His father and uncles were members of the Ghadar Party, led by Kartar Singh Sarabha and Har Dayal. His uncle was forced into exile due to pending court cases against him while Swaran Singh died at home in Lahore in 1910 following his release from jail. Born into a family of patriots he was destined to lay down his life for the noble cause whenever needed, but he made his span of 24 specifically marked and admired.
He wasn't the only one who sacrificed his life for the cause of our freedom though he has the distinction whenever we talk of those who won us freedom, this distinction is but for a reason.
In 1919, when jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place he was just 12 years old, he visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre hours after thousands of unarmed people gathered at a public meeting had been killed, witnessing such a horrific incident at such an early age he was filled of rage against the British and vowed to participate in the resistance movements to over throw the British. His rage resulted him taking parts in protests against British under the banner of country wide Non-co-operation lead by M.K. Gandhi,but became disillusioned with Gandhian philosophy after the movement was called of by M.K. Gandhi. He then started advocate violent struggle to achieve his vow of overthrowing the English Masters.
In 1919, when jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place he was just 12 years old, he visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre hours after thousands of unarmed people gathered at a public meeting had been killed, witnessing such a horrific incident at such an early age he was filled of rage against the British and vowed to participate in the resistance movements to over throw the British. His rage resulted him taking parts in protests against British under the banner of country wide Non-co-operation lead by M.K. Gandhi,but became disillusioned with Gandhian philosophy after the movement was called of by M.K. Gandhi. He then started advocate violent struggle to achieve his vow of overthrowing the English Masters.
The Main chapter of his life started when he got enrolled at the National College Lahore in1923,
Except his participation in revolutionary parties and activities, he started spending more time in the Library and studied works of great political and social thinkers. He majorily read the works of Marx, Lenin, Bakunin, Trotsky and had influences of socialism, Marxism and Anarchism and majorly quoted them in his works. He wrote extensively for Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from Amritsar, Veer Arjun from delhi, Pamphlets published by Naujawan Bharat Sabha and kirti(journal of Kirti kisan Party). He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi. In his writings he focused on the working section of the society i.e. Farmers and workers and mentioned how the hard working were being exploited and slaved by the Rich and powerful , he used to quote revolutionary writers as how to establish a system free of exploitation and slavery economically, socially and economically.
He quoted "True freedom can only be achieved, once the dictatorship of the proletariat is established"
Except his participation in revolutionary parties and activities, he started spending more time in the Library and studied works of great political and social thinkers. He majorily read the works of Marx, Lenin, Bakunin, Trotsky and had influences of socialism, Marxism and Anarchism and majorly quoted them in his works. He wrote extensively for Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from Amritsar, Veer Arjun from delhi, Pamphlets published by Naujawan Bharat Sabha and kirti(journal of Kirti kisan Party). He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi. In his writings he focused on the working section of the society i.e. Farmers and workers and mentioned how the hard working were being exploited and slaved by the Rich and powerful , he used to quote revolutionary writers as how to establish a system free of exploitation and slavery economically, socially and economically.
He quoted "True freedom can only be achieved, once the dictatorship of the proletariat is established"
Apart from writing revolutionary pieces he is also noted to be a proponent Atheist and even wrote an essay titled "why I am an Atheist",published in The People daily in Lahore, in which we wrote about his opinion on god and religion, following are two excerpts from the above mentioned essay;
"As regard the origin of God, my thought is that man created God in his imagination when he realised his weaknesses, limitations and shortcomings. In this way he got the courage to face all the trying circumstances and to meet all dangers that might occur in his life and also to restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God, with his whimsical laws and parental generosity was painted with variegated colours of imagination. He was used as a deterrent factor when his fury and his laws were repeatedly propagated so that man might not become a danger to society. He was the cry of the distressed soul for he was believed to stand as father and mother, sister and brother, brother and friend when in time of distress a man was left alone and helpless. He was Almighty and could do anything. The idea of God is helpful to a man in distress."
"Let us see how steadfast I am. One of my friends asked me to pray. When informed of my atheism, he said, "When your last days come, you will begin to believe." I said, "No, dear sir, Never shall it happen. I consider it to be an act of degradation and demoralisation. For such petty selfish motives, I shall never pray." Reader and friends, is it vanity? If it is, I stand for it."
He always pointed how god was always used as a blanket to cover the drawbacks of Humans. He indulged in many debates and arguments with his colleagues about faith and god as almost all of his friends were firm believers and kept asking him to believe in some sort of super natural power, but all went in vain as he was adamant over his views and was convinced that no super power as god exist. Even during his last days he was told to give up ignorance and start believing but he sums it up with sarcasm in his last letter, "All of my life I haven't believed in God and now if I start worshipping him, he would think that I am a coward and praying him out of fear of death".
Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case and ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931. The schedule was moved forward by 11 hours and the three were hanged on 23 March 1931 at 7:30 pm[63] in the Lahore jail. It is reported that no magistrate at the time was willing to supervise Singh's hanging as was required by law. The execution was supervised instead by an honorary judge, who also signed the three death warrants, as their original warrants had expired.[64] The jail authorities then broke a hole in the rear wall of the jail, removed the bodies, and secretly cremated the three men under cover of darkness outside Ganda Singh Wala village, and then threw the ashes into the Sutlej river, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Ferozepore
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