Early life and Youth 

Shaheed Udham Singh Kamboj (December 26, 1899 – July 31, 1940) was one of the great patriots of India,  and a political activist from the Punjab  closely associated with  communist activists and parties associated with the independence movement with a burning desire to see his motherland free from the clutches of British colonialism and imperialism. He was a nationalist Indian revolutionary who made a historic contribution to Indian independence.

Sardar Udham Singh, who is also known by various other names viz. Sher Singh, Ude Singh, Ram Mohammad Singh Azad and Frank Brazil. Ram Mohammad Singh Azad symbolizing the unification of the three major religions of India: Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. Every Indian in general and Punjabi in particular is proud of him. He was a worthy son of our motherland and   occupies a distinguished position in the galaxy of Sukhdev, Rajguru, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and other great patriots. The name of Udham Singh, like other Indian Revolutionary freedom fighters, got etched in public memory because of his heroic action. 

Udham Singh was born on 26 December 1899 in Sunam, the Sangrur district of Punjab by the name of Sher Singh to a farming family headed by Sardar Tehal Singh who was of Kamboj caste.  Sardar Tehal Singh was at that time working as a watchman on a railway crossing in the neighbouring village of Uppli.

Sher Singh's mother  Harnam Kaur,   died at a very young age in 1901. So his father, Tehal Singh, decided to migrate to Amritsar to provide better education to his children but passed away soon after reaching there in 1907 . After his father’s death,   , Singh and his elder brother, Mukta Singh Kamboj, were taken in by the Central Khalsa Orphanage  of Putlighar in Amritsar With the help of Bhai Kishan Singh Ragi . As both brothers were administered by  the Sikh initiatory and received Sanskrit  rites in the  Orphanage, they received new names, Sher Singh becoming Udham Singh and Mukta Singh Sadhu Singh. In 1917, Udham Singh’s brother also died, leaving him alone in the world. While at the  orphanage, Udham Singh was trained in various arts and crafts.  [ref]

Starting  of revolutionary life

As he grew up from his tragic childhood, Singh joined the British Indian Army during the First World War as a manual labourer, serving overseas. It was after his return to India in 1919 that his life as a revolutionary began. 

On 13 April 1919, he was present on the day of Baisakhi,  where Udham Singh and his friends from the orphanage were serving water to the crowd  which was assembled in the Jallinwala Bagh   And At the same time, General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer closed all the doors and ordered his troops to fire indiscriminately at unarmed, ordinary people  without   giving warning  to the assembled crowd in Jallianwala Bagh. Since the only exit was barred by soldiers, people tried to escape by climbing the park walls or jumping into a well for protection. An estimated 1,500 people were killed and over 1,200 were wounded .  Udham Singh Kamboj was deeply affected by the event.  And he held responsible  The governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer, and his only motto in life was to kill the culprit . Also Udham Singh’s lifelong association with the Ghadar Party began in 1919 after he returned from his second stint in the British Indian Army in Mesopotamia. The British had promised land and financial rewards for those joining the army to serve in World War 1, but after the war ended, these promises were not fulfilled. Udham Singh, who had initially joined the army in the hope of gaining some of these benefits, felt betrayed.

After serving for two years, he had merely received  Rs 200 to his name. This sense of betrayal at the hands of the British, alongside anger at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, pushed Singh towards Ghadar revolutionaries, who were circulating revolutionary literature in Punjab at the time. He quickly became one of their campaigners, distributing their revolutionary literature throughout Punjab’s villages and was deeply influenced  by the activities of Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary group. [ref]

Udham Singh And Gadar party 

All his campaigns in Ghadar Party  brought him into contact with several radical nationalists like Saifuddin Kitchlew and Master Mota Singh whom he met before going to Uganda to work on the country’s railway lines. In East Africa, his contacts with the Ghadarite revolutionaries became more intimate and mature. He again returned to India in 1922 and opened a shop in Amritsar, which became the centre of his revolutionary activities. He felt thrilled to learn about the militant activities (revolutionary movements)  of the Babar Akalis and very soon he  got in touch with the militant Babbar Akali movement and began organizing with them. 

Since its inception in 1913, the Ghadar Party believed violence was a legitimate tool of resistance against colonial injustice and they made several attempts to orchestrate an armed uprising in the subcontinent. The 1917 Bolshevik revolution inspired their turn towards Marxism. The party consisted largely of subaltern classes and found the Bolshevik project to create a classless society appealing. The party eventually established formal contact with the Communist International and even sent many cadres to Moscow’s Communist University of the Toilers of the East to learn socialist theory and revolutionary practice.The party was also inspired by communism’s internationalism, sending its cadres to various countries to propagate the cause of Indian independence and mobilise workers and peasants. Udham Singh was deeply embedded in this anti-colonial, internationalist and communist movement. His ideology was shaped by the complex but interrelated influences of the Ghadar Party, the Communist International and the HSRA.  

