The Last Word

by Roopinder Singh & Vibha Sharma

Courageous and charismatic, this is one woman who has lived life on her own terms. She has also rubbed many an important person the wrong way in the process of achieving her goals. She attracts cameras, has recently shown her ability to work crowds, and in the process, attracted much ire from political leaders.

Kiran Bedi, a caricature by Sandeep Joshi

She is totally unapologetic about caricaturing politicians on stage, or identifying Anna with India during the recent popular protest against corruption, in which she played a leading role. But then, Kiran Bedi, 62, is not known to have been apologetic about anything, be it managing crowds by leading from the front, taking action against a car from the Prime Minister’s pool that was illegally parked, or reforming Tihar Jail when she was posted there as Inspector General of Police. The first, at the beginning of her career, had male students screaming, “Bobby go back” even as they backed off while she charged at them. The second earned her the ‘Crane Bedi’ title, and the third contributed to her getting the prestigious Magsaysay Award.

Kiran Peshwaria grew up in Amritsar, living in the comfort and security of a large family that had land holdings as well as a dharamshala and hotels like the Volga and Savoy. “Amritsar was a safe, clean city for me to grow up in,” says Kiran Bedi. She would cycle down to her school, Sacred Heart, and college, Government College for Women. Later, she bought herself a Luna moped. She and her three sisters had access to “facilities and opportunities” like tennis courts, and they made full use of them, winning tournaments, and travelling.

Playing tennis well led to participating in tournaments in Amritsar, and for Punjab. It also gave her the first brush with sports bodies that worked on considerations other than merit. “It was my first brush with official corruption and because of these officials, I lost out on many opportunities,” she recollects.

After Amritsar, she moved to Chandigarh as a student, and is particularly proud of getting both a sports and an academic scholarship at Panjab University, Chandigarh, where she studied for her MA in political science with teachers like JC Anand and MM Puri. On the debating side, she sparred with the likes of Mac Sarin, now a noted local lawyer, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.

A teaching stint took her back to Amritsar and then came the call of the uniform. She became India’s first woman police officer. “Being the first woman IPS officer, she was always trying hard to prove that she was an equal in a man’s world,” a senior journalist recalls, recounting an incident when Kiran tackled a violent mob, using Hindi abuses just as her male counterparts would have done in the given circumstances.

Sartorially, not too many remember her in a traditional sari or a salwar kameez-dupatta ensemble. She wore shorts on the tennis courts, uniform trousers, a kurta or a shirt, a pathani style suit with a Nehru jacket or a band gala suit as in her TV show Kiran Ki Adalat.

Ironically, her male colleagues have sometimes accused her of taking advantage of her gender. “Her being a woman worked in her favour rather than being a disadvantage. Seeing a woman at the head of the Police Contingent Spectators during the 1973 Republic Day Parade, the then Prime Minister lndira Gandhi was so impressed that she invited Kiran for breakfast the very next day. Would any male officer get the same privilege?” asks a senior serving IPS officer, who requested anonymity.

She understood the power of media even in the days when the maddening 24×7 media channels were not there to follow her every move. She engaged the media effectively, whether it was as DCP (Traffic) when she controlled traffic during the 1982 Asian Games, towing away offending vehicles without caring for their VIP owners.

She met Anna only on November 14, 2010 at the ‘India Against Corruption’ rally near Jantar Mantar on Parliament Street in Delhi that called for registering of an FIR against corruption in the Commonwealth Games. Her media management skills were well utilised by her Team Anna colleagues.

Labelled a “hardliner” during negotiations with politicians during Anna’s fast, she openly criticised them by name. She followed the tirade against the holy cows by saying that she felt “let down” by Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi’s lack of support for the anti-corruption movement, even terming the young Congress leader as the “biggest loss of faith in our trust”.

Courting several controversies in her career, it has not always been an easy run for Kiran. She was transferred out of offices for trying to turn things around or at times proving too difficult for others in command. When she was posted as IG Chandigarh, she was accused of instigating junior officers to defy the administration.

She has been controversial. She is charged with walking away without completing her tenure on at least two occasions. “She left her post as SP Goa and DIG range (Mizoram) without permission. The Mizoram Governor even issued a formal note of displeasure for leaking information to the Press,” a senior police officer said.

Cribbing and complaints apart, Kiran continues to be an inspiring public figure. In 1977, she put an end to the Akali-Nirankari riots at India Gate and as DCP (West Delhi) in 1979 broke up the 200-year-old illicit liquor trade. In 1985, as DCP (headquarters) she ordered 1,600 pending promotions to be made in a single day. Standing instructions were issued that if any file were not cleared within three days, the person concerned would be called personally to explain the delay. In 1993, as the Inspector-General of Tihar Jail (9,100 inmates, including 300 women) she turned the unliveable jail into a humane institution that focused on educating prisoners.

She has her fans. Eminent writer Khushwant Singh in one of his columns described Kiran as “the gutsiest woman” he ever knew. She has adroitly managed to keep her personal life out of the limelight. She is married to Amritsar-based industrialist and philanthropist Brij Bedi and they have a daughter. Kiran lost her mother in 1999 and ever since her father has been staying with her. She enjoys a great relationship with her sisters, Sashi, who teaches philosophy in Canada; Rita, a London-based expert on autistic children, and Anu, a San Francisco-based immigration expert.

After leaving the police force, she has concentrated on her NGOs, Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation. When the Income Tax Department sent notices for scrutiny to these two NGOs regarding certain exemptions enjoyed by them under various provisions of the Income Tax Act, she typically refused to see a conspiracy in that, saying there was no evidence of it.

“We are in the process of getting ISO 9001 certification for these NGOs and the chartered accountant is competent to answer these queries,” said an unruffled Kiran.

A woman can do anything, it is said. Well, here’s one who has been a lecturer, a tennis champion, a debater, a police officer, a social activist, an actor, a television show host, a columnist, an author, an inspirational speaker, and an inspiration for both TV serials and even a film, Tejaswani. She lives life on her terms, and seems to enjoy every moment of it.

This article was published as the Last Word column in The Tribune on October 6, 2011. It was also simultaneously published in Dainik Tribune and Punjabi Tribune.

The Tribune, October 6, 2011

Dainik Tribune, October 6, 2011

Punjabi Tribune, October 6, 2011

He’s a dream weaver. The tech czar, who gave the bits and bytes of a binary world an artistic touch, has made millions crave for his iConic Apple gadgets

