Why I am an Atheist and Other Works

by Bhagat Singh

Naujawan Bharat Sabha – “to suffer and sacrifice through service”.

Remember this

Man acts only when he is sure of the justness of his action, as we threw the bomb in the Legislative Assembly.

You kmow it is the right thing.

We are now quite successful in our endeavour.

No. Striving and sacrificing one’s life for a superior ideal can never be called suicide.

Apart from this, the comrades among us, who believe that they will be awarded death, should await that day patiently when the sentence will be announced and they will be hanged. This death will also be beautiful, but committing suicide – to cut short the life just to avoid some pain – is cowardice.

You will recollect that we have talked several times about realism in the Rusian literature, which is nowhere visible in our own. We highly appreciate the situations of pain in their stories, but we do not feel that spirit of suffering within ourselves. We also admire their passion and the extraordinary height of their characters, but we never bother to find out the reason.

will say that only the reference to their resolve to bear pain has produced the intensity, the suffering of pain, and this has given great depth and height to their characters and literature.

We become pitiable and ridiculous when we imbibe an unreasoned mysticism in our life without...

The best parts of the self-study for one is to suffer oneself.

Perhaps, you will say that this struggle would be futile, but this is precisely the argument which is usually used as a cover by weak people to avoid participation in every movement.

I shall even say that Marx – the father of communism – did not actually originate this idea. The Industrial Revolution of Europe itself produced men of this kind. Marx was one among them. Of course, Marx was also instrumental to an extent in gearing up the wheels of his time in a particular way.

I (and you too) did not give birth to the ideas of socialism and communism in this country; this is the consequence of the effects of our time and situations upon ourselves.

Man must try hard to stick to his beliefs. No one can say what future has in store.

Write

Therefore, we must think of life and death on materialist lines.

But I had replied that a man with beliefs and ideal like mine, could never think of dying uselessly.

We want to get the maximum value for our lives. We want to serve humanity as much as possible. Particularly a man like me, whose life is nowhere sad or worried, can never even think of suicide, leave alone attempting it. The same thing I want to tell you now.

Important

I am certain of capital punishment for me. I do not expect even a bit of moderation or amnesty. Even if there is amnesty, it will not be for all, and even that amnesty will be for others only, not for us;

You just know it. Your inner vlice knows it.

Even then, I wish that release calls for us should be made collection and globally. Along with that, I also wish that when the movement reaches its climax, we should be hanged.

Remember the Gandhi-Irwin Pact

It is my wish that if at any time any honourable and fair compromise is possible, issue like our case may never obstruct it.

If he thought of like this, then think about GI pact. Remember your thought of what would BS think of Gandhi's dec. ans- didn't really matter to him

When the fate of the country is being decided, the fate of individuals should be forgotten.

Communiqué

Militarism (Karl Liebknecht) Why Men Fight (B. Russel) Soviets at Work. Collapse of the Second International Left-Wing Communism Mutual Aid (Prince Kropotkin) Fields, Factories and Workshops Civil War in France (Marx) Land Revolution in Russia Spy (Upton Sinclair) Please send one more book from Punjab Public Library: Historical Materialism (Bukharin).

Note this list

Punjab Peasants in Prosperity and Debt by Darling and 2 or 3 books of this type for Dr. Alam.

Note

Lenin responded by telling them to return and to kill twelve hundred landlords and burn as many of their palaces. In his opinion, that would have meant something if revolution failed. Duma was introduced.

But the thing that we must keep always before us is the idea of the movement.

Complete mastery of power in their hands. Compromises are dreaded because the conservatives try to disband the revolutionary forces after the compromise from such pitfalls.

His definite views on the subject of compromise will be found in “Left Wing” Communism.

After his first experience with the Ahmedabad labourers in 1920, Mahatma Gandhi declared, “We must not tamper with the labourers. It is dangerous to make political use of the factory proletariat”

The Bardoli resolution of 1922 clearly denies the horror the leaders felt when they saw the gigantic peasant class rising to shake off not only the domination of an alien nation, but also the yoke of the landlords.

