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| - Fact Check: This is not the picture of Bhagat Singh's funeral. Know the story of his cremation
On social media, a black and white picture of funeral pyres surrounded by hundreds of people started going viral with the claim that it shows the last rites of the revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru. India Today's AFWA probes the truth.
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India Today Fact Check
This is the picture of the funeral pyres of 13 Sikhs killed during clashes with Nirankaris in April 1978 in Amritsar. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were cremated secretly by the British.
The nation on Tuesday paid tributes to revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on their death anniversary. Exactly 90 years ago on March 23, 1931, the trio was executed by the British government in Pakistan’s Lahore Central Jail.
On social media, a black and white picture of funeral pyres surrounded by hundreds of people started going viral with the claim that it shows the last rites of the three freedom fighters.
Hailing their sacrifice, netizens shared emotional posts on Facebook and Twitter along with the picture.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA), however, has found the claim along with the picture to be false. The image is of funeral pyres of 13 Sikhs killed in clashes with Nirankaris in 1978 in Amritsar. Also, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were cremated secretly by the British.
It’s almost a decade-old misinformation as Facebook users have been posting this picture since 2012 claiming it to be the funeral of the revolutionary trio. Some news portals have also used the picture on articles related to their death anniversary.
The archive of the viral post can be seen here.
What happened in 1978
Using reverse image search and keywords, we found the viral picture in some reports and a book saying it was taken after clashes between Sikhs and Nirankaris in Amritsar in 1978.
Nirankari is a sect in Sikhism which follows Baba Buta Singh and claims to be unaffiliated to any religion, and are thus, called a heretic cult by some mainstream Sikhs, according to “The Indian Express”. The rivalry between Sikhs and Nirankaris is almost a century old.
Akhand Kirtani Jatha (AKJ), a collective group dedicated to Sikh lifestyle, published a book on the incident named “Kurbaani”, which is also available on its website. The book, in its 3rd edition, says the clashes took place on April 13, 1978, during the occasion of Vaisakhi in Amritsar.
The book alleges that Nirankaris took out a procession shouting insulting slogans against the Guru Granth Sahib and Sikh religion. Sikhs opposed it and this led to clashes between Nirankaris and AKJ activists. The clashes claimed the lives of 13 AKJ activists, including its leader Bhai Fauja Singh. The book claims Fauja Singh was killed in police firing.
The viral picture is available in this book as the cremation ceremony of these 13 Sikh AKJ activists killed in the incident. A total of 17 people were killed in the clashes and several others injured.
Many websites related to Sikhism such as “All About Sikhs”, “Panthic” and “National Sikh Youth Federation” have also used the viral picture in their reports with the same information. Thousands of people were present in the funeral ceremony.
Detailed information about the incident can be read in articles by “The Tribune” and “The Print”.
Cremation of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru
Author Anil Verma in his book “Rajguru The Invincible Revolutionary” wrote that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged a day earlier than scheduled in Lahore Central Jail.
“The Jail authorities broke the back wall of the Jail and secretly brought the dead bodies of the martyrs on the banks of river Satluj near Ferozepur for an unceremonial cremation. When the local people, at visualizing the flames, moved towards them, they put out the fire, threw unburnt remains in the river, covered the place with sand, and escaped,” says the book.
An excerpt from “The Execution of Bhagat Singh: Legal Heresies of the Raj” by Satvinder Singh, published by “The Print” says “the bodies were dragged along the dirty passageway, chopped into pieces and stuffed into sacks, which were then whisked out of the jail compound surreptitiously”.
“Outside the jail, the remains were unceremoniously stacked on a truck. The truck reached the banks of the River Sutlej where two holy men were waiting for the final rituals. One was Sikh and the other Hindu. The dismembered bodies were then incompletely burnt and the charred remains were thrown into the river. After this, the villagers retrieved the body parts and cremated them properly,” the book says.
After the cremation, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, the revolutionary organisation founded by Bhagat Singh, passed a resolution to construct a memorial at the cremation place.
After Partition, the cremation site went under Pakistan’s control. But in January 1961, with the government’s efforts, the area came within the Indian border in exchange of land. The cremation site is situated in the border village of Hussainiwala in Punjab’s Ferozepur district, known as “The National Martyrs Memorial”.
The official website of Ferozepur district also says that the three freedom fighters were given an unceremonial cremation.
A report by “The Tribune” gives the same information. Bhagat Singh’s close friend and freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt was also cremated at the same place.
AFWA also reached out to Bhagat Singh’s nephew Professor Jagmohan Singh who denied that the viral picture is of Bhagat Singh’s funeral.
Hence, it can be concluded that the claim along with the picture is misleading. A picture of a funeral ceremony in April 1978 in Amritsar has been shared as the last rites of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
READ | Fact Check: Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were not sentenced to death on February 14
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