WHY I AM AN ATHEIST?

Bhagat singh is not just remembered as a freedom fighter who risked his life for the country , but he is revered as a youth icon who inspired many with his extraordinary courage and heroism . Sing was born on this day in punjab in 1907. His defiance of the British rule from a very young age his revolutionary acts to target the empire and his hanging when he was only 23 have made him one of the most notable heroes of the Indian Independence movement , on the occasion of his 113th birth anniversary , here is the full text of Bhagat Singh’s legendary essay on his atheism reveals the young revolutionary’s intellectual strength even in the face of death.

Bhagat Singh birth anniversary : 10 motivational quotes by the indian socialist revolutionary .

‘WHY I AM AN ATHEIST’

It is a matter of debate whether my lack of belief in the existence of an omnipreseent , omnicient God is due to my arrogant pride and vanity . It never occured to me that sometime in he future Iwould be involved in polemics of this kind .As a result of this discussions with my friends ,( if my claim to friendship is not uncalled for ) I have realised that after having known for a little time only , some of them have reached a kind of hasty conclusion about me that my atheism is my foolishness and that it is the outcome of my vanity . Even then it is a serious problem. I do not boast of being above these human follies . I am , after all , a human being and nothing more . I have a weakness in my personality for pride is one of the human traits that I do possess. I am known as a dictator among my friends . Sometimes I am called a boaster . Some have always been complaining that I am bossy and i force others to accept my opinion . Yes it is true to some extent . I d not deny this charge . We can use the word ‘vainglory’ for it . As far as the contemptible obsolete rotten values of our society are concerned , i am an extreme sceptic .

But this question does not concern my person alone . It is being proud of my ideas , my thoughts . It cannot be called empty pride . Pride , or you may use the word , vanity , both mean an exaggerated assessment of one’s personality . Is my atheism because of unnecessary pride , or have I ceased believing in god after thinking long and deep on the matter ?I wish to put my ideas before you . First of all , let me differentiate between pride and vanity these are two different things . I have never been able to understand how unfolded baseless pride or empty vanity can hinder a person from believing in God . I may refuse to acknowledge the greatness of a really great person only when I have got fame without doing any serious efforts or when i lack the superior mental powers necessary to become great . I t is easy to understand but how it is possible that a believer can turn into a non -believer because of his vanity ? Only two things are possible : either a man deems himself to be in possession of godly qualities or he goes a step further and declares himself to be a god . In both these states of mind he cannot be an atheist in the true sense of the word . In the first case , it is not an outright rejection of Gods existence ;in the other , he is affirming the existence of some kind of supernatural power responsible for the working of universe . It does not harm our aggment whether he claims to be god or considers God to be a reality in he existence above his own being . The real point , however , is in both cases he is a theist, a believer . He is not an atheist I want to bring home this point to you . I am not one of these two creeds . I totally reject the existence of an Omnipresent , all powerful , all knowing god why so? I will discuss it later in the essay. Here i wish to emphasise that i am not an atheist for the reason that i am arrogant or proud or vain ; nor am i a demi- god , no a prophet ; no , nor am i god himself . At least one thing is true that i have not evolved this thought because of vanity and pride . In order to answer this question I relate the truth.

My friends say that after Delhi bombing and lahore conspiracy case , rocketed to fame and that his fact has turned my head . Let us discuss why this allegation is incorrect . I did not give up my belief in God after these incidents . I was an atheist even when i was an unknown figure . At least a college student cannot cherish any sort of exagerated opinion of himself that may lead him to atheism. It is true that i was a favourite with some college teachers , but others did not like me . I was never a hardworking or studious boy .I never got an opportunity to be proud . I was very careful in my behaviour and somewhat pessimistic about my future career .I was not completely atheistic in my beliefs . I was brought up under the care and protection of my father . He was an staunch Arya Samaji . An Arya Samaji can be anything but never an atheist . After my elementary education , i was sent to DAV college , Lahore . I lived in the boarding house for one year . Besides prayers early in the morning and at dusk time , i sat for hours and chanted religious Mantras . At that time , i was a staunch believer . Then i lived with my father .

