Editor's note: The following is an extract from the prologue of Shahdaynama, a book written by GBK Hooja. The book is currently out of print. A new edition is expected to be published in 2020.
Bhupi (my younger brother Bhupendra Hooja) also desired that I should write a note on how Bhagat Singh became Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
As I sat mulling over the question, old memories appeared on my mind's screen. The painful memories of the manhoos (inauspicious) night of 23 March, 1931 comes back to me, as I type these lines. I was a resident student of D.A.V. College, Lahore, and a member of Naujawan Bharat Sabha. As the news of the execution of the three heroes came in, the D.A.V. College Hostel was plunged in hushed silence and grief. The boarders decided to march or cycle to the Central Jail. On the way, they were met by several other such columns. The mansions and multi storied buildings of Lahore appeared to be quivering as though hit by an earthquake.
