Civil society members have been trying to get the chowk named after him.
LAHORE:
“Bhagat Singh gave his life for the cause of restoring power to the people...we need more people like him today,” Baba Najmi, a Punjabi poet, said at the celebration of Bhagat Singh’s 107th birthday at Shadman Chowk on Saturday.
Nearly 300 people gathered where Bhagat Singh was hanged on March 23, 1931.
They cut a cake and held a vigil in his memory chanting “We want freedom!” and “Freedom is our right”.
Writer Farrukh Sohail Goindi said Bhagat Singh’s birthday was an important event for the working classes of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. “Today we are fighting against the feudal system to establish a people’s democracy,” he said.
Abdullah Malik, another participant, said, “We want the government to name the Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the great freedom fighter.”
The city government had decided to re-name Fawara Chowk to Bhaghat Singh Chowk in October 2012. The plan, however, was put on hold after the report of renaming drew objections and a group opposed to it held a protest demonstration.
Tehreek-i-Hurmat-i-Rasool member and Shadman traders’ Union president Zahid Butt challenged the move in the Lahore High Court. The court then restrained the city government from issuing an official notification in this regard. The hearing of the case has yet to conclude.
Bhagat Singh is an icon for the youth, said Samia Ali, a student at the Lahore School of Economics. “He taught the youth to fight for what was right without fear and to never give up,” she said, “This is why I came here today with my family...to pay tribute to the great shaheed.”
Bhagat Singh is an inspiration for the working classes, said Muhammad Abbas.
“Bhagat Singh was important in the movement against the British Raj. We want a similar revolution to establish a people’s democracy in which our rulers don’t play second fiddle to the whims of superpowers,” said Akbar Khan, a UET student.
Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907. He was hanged on March 23, 1931
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2013.
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@aqib
Havent you heard of multilingual Indians? Most of Indian speak at least 2 languages if not more. After all knowing multiple languages just enhances your creative and intellectual space.
@Ashish Rai, Well it is better to speak in in a local languauge, than to converse with each other in the English man's language all the time..kind of reflects an inferiority complex.I don't know,how your comment was related to bhagat singh's birthday.
@aqib: There's no comparison. Well you guys will never understand. A society who is ashamed of speaking their very own language Punjabi, will never understand this. By the way Urdu is not your language it is imposed on you from north Indian immigrants. Specially nawabs and other people from united province of British India. Start asking your government to recognise Punjabi Sindhi pasto languages instead of using foreign language.
@Rizwan: "Had he not died in 1931, he would have opposed the division of India and the creation of Pakistan." Aptly reflects your mind-set.Pakistani mind is set on the past,on the "ifs" and "what would have beens" fed on a make-believe history of fantasy and childish stories.No wonder that here TTP murderers are heroes ,and Malalas and Abdus-Salaams are villains.
@Talha Rizvi
Reg: Your response to @Joy, @Tony Singh, @Modified and @Jayant.
It hurts because there are fair element of truth in what they said. Truth hurts, and absolute truth hurts absolutely.
@Talha Rizvi: Educated at a madrassa?
@ Asad, you're so poor!!!!
@Jayant: Stop your propaganda troll and get out of a Pakistani news site. @Tony Singh: Soon the great Modi will take your country to new depths comparable to Germany after WWII. This is what you get by following a bigot. @Modified: Blind follower of Modi please go post your venom in an Indian Paper so you will get into the hearts of 1.20 billion Indians but please get out of here. @Joy: I have lost count of how many Indian trolls spread their venom in this website sometimes by pretending to be Pakistanis. @Raj: Who wants your opinion?
@Rizwan: " ... Why are these misguided and confused Pakistanis celebrating Bhagat Singh? ... "
I am with you on this. In front of towering personalities such as Muhammad-ibn-Qasim, Ahmed Shah Abdali, Veer Bhagat Singh is pretty much nothing. I, on the other hand would like to see his image on my currency.
I am ashamed of those Pakistanis who are belittling Bhagat Singh. He was born in Jaranwala hanged in Lahore, what he had to do with present day India?
It is mentality of those people who wont even flinch if they hear of deaths of Christians, Hindus or Ahmadis in Pakistan because they believe in the ideology of people who used to say NA PAKISTAN and KAFIR E AZAM at the time of partition and now have become thekaydars of this country.
It is so shameful to discriminate a pre partition freedom fighter just because of his religion. Shaheed Bhagat Singh laid his life for the cause of freedom which you and me do not deserve.