ROOPINDER SINGH

Steve Jobbs Illustration by Sandeep Joshi

HE did all the things top achievers are not supposed to do: dropped out of college, popped ‘acid’, took off from home in search of spiritualism … but then, nothing succeeds like success. Today, he is recognised as the super-successful man who came back after being thrown out of the company he co-founded to make it the most valuable company in the world.
Steven Paul Jobs had much stacked against him when he was born on February 24, 1955, at San Francisco, California. Abdulfattah Jandali and Joanne Simpson, his biological father and mother and University of Wisconsin graduate students, gave him for adoption since they were not married at that time. He got love and affection from Paul and Clara Jobs who adopted him, but not many material things. Paul was a machinist and did not have much money, so Steve grew up in a house that did not even have a colour TV in Palo Alto, where the family moved soon after Steve was adopted.
Tall and lanky (he is 6′2″) Steve went to Cupertino Junior High School and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. He met his first girlfriend, Chris-Ann Brennans, at Homestead. Steve often attended lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California. It was there in 1969 that he met someone older who shared his first name and was called Woz by all.
The Jobs stretched their budget to make good their promise to Steve’s biological parents that they would provide him with college education. However, fate had something else in store for him. He did enrol in Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1973, only to drop out after one semester. It was in 1974 that he got a job at the game-maker Atari, but he left it and took a backpacking trip to India with a friend. Jobs became a Buddhist, and went back to California.
By next year, Steve and Wozniak began assembling Apple computers and selling them to hobbyists. Later, Steve showed off his Apple I at various computer forums, and by 1976 he, Wozniak and Ron Wayne had formally formed Apple Computer Inc.
Apple II, introduced in 1978, became a huge hit in the US. Another bit of news hit Jobs on the personal front. He had a daughter, Lisa. Initially, he denied that Brennan’s daughter was his, but two years later, conceded to it.
It was not Apple that invented the ubiquitous graphical user interface (GUI), but Steve saw its potential when he was shown it at a Xerox lab. He licensed the technology and incorporated it in all his computers.
The GUI liberated computer users from the world of DOS. No longer were command strings needed to use a computer, you got it out of the box, assembled it, put the power on and were greeted by the smiling Mac. You clicked on icons to launch applications. Life suddenly became simple…. Under all this was a powerful computer with well-written software programs, which did all the work but had a surprisingly well-thought-out interface that made Mac the darling of the creative community at the core of an ever- expanding Mac fan club.
Mac showcased the elegance of design, and the attention to detail that was to be a hallmark of Apple products When Mac really clicked in 1984, Steve seemed to be at the pinnacle of his glory, by having made it to the cover of the Time magazine two years earlier. The Chicago font of the original Macs saw the impact of calligraphic class on Jobs. He also credits the course for his attention to aesthetics and his obsession with design.
As he said in an interview to Playboy in 1985: “We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.”
Then came the fall. Steve was ousted from the company by the man who he had brought in as the CEO, John Sculley, in 1985.
He started a new venture NeXT, bought a film animation company and formed Pixar. Steve also rediscovered his biological mother and his sister. His biological parents had married each other after he was adopted and their daughter is a famous novelist, Mona Simpson. However, Jobs’ biological parents divorced after a few years and Steve has not reconnected with his biological father, who lives in the US NeXT cube attracted money and talent, and it became an expensive but very capable computer when it was launched in 1988. Pixar also introduced a film, Tin Toy, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Steve, too, was attracted to a 27-year-old Stanford University MBA student, Laurene Powell. He was 36 when he married her in March 1991. They had a Buddhist ceremony. They have three children and their son, Reed Paul Jobs, named after Steve’s college and father, was born in September that year. They also have two daughters, Erin (born 1995) and Eve (born 1998).
In spite of a bad beginning, Lisa Nicole and her father too have reconciled over the years. As she says in her blog: “In California, my mother had raised me mostly alone…My father was rich and renowned and later, as I got to know him, went on vacations with him, and then lived with him for a few years, I saw another, more glamorous world. The two sides didn’t mix, and I missed one when I had the other.”
Steve came back to Apple in 1997 and within a year made it profitable. With pizzazz, he introduced the revolutionary iMac, and within a year Power Mac G3. He killed the floppy drive years before others did, and introduced the USB.
Laptops were iBooks and all this was backed by a vision of software and hardware that was truly staggering. iMovie, became Apple’s first Digital Hub software. Steve became Apple’s CEO officially in 2000 and the new millennium saw the introduction of the Mac OS X and the ill-fated Power Mac G4 Cube. It is not that Apple does not make bad products, it just learns from each failure.
The Mac eco-system, in which the users got everything without stepping outside the Apple universe got a major boost with online iTunes opened on 2001, followed by one for Windows. Steve Jobs had changed forever the way we would listen to music, and in the process gave the music industry a new direction. On the personal front, however, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Yet work continued. iPhone, which was released in 2007, simply changed the way the world uses a cellphone, spawning many imitations, which are now subject of patent litigation.
So did iPad, which came into hands of millions of eager consumers last year, and yet again changed our relationship with technology. The laptop is dead? Not really, but we have a revolutionary change in our hands. As Jobs said at the 2010 speech at iPad’s debut: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing.”
What next? Much is being made of Jobs’ resignation as the CEO. His successor has been hand-picked by him. He is still the Chairman of Apple. Steve believes that he has infused Apple with the dream that was clear in 1984, when he released the Macintosh computer: “We’re gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make ‘me too’ products. Let some other companies do that. For us, it’s always the next dream.” And it lives on.

This article was published in The Tribune as Last Word on Monday, August 29, 2011.

The Last Word column on Steve Jobs published in The Tribune on Monday, August 29, 2011

Author of Mahan Kosh, the encyclopaedia in Punjabi, Bhai Kahan Singh of Nabha was a Renaissance man, who has left a lasting impact on Punjab and Punjabi scholarship. A Sikh with strong convictions, he practised what he preached, writes Roopinder Singh

Administrator, diplomat, encyclopaedist, historian, hunter, interpreter of Sikh scriptures, tennis player, tutor to an heir apparent and scholar, Bhai Kahan Singh of Nabha was, indeed, a Renaissance man, who has left a lasting impact on Punjab and Punjabi scholarship.

Bhai Kahan Singh. Watercolour by R M Singh

Widely known as the author of Mahan Kosh, the encyclopaedia in Punjabi that was published in 1930, Bhai Kahan Singh was born on August 30, 1861. His father, Mahant Narain Singh, was steeped in the Sikh tradition and was well known for his ability to recite Guru Granth Sahib.

Like many others of that time, Bhai Kahan Singh received no formal education, but was taught by tutors at home. He became well versed in Hindi, Braj Bhasha, Sanskrit, Urdu, Persian, English and, of course, Punjabi.

Bhai Kahan Singh was taught music by the famous musician, Mahant Gajja Singh. He learnt martial arts from Nihangs and was also a good shot and fond of hunting. He played the sitar and the dilruba with distinction, and was known as a soft-spoken, considerate man, who was always immaculately attired.

As an administrator, he began his innings in 1880, when he started working for Nabha state. He held administrative positions that included City Magistrate, Nazim, Mir/Munshi, Nehar Nazam. The term nazim was used for an administrator and would roughly be equivalent of Collector or Deputy Commissioner.

Bhai Kahan Singh had met British administrator Max Arthur Macauliffe in Rawalpindi in 1885. Macauliffe was engaged in research on the Sikh religion and Guru Granth Sahib. Naturally, he relied on a number of Sikhs to help him. Bhai Kahan’s first book Raj Dharam had been published a year ago, and, thus, it came as no surprise that Macauliffe asked Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha to spare Bhai Kahan Singh for three months, so that they could work together.

Years of research went into what became a six-volume work and Macauliffe often visited Nabha and other places to work with Bhai Kahan Singh who, in the meantime, had published Nanak Bhavarth Dipika (1888), Ham Hindu Nahin (1898), Gurmat Prabhakar (1898), Gurmat Sudhakar (1899), Gur Gira Kasauti (1899) and Sharab Nikhedh (1907). He had also come out with two tikas or exegeses, Jaimant Assamedh (1896) and Visnu Purana (1903).

The Sikh Religion was published by Clarendon Press, an imprint of Oxford Press, in the UK in 1907. Bhai Kahan Singh accompanied Macauliffe to London to assist him in the publication of the book. Macauliffe even transferred the copyright of the book to Bhai Kahan Singh. According to Major A. P. Singh, grandson of Bhai Kahan Singh, Macauliffe also offered his house, 10 Sinclair Road, London, to him. Bhai Kahan Singh, however, declined the offer.

Along with his literary pursuits, Bhai Kahan Singh continued to serve Nabha state and with increasing experience, and because of his ability to sort out problems, he was also given other responsibilities that included being a foreign minister, a Judge of the High Court and member of the Judicial Council, etc. He played a significant role in the framing of the Anand Marriage Act, which was proposed by Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, and as a result of which marriages were given a legal status. Like other people with means, he would spend summers in Solan and Shimla.

Bhai Arjan Singh Bagrian, Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala and Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha are seated in this 1917 picture, often said to be the only one in which the two maharajas are together. Standing on the left is Raja Gurdit Singh and on the right is Bhai Kahan Singh. Photo: Courtesy Maj A P Singh

Nabha and Patiala states did not always enjoy a positive relationship even though the rulers of both states, Maharaja Bhupindra Singh and Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, were related. However, Bhai Kahan Singh, Bhai Arjan Singh Bagrian and Raja Gurdit Singh of Retgarh played a significant role in effecting reconciliation between the two rulers.

He compiled Gurushabad Ratanakar Mahan Kosh from 1912-1930. During the years 1915-1917, he was the legal adviser to the political agency of Patiala state. Mahan Kosh, as it is commonly called, has 64,263 entries and is well known for pithiness and accuracy. Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala sponsored its publication, and now Punjabi University, Patiala, is translating it into English and Hindi.

A Sikh with strong convictions, Bhai Kahan Singh practised what he preached. His son, Bhagwant Singh, popularly known as Hari ji, wrote Dasam Granth Tuk Tatkara, and index of Dasam Granth, thus continuing his father’s legacy.

