The murder of John Saunders, the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh

The spiteful Simon Commission. Death of Lala Lajpat Rai. Revolutionaries in action. A case of mistaken identity. The death of a villain, the martyrdom of a hero. The 1920s were a turbulent time in pre-Independent India. But this period of turmoil saw the heights of revolutionary action in India. And it all goes back to the murder of John Saunders, a British assistant superintendent of police. What’s the whole story? Let’s dig it out.

“An image of the revolutionary Bhagat Singh, along with his gun that killed Saunders” Source: aajtak.intoday.in

The year was 1928, and India was far from being free of British domination. The national movement was strengthened and spread to different parts of the country. But the British had not yet succumbed to the protests of the popular movement. The Swaraj Party, formed in 1923, was becoming increasingly vocal in its demands of complete political autonomy.  In response to these growing demands of the Swaraj Party in India, the British had appointed the Simon Commission in Nov 1927. The mission of the Simon Commission was to report as to what extent a representative government could be introduced in India. Although the initiative itself was a big achievement for the nationalists, the Commission failed in its approach. The Commission was unrepresentative and comprised entirely of the Whites.

Hence, the nationalists boycotted the Commission wherever it went, crying, “Simon Go back”.

After facing boycotts and angry protests in several parts, the Simon Commission was now headed towards Lahore on 30th October 1928. A massive protest was already organized to welcome the Simon Commission and preferably send it away. The British Government officials, apprehensive of the big procession, imposed Section 144 in Lahore and ordered the police to prevent the demonstrations at all costs. The police and the protestors got into an ugly fight, as both parties refused to be intimidated by each other. Among the protestors was the 63 three-year-old congress extremist leader and a core member of the Lal Bal Pal Triumvirate, Lala Lajpat Rai. In the clash between the British police and the nationalist protestors, Lala Lajpat Rai received a fatal lathi blow and was severely injured in multiple places. A few days later, on 17th November, Lala Lajpat Rai passed away from a heart attack. People concluded that his death was caused by the beatings he received and demanded justice for their late leader.

The offenders were identified as Mr James Scott, the Senior Superintendent of Police in Lahore, held responsible for ordering the Police beatings and Mr John Saunders, an assistant superintendent of police.

The death of Lala Lajpat Rai was a shock to all the nationalists, but it deeply angered the ones from Punjab. Among them were Bhagat Singh and his two other comrades from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), who vowed to avenge their fellow countrymen by killing the two offenders. For this purpose, Bhagat Singh launched a plan with a twofold motive: one, to give justice to Lala Lajpat Rai and show that Indians are not intimidated by the British; two, to direct the course of the national movement towards violence. In other words, they wanted to advertise to the world that Indian nationalism was not limited to the Moderates’ ‘mendicancy’ and Gandhian politics. Additionally, there was also a strong revolutionary party in India, one that was not reluctant to use violence to achieve its ultimate goal, i.e. Azadi.

Bhagat Singh and his comrades originally targeted Scott, who had ordered the lathi charge during the Lahore procession. Singh and Shivaram Rajguru were to pursue the target with their revolvers, while Pt. Chandra Shekhar Azad was to observe the entire scene unfold from the vicinity. The revolutionaries were prepared to die in action if required. In fact, they were intended to engage in a pitched battle with the police and lay their lives in the process. As impressive and courageous as their whole arrangement was, the plan failed in several respects.

On 17th December 1928, the revolutionaries, in a case of mistaken identity, ended up murdering John Saunders, who was the assistant of Scott, while the original target remained unharmed.

As Saunders took the revolutionaries’ bullet and laid it down in front of the police officer, another police officer witnessed the whole scene and ended up dying as well. Yet, no pitch battle followed, as the revolutionaries had intended because the police did not immediately pursue them. Bhagat Singh and his comrades escaped from the scene. The next day, the revolutionaries decorated the walls in the city with several posters written in bold red ink that said, “Hindustan Socialist Republican Army”. Written below it were these words, “Saunders is dead, Lalaji is avenged”, along with some justification for their action.

With Saunders’ death, the revolutionaries became even more active in terrorism and other forms of violence.

The death of Saunders brought immense prestige and honour to the HSRA party.

Although they were still targeted by the British police, Bhagat Singh and his comrades roamed around undaunted. That was until 8th April 1928. The revolutionaries had another surprise in store for the British officials. Only this time, they were not so lucky. Bhagat Singh and another comrade threw two bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi, where the government officials were seated to discuss something about labour agitation in Bombay. The officials escaped the scene with minor scratches, and no lives were lost. The offenders remained inside the hall as well. Bhagat Singh had come to die that day. He was not prepared to go into hiding again. He and his comrade took out their fully loaded guns and placed them on the chairs before the British men.

Then, at the top of their voice, they screamed, “Long Live the Revolution” and “Down with Imperialism”— words that had never been heard aloud previously. Words that reverberated through the halls that day. Words that fill our patriotic souls with pride even today.

Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Sukhdev and Rajguru, were arrested, tried and executed later in 1931 for the murder of John Saunders. Following their execution, the revolutionary action that had gained momentum since the death of Saunders now lost its appeal in the national movement. But the death of Bhagat Singh and his comrades made them martyrs in the eyes of millions of Hindustanis.