Listen to the words of Bhagat Singh and march forth on the path of the new revolution

These are indeed dire times in which the forces of counter-revolution are gaining sway over the upsurge of revolution. Faced with such an impasse, young hearts hungry for change can look up to their heroes alone for inspiration and energy. The proletariat and the toiling masses derive and nourish their emancipatory ideology from international as well as national sources. The name which stands out on a national scale in the development of this ideology in India is undoubtedly that of Bhagat Singh. Few know that this young revolutionary who cheerfully embraced the noose was a brilliant, versatile and epochmaking thinker. The political-ideological understanding of Bhagat Singh and his comrades was illumined by the blood-red light of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Towards the end of his life, Bhagat Singh carried out an in-depth study of Marxism and even became a Marxist, but ran out of time to organise his thoughts. In his thought process, Bhagat Singh can be likened to Dobrolyubov. His goal was not limited to ridding India of imperialism and feudalism. He considered the struggle for national democracy as a stepping stone on the way to the socialist revolution and his latter thinking led him to recognise the prime importance of mobilising the workers and the peasantry in the national democratic struggle as well as the ideological-political predominance of the working class. While in jail, along with the classical Marxist works of Marx, Engels and Lenin, he devoured the writings of George Bernard Shaw, Gorky, Upton Sinclair, Jack London etc. and carried out a comprehensive study of history ranging from the French revolution to the Russian revolution. Equipped with the historical vision acquired on the basis of this study, he reached some fundamental and far-reaching conclusions regarding the national movement. He made an incisive class-analysis of the Congress and its politics. He was of the view that if India secured independence under the leadership of the Congress, it wouldnt make any difference to the condition of the toiling masses in the country. Indeed, he went so far as to point out that the White Sahibs would leave only for power to be captured by the Brown Sahibs. There would be no end to the vicious circle of exploitation and oppression. The bloodshed endured by the Indians at the hands of the British in the course of two hundred years of slavery is nothing compared to the bloodshed of students, workers and the youth perpetrated by the domestic capitalist regime in sixty eight years of independence. Democracy exists only in name: There is no dearth of new laws to suffocate every dissenting voice and crush every movement against the state power, nor that of jails, police and military forces. The State has more powerful, organised and modern means of repression at its disposal than during the period of the British Raj. Fossilised colonial laws continue to be in existence. Every day bullets are rained on students, workers or peasants in one corner of the country or the other. There can be no doubt that history is no longer waiting at the threshold of Bhagat Singhs time for revolution. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Within forty years of Independence, Nehruvian socialism entered its death throes. The industries set up with the hard-earned money of the common masses and the workers were opened up and handed over to private capitalists for brazen profit-making. Along with privatisation, in the name of liberalisation, the doors of the economy were flung wide open to foreign loot. Today, no matter how much all electoral parties, from the AAP to the Congress and the BJP hurl insults and abuses at each other on a variety of non-issues, a silent consensus reigns supreme on one issue: neo-liberal policies and their continued application. The only difference is that whereas AAP talks of a squeaky clean neo-liberal policy, the BJP wants to usher in these neo-liberal policies in an unrestrained. Only the mighty gale force of a new revolution can salvage us from this hell. For this, following Bhagat Singhs message from prison, the youth will have to come forward possessed with the spirit of sacrifice and keep afresh the spirit of revolution. They will have to sharpen the sword of revolution on the whetstone of thought, that is, they will have to study todays capitalism and imperialism as well as delve into history and imbibe the science of revolution. Then they will have to carry the message of revolution far and wide into the factories and the villages and organise the masses because today the aspect of change is dominating the aspect of continuity; without studying change we will be severed from history and our futile attempts at fitting the present circumstances into the framework of certain ready-made borrowed formulations will become fetters round our feet leading to dismay and despair and stop us from fulfilling our historical tasks. Revolution is not emotion alone, but also a science. Hence today it s absolutely imperative to listen to the words of Bhagat Singh and march forth on the path of the new revolution!