Bhai Kahan Singh passed away on November 23, 1938. The sequential celebrations of Bhai Kahan Singh’s birth anniversary are being held at various venues in Punjab. As people reflect on his rich legacy, it is only natural that they should also salute this Renaissance man, Punjab’s pioneering encyclopaedist.

This article was published in the Spectrum section of The Tribune on Sunday, August 27, 2011

You may also want to read an article I wrote about Bhai Kahan Singh earlier, which was published on November 21, 2oo4.

Article on Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha published in Spectrum supplement of The Tribune on Sunday August 28, 2011.

रूपिंदर सिंह

प्रतिबद्ध वार्ताकार, ज्ञानशील, जोशीला व प्रशंसनीय - इनमें किसी भी एक गुणवाला युवा फूलकर कुप्पा हो सकता है। लेकिन अगर किसी एक व्यक्ति में ये सभी, बल्कि इनसे भी कहीं बहुत ज्यादा गुण हों तो क्या होगा? निस्संदेह वह एक गाथा होगा - शहीद। यह शख्स था ही ऐसा कि अगर शहीद शब्द न जोड़ा जाये तो उसका नाम अधूरा लगता है। स्वतंत्रता सेनानी भगतसिंह शहीद के रूप में अमर हो गये हैं जिन्होंने अपने कारनामों से देश का इतिहास बदलने में सहयोग दिया।

क्या यह केवल उनका बलिदान ही था जिसने भगत सिंह को महान बनाया? नहीं, बिल्कुल नहीं। इस शब्द के बारे में और भी बहुत कुछ है जो 24वां जन्मदिन भी नहीं मना पाया था लेकिन अपनी शहादत के 80 साल बाद भी प्रेरक विरासत छोड़ गया है इतना कि असंख्य राजनीतिक गुट उसे सहेजना चाहते हैं।
भगत सिंह को समझना मुश्किल है। हालांकि उन्हें लंबी जिंदगी नहीं मिली लेकिन उनका जीवन घटनाओं से ओत-प्रोत रहा, उनके आसपास की घटनाओं ने उनकी मानसिकता को शक्ल दी। फलत: उन्होंने इतहास को आकार देने पर बहुत असर डाला।
भगत सिंह के बचपन के दिनों पंजाब अशांत था। वह बारह साल के थे जब 13 अप्रैल, 1919 को ब्रिगेडियर जनरल रेगिनाल्ड डायर ने अपने सैनिकों को जलियांवाला बाग, अमृतसर में जमा निहत्थी भीड़ पर गोली चलाने का आदेश दे दिया। दस मिनट में 1600 गोलियां चलायी गयीं। सरकारी सूत्रों के अनुसार 379 लोगों की मौत हुई जबकि अन्य के मुताबिक करीब एक हजार मौतें हुईं और दो हजार घायल हो गये। भारतीय इतिहास की यह सर्वाधिक वीभत्स घटना है।
यद्यपि उनकी प्रारंभिक शिक्षा डिस्ट्रिक्ट बोर्ड प्राइमरी स्कूल बंगा जिला लायलपुर से हुई, जो अब पाकिस्तान में है, भगत सिंह उस समय डीएवी हाई स्कूल लाहौर में पढ़ रहे थे जिसे उस समय राजद्रोहात्मक गतिविधियों की नर्सरी माना जाता था। भगत सिंह ने ढेरों पुस्तकें पढ़ी और धाराप्रवाह उर्दू में उन्होंने महारत हासिल कर ली। उन्होंने अपने दादा  अर्जुन सिंह को पहला पत्र इसी भाषा में लिखा।
20 फरवरी, 1941 को जब वह 14 साल के ही  थे तब वे गुरुनानक जी के जन्मस्थान ननकाना साहिब में थे।  वहां एक घटना ने उन पर बड़ा गहरा प्रभाव छोड़ा। ननकाना साहिब के कस्टोडियन नारायणदास और उनके आदमियों ने अकाली प्रदर्शनकारियों पर गोलियां चला दी। इस फायरिंग की व्यापक तौर पर निंदा हुई और तब तक एक संघर्ष चला जब तक इस ऐतिहासिक गुरुद्वारा का कब्जा दोबारा से सिखों को नहीं मिल गया। भगत सिंह ने ननकाना साहिब जाने वाले श्रद्धालुओं की रास्ते में पड़ते अपने गांव में लंगर में सेवा की।
1923 में जैतो मोर्चा के समय वह 16 साल के थे, जब नाभा के महाराजा रिपुदमन सिंह की बहाली को लेकर अकालियों ने संघर्ष छेड़ा था। नाभा के महाराजा देशभक्तों के प्रति सहानुभूति रखते थे। इस असंतोष और दमन के वातावरण में भगत सिंह जैसे शहीद तैयार हो रहे थे।

Bhagat Singh, Dainik Tribune

16 साल की उम्र तक भगत सिंह ने यह तय कर लिया था कि उसे अपने जीवन में क्या करना है- वह देश को आजादी दिलाने के अपने काम के प्रति समर्पित हो गये। ऐसे करते समय उन्होंने बी जी गोखले और उनके समर्थकों के संवैधानिक दृष्टिïकोण को नहीं माना। महात्मा गांधी का असहयोग आंदोलन उन्हें ज्यादा देर तक नहीं रोक सका। भगत सिंह को क्रांतिकारी रास्ता  ज्यादा सही लगा, हालांकि ब्रिटिश राज का सामना करते समय हिंसा के रास्ते का भी सामना करना था।
भगत सिंह ने 1923 में लाहौर के नेशनल कालेज में दाखिला लिया। भगत सिंह ने शैक्षिक तौर पर अपनी एक सकारात्मक छाप छोड़ी। वह कालेज की ड्रामैटिक सोसायटी के सदस्य भी थे। इस समय तक वह उर्दू, हिंदी,गुरमुखी, इंग्लिश और संस्कृत में धारा-प्रवाह बोलना सीख गये थे।
वर्ष 1923 में पंजाब हिंदी साहित्य सम्मेलन द्वारा करवाए गए निबंध मुकाबले में भगत सिंह विजेता बने थे। इसमें पंजाब की समस्याओं पर चर्चा की गई थी।
उन्होंने हिंदुस्तान सोशलिस्ट रिपब्लिकन एसोसिएशन ज्वाइन की। एक वर्ष बाद उनके परिवार वालों ने उन पर शादी का दबाव बनाया। शहीदे आजम भगत सिंह नहीं चाहते थे कि देश के गुलाम रहते शादी के चक्कर में पड़ें। बल्कि उनका यह पक्का विश्वास था कि गुलामी में तो उनकी शादी केवल मौत से ही हो सकती है और इतिहास इस बात का गवाह है कि 23 मार्च 1931 को ऐसा ही हुआ।
शादी के लिए परिवार के दबाव के चलते उन्होंने लाहौर में अपना घर छोड़ दिया और कानपुर चले गये। वे घर छोड़ते वक्त अपने पिता के लिए एक पत्र छोड़ गए जिसमें उन्होंने लिखा-’उनका जीवन एक महान उद्देश्य को समर्पित है और वह है देश की आजादी। इस उद्देश्य की प्राप्ति के लिए कोई भी प्रलोभन उन्हें रोक नहीं सकता।’
भगत सिंह को 1927 में काकोरी ट्रेन लूट के मामले में गिरफ्तार किया गया। लाहौर में दशहरा मेला में बम विस्फोट के लिए भी भगत सिंह को जिम्मेदार माना गया। बाद में अच्छे बर्ताव के कारण उन्हें 60,000 रुपये की भारी सुरक्षा राशि के बदले रिहा कर दिया गया।
सितंबर 1928 में दिल्ली में कीर्ति किसान पार्टी के बैनर तले विभिन्न क्रांतिकारियों की एक बैठक बुलाई गई। भगत सिंह इस बैठक के सचिव थे। उसके बाद इस एसोसिएशन के नेताओं ने कई क्रांतिकारी गतिविधियां कीं।
लाला लाजपत राय को अंग्रेजों ने जिस निर्ममता से मारा, उससे उनका खून खोल उठा था। वे इस घटना के जिम्मेदार ब्रिटिश अधिकारियों को सबक सिखाना चाहते थे और इसीलिए उन्होंने सांडर्स को मौत के घाट उतार दिया था। बाद में भगत सिंह व बटुकेशवर दत्त ने एक अन्य क्रांतिकारी कदम उठाते हुए असेंबली में  बम फेंका। तब उन्हें गिरफ्तार कर जेल में भेज दिया गया।
बहुत आयामी व्यक्तित्व के धनी भगत सिंह अपने क्रांतिकारी साथियों के थे और वे उन पर अटूट विश्वास रखते थे। दशकों बाद भी हरेक युवक के वे आइकॉन हैं। राजनीतिक पार्टियां तब भी और अब भी उन्हें अपना ही कहती हैं।
हमें भगत सिंह के प्रति कृतज्ञ होना चाहिए कि उन्होंने अपने लेखों व डायरियों के जरिए उच्च मानडंड स्थापित किये। उन्होंने जुल्म और शोषण पर टिकी व्यवस्था बदलने के लिए अपना जीवन न्यौछावर कर दिया। 23 मार्च, 1931 को भगत सिंह, राजगुरु और सुखदेव को लाहौर में फांसी पर लटका दिया गया। वे एक राष्ट्रवादी, एक हीरो और युवा थे जो कइयों के प्रेरणास्रोत बने।