He was a tolerant man in his religious views . It is due to his techings that i devoted my life for the cause of liberating my country . But he was not an atheist . His god was an all pervading Entity . He advised me to offer my prayers every day . In his way i brought up . In the non-cooperation days , i got addmission on

the National college .During my stay in this college , i began thinking over all the religious polemics such that i grew sceptical about the existence of god . In spite of this fact i can say that my belief in God was firm and strong .I grew a beard and Kais(long head of hair as a Sikh religious custom).In spite of this I could not convince myself the efficacy of Sikh religion or any religion at all, for that matter . But i had an unswervng unwavering belief in god . Then i joined the revolutionary party . The first leader i met had not the courage to openly declare himself an atghhesit . He was unable to reach any conclusion o this point . Whenever i askke him about he existence of God , he gave me this reply : “ You can believe in him when you feel like it.”The second leader with whom i came in contact was a firm believer . I should mention his name . It was our respected Comrade Sachindara Nath Sanyal . He was sentenced t life imprisonment in connection with Karachi conspiracy case . Right from he first page of his only book ‘Bandi Jiwan’(Incarnated life ) he sings praises to the glory of god . SEE the last page of the second part of this book and tyou find praises showered upon God in the way of a mystic. It is clear reflection of his thoughts . According to the prosecution , the ‘Revolutionary Leaflet ‘ which was distributed throughout India was the outcome o Sachindara Nath Sanyal’s intellectual labou. So often it happens that in evolutionary a leader expresses his own ideas which may be very dear to him, but in spite of having differences , the other workers have an acquiesce in them. In that leaflet , one ul paragraph was devoted to the praises of god an his doings which he , human beings , cannot understand . This is sheer mysticism . What i want to point out is that the idea of denying the existence of God did not even occur to the Revolutionary party . The famous Kakory ,martyrs , all four of them , passed their last day in prayers . Ram Prasad Bismal was a staunch Arya Samaji . In spite of his vast studies in Socialism and communism, Rajan Lahiri could not suppress his desire t recite hymns from upanishads angita . There was but only one person among them who did not include in such activities . He used to say ,” Religion is he outcome of human weakness or the limitation of human knowledge .”He is also in prison for life . But he also never dared to deny the existence of God .Till that time i was only a romantic revolutionary , just a folower of our leaders . Then came the time to shoulder the whole responsibility . For some time a strong opposition pu the very existence o the party into danger . Many leaders as well as many enthusiastic comrades began to uphold the party to ridicule . They jeered a us . I had an appreciation that some day i will also consider it a futile an hopeless task . It was a turning point in m revolutionary career . An incessant desire to study filled my heart .’Study more an more ‘, said i to myself be able to face the arguments of my opponents .”Study “ to support your point of view with convincing arguments . And i began to, study in a serious manner . My previous beliefs and convictions underwent a radical change . The romance of militancy dominated our predecessors ; now serious ides ousted this way o thinking . No more mysticism !No more blind faith !Now realism was our mode of thinking . At times of terrible necessity , we can resort to extreme methods , but violence produces opposite results ` in mas movements . I have talked much about our methods . The most important thing was a clear conception o our ideology for which we were waging a long struggle . As there was no election activity going on I got ample opportunity t stud various ideas pronounced by various writers . I studied Bakunin , the anarchist leader. I read a few books of Marx , he father of communism. I also read Lenin and Trotsky an many other writers who successfully carried out revolutions in heir countries All of them were atheists . The ideas contained in Bakunin’s God and State ‘ see inconclusive , but it is an interesting book . After that I came across a book ‘Common Sense ‘ by Nirmala Swami . His point of view was a sort of mystical atheism . I developed more interest in this subject . By the end of 1926 , i was convinced that the belief in an Almighty , Supreme bein who created , guided and controlled the universe had no sound foundations . I began discussions mon is subject with my friends . I had openly declared myself an atheist . What it meant will be discussed in he following lines. In may 1927 , was arrested in Lahore . This arrest came as a big surprise for me . I had not the least idea that i was wanted by the police. I was passing through the garden and all of a sudden the police surrounded me . To my own surprise , I was very calm at that time . I was in full control of myself . I was taken to police custody . The next day i was taken to te railway Police lockup, where i spent a whole month . After many days conversation with police personnel , i guessed that they had some information about ,my connection with the kakori party .I felt hey had some intelligence of my other activities in he revolutionary movement . They told me that i was in Lucknow during the Kakori party Trial so that i might device a scheme to rescue the culprits . They also said that after the plan had been approved , we produced some bombs and by way of test , one of those bombs was thrown into the crowd on the occasion of Dussehra in 1926. They offered to release me on condition hat i gave a statement on he activities of the Revolutionary Party . In this way i would be set free and even rewarded and i would not be produced as an approver in the court . I could no help laughing at their proposals . It was all humbug . People who have ideas like ours do not throw bombs at their own innocent people .