K. L. Johar

Udham Singh stood smiling and unruffled. He showed no sign of fear or nervousness. A minute earlier, he had shot dead Sir Michael O’Dyer, a former Governor of Punjab who had perpetrated the carnage at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919.

It was at Caxton Hall in London on March 13, 1940. Sir Michael had just finished his speech at the meeting organised jointly by the Royal Asian Society and the East India Association when Udham Singh pumped five bullets into his body from close range and killed him instantaneously: his life’s aim had been accomplished. The vow, he had taken on the night of April 13, 1919, to avenge the genocide at Jallianwala Bagh, had taken 21 years to fulfil. Life had no meaning for him after this and as such death did not scare him. He made no attempt to escape, though, it was easy enough for him to do so as everyone in the hall was running helter-skelter in panic.

On the other hand, he offered himself for arrest in the same way as Bhagat Singh, and B.K. Dutt had done after throwing a bomb in the Central Assembly at Delhi, on April 8, 1929, or as Madan Lal Dhingra had done on July 1, 1909 after shooting Sir Curzon Wylie at the Imperial Institute (London).

In a statement in the court on April 2, 1940, he gave his name as Ram Mohammad Singh D’Souza Azad. It was a clear signal of secularism so badly needed in his country where an unrelenting struggle for freedom was on. It is also a lesson for such petty-minded politicians who, in order to meet their petty political ends, resorted to communalise every issue under the sun. It reminded one of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose who had initiated a common kitchen for INA jawans of all communities i.e. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians in Japan in 1943-44, when even the hawkers at the railway station cried ‘Hindu pani’, ‘Muslim pani’ & so on. Revolutionaries like Udham Singh knew no religion except the “religion of patriotism”.

Udham Singh refused to engage a defence counsel although Indians in London had raised funds for the purpose. He advised his friends to spend the money thus raised for the country’s freedom struggle. With a rare sense of courage and confidence, he said in the court on April 2, 1940: “I have shot Michael O’Dyer to make a protest. It has been long wait. It was my duty to do so. I have seen people suffering and starving in India under British imperialism. I do not mind what sentence I got: 10, 20, or 50 years or be hanged.” “The court need not waste its time any more and pronounce its judgement,” he concluded.

His confession was loud and clear. He seemed to be eager to kiss the gallows. He had a sense of fulfilment after having eliminated the perpetrator of the ghastly crime in Punjab. It was a red-letter day in his life and he was feeling the thrill of his bold revolutionary action to the marrow of his bones.

And yet if one looks into his lineage and family background, one would not believe that he would rise to such pinnacle of glory in the history of India’s freedom movement. Born on December 28, 1899, at Sangrur in Punjab, Udham Singh was deprived of parental affection at a very young age. He was not yet two, when his mother died and his father, Sardar Tehal Singh, expired when he was not yet even five.

He and his elder brother, Sadhu Singh lived in utter penury. A roving minstrel and the religious preacher, Chanda Singh, saved the two brothers from the company of gypsies and put them at an orphanage in Putlighar, Amritsar. It was here that his elder brother died leaving him alone. But by this time, he had been schooled into patience and struggle in the face of ‘rough and tumble’ of life. It was here that he passed his matriculation examination.

The introduction of the Rowlatt Act was the last straw on the camel’s back. Indians were fretting and fuming. But they were a helpless lot. Mahatma Gandhi’s appearance on the political scene had made some difference. The Mahatma had given a call for a week-long protest against the draconian measures. Vociferous protests were held all over the country from April 6 to 13, 1919. At Amritsar too, thousands of people gathered together in Jallianwala Bagh for a peaceful assembly. But little did they know about the barbaric designs of the British imperialists who targeted their machine guns at unarmed persons, killing 379 and injuring over 1500. It was a cruel bloodbath. The trigger-happy British soldiers had no sanctity for human life. “Streets were seen littered with human flesh and stray dogs were busy tearing flesh from dead bodies besmeared with blood”.

The young Udham Singh was also among those wounded. He had seen the enactment of the sordid and ghastly drama. It was here that he took a vow to kill the chief actor of the drama — Michael O’Dyer, who settled in London after his retirement.

Udham Singh also left India. His first sojourn was the USA where he sensed in full measure the joy of freedom. His contact with “Ghadar Party leaders like Lala Hardayal sharpened his resolve to kill Michael O’Dyer. He is reported to have come back to India along with 25 friends on a specific invitation from Bhagat Singh, whom he held in high esteem. He was arrested at Lahore for possessing illegal weapons and after a summary trial was awarded four years’ rigorous imprisonment. Released in 1932, he was under constant police surveillance.

But he left for Germany in 1933 and later for England, where he pursued an engineering course. While in England, he never lost sight of his vow for a single moment. He had purchased six chamber revolver and plenty of ammunition. Dressed as a pageboy-cum-chauffeur, he had closely surveyed the area where Michael O’Dyer lived.

The day of reckoning came earlier than Udham Singh had expected. He read in a paper that Michael O’Dyer would be visiting Caxton Hall on March 13, 1940. He sauntered undauntingly into the vicinity of the place and dodging the security network, he sneaked into the hall and killed him. It was a moment of absolute bliss for him.

Judicial verdict was a foregone conclusion. His bold and unequivocal confession had made the jury’s task easier. He was sentenced to death and died a martyr at Pentolville prison on July 31, 1940. His ashes were brought to India long after Independence. His martyrdom will always occupy a distinguished place in the galaxy of revolutionary patriots who laid down their lives on the altar of country’s freedom.

Today as we observe Udham Singh’s martyrdom day, it would be worthwhile to emulate the values of courage, secularism and patriotism so fondly cherished by him and for which he lived and died for.

The writer is Vice-Chancellor of Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar.

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Courtesy: The Tribune: July 31, 1998