This article by Roopinder Singh was published in Dainik Tribune on March 23, 2011

ਮੁੱਕਦੀ ਗੱਲ

ਰੂਪਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ

ਪ੍ਰਤੀਬੱਧ, ਵਿਚਾਰਸ਼ੀਲ, ਮੋਹ ਭਿੱਜਿਆ….ਜਦੋਂ ਇਹੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ਣ ਕਿਸੇ ਨੌਜਵਾਨ ਨਾਲ ਜੁੜ ਜਾਣ ਤਾਂ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਪੈਰ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ‘ਤੇ ਲੱਗਣੇ ਮੁਸ਼ਕਲ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ ਪਰ ਇਹ ਤੇ ਇਹੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਕਈ ਹੋਰ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ਣ ਜਦੋਂ ਕਿਸੇ ਇਕੋ ਵਿਅਕਤੀ ਦੀ ਹਸਤੀ ਦੀ ਪਛਾਣ ਬਣ ਜਾਣ ਤਾਂ ਉਹ ਇਕ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਬਣ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਉਸ ਸ਼ਖ਼ਸ ਦੀ ਦੇਣ ਹੀ ਇਹੋ ਜਿਹੀ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਨਾਂ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਅਗੇਤਰ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਸੱਖਣਾ ਜਾਪਦਾ ਹੈ। ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਦਾ ਪਰਵਾਨਾ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਮਰ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਬਣ ਗਿਆ।
ਕੀ ਉਸ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਹਾਦਤ ਕਰਕੇ ਉਹ ਮਹਾਨ ਸੀ? ਨਹੀਂ, ਬਿਲਕੁਲ ਨਹੀਂ। ਹੋਰ ਵੀ ਬਹੁਤ ਕੁਝ ਸੀ ਜਿਸ ਕਰਕੇ 24ਵਾਂ ਸਾਲ ਪੂਰਾ ਹੋਣ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਹੀ ਫਾਂਸੀ ਦੇ ਰੱਸੇ ‘ਤੇ ਝੂਲ ਜਾਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਭਗਤ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਹਾਦਤ ਤੋਂ 80 ਸਾਲਾਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਉਹ ਨੌਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਦਿਲਾਂ ‘ਤੇ ਰਾਜ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ ਤੇ ਸਿਆਸੀ ਪਾਰਟੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਮਾਲਾ ਫੇਰਨੀ ਪੈਂਦੀ ਹੈ।
ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਸਮਝਣਾ ਔਖਾ ਕੰਮ ਹੈ। ਹਾਲਾਂਕਿ ਉਹ ਲੰਮਾ ਚਿਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਜੀਵੇ ਪਰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਜੀਵਨ ਪੰਧ ‘ਤੇ ਝਾਤ ਪਾਉਂਦਿਆਂ ਅਸੀਂ ਮਹਿਸੂਸ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਇਹ ਹੰਗਾਮਾਈ ਘਟਨਾਵਾਂ ਹੀ ਸਨ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ ਮਨ-ਮਸਤਿਸ਼ਕ ਉਤੇ ਗਹਿਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵ ਪਾਇਆ ਸੀ ਅਤੇ ਫੇਰ ਉਹ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ‘ਤੇ ਭਰਵਾਂ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵ ਛੱਡਣ ਦੇ ਸਮਰੱਥ ਬਣੇ ਸੀ।

ਖਟਕੜ ਕਲਾਂ ਵਿਚ 'ਸ਼ਹੀਦ-ਏ-ਆਜ਼ਮ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਿਊਜ਼ੀਅਮ' ਵਿਚ ਰੱਖੀ ਹੋਈ ਕ੍ਰਾਂਤੀਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਲਹੂ ਨਾਲ ਭਿੱਜੀ 'ਦਿ ਟ੍ਰਿਬਿਊਨ' ਅਖ਼ਬਾਰ ਦੀ 25 ਮਾਰਚ 1931 ਦੀ ਕਾਪੀ

ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ ਬਚਪਨ ਦੇ ਦਿਨੀਂ ਪੰਜਾਬ ‘ਚ ਭੜਥੂ ਮੱਚਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਸੀ।  13 ਅਪਰੈਲ 1919 ਨੂੰ ਜਦੋਂ ਬ੍ਰਿਗੇਡੀਅਰ ਜਨਰਲ ਡਾਇਰ ਨੇ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ ‘ਚ ਜੱਲਿਆਂਵਾਲਾ ਬਾਗ ਵਿਚ ਨਿਹੱਥੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਭੀੜ ‘ਤੇ ਫਾਇਰਿੰਗ ਦਾ ਹੁਕਮ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਤਾਂ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਉਦੋਂ ਸਿਰਫ 12 ਸਾਲਾਂ ਦਾ ਸੀ। ਦਸਾਂ ਕੁ ਮਿੰਟਾਂ ਵਿਚ 1600 ਰੌਂਦ ਦਾਗੇ ਗਏ। ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਅੰਕੜਿਆਂ ਮੁਤਾਬਕ 379 ਮੌਤਾਂ ਹੋਈਆਂ ਜਦਕਿ ਹੋਰਨਾਂ ਨੇ ਮੌਤਾਂ ਦੀ ਗਿਣਤੀ 1000 ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਅਤੇ ਜ਼ਖ਼ਮੀਆਂ ਦੀ 2000 ਦੱਸੀ। ਇਹ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ਦੀਆਂ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਹੌਲਨਾਕ ਘਟਨਾਵਾਂ ‘ਚੋਂ ਇਕ ਸੀ।

ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੀ ਮੁਢਲੀ ਸਿੱਖਿਆ ਲਾਇਲਪੁਰ (ਹੁਣ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਵਿਚ) ਦੇ ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ ਬੋਰਡ ਪ੍ਰਾਇਮਰੀ ਸਕੂਲ ਵਿਚ ਹੋਈ। ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿਚ ਉਹ ਡੀ.ਏ.ਵੀ. ਹਾਈ ਸਕੂਲ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਵਿਚ ਦਾਖਲ ਹੋ ਗਏ। ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼ ਇਸ ਸਕੂਲ ਨੂੰ ‘ਰਾਜ ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਸਰਗਰਮੀਆਂ ਦੀ ਨਰਸਰੀ’ ਕਹਿੰਦੇ ਸਨ। ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਕੂ ਤਾਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਸਨ ਪਰ ਉਹ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਪੜ੍ਹਦੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਸਨ। ਉਰਦੂ ‘ਚ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਮੁਹਾਰਤ ਸੀ ਤੇ ਉਹ ਇਸੇ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ‘ਚ ਆਪਣੇ ਪਿਤਾ ਸ. ਅਰਜਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਖ਼ਤ ਲਿਖਦੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਸਨ।
20 ਫਰਵਰੀ 1921 ਨੂੰ ਨਨਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੇ ਮੋਰਚੇ ਨੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ‘ਤੇ ਗਹਿਰਾ ਅਸਰ ਛੱਡਿਆ। ਉਹ ਆਪਣੇ ਪਿੰਡ ‘ਚੋਂ ਲੰਘ ਕੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਅੰਦੋਲਨਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੰਗਰ ਛਕਾਇਆ ਕਰਦੇ ਸਨ। ਨਾਭਾ ਰਿਆਸਤ ਦੇ ਰਾਜਾ ਰਿਪੁਦਮਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ ਹੱਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਬਹਾਲੀ ਲਈ ਲੜੇ ਗਏ ਜੈਤੋ ਦੇ  ਮੋਰਚੇ (1923) ਵੇਲੇ ਉਹ 16 ਸਾਲ ਦੇ ਸਨ। ਬਦਅਮਨੀ ਦੇ ਇਸ ਆਲਮ ਅਤੇ ਹੱਕੀ ਅੰਦੋਲਨਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਕੁਚਲਣ ਲਈ ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼ ਹਕੂਮਤ ਦੀਆਂ ਸਖ਼ਤੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੀ ਮਨੋਦਸ਼ਾ ਘੜੀ। ਨੌਜਵਾਨਾਂ  ਨੂੰ ਆਮ ਹੀ ਦਿਸ਼ਾਹੀਣ ਕਹਿ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਪਰ ਕਦੇ-ਕਦਾਈਂ ਕੁਝ ਨੌਜਵਾਨ ਅਜਿਹੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ ਜੋ ਆਪਣੇ ਭਵਿੱਖ ਦੀ ਭੂਮਿਕਾ ਨੂੰ ਇੰਨੀ ਸਫਾਈ ਨਾਲ ਵੇਖ ਲੈਂਦੇ ਹਨ ਤੇ ਉਸ ਲਈ ਲੱਕ ਬੰਨ੍ਹ ਕੇ ਕੰਮ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਨ।
ਸੋਲਾਂ ਸਾਲ ਦੀ ਉਮਰੇ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਦੇ ਲੇਖੇ ਲਾਉਣ ਦਾ ਸਚੇਤ ਫੈਸਲਾ ਕੀਤਾ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਬੀ.ਜੀ. ਗੋਖਲੇ  ਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਾਥੀਆਂ ਦੀ ਸੰਵਿਧਾਨਕ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਨਾ ਅਪਣਾਈ। ਮਹਾਤਮਾ ਗਾਂਧੀ ਦੀ ਨਾ-ਮਿਲਵਰਤਣ ਲਹਿਰ ਵੀ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੰਮਾ ਸਮਾਂ ਬੰਨ੍ਹ ਕੇ ਨਾ ਰੱਖ ਸਕੀ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਇਨਕਲਾਬੀ ਰਾਹ ਚੁਣਿਆ। ਬਰਤਾਨਵੀ ਰਾਜ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਕਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਟੱਕਰ ਲੈਣ ਲਈ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਹਿੰਸਾ ਦਾ ਰਾਹ ਚੁਣਨ ਤੋਂ ਵੀ ਗੁਰੇਜ਼ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ।
ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ 1923 ਵਿਚ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਦੇ ਨੈਸ਼ਨਲ ਕਾਲਜ ਵਿਚ ਦਾਖਲਾ ਲਿਆ। ਕਾਲਜ ਦੇ ਮਾਹੌਲ ਵਿਚ ਉਹ ਘੁਲਮਿਲ ਗਿਆ। ਉਹ ਕਾਲਜ ਦੀ ਡਰਾਮਾ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਦਾ ਸਰਗਰਮ ਮੈਂਬਰ ਬਣ ਗਿਆ। ਉਸ ਵੇਲੇ ਤਕ ਇਹ ਨੌਜਵਾਨ ਉਰਦੂ, ਹਿੰਦੀ, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼ੀ ਤੇ ਸੰਸਕ੍ਰਿਤ ਭਾਸ਼ਾਵਾਂ ‘ਤੇ ਖਾਸੀ ਪਕੜ ਬਣਾ ਚੁੱਕਿਆ ਸੀ। ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੀ ਇਕ ਫੋਟੋ ਜਿਸ ਵਿਚ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਪੱਗ ਬੰਨੀ ਹੋਈ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਉਹ ਮੁੱਛ-ਫੁੱਟ ਗੱਭਰੂ ਦਿਖ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਉਸੇ ਡਰਾਮਾ ਕਲੱਬ ਦੀ ਯਾਦਗਾਰ ਹੈ।
ਆਪਣੇ ਲੇਖ ‘ਮੈਂ ਨਾਸਤਿਕ ਕਿਉਂ ਹਾਂ’ ਵਿਚ ਉਹ ਕਾਲਜ ਦੇ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਲਿਖਦਾ ਹੈ, ”ਮੈਂ ਕਾਲਜ ਵਿਚ ਆਪਣੇ ਕੁਝ ਅਧਿਆਪਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਚਹੇਤਾ ਸੀ ਤੇ ਕੁਝ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਨਾਪਸੰਦ ਕਰਦੇ ਸਨ। ਮੈਂ ਬਹੁਤਾ ਪੜਾਕੂ ਨਹੀਂ ਸੀ। ਮੈਂ ਇਕ ਸ਼ਰਮਾਕਲ ਲੜਕਾ ਸੀ ਤੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਭਵਿੱਖ ਬਾਰੇ ਬਹੁਤਾ ਆਸ਼ਾਵਾਦੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਸੀ।”
1923 ਵਿਚ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਹਿੰਦੀ ਸਾਹਿਤ ਸੰਮੇਲਨ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਕਰਵਾਏ ਲੇਖ ਮੁਕਾਬਲੇ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਪਹਿਲਾ ਇਨਾਮ ਮਿਲਿਆ। ਲੇਖ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਤੇ ਲਿਪੀ ਵਿਚ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਸਮੱਸਿਆ ਦਾ ਬਾਖੂਬੀ ਵਰਨਣ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੀ। ਉਹ ਹਿੰਦੁਸਤਾਨ ਸੋਸ਼ਲਿਸਟ ਰਿਪਬਲਿਕਨ ਐਸੋਸੀਏਸ਼ਨ ਦਾ ਮੈਂਬਰ ਬਣ ਗਿਆ ਤੇ ਇਕ ਸਾਲ ਬਾਅਦ ਪਰਿਵਾਰ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਵਿਆਹ ਲਈ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਪਾਉਣ ਕਾਰਨ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਵਿਚਲਾ ਘਰ ਛੱਡ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਤੇ ਕਾਨਪੁਰ ਡੇਰੇ ਲਗਾ ਲਏ। ਉਹ ਦੇਸ਼ ਭਗਤੀ ਦੇ ਕਾਰਜ ਵਿਚ ਜੁਟ ਗਿਆ। 1927 ਵਿਚ ਕਾਕੋਰੀ ਰੇਲ ਗੱਡੀ ਡਾਕੇ ਦੇ ਮਾਮਲੇ ਵਿਚ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਗ੍ਰਿਫਤਾਰ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ ਗਿਆ। ਉਸ ਉਪਰ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਦੇ ਦੁਸਹਿਰਾ ਮੇਲੇ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਬੰਬ ਧਮਾਕਾ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਵੀ ਦੋਸ਼ ਮੜ੍ਹਿਆ ਗਿਆ। ਚੰਗੇ ਵਿਵਹਾਰ ਤੇ ਜ਼ਮਾਨਤ ਦੀ ਭਾਰੀ ਰਕਮ 60 ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ਰੁਪਏ ਉਪਰ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਰਿਹਾਅ ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਗਿਆ।
ਸਤੰਬਰ 1928 ਵਿਚ ਇਸ ਯੋਧੇ ਨੇ ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਲਈ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਜਾਰੀ ਰੱਖਿਆ। ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਤੇ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਸਾਥੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਲਾਲਾ ਲਾਜਪਤ ਰਾਏ ਦੀ ਮੌਤ ਦਾ ਬਦਲਾ ਲੈਣ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾਧੀ ਤੇ ਇਕ ਪੁਲੀਸ ਅਧਿਕਾਰੀ ਨੂੰ ਗੋਲੀਆਂ ਮਾਰ ਕੇ ਮਾਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ। ਪੁਲੀਸ ਨੂੰ ਦਿੱਤੀਆਂ ਜਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਅਥਾਹ ਸ਼ਕਤੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਵਿਰੋਧ ਵਿਚ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਤੇ ਇਕ ਹੋਰ ਕ੍ਰਾਂਤੀਕਾਰੀ ਬਟੁਕੇਸ਼ਵਰ ਦੱਤ ਨੇ ਅਸੈਂਬਲੀ ਵਿਚ ਬੰਬ ਸੁੱਟਿਆ। ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗ੍ਰਿਫਤਾਰ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ ਗਿਆ। ਮੁਕੱਦਮੇ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਇਸ ਮਹਾਨ ਸਪੂਤ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਰਿਹਾਈ ਲਈ ਭੋਰਾ ਵੀ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਲਗਾਇਆ ਪਰ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਲਈ ਆਖਰੀ ਸਾਹ ਤਕ ਲੜਨ ਦਾ ਐਲਾਨ ਕੀਤਾ। ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਹਾਦਤ ਨਾਲ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਦੀ ਲਹਿਰ ਨੂੰ ਹੋਰ ਹੁਲਾਰਾ ਮਿਲਿਆ। ਉਸ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਨਾਅਰੇ ਇਨਕਲਾਬ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਾਬਾਦ ਨੂੰ ਅੱਜ ਅਸੀਂ ਇੰਜ ਮਾਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ”ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਾਬਾਦ।” ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾ ਕੱਦ-ਬੁੱਤ ਇੰਨਾ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾ ਉੱਚਾ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਕਿ ਹਰ ਕੋਈ ਉਸ ਨਾਲ ਨਾਤਾ ਜੋੜਨਾ ਚਾਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਸਿਆਸੀ ਜਥੇਬੰਦੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਅਪਣਾਇਆ। ਪੰਜਾਬ ਵਿਚ ਤਾਂ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਬਹੁਤ ਮਾਣ-ਤਾਣ ਮਿਲਿਆ। ਸਾਨੂੰ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾ ਸ਼ੁਕਰਗੁਜ਼ਾਰ ਹੋਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ ਜਿਸ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀਆਂ ਲਿਖਤਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਆਪਣੇ ਵਿਚਾਰ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ ਕੀਤੇ ਹਨ। ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਲਿਖਤਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਅਜਿਹੇ ਸ਼ਖਸ ਦਾ ਅਕਸ ਉਭਰਦਾ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਬੜਾ ਵਿਦਵਾਨ ਸੀ ਅਤੇ ਉਸ ਕੋਲ ਦੂਰਦ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਟੀ ਸੀ। ਉਹ ਵਾਹਵਾ ਪੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਸੀ ਅਤੇ ਉਸ ਦੀਆਂ ਜੇਲ੍ਹ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਲਿਖੀਆਂ ਚਿੱਠੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਆਪਣੇ ਮਿੱਤਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਇਹੀ ਸੁਨੇਹੇ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਸਨ ਕਿ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਪੜ੍ਹਨ ਲਈ ਹੋਰ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਭੇਜੀਆਂ ਜਾਣ।  23 ਮਾਰਚ, 1931 ਨੂੰ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ, ਰਾਜਗੁਰੂ ਅਤੇ ਸੁਖਦੇਵ ਨੂੰ ਲਾਹੌਰ ਵਿਚ ਫਾਂਸੀ ਦੇ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਗਈ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰਵਾਦੀ ਸੀ ਅਤੇ ਨਾਇਕ ਸੀ ਜਿਸ ਨੇ ਨਵੀਂ ਪੀੜ੍ਹੀ ਨੂੰ ਬੇਹੱਦ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵਿਤ ਕੀਤਾ। ਸਿਆਸੀ ਪਾਰਟੀਆਂ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਉਸ ਨਾਲ ਆਪਣਾ ਨਾਂ ਜੋੜ ਕੇ ਸਿਆਸੀ ਲਾਹਾ ਲੈਣ ਦਾ ਯਤਨ ਕਰਦੀਆਂ ਹਨ ਪਰ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾ ਸਦਾ ਉਹ ਅਕਸ ਹੀ ਉਭਰਦਾ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਆਪਣੇ ਖਿਆਲਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਪੂਰੀ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਚਨਬੱਧ ਹੈ।

