New Delhi: 90 years ago, on March 23 in 1931, our great freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged to death by Britishers in Lahore jail. That’s why, every year, on March 23, India celebrates Shaheed Diwas to commemorate the sacrifice made by them and acknowledge their invaluable contribution to India’s independence from the British colonial rule.

What happened on that fateful day?

The 3 revolutionary heroes were hanged by the British Government for their alleged involvement in the killing of John Saunders. However, the trio confused Saunders with James Scott, another British police officer who was believed to have thrashed Lala Lajpat Rai during a lathi charge in October 1928. After shooting Saunders, the freedom fighters carried a bomb explosion in the Central Legislative Assembly and escaped following which an intensive search operation was carried out to arrest them.

The famous quote of, ‘To make the deaf hear, a loud noise  (like a bomb) is needed’ was then penned by Bhagat Singh when he was arrested. Bhagat Singh along with Sukhdev and Rajguru was hanged on March 23, 1931 at 7.30 pm by a judge who signed death warrants of the three freedom fighters as their original warrants had expired. After the hanging, which saw thousands of supporters swarming the jail on the hanging date, the jail authorities broke the real wall of the jail and then cremated their bodies secretly outside Ganda Singh Wala village.

Twitter pays tribute

Twitter is flooded with messages of patriotism and people are paying rich tributes to freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for India’s freedom from the British rule. PM Modi too paid tributes to the trio and tweeted that the sacrifice of these great sons will remain an inspiration for every generation of the country.

Here are other reactions:

On the 90th death anniversary, let’s take a moment to remember them today and be thankful for our freedom!