Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture: ‘His ideas an inspiration amid exploitative forces’

Written by Swarna Srikanth

The Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture, an event initiated by students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), was held online on Monday. This year’s lecture, with the theme “Bhagat Singh in Post-colonial India”, saw the participation of Chris Moffat, author of ‘India’s Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh’.

“Though the life of Bhagat Singh was short, he left a legacy. He and his ideas still remain a source of inspiration as today’s society is challenged by exploitative and imperialist forces that question our independence and sovereignty. Thus, fighting and voicing our rights is the need of the hour,” Hannah Mollah, general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said during the event.

He said the country was facing challenges of communalism.

“The kisan movement is the biggest such organised resistance since Independence. The farm Acts seem not much in the interest of farmers and workers, who are the producing class of the society,” Mollah said.

Moffat, the second speaker, mentioned that 1947 did not establish the future that Bhagat Singh fought and died for. “Bhagat Singh is still alive and felt in people who speak up for their rights. It’s seen through the farmers’ agitation, Shaheen Bagh protest and each incident that is on similar lines. We see heroic figures inspired and carrying the legacy of Bhagat Singh forward.”