On Bhagat Singh’s 115th birth anniversary, Chandigarh airport will be renamed after him as a tribute to the great freedom fighter and this is not the first time his name is used for political affiliation. He has left behind a legacy that everyone wants to appropriate, from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress.
Bhagat Singh was executed in Lahore jail in 1931 when he was only 23 years old. The freedom fighter’s martyrdom and nationalism inspire us all and his name spells magic not just in Punjab but in Haryana as well.
The AAP government has also projected Bhagat Singh as their idol. Bhagwant Singh Mann took the oath of office at his ancestral village of Khatkar Kalan on March 16 amid slogans of “inquilab Zindabad”. The government also announced that every government office would now have the freedom fighter’s photo along with that of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. AAP government has also declared March 23, the day on which he was sent to the gallows, a state holiday. The Delhi government even wants nationalism to be inculcated in schools by invoking the image of Bhagat Singh.
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While AAP might have been the first government to appropriate Bhagat Singh on such a big scale, all the political parties have respected him.
The Haryana BJP also observed Bhagat Singh’s death anniversary on March 23 at 306 places in the state using the tagline “Mera rang de basanti chola”, where young people were led by BJP chief OP Dhankar to places associated with the freedom fighter and his companions.
In the year 2015, Narendra Modi wore a Basanti turban and became the second Prime Minister who visited Hussainiwala.
Even Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said it was his government (when he was with Congress), which had pursued the renaming of Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh with the Centre since the year 2017.
Additionally, Bhagat Singh was also an icon of the year-long farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, which were repealed in November 2021.
Bhagat Singh’s inspiration has always been ‘aazadi’ or freedom. Although it was not limited to the expelling of the British. Instead, he desired freedom from poverty, freedom from untouchability, freedom from communal strife, and freedom from every form of discrimination and exploitation.
Bhagat Singh was undoubtedly one of the most venerated figures of the Indian freedom struggle and he is still loved and venerated however most political parties only evoke this romantic image of Bhagat Singh and limit his legacy to mere nationalism.
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