September 28 is celebrated as a day to mark the birth anniversary of revolutionary Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, a leader whose rebellious attitude and daredevilry in confronting the British repression inspired a generation of young Indians and infused fresh energy in India’s independence movement.
The leftist ‘secular liberal’ cabal has often used Shaheed Bhagat Singh to peddle their propaganda. A number of fake claims, propaganda and fake news have been spread on several occasions by them regarding the revolutionary leader.
This year on the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, they got another opportunity to fill social media with spurious claims and unsubstantial assertions. Social media websites are awash with claims that a Muslim lawyer, namely Asaf Ali, who was also a prominent Congress member during that time, fought the case in the court defending Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt in the court case after they had hurled bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi to protest against unfavourable Bills.
Because top Barrister Asaf Ali was already there for Bhagat Singh (d. 1931). Neither M K Gandhi, nor Jawaharlal Nehru were top barristers of their day. In 1930 M A Jinnah had moved to London to practice after his wife had died in 1929. History is granular & not a WhatsApp binary. https://t.co/lYdk2wHYFd
— Yayathi Puru (@YayathiPuru) September 29, 2020
Asaf Ali defended Bhagat Singh… He was one of the hotshot lawyers at that time.
— Dwai (@BujMit) September 29, 2020
( He was a prominent Congress member, and also a “Love Jihadi” as per your definition)! https://t.co/kYF3T8pWCn
Question of the day :
— زماں (@Delhiiite_) September 29, 2020
Asaf Ali defended Shaheed Bhagat Singh & Batukeshwar Dutt as a lawyer, after they threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly
But who was Rai Bahadur SuryaNarayan?? https://t.co/mUO90Ihuns pic.twitter.com/ENwgIW17IU
वीर भगत सिंह का मुकदमा लड़ने वाले वकील “आसिफ अली” थे,
— वैशाली पाटील ✍️ 12k 💯 (@Vaishaly_patil) July 19, 2019
एवं भगत सिंह के खिलाफ अंग्रेजो के तरफ से “राय बहादुर सुर्य नारायण शर्मा” था।
बस याद आया तो बता दिया। pic.twitter.com/Sw6cApCdeq
The other claim that is doing the rounds on the Internet is regarding a legal counsel that represented the British government against Bhagat Singh. The claim says that Rai Bahadur Suryanarayana Sharma represented the Crown against Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt.
Many graphic posters and ‘forwarded’ messages from social media to WhatsApp groups claim that the ‘Brahmin’ lawyer who fought the case on behalf of the British to get Bhagat Singh hanged is one Rai Bahadur Suryanarayana Sharma, who was a close friend of Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and also a member of the RSS.
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwer Dutt were defended by Asif Ali.
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) September 29, 2020
The Crown was represented by Rai Bahadur Suryanarayan Sharma..#BhagatSingh
The trial of Bhagat Singh
— Papri Banerjee (@BanerjeePapri) September 28, 2020
Public Prosecutor: Rai Bahadur Suryanarayan
Defendant’s lawyer: Asaf Ali of Congress
Another reason to support Congress and promote secularism.🥰
Such messages about Rai Bahadur Suryanarayana Sharma are being widely shared on Twitter. The aim for propagating such messages and forwards is twofold: To allege that the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was represented by a Congress leader and a ‘Muslim’ lawyer and to vilify ‘Brahmins’ and RSS as an organisation whose member allegedly defended the British in the court of law against Singh.
What is the truth behind the claims being made on social media regarding Bhagat Singh’s legal counsel?
While the social media users are enthusiastically claiming that a ‘Muslim’ lawyer named Asaf Ali represented Bhagat Singh, the reality is in stark contrast to what the Congress IT cell members and left would have us believe.
According to a report published in ‘The Hindu’, lawyer Asaf Ali represented Batukeshwar Dutt and Bhagat Singh fought the case on his own with a help of a legal advisor.
In another article published in the Outlook India about how Bhagat Singh’s sentence was based on the testimony of journalist Khushwant Singh’s father Shobha Singh, it categorically mentioned that Asaf Ali represented Batukeshwar Dutt. The mere fact that the article did not mention Asaf Ali fighting for both Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt says that Singh was not represented by him.
In addition to this, Professor Malvinderjit Singh Warich, who wrote several books on Sardar Bhagat Singh, also denied the claims that are bandied about that a lawyer named Satyanarayana Sharma had appeared for the British against Bhagat Singh.
Professor Chaman Lal of Jawaharlal Nehru University, who wrote ‘Understanding Bhagat Singh and ‘Documents of Bhagat Singh and his companions’, has also explicitly mentioned that no Indian counsel appeared for the British in the case against Bhagat Singh.
It is noteworthy to mention that Sardar Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 08, 1929, to express their opposition to the bills being discussed in the Assembly. He also threw a few handwritten letters and pamphlets to explain their demands.
It was a low-intensity bomb that was not meant to kill or injure any member of the Legislative Assembly. As soon as the explosion took place, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt stood there and later surrendered themselves to the police.
The conclusion
Bhagat Singh was not represented by Congress member and lawyer Asaf Ali in the court. He fought his case on his own and with the help of a legal advisor. Asaf Ali had fought the case for Batukeshwar Dutt. Furthermore, the British government was not represented by any Indian lawyer, let alone Satyanarayana Sharma, and the claim that he fought against Bhagat Singh is false.
