Revision as of 18:03, 9 November 2016

A ‘revolutionary terrorist’?

‘Bhagat Singh called himself a terrorist’

The Times of India, May 02 2016

Akshaya Mukul

Bhagat Singh himself said he was terrorist: Habib

Eminent historian Irfan Habib has come to the defence of Bipan Chandra and other historians who together authored India's Struggle for Independence in 1988. The book which has been part of Delhi University's history curriculum and refers to fredom fighter Bhagat Singh as a “revolutionary terrorist“ has been at the centre of controversy recently .

Habib said, “I did not agree with many points in the book but calling Bhagat Singh revolutionary terrorist was not wrong.“ He said Hindustan Republican Socialist Association to which Bhagat Singh belonged had itself in its resolution of 1929 had used the word terrorist. “In fact, HRSA 's manifesto of 1929 distributed during the Lahore session of the Congress said `we are being criticised for our terrorist policies but we are resorting to terror in response to British terror',“ Habib said.

He also pointed to Bhagat Singh's rejoinder to Mahatma Gandhi's criticism of terror activity in which he had said that terrorism in itself is not revolution but no revolution is complete without terror.

Habib said that in later stage of his life, Bhagat Singh had admitted that he was terrorist for some time in the beginning. Terrorist and terror have become pejorative words now because innocent people are being killed by them, he pointed out.

A brand name

The Times of India, May 08 2016

Joeanna Rebello 

The revolutionary is fast turning into an urban pop culture icon with his face on everything from bags and bric-a-brac to mugs and mobile covers. Capitalism Zindabad!

Bhagat Singh merchandise on line -a screen-printed T-shirt and a backpack are quite common. Now and then, the question remains that can we term him a "revolutionary terrorist"!

Stopping the sale and distribution of the Hindi edition of historian Bipan Chandra's book India's Struggle for Independence, capitulating to ABVP protests over the book's references to Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary terrorist.Whether or not the rest of the country's 18-35-year-olds approve of, or even know of the disputed description, the protagonist himself has their unequivocal vote.

For young hipsters, Singh is a desi daredevil, a rebel with a cause, a man of the hour.Literally . He gazes out from watches and wall clocks, but he's also on mugs, wallets, cushions, laptop skins, key-chains, lamps, mobile covers and even wall decals, bearing either of the two versions of his iconic image -turbaned or hatted. The more abstract art pictures him in fractals, or simply with the legend `Shaheed' or `Inquilab Zindabad' and a grim noose; some only feature a waxed moustache, shorthand like Gandhi's wire-rim glasses.

The universe of Bhagat Singh merchandise on e-commerce sites has exploded in the last year or two, generating new product forms every month. “I come from Punjab, where Bhagat Singh is very popular, so I thought people elsewhere would love him too. I believe his rebelliousness appeals to young people,“ says Puneet Gupta, co-founder of the merchandise e-store Poster Guy, which retails goods printed with graphic art sourced from designers across the country. Their `Bhagat Singh' range debuted around Independence Day last year.