This article was published in Punjabi Tribune on March 23, 2011.

THE MAKING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY

Roopinder Singh

Committed communicator, perceptive, passionate, admirable…any young person would be flattered to be the subject of any one of these adjectives. What would happen if all of them, and many more, were used for the same person? Well, he would be a legend-

Shaheed Bhagat Singh: Illustration by Sandeep Joshi

Shaheed. The legacy of the man is such that his name sounds incomplete without this prefix. Bhagat Singh, the freedom fighter, has been immortalised as martyr, so much so that we often forget to acknowledge the person who accomplished the feats that helped change the course of Indian history.

Was it his sacrifice alone that made Bhagat Singh great? No, not at all! There is much more to this man who did not get to celebrate his 24th birthday, but has left a robust and inspiring legacy recognised even 80 years after he was martyred, so much so that numerous political groups want to appropriate his legacy, in order to gain from association with his name.

To understand Bhagat Singh is a difficult task. Though he did not live for long, as we journey through his life, we realise that it was action-packed-events around him shaped Bhagat Singh’s mind. Eventually, he was to have a tremendous effect on shaping history.

The Punjab, during the days of Bhagat Singh’s childhood, was in turmoil. He was only 12-year-old when, on April 13, 1919, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to open fire at the Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1,600 rounds were fired. Official sources placed the casualties at 379, others said the number was over 1,000, with more than 2,000 wounded. It is one of the most horrific events of Indian history.

Although he initially studied at District Board Primary School in Banga, Layalpur district, which is now in Pakistan, Bhagat Singh was studying at DAV High School, Lahore, by this time. It was regarded by the British as a “nursery of seditious activities”. Bhagat Singh was precocious, but not studious. He read a wide range of books, and was fluent in Urdu, and he used this language to write his first letter to his grandfather, Arjan Singh.

He was 14 when, on February 20, 1921, at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, there was an incident that left a deep impact on him. Narain Das, who was the custodian of Nankana Sahib, and his men, fired on Akali protesters who wanted the management of this important historic gurdwara to be given over to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, which had been formed for this express purpose. Their leader, Bhai Lachhman Singh, and many others were killed. The firing was widely condemned, and an agitation was launched till the control of this historic gurdwara was restored to the Sikhs. Bhagat Singh served langar (food) to volunteers who passed through his village on their way to Nankana Sahib.

When he was 16, there came the Jaito Morcha of 1923, which was an Akali agitation for the restoration of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of the Sikh princely state of Nabha to his throne. The Maharaja had strong nationalistic sympathies and had overtly supported the Guru-ka-Bagh Morcha and donned a black turban as a mark of protest against the massacre at Nankana Sahib. The protest against the removal of the Maharaja was eventually quelled by the British colonial authorities. Among the protesters at this morcha was Jawaharlal Nehru.

It was in this backdrop of unrest and the harsh coercive power of the state, which was being used to quell legitimate protests, that Bhagat Singh the martyr was shaped. Often the youth are accused of being rudderless, but what is forgotten is that sometimes young people have a clear vision of what they see as their role in future, and single-mindedly work on it.

By the time he was 16, Bhagat Singh had made conscious choices about what he had to do with his life-he dedicated it to the cause of securing freedom for India. In doing so, he did not follow the constitutional approach of B.G. Gokhale and his supporters. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement did not hold his interest for long. For Bhagat Singh, his course lay in following a revolutionary course, even if it meant taking a route of violence in facing the might of the British Raj.

National College, Lahore, which Bhagat Singh joined in 1923, was affiliated to the Punjab Quami Vidya Pith and was founded and managed by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand. The college was set up as an alternative to the institutions run by the government, bringing to the field of education the idea of swadeshi. The philosophy behind the establishment of such a college was to produce ’self reliant, aggressive (in order to be progressive) men and women that new India wants’.

In college, Bhagat Singh made a positive impression, academically. He was also a member of the college dramatics society. One of the very few pictures available of Bhagat Singh is a portrait of the members of dramatics club taken at National College Lahore in 1921-22. The picture features Bhagat sporting a turban. By this time, he was fluent in Urdu, Hindi, Gurmukhi, English, and Sanskrit.