However, it was during his time in the United States that he got deeply involved in the Ghadar movement and became one of its prominent activists. Singh illegally migrated to the US in 1924 via Mexico, eventually settling in San Francisco, the epicentre of the Ghadar movement in North America. As a member of the US-based Ghadar movement, Udham Singh acquainted himself with its literature and travelled across the country on behalf of the party to recruit members and raise funds. In addition to his involvement with the Ghadar Party, Singh also launched his own party, the Azad Party, as an offshoot of the Ghadar movement.

The party had the twin objectives of campaigning for Indian freedom and collecting funds for revolutionary groups in India. After his time in the US, Singh enlisted as a carpenter and seaman for an American shipping line under the Puerto Rican nom de guerre of “Frank Brazil” and traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and Europe . During his extensive travels, he established contacts with Ghadar Party branches in Italy, Germany, Poland, Iran, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore, among others. By the time he returned to India in July 1927, Singh was firmly embedded in an international network of Ghadar revolutionaries, who had a working relationship with the Communist International.[ref]

Role and Influence of Bhagat Singh 

He arrived in India with the intention of accelerating and radicalising the anti-colonial struggle, bringing with him arms and Ghadarite propaganda. However, on 30th August 1927, he was arrested in Amritsar under the Arms Act for the possession of two revolvers, one pistol, ammunition, and copies of the prohibited paper, Ghadr-di-Gunj. Along with Ghadr-di-Gunj, other “seditious” literature was found in his possession, including copies of the banned Ghadr-di-duri, Desh Bhagat-di-Jaan (Lives of the Martyrs), and Gulami-da-Jehar (The Poison of Slavery) and was sentenced 5 years of harsh imprisonement 

Even in jail, Singh continued to organise by propounding Ghadarite revolutionary ideas amongst his inmates, for which he was flogged and thrown into solitary confinement. Since he was a difficult prisoner for the authorities to manage, he was transferred from one jail to another. It was in one of those jails that he met Bhagat Singh. 

Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) were imprisoned in Mianwali Jail for killing J.P. Saunders and bombing the Legislative Assembly. Udham Singh quickly befriended Bhagat Singh and was so captivated by his charisma that he called him his “guru” and “best friend”, and carried a photo of him in his wallet.In line with HSRA revolutionaries, Udham Singh too tried to use his trial as a platform to put forward his political and revolutionary ideas and undertook a forty-day-long hunger strike. Some  scholars have suggested that Udham Singh’s turn to atheism was also inspired by Bhagat Singh. Later, Udham Singh too would shave his beard and cut his hair – both important symbols of the Sikh faith.

After his release in 1931  he returned to his native place Sunam, but harassed by the local police, he once again returned to Amritsar and opened a shop as a signboard painter, assuming the name of Ram Muhammad Singh Azad. This name, which he was to use later in England, was adopted to emphasize the unity of all the religious communities in India in their struggle for political freedom. [ref]

Revolutionary way To England 

In 1935, when he was on a visit to Kashmir, he was found carrying Bhagat Singh’s portrait. He invariably referred to him as his guru. He loved to sing political songs, and was very fond of Ram Prasad Bismil, who was the leading poet of the revolutionaries.

After staying for some months in Kashmir, Udham Singh left India. He wandered about the continent for some time, and reached England by the mid-thirties. He managed to acquire a passport and made his way to London in in the autumn of 1934 1934. In his application for his passport endorsement, he claimed to have been working as a sports outfitter in India, but since his arrival in London he was unable to secure employment.  There are suggestions that in this period he also  worked as a pedlar .Singh continued to work various working-class jobs. He worked as a peddler, a carpenter and as an electrician. In London, he also joined the Indian Workers Association (IWA), an organisation formed by Surat Ali, a communist and a trade unionist associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain. The IWA had the twin objectives of improving the conditions of Britain’s migrant working classes, alongside campaigning for India’s freedom. Before joining the IWA, Udham Singh had already been active in Britain’s labour struggles: he was an activist with the electricians’ union and a delegate to local trade councils  During  the period of 1937, he also  worked as an extra in crowd scenes for Alexander  London Studios at Denham.

