Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Udham Singh – July 31, 2024

History of Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Udham Singh

Freedom to exist is one of the basic human rights. Every society has fought for freedom at least once. Political conquests make it difficult to live for those who are directly affected by them. India was once one of the richest countries in the world. But the nation fell from its zenith height to the dark depths of misery within a few years when European colonization reached the subcontinent. The internal conflict between the states made it easy for the conquest of the nation. Such conquests always exact a heavy toll on human casualties.

India under the rule of the British was not the economic powerhouse it used to be a few decades ago. Indians were not happy with this prospect, and the demand for freedom and self-governance became strong. When the demand for freedom is in the air, the efforts to suppress this demand will also increase. Jallianwala Bagh was a result of such an effort by the British. Reginald Dyer ordered soldiers to shoot at the peaceful crowd gathered around the Jallianwala Bagh to attend a religious festival and to protest the arrest of Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal. Soldiers obeyed the order and a massacre followed. Hundreds of helpless civilians died, and the brutality of the event caused ripples throughout the entire nation and even in Britain. The event became a cornerstone event for the freedom struggles of the nation against an Empire where it was said the sun never sets.

Shaheed Udham was a part of the crowd, and he escaped death narrowly. The sight of his countrymen dying around him helplessly tormented him for the rest of his life. He made it his mission to kill those who were responsible for the entire event, and he succeeded in 1940 when he assassinated Michael O’Dwyer. The life of Udham Singh ended in the same year when he was hanged for the assassination. But his life is immortalized in the minds of Indians who looked for retribution for the Amritsar event. He died with pride and fearlessness, and today we are celebrating his life and remembering the events that led him to his path.