This is my latest publication of Documents of Bhagat Singh in Urdu. In 2007, during birth centenary year of Bhagat Singh, Govt. of India for the first time published complete writings of Bhagat Singh, available by then in Hindi. The book was released by Kuldip Nayar in presence of two nephew of Bhagat Singh-Kiranjit Singh Sandhu and Abhey Singh Sandhu. Then it included 100 documents of Bhagat Singh.
However after Supreme Court of India’s exhibition-The Trial of Bhagat Singh in year 2008, this editor was provided a digital copy of that exhibition, which had a surprise. It included ten new completely unknown letters of Bhagat Singh with British judicial and administrative authorities. For the first time The Hindu published these letters in its issue of 15th August 2011. These letters also brought to light the third unknown hunger strike of Bhagat Singh in jail for three weeks or so. With the addition of these documents now in Urdu version, it has become the most comprehensive collection of Bhagat Singh’s writings. Interestingly the first available document of Bhagat Singh is in Urdu- a letter to his grandfather Arjan Singh, displayed on the back cover of this book.
This book is particularly important for admirers of Bhagat Singh in Pakistan, who consider Bhagat Singh to be their son and martyr. In any case he is common legacy of both countries and along with Tipu Sultan, a common cultural bridge also between two nations and its peoples! Prior to this publication-Bhagat Singh ke Syasi Dastavez was also published in Urdu by National Book Trust of India, New Delhi, which included his selected fifty documents in Urdu.
With this publication of available complete documents of Bhagat Singh in Urdu, three languages have now got Bhagat Singh’s writings in full or near full, whereas Punjabi, English, Telugu and Bengali have partial publication of documents. Wish and hope that all Indian languages get Bhagat Singh’s writings published in full, as of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Bose and Dr. Ambedkar-the most popular icons of Indian freedom struggle!
Chaman Lal
Professor-Coordinator, Centre for Comparative Literature/Centre for Punjabi Language, Literature&Culture/Professor-Incharge, CUP, Library
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda.
Professor(Retired), JNU, New Delhi
Former President JNU Teachers Association(JNUTA)
Cell no. +919646494538,
Former Visiting Professor
Centre for Language Learning(CLL)
Faculty of Humanities and Education(FHE)
University of West Indies,St. Augustine Campus
Trinidad&Tobago (West Indies)
