Vithalbhai Patel (1873 – 1933)

  • Who was Vithalbhai Patel?
    • Elder brother of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
    • He was an Indian legislator and political leader, part of the freedom struggle.
  • Contributions:
    • He became a member of the Bombay Legislative Council.
    • He left the Indian National Congress after the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement and co-founded the Swarajya Party.
    • He was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1923.
    • The first Indian to get elected as the President (Speaker) of the Central Legislative Assembly (1925)
    • Established an independent office for the Assembly, separate from Executive control.
    • Instituted the convention of neutrality of the Speaker, exercising casting votes only to maintain the status quo.
    • Bridged colonial legislative norms to independent India’s parliamentary decorum.

Bhagat Singh (1907–1931)

Bhagat Singh was an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter (during the second phase of the revolutionary movement), socialist thinker.

Revolutionary Activities

  • Naujawan Bharat Sabha (1926): Founded in Lahore to mobilise youth against British colonial rule and promote secularism.
  • Hindustan Republican Association (HRA): Joined the revolutionary organisation, which was reorganised as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.
  • Saunders Assassination (1928): Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and other revolutionaries participated in the killing of British police officer J. P. Saunders to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
  • Central Legislative Assembly Bombing (8 April 1929): Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw non-lethal bombs in the Assembly to protest against the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill.

Ideology

  • Socialism, Secularism, Revolution, Rationalism, Anti-imperialism

Fact

  • Popularised the slogan Inquilab Zindabad, originally coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani.

Important Works

  • Why I Am an Atheist (1930)
  • To Young Political Workers (1931)
  • Letter to Young Political Workers

Death

  • Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced to death in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
  • Executed: 23 March 1931, at Lahore Central Jail.
    • Commemorated annually as Shaheed Diwas (Martyrs’ Day).

 

Source: The Indian Express