Udham Singh: the Avenger of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Udham Singh, known as a lone or a patient assassin, shot dead Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab under whose administration the infamous Amritsar massacre took place and who later even endorsed Brigadier-General Dyer, the perpetrator of the killings. Udham Singh was born on December 26, 1899, to a very poor family in the Sangrur district of Punjab and his birth name was Sher Singh. He grew up from his tragic childhood, and joined the British Indian Army during the First World War as a manual labourer, serving overseas. After his return to India in 1919, his life as a revolutionary began when the cruel act of killing the innocent people at Jallianwala Bagh happened. On April 13, 1919, over 20 thousand unarmed protestors were assembled in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi, and to protest the arrests of the protestors against the Rowlatt Act 1919. British troops under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer opened fire on the unarmed people, killing several hundred and injuring more than one thousand. Udham Singh was the eyewitness of this ruthless act on the part of the Punjab Government and the sight of his friends dying and the all-around carnage had the lasting impact on him. Singh was filled with hatred for the British Government in India and he made up his mind to avenge the massacre. He then joined Ghadar revolutionaries and quickly became one of their campaigners, distributing their revolutionary literature throughout Punjab’s villages. He also got in touch with the militant Babbar Akali movement and began organizing with them.

From here onwards his political activism started that spanned four continents and more than 20 countries – during this period Singh took on different names and occupations. At one point, he was known as Ude Singh; at another, Frank Brazil. His last nom de guerre was Ram Mohammad Singh, a name he considered a symbol of communal harmony and anti-colonialism. He also worked as an extra in two movies: Elephant Boy (1937), based on a story by Rudyard Kipling, and The Four Feathers (1939).

However, it was during his time in the United States that he got deeply involved in the Ghadar movement and became one of its prominent activists. Singh illegally migrated to the US in 1924 via Mexico, eventually settling in San Francisco, the epicenter of the Ghadar movement in North America. As a member of the US-based Ghadar movement, Udham Singh acquainted himself with its literature and travelled across the country on behalf of the party to recruit members and raise funds.

By the time he returned to India in July 1927, Singh was firmly embedded in an international network of Ghadar revolutionaries, who had a working relationship with the Communist International.

He arrived in India with the intention of accelerating and radicalising the anti-colonial struggle, bringing with him arms and Ghadarite propaganda. However, on 30th August 1927, he was arrested in Amritsar under the Arms Act for the possession of two revolvers, one pistol, ammunition, and copies of the prohibited paper, Ghadr-di-Gunj. Along with Ghadr-di-Gunj, other “seditious” literature was found in his possession, including copies of the banned Ghadr-di-duri, Desh Bhagat-di-Jaan (Lives of the Martyrs), and Gulami-da-Jehar (The Poison of Slavery). Udham Singh was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. During his interrogation, Singh reportedly said that “he had come from America to free the country from the British and fully sympathized with the Bolsheviks”.

Even in jail, Singh continued to organize by propounding Ghadarite revolutionary ideas amongst his inmates, for which he was flogged and thrown into solitary confinement. Since he was a difficult prisoner for the authorities to manage, he was transferred from one jail to another. It was in one of those jails that he met Bhagat Singh.  

Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) were imprisoned in Mianwali Jail for killing J.P. Saunders and bombing the Legislative Assembly. Udham Singh quickly befriended Bhagat Singh and was so captivated by his charisma that he called him his “guru” and “best friend”, and carried a photo of him in his wallet.

Two years after being released from prison in 1931, Udham Singh left for England. Here, Singh continued to work various working-class jobs. He worked as a peddler, a carpenter and as an electrician. In London, he also joined the Indian Workers Association (IWA), an organisation formed by Surat Ali, a communist and a trade unionist associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain. Before joining the IWA, Udham Singh had already been active in Britain’s labour struggles: he was an activist with the electricians’ union and a delegate to local trade councils.  

After many years’ struggle, wait and patience Singh found the chance to fulfil his self-vowed promise. On March 13, 1940, Micheal O’Dwyer was scheduled to speak at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society at the Caxton Hall. Singh concealed a revolver inside a book, which had pages cut in the shape of a gun. He then entered the hall and found an open seat. As the meeting ended, Singh shot O'Dwyer twice as he moved toward the speaking platform. One of the bullets passed through the O'Dwyer heart and right lung, killing him almost instantly. Singh was arrested immediately after the shooting.

When a case was instituted against him, he gave his name Ram Muhammad Sing, thus combining three major religious communities of the Punjab into one. When he was presented before the trial court, he was asked to take oath on the “Granth Sahib ''. He said that he had a much more sacred book of the Punjab and in that book, he wanted to take oath. And that book was Heer by Waris Shah; a copy of which he had obtained from Jahal Singh, the Secretary of a London Gurdwara.

His court statements clearly point out that his action was a part of wider anti-colonial revolutionary politics, one inspired by socialist ideals. In his trial, Singh asserted:

“I did it to protest and this is what I mean…. We are suffering from the British Empire…they order machine guns to fire on Indian students without hesitation…I have nothing against the public at all. I have more English friends in England than I do in India. I have nothing against the public. I have great sympathy with the workers of England, but I am against the dirty British Government. You people are suffering the same as I am suffering…”

Udham Singh, just like his friend Bhagat Singh, ended his court speech with slogans advocating revolution and the abolition of British imperialism. Since then, this heroic act of resistance, made him an icon for different communities. In Britain, he is an important part of the cultural heritage of the Sikh diaspora; in Punjab, he is eulogised as the person who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; and in recent years, owing to his background, he has also emerged as a champion of the downtrodden castes. This is how a hero lives even after his death.