It is there that our leaders prefer a surrender to the British than to the peasantry. Leave alone Pt. Jawaharlal. Can you point out any effort to organize the peasants or the labourers? No, they will not run the risk.

As a matter of fact, even our great leaders, with the exception of perhaps Pt. Motilal Nehru, do not dare to take any responsibility on their shoulders, that is why every now and then they surrender unconditionally before Gandhi.

revolution means the complete overthrow of the existing social order and its replacement with the socialist order.

We want to snatch and handle it to utilise it for the consummation of our ideal basis, i.e. social reconstruction on new, i.e. Marxist.

All along we have to educate the masses and to create a favourable atmosphere for our social programme. In the struggles, we can best train and educate them.

But for us, the revolutionaries, we can have the following criteria: 1. Extent of responsibility transferred to the shoulders of the Indians. 2. From of the government institutions that are going to be introduced and the extent of the right of participation given to the masses. 3. Future prospects and the safeguards.

The third item is quite clear. During the last two years, the British politicians have been trying to

For us, compromise never means surrender, but a step forward and some rest. That is all and nothing else.

For, you must know that revolution means action. It means a change brought about deliberately by an organized and systematic work, as opposed to sudden and unorganised or spontaneous change or breakdown. And for the formulation of a programme, one must necessarily study: 1. The goal. 2. The premises from where were to start, i.e. the existing conditions. 3. The course of action, i.e. the means and methods.

that really meant a revolution – they did not mean it. They had to do it under pressure of the younger element, and then they wanted to use it as a threat to achieve their hearts’ desire – Dominion Status.

Mahatmaji made no secret of the fact that the door (for compromise) was open. That was the real spirit. At the very outset, they knew that their movement could not but end in some compromise. It is this half-heartedness that we hate, not the compromise at a particular stage in the struggle.

First, the preparation; second, the action.

The whole-time workers who have no other ambitions or life-work except the revolution. The greater the number of such workers organized into a party, the great the chances of your success.

study circles, class lectures and publication of leaflets, pamphlets, books and periodicals. This is the best recruiting and training ground for political workers.

One of the fundamental causes of the failure of the efforts of the Ghadar Party (1914-15) was the ignorance, apathy and sometimes active opposition of the masses.

And in order to create political consciousness, not only of national politics but class politics as well, the party should organize a big publishing campaign.

There is very great probability of my being misunderstood on this subject. Apparently I have acted like a terrorist. But I am not a terrorist. I am a revolutionary who has got such definite ideas of a lengthy programme as is being discussed here. My “comrades in arms” might accuse me, like Ram Prasad Bismil, for having been subjected to certain sort of reaction in the condemned cell, which is not true.

If you start the work on these lines, you shall have to be very sober. The programme requires at least twenty years for its fulfillment. Cast aside the youthful dreams of a revolution within ten years, of Gandhi’s utopian promises of Swaraj in one year.

Crush your individuality first. Shake off the dreams of personal comfort. Then start to work. Inch by inch, you shall have to proceed. It needs courage, perseverance and very strong determination. No difficulties and no hardships shall discourage you. No failure and betrayals shall dishearten you. No travails (!) imposed upon you shall snuff out the revolutionary will in you. Through the ordeal of sufferings and sacrifice, you shall come out victorious. And these individual victories shall be the valuable assets of the revolution.

Pass this on to yourself. For you to become a better version of yourself unlearn and learn everything

desperation.”

Read it and think about it

The purpose having been served, he ought to have rejoiced in the lucky escape of the Governor. There is no use of killing any one individual. These actions have their political significance in as much as they serve to create a mentality and an atmosphere which shall be very necessary to the final struggle. That is all. Individual actions are to win the moral support of the people. We sometimes designate them as ‘propaganda through deed’.