UPSC Current Affairs – October 9, 2020

Nation is paying homage to the revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his 113th birth anniversary today on September 28, 2020. Bhagat Singh was born on this day in 1907, in Banga village of Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab province.

About Bhagat Singh

• Bhagat Singh was an Indian socialist revolutionary.
• He turned out to be a hero because of violence against the British India and his execution at young age.
• He fought against British rule for the India’s independence.
• He was hanged in Lahore jail at the age of 23, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev.

Why was he hanged?

1. Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shot a 21-year-old British police officer, John Saunders in December 1928. They mistook Saunders for the British police superintendent, James Scott whom they wanted to kill. Both of them believed Scott was responsible for death Lala Lajpat Rai.
2. Further, in April 1929, he and Batukeshwar Dutt exploded bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi. They shouted slogans there and later,� they allowed the authorities to arrest them.

Thus, he was convicted and hanged on March 23, 1931.

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)

Bhagat Singh was a� member of HSRA which was founded by Chandrasekhar Azad. HSRA was created in the light of political vacuum that was created after the Chauri-Chaura incident. HSRA had created two bomb factories, one at Firozpur. The bomb factory at the Firozpur has been declared as national monument by Government of Punjab.

Chauri Chaura incident

In 1920, Non-Cooperation movement was launched against British rule. On February 4, 1922,� protestors from the Non-Cooperation Movement clashed with police at the place called Chauri- Chaura in Gorakhpur. The police then open fired on them while protesters in return attacked and set ablaze the police station. This incident is called as Chauri-Chaura incident and it led to the suspension of the Non-Cooperation movement.