CHAPTER 5
THE HINDUSTHAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION
As soon as Bhagat Singh was unfettered from the shackles of a huge security, he plunged headlong into revolutionary activities. In a short time he galvanized the moribund organization which, inspite of the Cawnpore resolution, had been in a state of decay.
At this time the party was scattered into groups in different cities with no definite program or scheme of work before them. Such groups were in existence at Lahore, Delhi ; Cawnpore, Benares and Allahabad in U. P., and at a few places in Bihar. Sometimes in July, 1928 a preliminary meeting was held at Cawnpore and it was decided there that important representative members were to be called together to form a Central Committee.
According to this decision, Bhagat Singh and Bijoy Kumar Sinha began to tour about the country, and in September 1928 (8th and 9th) , an important meeting was held at Purana Qila, Delhi. Two or three representatives each from Bihar, U. P., Punjab and Rajputana were called together, and the meeting continued for two days.
In this meeting Bhagat Singh took his stand as a socialist worker, and under his forceful arguments the program was drawn up on socialistic principles. Henceforth murder of police-officials or approvers, which actions were very dear to many members of the party, was relegated to the back ground. From now only such actions were contemplated as would lead to mass awakening and mass action.
Bhagat Singh also urged for changing the name of the party from Hindustan Republican Association to Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. The proposal was at first stoutly opposed by representatives from U. P. who declared that the name adopted by such well-known revolutionary leaders as Ram Prasad Bismil, Sachin Sanyal and Jogesh Chatterjee has acquired a good deal of prestige, and it should not be changed. But ultimately Bhagat Singh's proposal was accepted.
At this meeting it was further decided that the organization should be broadly divided into two groups, the active group and the sympathizers. The active group would be engaged in collecting arms and ammunition, in carrying out plans of terrorism, and would try to develop group actions into mass actions. This group-would be known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. It would be the work of the sympathizers to collect money by personal contribution and by public subscription, to arrange for the shelter of the members of the active group and to carry on propaganda.
A Central Committee was constituted, with two members each from U. P., the Punjab and Bihar and one member from Rajputana. Bhagat Singh became an active and important member of the Committee, and Bijoy Kumar Sinha was in charge of maintaining inter provincial link. The Head-quarters of the party was established at Jhansi in charge of Sj. Kundan Lal who was the representative of Rajputana in the Central Committee. Chandra Shekhar Azad, an absconder in half a dozen political cases including the Kakori Case, and who died so valiantly in an engagement with the police in the Alfred Park, Allahabad on 27th February, 1931 was head of the active group, that is, the army. Bhagat Singh had the unique position of being-one of the leaders in the active group-and also a vigorous propagandist.
It was also decided in the same meeting that members of the H. S. R. Army should leave home and cut off connexions with the family, and should divert their whole energy towards work for the party. As religious sectarianism was also tabooed, Bhagat Singh had to divest himself of all outward symbols of Sikhism, i. e., he had to cut his hair short and to shave.
Shortly, the head-quarters of the party were shifted from Jhansi to Agra. Here, two houses were taken on rent, and many young men, after leaving home and relatives, came there and lived together. The young men lived in utter poverty, for the party was always in need of funds. At one time, for three continuous days and nights, there was absolutely nothing to eat except a cup of tea. In the terrible winter nights of Agra, they had only two or three blankets to share between 8 or 9 men, with practically no beding.. Though Bhagat Singh was accustomed to live a luxurious j life at home, yet he never for a moment felt unhappy under these trying circumstances.
With his ever-increasing zest for study, Bhagat Singh began to build up a small library at Agra. With this purpose he roamed about, begging for books from sympathizers. In a short time a distinctive though small library grew up here, and the most important section among the books were of course, Economics.
Bhagat Singh's study of and discussions on Socialism went on unabated. In the whole party he was perhaps second to none in the vastness and depth of study. While studying general literature, he .often used to get by heart striking and beautiful passages, and in the Jail during the Lahore Conspiracy Case he often enlivened and brightened up his fellow-comrades by reproducing beautiful passages from memory.
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