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78th Independence Day: Letters That Reveal the True Cost of Freedom

78th Independence Day brings us a chance to look into the heart-wrenching letters penned by our valiant freedom fighters. These letters, steeped in sacrifice, offer a stirring reminder of the immense price paid for the liberties we cherish today.

By Neeraj Thakur
New Update
78th independence day | India

78th Independence Day: Letters That Reveal the True Cost of Freedom | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement

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78th Independence Day: The Sacrifices Behind Our Liberty

Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Shaheed Bhagat Singh's Letter to B.K. Dutt

[This letter gives an idea as to what Bhagat Singh expected from those comrades who would escape capital punishment.]
Central Jail, Lahore
November, 1930

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DEAR BROTHER,
The judgement has been delivered. I am condemned to death. In these cells, besides myself, there are many others prisoners who are waiting to be hanged. The only prayer of these people is that somehow or other they may escape the moose.

Perhaps I am the only man amongst them who is anxiously waiting for the day when I will be fortunate enough to embrace the gallows for my ideal. I will climb the gallows gladly and show to the world as to how bravely the revolutionaries can sacrifice themselves for the cause.

I will condemned to death, but you are sentenced to transportation for life. You will live and, while living, you will have to show to the world that the revolutionaries not only die for their ideals but can face every calamity.

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Death should not be a means to escape the worldly difficulties. Those revolutionaries who have by chance escaped the gallows for the ideal but also bear the worst type of tortures in the dark dingy prison cells.

Yours
Bhagat Singh

Shaheed Bhagat Singh's Last Letter

On March 22, 1931, just one day before his execution, Bhagat Singh penned his final letter to his comrades. Although some of his fellow revolutionaries believed that an escape plan could still save him from the gallows, Bhagat Singh, while acknowledging their heartfelt concern, emphasised the crucial importance of his impending execution for the nation. 

Comrades!

It is natural that the desire to live should be in me as well, I don’t want to hide it. But I can stay alive on one condition that I don’t wish to live in imprisonment or with any binding.

My name has become a symbol of Hindustani revolution, and the ideals and sacrifices of the revolutionary party have lifted me very high – so high that I can certainly not be higher in the condition of being alive.

Today my weaknesses are not visible to the people. If I escape the noose, they will become evident and the symbol of revolution will be tarnished, or possibly be obliterated. But to go to the gallows with courage will make Hindustani mothers aspire to have children who are like Bhagat Singh and the number of those who will sacrifice their lives for the country will go up so much that it will not be possible for imperialistic powers or all the demoniac powers to contain the revolution.

And yes, one thought occurs to me even today – that I have not been able to fulfil even one thousandth parts of the aspirations that were in my heart to do something for my country and humanity. If I could have stayed alive and free, then I may have got the opportunity to accomplish those and I would have fulfilled my desires.

Apart from this, no temptation to escape the noose has ever come to me. Who can be more fortunate than me? These days, I feel very proud of myself. Now I await the final test with great eagerness. I pray that it should draw closer.

Your comrade

Bhagat Singh

78th Independence Day: Revisiting the Struggle Through Historic Letters

Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi's letter to Lord Irwin 

On March 2, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi penned a detailed letter to Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, formally notifying him of his decision to defy the oppressive salt laws enforced by the British government. In his letter, Gandhi outlined his intention to challenge these unjust regulations, which he believed were deeply unfair to the Indians.

DEAR FRIEND,

God willing, it is my intention ... to set out for Dharasana and reach there with my companions . . . and demand possession of the Salt Works. The public have been told that Dharasana is a private property. This is mere camouflage. It is as effectively under Government control as the Viceroy's house. Not a pinch of salt can be removed without the previous sanction of the authorities.

It is possible for you to prevent this raid, as it has been playfully and mischievously called, in three ways:

By removing the Salt Tax;

By arresting me and my party, unless the country can, as I hope it will, replace every one taken away;

By sheer goondaism unless every head broken is replaced, as I hope it will.

It is not without hesitation that the step has been decided upon. I had hoped that the Government would fight the civil resisters in a civilized manner. I could have had nothing to say if, in dealing with the civil resisters, the Government has satisfied itself with applying the ordinary processes of law. Instead, whilst the known leaders have been dealt with more or less according to the legal formality, the rank and file has been often savagely and in some cases even indecently assaulted. Had there been isolated cases, they might have been overlooked. But accounts have come to me from Bengal, Bihar, Utkal, U.E, Delhi and Bombay confirming the experiences of Gujarat of which I have ample evidence at my disposal.

In Karachi, Peshawar and Madras the firing would appear to have been unprovoked and unnecessary. Bones have been broken, private parts have been squeezed for the purpose of making volunteers give up, to the Government valueless, to the volunteers precious salt. At Muthra an Assistant Magistrate is said to have snatched the National Flag from a ten-year-old boy. The crowd demanding restoration of the Flag thus illegally seized is reported to have been mercilessly beaten back. That the Flag was subsequently restored betrayed a guilty conscience.

In Bengal there seem to have been only a few prosecutions and assaults about salt, but unthinkable cruelties are said to have been practised in

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