Bhagat Singh’s niece: Never take violent path, but fight for your rights

It has been 91 years since three of Indiarsquos freedom fighters ndash Bhagat Singh Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru ndash were hanged to death in Lahore by the British for being part of the countryrsquos independence struggle Ever since the day March 23 is commemorated as one of Indiarsquos six Martyrsrsquo Days Speaking to midday on the occasion of Martyrsrsquo Day from the farmersrsquo agitation site at the Singhu border Bhagat Singhrsquos niece Gurjit Kaur 71 said ldquoShaheed Bhagat Singhrsquos dream of bringing equality in society remains unfulfilledrdquoGurjit KaurOn March 18 Kaur had flagged off the AIKSCITUAIAWUled lsquoShaheed Yaadgar Padayatrarsquo from the historic Lal Sadak in Hansi Haryana where in 1857 the British crushed scores of freedom fighters under road rollers The padayatra reached Singhu border on March 20 and they have been camping there since then having pledged their support to the farmerrsquos movement In an interview with midday Kaur speaks about the farmersrsquo agitation farm laws and how much we can draw from Bhagat Singhrsquos vision of independenceExcerptsWould Bhagat Singh have joined the farmersrsquo agitation if he was alive todayldquoIf he was among us today he too would have fought against the unjust farm laws His lifersquos mission was to fight for equality in society and to ensure that poor people like the farmers and labourers lived in proper conditions Today when kisan and mazdoor are getting severely affected by the farm laws and are facing dangers because of them he Bhagat Singh would have never stood by and watched this happen He believed that everyone should get equal rights However his dream of bringing about equality remains unfulfilled If he had been alive today this situation might not have arisen Our present leaders irrespective of party affiliation have deceived usrdquoWhat dangers do the farm laws poseldquoThe three farm laws come with individual problems and their corporate nature is extremely harmful for farmers At the end of it they farm laws are detrimental to the growth of Indian farmers because there is no mechanism to safeguard their rights under these laws Farmers also cannot afford to pay for their own transport and bargain for prices in open mandis If these private mandis are opened they will mark the end of the APMC and will buy farming produce at whatever price they wish Lastly there is already major unemployment problems in the Indian farming sector which is only bound to increase if these three farm laws are implementedrdquoWhat lessons can we learn from Bhagat Singh in the current political environmentldquoBhagat Singh had given his life for the freedom of the country so that everyone could be free and live as equals We have to remember that we as individuals need to protect and fight for our freedom When the Ambani sarkar is in the wrong we the people need to stand against them because ultimately the government is of the people not the other way around This is why we are an lsquoazaad mulkrsquo a democratic nation in which the voices of everyone living in it should be rightfully heard If you look around and feel that whatever is going on is harmful for you then you need to fight for your freedom This is the time to wake uprdquoBhagat Singh is also known for taking a violent stand in Indiarsquos fight for independence Should the modernday Indian society draw something from thisldquoHe was very clear in pointing out the difference between lsquohinsarsquo and lsquoahimsarsquo When we stand in selfdefense it is not counted as being violent However if someone is forcefully imposing their unjust views on others that is considered to be violence Bhagat Singh always believed in taking a stand I will never say to take the road of violence but you need to raise your voice for your rightsrdquo