Today 23 March 2025 martyred It is a day to remember Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom. On this day a question arises again: Could Mahatma Gandhi stop the hanging of Bhagat Singh? The answer to this question is hidden in the pages of history and its center is the Gandhi-Irwin agreement. The agreement was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931. Its background is from the 1930s, when the British government banned Indians from making or selling salt. In protest, Gandhiji led the salt journey from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, which became known as Dandi Salt Satyagraha. He broke the British law by picking up salt from the beach, due to which he was imprisoned. The incident caused global debate and increased pressure on the British government.
Birth of Gandhi-Irwin Agreement
When the pressure on Lord Irwin increased and he had no choice, he signed a compromise with Gandhiji on 5 March 1931. There were several conditions in the agreement, the main of which was that all political prisoners except the accused of violence would be released. At this time, Bhagat Singh, who was in jail, was also in the headlines, who was sentenced to death in October 1930. The Congress and the public hoped that Gandhiji would save Bhagat Singh.
Two different routes
Two ideologies were clear in the freedom struggle. One was Gandhiji’s non -violent movement, which received widespread support. The second was the violent struggle of revolutionaries, headed by youths like Bhagat Singh. The group was ideologically strong, despite being small in number. Bhagat Singh believed that Gandhiji’s movement was related to the interests of the capitalists and landlords, while his goal was a socialist revolution. His popularity among young people was increasing and in Britain too voices started to rise in his support.
Role of Gandhiji
Some historians believe that Gandhiji did not want the impact of revolutionaries to increase. Both Irwin and Gandhiji believed that stopping the hanging of Bhagat Singh would promote the path of violence. Gandhiji wrote a letter to Irwin, in which he only said that it would be better not to hang Bhagat Singh. But he did not take any concrete steps for this. There was no condition to postpone the hanging in the agreement.
Truth of letter and covenant
Gandhiji had said in a conversation with Irwin that if the sentence of these youths is forgiven, they will not resort to violence in future, but Bhagat Singh rejected this statement strongly. Despite the pressure of the public and the Congress, Gandhiji did not include any special provision in the agreement to stop the hanging. This raises the question that if the agreement was in the national interest, would Gandhiji not consider Bhagat Singh’s struggle to be a part of the national movement?
