86 Years After Bhagat Singh’s Death Sentence, A Pakistani Lawyer Is Trying To Prove His Innocence
Wednesday, September 13, 2017 IST
He was just 23 years old when he sacrificed his life for the country. One of the foremost revolutionary leaders in India's struggle for independence, Bhagat Singh's ideas continue to inspire us long after he's gone. He was a rebel, an independent thinker and an intrepid hero of our national struggle.
Now, 86 years after he was hanged for fatally shooting a British police officer John Saunders, a Pakistani lawyer has made it a mission to prove his innocence.
Back in 2014, Lahore police sifted through the old records and discovered the FIR (First Information Report) on Saunder' killing. The FIR is in Urdu and registered two 'unknown gunmen in the Anarkali police station in Lahore on December 17, 1928, at 4.30 PM. While a case was registered under Sections 302, 1201 and 109 of the Indian Penal Code, nowhere does it mention the name of Bhagat Singh.
On the court's order, one of its copies was given to the Pakistani lawyer, Advocate Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi.
As per Qureshi, Bhagat Singh was sentenced without hearing 450 other witnesses in the case. Neither was Bhagat Singh's lawyer given a chance to cross-examine them.
Last year in Fenruaru, the division bench of the Lahore High Court had asked the chief justice of Pakistan to constitute a larger bench to hear the petition by Qureshi. To prove Bhagat Singh's innocence, the lawyer who also runs a Lahore-based Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation, has filed a fresh petition in the Lahore High Court for an early hearing of his case.
Through this petition, he wants the court to exercise principles of review and set aside the sentence given to Bhagat Singh. He also wants the court to order the government to honour him with a state award. Qureshi believes that a lot of Pakistanis who live in Lahore consider Bhagat Singh their hero. The determined lawyer said:
It is a matter of national importance. I will establish Bhagat Singh’s innocence in the Saunders case.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
On this day, 110 years ago, a boy was born in Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India (which now lies in Pakistan) who, along with a fellow freedo...
Recently posted . 1K views . 44 min read
86 years ago today, one of India's greatest revolutionary freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, was given the death penalty by the British colonisers. And though he ...
Recently posted . 1K views . 5 min read
New Delhi: Freedom fighter Udham Singh's pistol, which was utilized to retaliate for th...
Recently posted . 1K views . 19 min read
Trending News & Articles
Quatrain 75, Century X
Long awaited, he will not take birth in Europe,
India will produce the immorta...
Recently posted . 17K views . 2 min read
Secret's of Alauddin Khilji's sexuality
Several historians argue that the roots of ancient Indian history, especially linked to ...
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
The kangaroo is a marsupial. A distinctive characteristic common to marsupials is that, with most, the young are carried around in a pouch. They are mainly found in...
Recently posted . 4K views . 1 min read
There are various challenging stories about Rani Padmavati otherwise known as Padmini. While from one viewpoint, the Rajputs keep up the holiness of everything iden...
Recently posted . 3K views . 1 min read
More in History & Classics
‘Love Jihad’ makes newspaper headlines and is subject of prime time TV debates. What’s new? According to a report in the India Today (12 September...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 30, 1944, the Martha Graham ballet “Appalachian Spring,” with music b...
Recently posted. 465 views . 25 min read
There are various challenging stories about Rani Padmavati otherwise known as Padmini. While from one viewpoint, the Rajputs keep up the holiness of everything iden...
Recently posted. 3K views . 1 min read
Recently posted . 946 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 2K views
So, you’ve always wanted to know what’s the difference between English Walnuts vs Black Walnuts. The short answer is the English walnut is mostly grow...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read
In 'Tasting Difference', Gitanjali Shahani writes about the Mughal foods and traditions that early Western travellers considered 'ugly' and distur...
Recently posted. 940 views . 1 min read