Sukhdev Thapar, an Indian
revolutionary, was born on 15 May,
1907 in the Chaura Bazar area called Nau Ghara (nine houses), Ludhiana .
He was an Indian freedom fighter who lived from 15 May 1907 to March
23, 1931 . The name of his father was Sh. Ram Lal and Mother was
Smt. Ralli Devi. Sukhdev was organiser of revolutionary party in Punjab .
That is why the conspiracy case constituted by British Colonial Government was
waging war against King George and it was crown verses Sukhdev. It was for this
reason that he was sentenced to death by a special tribunal the proceedings of
which were bycotted by the accused persons because of biased and colonial
attitude of the judges. He is best known as an accomplice of Bhagat Singh and
Shivaram Rajguru in the killing of a British police officer in 1928 in order to
take revenge for the death of veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai due to excessive
police beating. All three were hanged in Lahore Central Jail on March 23, 1931 in the evening at 7.33 pm against all norms of hanging. The dead
bodies were secretly taken away by breaking the back walls of jail and were
seceretly burnt on the banks of River Satluj near Firozepur about 50 miles away
from Lahore. The bodies were cut into pieces to make the burial quick.
Sukhdev was an active member of
the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, being one of the seniormost
leaders. He is known to have started study circles at National
College Lahore )
in order to delve into India 's
past as well as to scrutinize the finer aspects of the world revolutionary
literature and Russian Revolution. He along with Bhagat Singh, Comrade Ram
Chandra and Bhagwati Charan Vohra started Naujawan Bharat Sabha at Lahore .
The main aims of this organization were to activate youth for freedom struggle,
inculcate a rational scientific attitude, fight communalism and end the practice
of untouchability. Sukhdev also participated in the 1929 Prison hunger strike
to protest against the inhuman treatment meted out to the inmates.
His letter to Mahatma Gandhi
written just prior to his hanging, protesting against the latter's disapproval
of revolutionary tactics, throws light on the disparities between the two major
schools of thought among Indian freedom fighers. However, Hansraj Vohra - the
man who gave the clinching testimony that resulted in the hanging of the trio,
claimed that Sukhdev had himself turned an approver. Nevertheless, this
relatively baseless contention does not detract from the tremendous courage,
patriotism and self-sacrifice that Sukhdev Thapar embodifies, as is evident in
the recent naming of a school after him in Ludhiana .
Sukhdev’s letter to Gandhi is
also a fine reflection of his ideals. “The aim of revolutionaries is to
establish a socialist republic in the country. There is no possibility of even
a slight amendment to this goal. I think you believe the revolutionaries are
irrational people who enjoy destructive actions. I want to tell you that the
truth is quite the opposite. They know their responsibilities and they hold the
constructive elements high in their revolutionary constitution even though in
the present circumstances, they have to attend to their destructive side only,”
he wrote.
