Shaheed Bhagat Singh's 107th birth anniversary: Have Indians forgotten his martyrdom?

28th September is the birth anniversary of the great Indian legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, who laid down his young life for attaining freedom from the British rule.

On Sunday, Shaheed Bhagat Singh's 107th birth anniversary is being observed in India, but ironically, very few really remember him today.

As the time passes by, India has forgotten the value of Shaheed Bhagat Singh's sacrifice and the media too should be blamed for this trend. [Shaheed Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary: Facts to know about him]

The martyr who didn't care a bit about his own life and went on to fight against the Britishers in an aggressive way, is hardly remembered by anyone today.

His sacrifice has only been limited to the school text books. Sadly, the Indian movies channels have also forgot to broadcast movies-based on Bhagat Singh's life on the eve of his birth anniversary.

Such patriotic films are mainly telecasted on national holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day, to awake the patriotism among the Indian youth.

The revolutionary 23-year-old Bhagat Singh was born into a Sikh family in 1907 in Jaranwala Tehsil, Punjab.

He was hanged at Shadman Chowk in Lahore jail along with Rajguru and Sukhdev in March 1931, for killing British police officer John Saunders in 1928.

A report, early this year, said that the house where Bhagat Singh was born, still has some of his family's belongings, including his mother's spinning wheel; a big copper paraat (kneading tray), two wooden trunks and a heavy closet of steel.

His home now belongs to advocate Muhammad Iqbal Virk, whose family has put efforts to keep the objects safe.

In popular culture, Shaheed Bhagat Singh has been immortalized on the celluloid in the forms of Bollywood movies like Shaheed-e-Azad Bhagat Singh(1954), Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1963), Shaheed (1965), Shaheed-E-Azam (2002), 23rd March 1931: Shaheed (2002), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Rang De Basanti (2006).

Unfortunately, Bhagat Singh has been grossly commercialised or romanticized.

A man who always placed reason far above emotion has been made to be the 'angry young man' of our freedom struggle.

The sketchy image of Bhagat Singh etched in the minds of many is that of a trigger happy youth beating the hell out of the British with bombs and bullets. Bhagat Singh was anything but this.