Dehradoon (Uttarakhand) [India], December 26 : On the birth anniversary of one of India's most defiant freedom fighters, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, paid tribute to Shaheed Udham Singh.
In a post on X, Dhami shared, "On the birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter and symbol of indomitable courage and revolutionary consciousness, Shaheed Udham Singh ji, countless salutations. Transforming the insult to Mother India and the agony born from the blood of the innocents into a struggle, he chose a decisive path against tyranny. His life teaches us that no matter how great the injustice may be, the power of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice is always mightier."
Sardar Udham Singh, who was hanged on 31st July 1940 in London, remains a symbol of India's unwavering resolve to seek justice for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Born on 26th December 1899, in Sunam, Punjab, Singh's exposure to Sikhism and revolutionary activities, including the Komagata Maru incident and the Ghadar Party's uprising, shaped his anti-colonial stance.
Singh was deeply affected by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, 1919, where British troops killed hundreds of unarmed Indians.
Singh vowed to avenge the massacre by killing Michael O'Dwyer, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, who had ordered the massacre.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919, when troops of the British Indian Army, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters and pilgrims who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab's Amritsar on the occasion of Baisakhi.
The crowd had assembled peacefully at the venue to condemn the arrest of two national leaders--Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew--when they were fired at indiscriminately by General Dyer and his men.
According to British government records, 379 people, including men, women, and children, were killed, while 1,200 were wounded in the firing. Other sources place the number of dead at well over 1,000.
In 1924, Udham Singh joined the Ghadar Party to overthrow colonial rule. In 1927, he was arrested for illegal possession of firearms and sentenced to five years in prison.
In 1940, Singh successfully assassinated Michael O'Dwyer during a meeting at Caxton Hall in London. The act was a dramatic statement against British rule. Singh was tried and sentenced to death and was hanged in Pentonville Prison, London.
A district in Uttarakhand, Udham Singh Nagar, was named after him in 1995 as a tribute.