Critical of groups like the RSS and Tablighi Jamaat in the 1920s, Bhagat Singh till date remains relevant as a “modern national leader and thinker” who emphasised the separation of religion from politics and state as true secularism, says historian S Irfan Habib.
Speaking at the first Ranbir Singh Memorial Lecture at the India International Centre here, Habib noted that the revolutionary freedom fighter questioned the “policy of encouraging competing communalisms”.
“This policy ultimately led to Partition in 1947. He, thus, stands out in bold relief as a modern national leader and thinker, emphasising the separation of religion from politics and state as true secularism.” The eminent historian said Bhagat Singh was conscious of the “growing menace of communalism with the emergence of the RSS and some Muslim fundamentalist groups like Tablighi Jamaat.
“Both are hydra-headed organisations today with several political and cultural fronts, posing a serious threat to the socio-political fabric of the Indian society,” he said.
The lecture, organised by The Ranbir Singh Archive, was held to celebrate the 111th birth anniversary of Ranbir Singh, a journalist and fellow freedom fighter with Bhagat Singh. The latter’s wish to see an egalitarian and secular India also reflected in his articles “Achoot Ka Sawaal “ and “Sampradayik Dange Aur Unka Ilaj”.
The octogenarian historian said: “What Bhagat Singh wrote in 1928 appears to be contemporaneous even now, which unfortunately proves how precious little has been done to resolve these questions.”