@Lohana
Well said.
EXPRESS TRIBUNE
You block so many normal and good comments but today you let5 the very first comment in this blog be so hateful and so pathetic.
What Asad said is less stupid and pathetic than what you have done.
@ Shamima:" How about celebrating the birthday of Afzal Guru. Remember Afzal Guru everyone…hanged in January by the Indian Authorities for demanding the Freedom of Kashmir. Name a chowk after him too please." pls go ahead and name another one after Osama, yet another after Khalid Sheikh Mohmmad..etc etc...I bet you will run out of chowks but not the names for them:)
How about celebrating the birthday of Afzal Guru. Remember Afzal Guru everyone...hanged in January by the Indian Authorities for demanding the Freedom of Kashmir. Name a chowk after him too please.
Belonging to a devout Muslim family does not make a smaller fan of Bhagat Singh, who laid his life in the way of freedom. The more I study of him, the more I love. My religion does not teach me to only praise my co-religion humans. Rather, his readiness to die and understanding of true social justice for all humans should be made part of syllabus in Punjab at least. Our recent love for extremism has blurred o vision.
@Asad: Naturally u wont be interested in a person who sacrificed his life fighting the brutal colonial rule. After all ur Muslim League was cozying up to them. Even Farooq Haider Maududi exposed that hypocrisy. All u fanatic ppl care abt is some mullah howling n spewin ven0m against non-muslims. And Shaheed e Hind Bhagat Singh is a hero an will always remain one. He doesnt need recognition from a NOBODY like U.
@Asad: Dear you shouldnt write like this about bhagat singh, he is our hero, please dont take everyting and every personality in religious context,,,he never lived in free india..he born and died in Pakistan....
@Asad: You just cannot think of anything or anyone beyond his/ her religion. No wonder Pakistan is in a state it is in.
Who cares?? He's not "OUR FREEDOM" fighter. Its not a news for us.
A great report. Bhaghat singh's story is not told properly even in India due to his connection to the Communist party of undevided India. Thanks for this story.
@Asad::::Bhagat Singh (28 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. Yor or me are having freedom due to his sacrifices.....
Why are these misguided and confused Pakistanis celebrating Bhagat Singh? Bhagat Singh was an atheist Indian nationalist who was against the division of India. Had he not died in 1931, he would have opposed the division of India and the creation of Pakistan.
@Asad - Why should you be interested? Bhagat was a son of the soil and not an foreign invader importing foreign culture. Who wants desi stuff when you have imported ones.
For many Punjabis, history begins at 1947. So naturally, they've disowned Bhagat Singh along with the other 5,000 or so years of their history.
This why we do not succeed in moving forward as we do not know our past. Ignorant people will always put hurdles in a non-serious issue. It is a Sikh/Hindu sounding name that is irking the holy few. If we had named it Ghazi chowk, no one would obkect.
Thanks ET for brining this to all attention.
Compare to Bengal anti-British revolutionaries and their revolution efforts, the revolutionaries and their activities in Punjab were 'peanut'. However, all revolutionaries should be equally respected by future generations of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
@Asad: You betray so much knowledge about Bhagat Singh in that cryptic condemnation of Bhagat Singh. In a hurry to catch the metro to work in Wall street ? Or rushing to prayer ?
Bhagat Singh made a great contribution to independence in the sub continent. That is history which cannot be changed. If you would rather not accept the truth, at least don't deny it. Just keep quiet... that would be the decent thing to do.
@Asad: Shame on you Pakistanis. Bhagat Sing was born in Pakistan and died in Pakistan. He never lived in free India. You are not interested in him simply because he was not a Muslim? By the way Bhagat Singh does not need your recognition. He is in the hearts of 1.20 billion Indians.
Would they celebrate the birthday of a Kashmiri freedom fighter?(more relevant in the present)...I guess not.
300 ppl chanted we want freedom, buddy you are there celebrating what other freedom you want? Freedom means ppl have choices to make, majority doesn't agree, so instead of chanting slogans and sneaking via bureaucracy how about exercising some democratic ways, you know like campaigning, convincing people, hey better yet have LGB elections get elected on city council and change it :)
Pakistan's current situation is not right for these kinds of issues. Please leave Bhagat Singh and other heroes aside and focus on real issues. With one threat from terroists, this civil society will hide in their holes.
Only ET can make a news like that for a Nobody...Sorry ET no one knows about Bhagat Sing and we aint interested...Please cut your propaganda now.