In the article, Why I am an Atheist, Bhagat Singh writes about his days in college: “Though a favourite with some professors and disliked by certain others, I was never an industrious or studious boy. I could not get any chance of indulging in such feelings as vanity. I was rather a boy with a shy nature, who had certain pessimistic dispositions about (my) future career.”

Bhagat Singh won an essay competition organised by the Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in 1923. His essay, Punjab’s Language and Script, quotes Punjabi literature and discusses the problems of Punjab.

He joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, and a year later, upon being pressurised by his family, which wanted him to get married, Bhagat Singh left his house in Lahore and went to Kanpur. In a note left behind for his father, Bhagat Singh said: “My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now….”

Bhagat Singh was arrested in 1927 on charges of association with the Kakori Train Robbery Case and accused for an article written under the pseudonym Vidrohi (Rebel). He was also accused of being responsible for a bomb explosion at Lahore during the Dussehra fair. He was let off for good behaviour against a heavy security of Rs 60,000.

In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across India was called in Delhi under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party. Bhagat Singh was the secretary of the meet. His later revolutionary activities were carried out as a leader of this association.

Ajoy Ghosh, a compatriot who had not been impressed by Bhagat Singh’s demeanour the first time he met him, saw a changed person: “One day in 1928 I was surprised when a young man walked into my room, and greeted me. It was Bhagat Singh, but not the Bhagat Singh that I had met… before. Tall and magnificently proportioned, with a keen, intelligent face and gleaming eyes, he looked a different man altogether. And as he talked I realised that he had grown not merely in years…. All those who met Bhagat Singh then and afterwards have testified to his remarkable intelligence and to the powerful impression he made when talking. Not that he was a brilliant speaker. But he spoke with such force, passion and earnestness that one could not help being impressed. We talked the whole night and as we went out for a stroll… it seemed to me that a new era was dawning for our party. We knew what we wanted and we knew how to reach our goal”.

Bhagat Singh and his compatriots killed a British police officer to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai who succumbed to his injuries following a brutal beating by the police. Later, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, another revolutionary, threw a bomb in the Central Assembly to protest against the Defence of India Act which gave more power to the police. The Act was defeated in the council by one vote. However, it was passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. Later, they were arrested. Bhagat Singh used all his court appearances not to press for his acquittal or freedom, but to espouse the cause of the freedom of the nation, till the very last, and, in fact, even beyond that.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh became an even more potent rallying point against the Raj than Bhagat Singh alive. The slogan Inqulab Zindabad that he has rallied under, as he lived the life of a revolutionary, was now substituted by another one-Bhagat Singh Zindabad.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh became too much of an icon-everyone wanted to adopt him. In the course of the decades that followed, the young man was appropriated by political groups that claimed him as their own. The Congress, which had been lukewarm to the revolutionary, now said that he was its own, as did the Left, with far more justification. Even the Bharatya Janata Party, at one point, “discovered” Bhagat Singh. Today, the same game is afoot in Punjab.

We should be grateful that Bhagat Singh wrote a fair deal and through his articles and diaries, we get glimpses of the mind of the man. The picture that emerges is of a person with an intellect and expression far beyond his years. He was well-read, and a number of his letters from the Lahore Jail refer to books or request his friends to send him book and other reading material. On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in Lahore.

He was a nationalist, a hero and a youth who became an icon. Even as political parties seek mileage by associating with his name, one cannot but help feeling that Bhagat Singh would have taken to task the pretenders who are not, by any stretch of imagination, as committed to ideals as he was.

A shorter version of this article was printed in as Last Word in The Tribune on March 23, 2011.

Rebel or a revolutionary, insane or an insurgent, 39-year-old JULIAN PAUL ASSANGE evokes extreme emotions. Hailed as a visionary, pioneer and path-breaker on the one hand, he is also condemned as an irresponsible anarchist on the other. ROOPINDER SINGH provides a peek into his fascinating, eventful, but often contradictory and controversial life

The Tribune, Centre Stage, December 13, 2010

He uses encrypted cell phones to stay in touch, travels under false names, wears disguises, uses cash instead of credit cards, and stays out of touch for days, has trysts with beautiful women, but instead of being in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, like James Bond, he is lodged in Her Majesty’s Prison, Wandworth, Britain’s largest.

Why is he in prison? Because the judge refused him bail, in spite of support from a raft of celebrities that included Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, well-known journalist John Pilger and filmmaker Ken Loach. They may not have met him, but wanted to show solidarity with the 39-year-old Australian, as do so many the world over.

Like Ian Fleming’s character, women seem to be Julian Paul Assange’s Achilles’ heel and led to his arrest in London where he is being held, pending extradition to Sweden. Two women he had dated while in Sweden earlier alleged that he sexually assaulted them. According to one version, the women wanted to get in touch with him after the event, but couldn’t, and then finally went to the police. Others dismiss the whole thing as a conspiracy to shut up WikiLeaks and its founder.

Julian Paul Assange

Assange does not deny the encounters, but claims they were consensual, and points out that the two women continued to interact with him. No formal charges have been filed, but he is wanted for questioning by the police in Sweden. According to Swedish law, a sexual encounter can begin as a consensual act but can become “non-consensual” if the woman objects at any point of time. Then, there is the issue of use of force and two charges of unprotected sex without a condom, despite the women’s insistence that he use one. The Swedes are known for having a tough attitude towards sexual crimes and have broader definition of what constitutes such crime.

The world waits, and so do many governments, to see if WikiLeaks will release embarrassing documents in retaliation. He has already significantly undermined the credibility of the American diplomatic efforts by releasing, for the past two weeks, thousands of classified messages from US embassies around the world. Significantly, WikiLeaks has more than two-and-a-half-lakh messages in its kitty, and is leaking out dribbles just yet.

It is entirely appropriate, and in some ways understandable, if the man who founded WikiLeaks has a mysterious past. It’s not clear where the surname Assange comes from, although it is said to have a Chinese origin. However, his maternal ancestors emigrated to Australia from Scotland and Ireland. He did not attend school, although he studied at University of Melbourne later, and his childhood was certainly different from the norm,

Julian Paul Assange had to move home 37 times before he was 14 years old, and he still has no home address, since he keeps on moving frequently. So does his website, WikiLeaks, which has recently been hopping from one server to another, as it is chased and attacked by various “forces of establishment”.

Assange was born in 1971 in Townsville, Australia, spent most of his childhood with his mother, Christine, and schooled at home, actually, many homes. In the exhaustive interview with him, published in The New Yorker, he romanticised his early childhood and said it was spent like Tom Sawyer, the character made immortal by Mark Twain. Said he: “I had my own horse, I built my own raft and I was going down mines and shafts….” His parents also led a nomadic life, with his father, who was a theatre director, taking the show from one place to another. His mother re-married when he was only eight, but separated from her abusive husband three years later.

He was bright in maths, and his mother was supportive enough to buy him a Commodore 64 computer in 1987. Since it was the pre-www era, the naturally curious Assange started exploring the networks around him, and thus started a lifelong hide-and-seek in cyber space. He married when he was 18 and has a son Daniel, but his wife and son left him in 1991 when police raided their house and accused him of hacking into the computer system of Nortel, a telecommunication company. He was arrested and convicted, but did no jail time.

He worked as a researcher with Suelette Dreyfus, an academic, and assisted her with her 1997 book Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier. In a published interview, she has described him as a “very skilled researcher” who was “quite interested in the concept of ethics, concepts of justice, what governments should and shouldn’t do”. Assange also did a course in physics and maths at Melbourne University.

He started WikiLeaks in 2006. In one of the essays on it, he wrote: “To radically shift regime behaviour we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not.”

WikiLeaks became a place where anonymous whistleblowers could send in information with the conviction that it would be shared with the world, and the anonymity of the sources would be protected. The organisation is voluntary and it is run with funds provided by donations, and like many others, Asange is an unpaid volunteer.

Asange is a lonely and restless soul. He has lived a crowded life, having motorcycled across Vietnam, camped in Iceland to complete projects for WikiLeaks in secrecy and delivered lectures all over the world.

WikiLeaks has documented extra-judicial killings in Kenya. It published a report on toxic waste dumping on the African coast, and revealing documents like Church of Scientology manuals and Guantanamo Bay procedures.

