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UDHAM SINGH |
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Udham Singh was bon on December 26,1899 in Sunam (then in Patiala State). At the age of 2 his mother died and his father, Tehal Singh, breathed his last five years later. lie was btouglu up in the orphanage of Amritsar where he received his early education He witnessed another tragedy in the death of his elder brother Sadhu Singh when he was only 19 years of age Having thus suffered _ the hands of fate, he developed an intensely a notional character. He could not bear the sufferings of others.
The Jallianwala Bagfs Tragedy was a turning point in his life. After General Reginald Dyer had massacred a wholly unarmed gathering. Udham Singh went to the Bagli to rescue the husband of one Shrimati Ratna Devi. While identifying the dead body of the person, he himself rc(cived a bullet shot in his right mm . He wan deeply moved by this bloody scene and took a solemn pledge to punch the Governor of the Punjab. Sir Micheal O’ Dwyer.
To fulfill this aim he soon managed to leave for Africa. From there he wen to the U.S.A- where he got interested in revolutionary activities. On receiving an invitation from Bhagat Singh he returned to India with 25 companions and arms. By that lime he was a clean-shaven Sikh. When he reached Lahore, he wan arrested on account of his being in possession of arms. lie was tried and sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment
He was released in 1932. Tltc following year he duped the police and escaped to Germany, and ultimately reached London and joned an engirxering course. But his real object was din’ eeent. He purchased a 6• chamber revoker and ammunition. For a long lime he wan on the luck out for a suitable opportunity to get out his target. Sir Micheal O’ Dwyer.
The long-awaited opportunity- carne at lair on March 13, 1940, about 21 years after the Jallianw,tls Bagh Tragedy. On that day at 4.30 p.ns. in the Caxton Hall. Udham Singht found his victim and fired five or six shots at a stretch from his revolver. O’ Dwyer was hit twice and he yielded his ghost instantaneously, while Lord 7.etland, Secretary of Since for India, was injured. Udham Singh was arrested on the spa and produced before the court. When the court asked him about his name. he replied, ‘Rant Moharnmad Singh And’. As was expected, he wan sentenced to death and hanged on 3l July, 1940.