During the seven years he spent in England besides his daily work  Udham Singh travelled to countries like Italy, Holland, Poland, Hungary, France, and Germany. From Germany, he even travelled to the Soviet Union. Back then, cities like Berlin and Moscow harboured radical activists fighting for India’s independence and Udham Singh established relations with many of them. Since Udham Singh was not merely sympathetic with the Ghadar Party but also  an active organiser for it.[ref]

Assasination of Governor Dyer and aftermaths

Although Singh had had a few opportunities to assassinate Michael  O’Dwyer but he was waiting for an occasion when his actions would have the most public impact.  So that long awaited moment came on 13 March 1940 when Michael O’Dwyer was scheduled to speak at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society (now Royal Society for Asian Affairs) at Caxton Hall, London.

ON 13 MARCH 1940 UDHAM SINGH DRESSES PERFECTLY LIKE A ENGLISH GENTLEMAN BOOKED A SEAT AND REVOLVER WAS CONCEALED IN THE BOOK and  FIRED SIX SHOTS INTO A GROUP OF PEOPLE. Michael O'Dwyer was hit twice and fell to the ground dead as one of these bullets passed through O’Dwyer’s heart and right lung, killing him almost immediately.  Others injured in the shooting included Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for India, who was presiding over the meeting  Lord Lamington and Louis Dane were also hit and wounded by the shots.[ref]

Udham Singh was overpowered with a smoking revolver. He in fact made no attempt to escape and continued saying that he had done his duty for his country.Singh was immediately arrested and held in Brixton prison.

The assassination of O’Dwyer was reported widely in the press. In police statements and at court Singh gave his name as Mohamed Singh Azad as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the fight for Indian freedom . On 1 April 1940, Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Sir Michael O'Dwyer.He was sentenced to the death by Justice Atkinson on 4 June 1940 at the Central Criminal Court Old Bailey  An appeal of defence  was filed on his behalf and   Krishna Menon was part of his defence team. After a trial in which the prosecution presented a simple case and the defence of Singh was often sketchy and chaotic he was sentenced to death . While awaiting his trial, Singh went on a 42-day hunger strike and had to be forcibly fed. On 31 July 1940, Udham Singh was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London where he was also buried . [ref] 

Legacy 

In September 1940, the Hindustan Ghadr published an editorial declaring that “The 31st July 1940 will ever be remembered in Indian history. On this day Comrade Udham Singh Ji achieved martyrdom.” The framing of Singh as an “Indian martyr” is significant insofar as it nationalises his popular memory. In India, of course, Udham Singh’s story is national folkloreSingh has been sacralised as the holy custodian of Bharat’s national honour. In 1952, Jawaharlal Nehru saluted Singh as Shaheed-e-Azam, expressing gratitude for him .Udham Singh Nagar a district in Uttarakhand with its headquarter in Rudrapur  is named after the freedom fighter.

In many states of India The Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Udham Singh  is celebrated  every year on 31st of July and in the states of Haryana and Punjab  it is observed  as a regional  public holiday  as this day commemorates the execution of a famous revolutionary  in 1940. Also a famous movie named Shaheed Udham Singh  was also made in the year 2000, based on the valor and sacrifice of Udham Singh. And also an upcoming movie directed by Shoojit Sircar titled Sardar Udham Singh is yet to be released soon . Also a  statue has been dedicated to Udham Singh has been  installed at Jallianwala Bagh in the year 2018. [ref]

He has become the legendary assassin who avenged one of the Raj’s worst massacres. Udham Singh was essentially a man of action and except his statement before the judge at his trial, there was no writing from his pen available to historians. Recently, letters written by him to Shiv Singh Jauhal during his days in prison after the shooting of Sir Michael O'Dwyer have been discovered and published. These letters show him as a man of great courage, with a sense of humour. He called himself a guest of His Majesty King George, and he looked upon death as a bride he was going to wed. By remaining cheerful to the last and going joyfully to the gallows, he followed the example of Bhagat Singh who had been his ideal.  In Amritsar a famous museum has been dedicated to him and also the name of his town has been renamed as  'Sunam Udham Singh Wala . His ancestral house, in Sunam, has been converted into a museum conatining  around 30 letters and other  precious objects are on display in the museum. 

He had one last wish that his ashes be sent to his country, but this was not done.  In 1974, his body was repatriated to India and cremated in his home village of Suna with the help of  the Government of India, along with the Government of Punjab, succeeded in bringing the ashes of Udham Singh. Millions of people had gathered to pay homage to him . His remains are preserved at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. On every 31 July, marches are held out in  his village Suna by various organisations and every statue of Singh in the city is tributed with flower garlands.

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