Shaheed Udham Singh's 79th Martyrdom Day; Nation Remembers Freedom Fighter Who Assassinated General Michael O’Dwyer

Freedom fighters are immortal, and Shaheed Udham Singh is one such pre-independent figure. Shaheed Udham Singh was the one who killed former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab Michael O’Dwyer on March 13, 1940.  Singh assassinated O’Dwyer to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Shaheed Udham Singh was born as Sher Singh on December 26, 1899, at Sunam in the Sangrur district of Punjab. His father, Sardar Tehal Singh Jammu, was a railway crossing watchman in the village of Upalli.

After the death of his father, Singh and his elder brother were taken in by the Central Khalsa Orphanage Putlighar in Amritsar, where he received the name of Udham Singh. He completed his matriculation in 1918 and left the orphanage in 1919. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Centenary: VP M Venkaiah Naidu Releases Postage Stamp, Rs 100 Coin to Commemorate 100 Years of Incident.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:

On April 10, 1919, Indian National Congress leaders including Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew were arrested under the Rowlatt Act. To protest against the arrests of the leaders, over twenty thousand unarmed people assembled in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on the festival of Baisakhi on April 13, 1919. During the peaceful gathering at the park, Udham Singh and his friends from the orphanage were serving water to the crowd. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Centenary: 100 Years Ago, British Raj Committed Worst Bloodbath and Inflicted Most 'Shameful Scar' on its History.

When the protest was going on, soldiers of the British Indian Army - led by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer - opened fire at unarmed and peaceful Indian protesters, including a large number of women and children. Dyer arrived at the Bagh with 50 soldiers, armed with .303 L–Enfield bolt-action rifles and blocked the only exit of the park. His team fired 1,650 rounds in about 10 minutes, stopping only when they ran out of ammunition.

The massacre is remembered as one of the deadliest attacks on peaceful civilians anywhere in the world. According to estimates, there were over 1,500 casualties of whom over 1,000 died. Michael O'Dwyer had endorsed Colonel Reginald Dyer's action regarding the Amritsar massacre and had termed it a "correct action". Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 100th Anniversary: Pakistan Puts On Display Rare Documents of Massacre at Lahore Heritage Museum.

In 1924, Udham Singh got himself involved with the Ghadar Party. In 1927, he returned to India on orders from Bhagat Singh, bringing 25 associates as well as revolvers and ammunition. He was arrested soon and was sentenced to five years of imprisonment. After his release, he escaped to Germany from where he reached London in 1934. Shaheed Udham Singh was employed as an engineer in London. Singh started forming plans to kill O’Dwyer.

On March 13, 1940, Shaheed Udham Singh took revenge of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre by killing O’Dwyer at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society where he was scheduled to speak. On April 1, 1940, Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Michael O'Dwyer, and remanded in custody at Brixton Prison.

While in custody, he called himself "Ram Mohammad Singh Azad", where the first three words of the name reflect the three major religious communities of Punjab - Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh, and the last word "azad" means free. While in jail, Singh went on a 42-day hunger strike. His trial commenced at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey. Udham Singh was hanged on July 31 in 1940. Udham Singh First Look: Vicky Kaushal Experiments His Look to Portray Sardar Udham Singh, and It Is Highly-Convincing – See Pics.

Punjab section of the Indian National Congress and the youth applauded Udham Singh’s but Mahatma Gandhi expressed disappointed on the revolutionary’s action. His remains are preserved at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2019 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).