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Udham Singh (born Sher Singh; 26 December 1899 – 31 July 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to Ghadar Party and HSRA, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 March 1940.
The Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial in Sunam is dedicated to his life and legacy. His name is inscribed on the India Gate war memorial in New Delhi. The Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand is named in his honor. Annual events and cultural programs are held to celebrate his contributions to India's independence.
- Wiki/Biography
- Religion/Religious Views
- Early Life
- Life as A Revolutionary
- Assassinating Sir Michael O’ Dwyer
- Controversies
- Death
- Repatriation of Remains
- Legacy
- Facts/Trivia
Udham Singh was born as Sher Singh on Thursday, 28 December 1899 (age 41 years; at the time of death) in Sunam in Punjab’s Sangrur district. His zodiac sign was Capricorn. The Wire
Though remembered as a Sikh shaheed, Singh himself was a clean-shaven Sikh. It is believed that Udham Singh, who called himself Ram Mohammad Singh Azad during his final days in the English prison, proclaimed his morals based on his Punjabi identity rather than his personal faith. Reportedly, after assassinating O’Dwyer, Singh explained to an inspec...
Singh’s mother died in 1901, and his father also died in 1907 soon after the father and sons had migrated to Amritsar. After their father’s demise, Udham and his elder brother were taken in by the Central Khalsa Orphanage of Putlighar in Amritsar, where he was renamed from Sher Singh to Udham Singh following the Sikh initiation rites. Soon, his bro...
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Singh joined the British Indian Army during the First World War as a manual labourer and served overseas. In 1919, he returned to India and witnessed the carnage of the Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919, when under Michael O’ Dwyer’s watch the British troops opened fire on a peaceful assembly of people, killing a thousand of them. Some readings from that time suggest that Udham Singh was present at the Bagh when the shooting happened, while others state that he had come there as a volunteer f...
The ‘patient assassin’ waited for 21 long years for an opportunity to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Singh seized the opportunity on 13 March 1940 at 4.30 p.m. in the Caxton Hall, London, where a meeting of the East India Association was being held in conjunction with the Royal Central Asian Society, and Sir Michael O’Dwyer was supposed to s...
O’Dwyer or Dyer?
Different reports from 1940 presented different perceptions about Singh killing O’Dwyer, which led to a controversial debate on the issue. Some stated that Udham Singh took revenge on the wrong man, mistaking O’Dwyer for Dyer as the culprit behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, while a popular argument asserted that it was a part of his larger plan for India’s independence. The Times of India The Wire
Singh Had Never Worked for O’Dwyer
The 14 March 1940 edition of UK’s The Times newspaper reported that O’Dwyer was murdered by his chauffeur, which led to many speculating that Udham Singh had worked at some point for the general. ‘The Amritsar Legacy,’ a book by Roger published in 1989 dismissed the claims and asserted that Singh had served as a chauffeur to a retired Indian Army officer. The TribuneThe book read:
Oath on Copy of Heer-Ranjha
A few years after shaheed’s execution, controversy erupted on whether Singh took an oath during his trial on the Punjabi classic romance Heer-Ranjha by Waris Shah or not. Many scholars and books written about Udham Singh claimed that he valued his Punjabi identity beyond religious identity, and he used a copy of the Punjabi poetry to take an oath. These claims were soon questioned by the Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Trust of Birmingham, England that revealed that the letter written by Singh wh...
Shaheed Udham Singh was executed on 31 July 1940 at Pentonville Prison in North London after he was convicted of shooting Sir Michael O’ Dwyer dead at Caxton Hall, London.
Udham Singh’s body was laying in rest on British soil until July 1974 when his remains were exhumed and repatriated to India at the request of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Reportedly, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Giani Zail Singh, had petitioned Gandhi to make such a request to the erstwhile British Government. Shaheed Udham ...
A charity is dedicated to Singh on Soho Road, Birmingham.Singh’s weapon – a knife, his diary, and a bullet from the shooting at Caxton Hall are kept in the Black Museum of Scotland Yard.The room in which Udham Singh spent his childhood at the Central Khalsa Orphanage in Amritsar has been turned into a museum.Udham Singh’s room in his orphanage turned into a museum in AmritsarIn 1992, a stamp was released by the Indian government in memory of Shaheed Udham Singh.Stamp in the memory of Udham Singh“Udham Singh Nagar,” a district in Uttarakhand was named after the freedom fighter in 1995 by the erstwhile state government.In January 2006, the Punjab government officially changed the name of Singh’s ancestral town Sunam to ‘Sunam Udham Singh Wala.’While travelling to different countries, Udham Singh took up different names like Ude Singh, Udhan Singh, Uday Singh, Frank Brazil, and his last nom de guerre was Ram Mohammad Singh Azad. The Wire
- Manasvi
Nov 29, 2019 · At the prison, Singh staged a 36-day hunger strike and in police statements and at the court referred to himself as Mohamed Singh Azad, to symbolise Hindu-Sikh-Muslim unity in the fight for India’s freedom.
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What is the history of Udham Singh Nagar district? Udham Singh Nagar district holds historical importance and was separated from Nainital district in 1995. It was named after the freedom fighter, Sardar Udham Singh, who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement.
Dec 26, 2020 · Explained: Who was freedom fighter Udham Singh? Udham Singh was a political activist who got associated with the Ghadar Party while in the US. In 1940, Singh shot and killed Michael O’Dwyer, the colonial official considered responsible for Jallianwala Bagh.
It is named for freedom fighter and Indian revolutionary Udham Singh. [9] As of 2011, it is the third most populous district of Uttarakhand (out of 13), after Haridwar and Dehradun. [3]
