CLAIM:
A viral post on social media claims that the revolutionary freedom figher Bhagat Singh, along with Sukhdev and Rajguru, was hanged in Lahore on 14 February 1931.
The post, shared on the page 'We Support Indian Army', had over 10k shares at the time of writing this article.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim is obviously false. It is a well-documented fact that the trio were sentenced to death on 7 October 1930 and were subsequently hanged on 23 March 1931, although their sentence was for 24 March.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the executions were advanced by a day after the Lahore High Court rejected petitions challenging the powers of a special tribunal to issue death sentences.
Speaking to The Quint, historian Irfan Habib said:
“It is a well-documented fact that he was hanged on 23 March 1931. Every year his martyrdom is observed on this day. So where does this claim of him having attained martyrdom on 14 February come from? The date actually has no significance in his life. This rumour does the rounds every year around this time, and it is completely baseless.”
WHERE DOES THE 14 FEB CLAIM STEM FROM?
The 14 February claim possibly stems from an incident concerning Bhagat SIngh's Wikipedia page. According to a report by The Hindu dated 16 February 2011, the Wikipedia page was 'vandalised' on 13 and 14 February to change the date of Singh's hanging.
As observed by Habib, this viral message does the rounds every year on Valentine's Day and has been previously debunked by SMHoxSlayer and Times Fact Check, among others. Clearly this year has been no exception.
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