On 23rd March 1931, Bhagat Singh Ji made the supreme sacrifice. The British however had directed that he be allowed to make the supreme sacrifice on 24th March 1931. This indicates that when a person is out to make sacrifices, he can do that at any point in time without any complaint. The British preponed the date of execution of the death sentence from 24th March to 23rd March because they were of the view that if the death sentence was allowed to be carried out on 24th March 1931, which date was embedded in the public mind as the date fixed for the execution of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh Ji, resistance would be faced by the British from the public. Therefore, 23rd March 1931 notes a day of fear for the British. We are of the view that we shall not celebrate fear, but rather celebrate the aura of the person. If we celebrate the supreme sacrifice of Bhagat Singh Ji on the 24th, by referring to what happened on the 23rd, people would be able to comprehensively realize the fear of the British in the history of the 23rd as well as the aura of that history on the 24th. We are hence here on 24th March.
The people and friends of Bhagat Singh Ji believed that vanity was responsible for the disbelief of Bhagat Singh Ji in God.
Bhagat Singh Ji in his essay 'Why I am an Atheist' says that he does need the refuge of God because he can work with success and failure sans the assistance of God.
He says that he has weaknesses as he is also a human with all the failings and follies of a human, but he does not need the consolation of God to deal with such. According to him, people rely on God to escape from danger or win it or when they want to overcome their weaknesses and they know that they cannot do so without falling back on God.
Therefore, Bhagatji would be arguing that unqualified self-reliance makes a person disbelieve in God.
Bhagatji meets with the question of the existence of God by referring to sins that happen in the world, and he asks why God does not stop such sins from happening. He asks, why does God let the world suffer like this?
A believer in God would say that good and evil maintain the equilibrium of our society, hence, the existence of both maintains the balance. Interesting to note that, Bhagatji does say that there was a time when he was made to believe in God by his Grandfather, who was a staunch follower of Arya Samaj. Bhagatji says that he even chanted the name of God.
However, when he entered into the world of revolution and developed intimacy with the word 'study', which has made him read and understand the literature on various subjects, he developed and concretized disbelief in God. He refers to his friend with agreement, who used to say philosophy is for the weak.
He answers the question of his vanity by saying that he does have pride but not vanity, and both are not the same. He would say that your ideas, your courage, and your deeds, can make you proud. He asks how come a person, who has vanity, would not believe in God only because he has vanity. He says a person with vanity cannot be an atheist because then either he believes that he is above God or he possesses Godly powers, which equate him with GOD.
No one can have a second opinion on the proposition that every religion demands its followers to believe in something and that something is unexplainable, unexplainable by science as we have been made habituated in accepting those things only which can be explained by logic. An ideology, an approach can very well be a combination of belief and logic.
Why Bhagatji's essay— 'Why I am an Atheist' becomes relevant for the past, present and future is that Bhagatji said that he believes in himself, which self would be able to do every task, thereby he is non-dependent on anyone. Such a statement, indeed, confirms the fact that Bhagatji never negated his belief in the word believe. The difference was that he did not believe in any Godly features or scriptures. He believed in the combined effect of Communism and Socialism. He mentions in his essay that his friends used to call him a dictator because he imposed his opinion on others, and Bhagatji does admit that his friends are right in saying that. Ergo, Bhagatji believed that meritorious arguments or ideas shall prevail over the mass cacophony, therefore, he never negates the effect and meaning of believing in something. Put differently, to him that something was not God or Veda. Therefore, regardless of whether you are an atheist or not, you are not advised to be a disbeliever. The essay, however, persuades us to think about the power of belief of Bhagatji, which has made him believe in himself even when his story is meeting with a full stop.
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