It exposed a video taken by a US Apache helicopter in 2007 that showed it shooting civilians in Iraq. The video evoked tremendous response and caused much embarrassment to the US establishment. WikiLeaks received more than two lakh dollars in donations after the video was released.

Assange calls himself Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks and an Internet activist. He was given the International Media Award in 2009 by Amnesty International. Ironically, much of his life remains private, as does the functioning of WikiLeaks.

In July this year, it published 90,000 secret documents about the war in Afghanistan.

In October, WikiLeaks exposed the Iraq War, as seen through classified documents, and then came the 2.5 lakh diplomatic cables.

The US has declared war on WikiLeaks, and US politicians say that WikiLeaks should be designated a terrorist organisation and its founder be charged under the Espionage Act. There are hardly any takers internationally for such an extreme position, but WikiLeaks is being examined with a microscope and powerful forces are creating hurdles in its functioning.

As yet, it has emerged triumphant in the cat-and-mouse game it is playing with authorities worldwide, in spite of persistent attacks, both technical and financial.

Assange is a complex man, brilliant and unconventional, according to everyone who has met him. His arrest in London is just one chapter in the life of a man who has the world at the edge of its seat, wondering what he can unleash, which secrets he can expose and who he is going to embarrass next. The world waits for further revelations even as Wikileaks threatens to change the way governments, media and diplomats function.

The article was published in The Tribune on December 13, 2010.

It has been a long journey for Chandigarh-based realistic artist Rahi Mohinder Singh. RM started by drawing on a slate. Today his works hang in Parliament, writes Roopinder Singh

Painting a legend: The artist paints a portrait of Nek Chand, the creator of the Rock Garden, on location, in his office. — Photo by Roopinder Singh

He calls himself a rahi or a traveller, and his journey into the world of art took him to Andretta, where he was inspired by the legendary artist Sobha Singh. It has been a long journey for Rahi Mohinder Singh, the Chandigarh-based realistic artist, who started by drawing on a slate with chalk.

The journey from slate to canvas is an interesting one. It took him through painting the bodies of trucks on which he was a “child-specialist” who painted the likenesses of Guru Gobind Singh, and freedom fighters like Chander Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh. He drew extensively and had started making pen-portraits of other older passengers in the train back home.

Self-portrait --painting by R M Singh

How did he get on the train? Well, his village, Bharoli Kalan, in Gurdaspur district, had only a primary school, and after Class V, he was sent off to Pathankot, about 3 km away. Like other children, he hitched a ride on a train to go to and fro to school.

“I was drawing a sketch one day when a passenger asked me, ‘Will you draw my portrait?’ I agreed and quickly drew a pencil sketch. As my home came near, I tore off the sheet from my copy and he gave me Rs 1!” This started a wave and soon everyone, co-passengers as well as guards, TTs etc, all had their portraits made.

Today his works hang in Parliament, and are in the collections of the Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and many private institutions. He has illustrated books for the Singapore Sikh Education Board with the support of Ministry of Education, Singapore, and also for state textbook boards of both Punjab and Haryana. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled his portrait of Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir which hangs in Parliament. His portrait of Nek Chand, the creator of the Rock Garden, Chandigarh, earned him much appreciation.

“I had adopted Sobha Singh as my guru even before I met him,” says the artist, who was born in 1965. While my father, Mehar Singh, encouraged the artist in me, he was looking for a guru who could take me under his wings. I was painting and earning money, but he wanted me to be a shagird of an artist. One day, I saw a full-page feature in Dharamyug, Hindi magazine, on Sobha Singh and his works. I framed the page and told my father that I had found my guru.

It was much later, in 1983, that RM was introduced to the great artist at Andretta. “Do your parents know what you are doing,” asked the artist, whose parents had discouraged him from purusing art as a vocation.

Grace of Punjab, a sculpture by R M Singh

“On the contrary, my father, and my grandfather, Pritam Singh, had both encouraged me. My grandfather was a great craftsman. He also made mirrors, and once he had fashioned a plate camera under the guidance of a British officer. They made two cameras and from him my grandfather learnt the art of photography. Both he and later, my father, had a portable studio with which they would go to fairs held in different parts of Himachal Pradesh and take photographs on glass plates. Later, they shifted to photographic paper,” recalls RM. Inexpensive Soviet-era books brought by vans operated by Punjab Book Centre, Chandigarh, exposed the young mind to Russian artists.

Andretta became a transit home for the young RM. He would stay with Sobha Singh for a few days, and then go back to Palampur. It was the great artist who encouraged him to join Government College of Art, Chandigarh, from where he earned his bachelor’s degree in applied art in 1989. Even as a student, he was much in demand. He started working for the weekend edition of the Indian Express while still in college. Readers of The Tribune became familiar with his work after 1990, when his illustrations appeared regularly in weekend supplements and special pages of the paper.
At Art College, he was exposed to works of European artists like Ruben, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and US artists like John Singer Sargent and Norman Rockwell, whom he admires greatly.

“RM Singh has a great understanding of the Punjabi way of life, which is why we commissioned him to illustrate the series on teaching Punjabi. He has illustrated books and they are being used not only in schools in Singapore, but also neighbouring nations,” says Bhajan Singh, a retired official of the Singapore Education Service.

The artist from Bharoli Kalan has travelled far on his artistic journey, and it is with interest that we will follow the journey of this Rahi.

The article was published in the Saturday Extra section of The Tribune on December 4, 2010.

An intruging person, Laxmi Kanta Chawla is a politician without being one, a Minister who believes in austerity, stubborn and inflexible. She is a class apart.

Laxmi Kanta Chawla

She has been at loggerheads with some influential doctors, as well as BJP leaders, but is liked by the public because of the very qualities that fail to endear her to her party and fellow politicians. How does she get along with her Akali Dal doppelganger, Manpreet Badal? You will have to read the article that Jangveer Singh and I wrote to find out!

profile by Roopinder Singh

SHE has worked hard to make history interesting-when she found that her lectures reached only a few who attended her classes at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. She reached out to a wider audience by writing a book, and another, and more, including one specifically to make history interesting to children, Mysteries of the Past: Archaeological Sites in India (National Book Trust, 2002). Upinder Singh, the co-winner of the Infosys Prize in Social Sciences: History, is indeed an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India. She was selected by a jury headed by the Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen.

The prize has been launched by the software giant to honour “outstanding researchers who will make a difference to India’s future”, and the annual award for each category is Rs 50 lakh, which in this case will be shared between her and her co-laureate, Prof. Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, who won it for the category of Social Sciences: Economics.

Upinder Singh’s first book, Kings, Brahmanas, and Temples in Orissa: An Epigraphic Study (AD 300-1147) published by Munshiram Manoharlal, 1994, was based on her doctoral thesis which she had earned at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

A volume, Ancient Delhi (Oxford University Press) followed in 1999. Her recent books include The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (Permanent Black, 2004); Delhi: Ancient History, edited by her, (Social Science Press, 2006), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: from the Stone Age to the 12th century (Pearson Longman, 2008).

As the citation of the Infosys Prize says: “Professor Upinder Singh is being recognised for her rich contributions as an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India. Depth and breadth of her scholarly research are matched by a rare ability to communicate her findings to a broad audience of students and intellectually curious non-specialists.”

A student of History Honours at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, Upinder Singh did two postgraduate degrees, an M.A. in History and an M.Phil. in History, both from the University of Delhi. She completed her Ph.D at McGill University and came back to teach at St Stephen’s College, before joining Delhi University.

She is a recipient of the prestigious Daniel Ingalls Fellowship at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University (2005). In 1999 she was awarded the Ancient India and Iran Trust/Wallace India Visiting Fellowship to pursue research in Cambridge and London. During this period, she was also a Visiting Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. In 1985 she was awarded the Netherlands Government Reciprocal Fellowship to pursue research at the Instituut Kern, Leiden. She is the National Co-ordinator for History at the Institute of Life Long Learning at the University of Delhi, which aims at creating a large corpus of high quality and exciting e-learning material for undergraduate students all over the country.

Her many students testify that she has “inspired and trained a younger generation of historians to adopt innovative methods in the study of early Indian history. A wonderfully creative historian, Singh is a key figure in rejuvenating the study of early history and archaeology in India.”

This article was published in The Tribune on December 8, 2009. Please click here to read an earlier account of the release of her book A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, which Jaspreet and I attended, and here to read a 2004 interview with her following the release of her book, The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology.