Bhagat Singh and his ideals have only grown in popularity and relevance, says his kin

Politicians of all hues remember Bhagat Singh and use his legacy only when it suits them unlike the youth who still idolises him, the late revolutionary’s niece Gurjeet Kaur Dhatt and nephew Hakumat Singh Malhi have said

Politicians of all hues remember Bhagat Singh and use his legacy only when it suits them unlike the youth who still idolises him, the late revolutionary’s niece Gurjeet Kaur Dhatt and nephew Hakumat Singh Malhi have said.

They were talking to The Hindu at Fort Kochi on Tuesday. Hakumat Singh’s wife Surinder Kaur was also present. They are in Kerala as part of the release of the book Hasrat Mohani Inquilabinte Idimuzhakkam, the biography of activist and freedom fighter Hasrat Mohani, held at Valiyachudukadu in Alappuzha on Monday.

Ms. Dhatt said that the patriotism and nationalism being propagated in modern-day India had nothing to do with the ideas that Bhagat Singh epitomised during the freedom movement. “They are totally different. Politicians create fissures in society by dividing people based on caste and religion for their selfish interest of garnering votes. They don’t want people to sway in favour of the ideals of Bhagat Singh,” she said.

Politicians celebrate Bhagat Singh but does nothing to take forward his ideas for the well being of the people. Bhagat Singh considered humanity as his God and wanted to serve the people. In the more than 75 years since the country gained Independence, the poor has turned poorer while the rich has become richer, Ms. Dhatt rued.

Bhagat Singh and the slogan Inquilab Zindabad, which was close to his heart, have only grown in popularity and relevance. Not a single agitation anywhere in the country goes without this slogan. “This was evident during the farmer’s movement when every T-shirt, vehicle and tent featured the image of Bhagat Singh. There is a renewed interest among the youth to know more about Bhagat Singh and follow his ideals. In fact, the success of that movement could also be attributed to his ideas as it followed a similar pattern of the nine-month-long protest led by Bhagat Singh against the British for the cause of farmers during the 1900s,” Ms. Dhatt said.

She had opened a library well stocked with books on revolutionaries at the Singhu border during the farmers’ protest. Hundreds of people turned up at the library daily to read and learn and during evenings they interacted among themselves, Ms. Dhatt said.