallows than any other book" is a first-hand account of the revolutionary movement in India during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. Sachindranath Sanyal, …

Krantiveer Bhagat Singh: ‘Abhyudaya’ aur ‘Bhavishya’ (Ed) Chaman Lal

One of the things that I invariably do while cleaning cupboards etc. is read the newspapers lining the shelves. Of course it tells you how tardy you have been in the cleaning (once I found the newspapers were years old and belonging to the era when newspapers in India were still b&w with no colour …

Reaction to Reading: Militant Nationalism in the Punjab (1919-1935) by Kamlesh Mohan

In 1928, the Colonial British government in India set up an all-White commission, headed by Sir John Simon. The task of the commission was to prepare the future constitution of India and yet not even a single Indian was part of this body. This insult was unacceptable to the Indians and all the major parties …

Their Fate is not the only consideration: Remembering Sukhdev on his birth-anniversary

"Since your compromise you have called off your movement and consequently all of your movement and consequently all of your prisoners have been released. But, what about the revolutionary prisoners? Dozens of Ghadar Party prisoners imprisoned since 1915 are still rotting in jails; in spite of having undergone the full terms of their imprisonments scores …

Bhagat Singh: Inquilab Zindabad

Revolution did not necessarily involve sanguinary strife. It was not a cult of bomb and pistol. They may sometimes be mere means for its achievement. No doubt they play a prominent part in some movements, but they do not – for that very reason -become one and the same thing. A rebellion is not a …