Udham Singh: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

'''~~Sardar~~ Udham Singh''' (26 December 1899 – 31 July 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to the [[Ghadar Movement|Ghadar Party]], best known for his assassination in London of [[Michael O'Dwyer]], the former lieutenant governor of the [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]] in [[British India|India]], on 13 March 1940. The assassination was done in revenge for the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] in [[Amritsar]] in 1919, for which O'Dwyer was responsible.<ref name="auto">{{cite news|author=Swami, Praveen|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1422/14220500.htm|title=Jallianwala Bagh revisited: A look at the actual history of one of the most shocking events of the independence struggle|newspaper=Frontline|location=India|volume=14|series=22|pages=1–14|date=Nov 1997}}</ref> Singh was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940. While in custody, he used the name '''Ram Mohammad Singh Azad''', which represents the three major religions of Punjab and his anti-colonial sentiment.<ref name="Farina_2010"/>

~~Sardar~~ Udham Singh is a well-known figure of the [[Indian independence movement]]. He is also referred to as '''Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh''' (the expression "Shaheed-i-Azam", means "the great martyr"). A district ([[Udham Singh Nagar district|Udham Singh Nagar]]) of [[Uttarakhand]] was named after him to pay homage in October 1995 by the [[Mayawati|Mayawati government]].<ref name="Singh 2015">{{cite web | last=Singh | first=Anand Raj | title=Mayawati may create new district to tame old foe | website=The New Indian Express | date=12 March 2015 | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/article398789.ece | access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref>

==Early life==

Udham Singh was born into a converted Sikh [[Koli people|Koli]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khatri|first=Gurmukh Singh|title=Punjab layi dalitan di kurbani|publisher=|year=2011|isbn=|location=[[New Delhi]]|pages=188–89}}</ref> family of [[Kamboj]] clan as Sher Singh on 26 December 1899 at [[Sunam]], [[Sangrur]] district of [[Punjab, India]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Islam|first=Shamsul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaQjbO8SN48C&q=udham+singh+dalit&pg=PA156|title=Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism: A Study of RSS|date=2006|publisher=Media House|isbn=978-81-7495-236-3|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-10|title=Udham Singh became a villain in Britain, and a hero in India|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/udham-singh-became-a-villain-in-britain-and-a-hero-in-india/story-KPx7gRgVio8IaqwcW3KmcN.html|access-date=2020-06-05|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ramnath|first=Maia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFOKArfI8RUC&q=udham+singh+chamar+caste&pg=PT121|title=Haj to Utopia: How the Ghadar Movement Charted Global Radicalism and Attempted to Overthrow the British Empire|date=2011-12-01|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95039-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Where has Mohammad Singh Azad Gone|url=https://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv7n1/SinghAzad.htm|access-date=2020-06-19|website=revolutionarydemocracy.org}}</ref> His mother died when he was an infant, and his father, Tehal Singh Kamboj, died some years later.<ref>{{cite book |author=M.S. Gill |title=Trials that Changed History: From Socrates to Saddam Hussein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0SOfZwnXZIC&pg=PA179 |year=2007 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-797-8 |pages=179 }}</ref> His father was a farmer and also worked as the railway crossing watchman in the village of Upalli.{{cn|date=December 2020}}

After his father's death, Singh and his elder brother, Mukta Singh, were taken in by the Central Khalsa Orphanage Putlighar in [[Amritsar]]. At the orphanage, Singh was administered the [[Sikh]] initiatory rites and received the name of Udham Singh. He passed his matriculation examination in 1918 and left the orphanage in 1919.