A Project Report

On

“SARDAR UDHAM SINGH”

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for

The award of the degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

In

JAIPUR ENGINEERING COLLEGE AND RESEARCH CENTRE (JECRC)

UNIVERSITY, JAIPUR (Batch: 2022-25)

Under the guidance of: Submitted by:

Arpita Ma’am Name: Pulkit Sharma
Roll No: 22BBAN216
Course: BBA
Semester: 2nd
 UNDERTAKING

I declare that the work presented in this report titled “SARDAR UDHAM SINGH”, submitted
to the JECRC UNIVERSITY, Jaipur, for the award of BBA degree, is my original work. I
have not submitted the same content for getting award of any other degree. In case this
undertaking is found incorrect, I will be solely responsible if any plagiarism is found.

APRIL, 2023 Pulkit Sharma

22BBAN216
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First, I would like to give thanks to Arpita Ma’am, JECRC UNIVERSITY, Jaipur.

I pay my deep sense of gratitude to her to encourage me to the highest peak and to provide me
the opportunity to prepare the training. Her valuable guidance and kind supervision given to
me shaped the present work as its showing.

I am immensely obliged to my friends for their elevating inspiration, encouraging guidance and
kind supervision in the completion of my report.

Last but not the least, my parents are also an important part of inspiration for me. So, with due
regards, I would like to give thanks to them also.

Pulkit Sharma

22BBAN216
 TABLE OF CONTENT

UNDERTAKING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER-2 EARLY LIFE

CHAPTER-3 Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh

CHAPTER-4 Shooting at Caxton Hall

CHAPTER-5 Murder, trial, and execution

CHAPTER-6 Reactions

CHAPTER-7 Repatriation of remains

CHAPTER-8 Legacy

REFERENCES
ABSTRACT

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 assassination was done in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre in Amritsar in 1919, for which O'Dwyer was responsible.Singh was
subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940. While in
custody, he used the name Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, which represents the
three major religions in India and his anti-colonial sentiment.
Singh is a well-known figure of the Indian independence movement. He is also
referred to as Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh (the expression "Shaheed-i-
Azam" means "the great martyr").A district (Udham Singh Nagar) of Uttarakhand was
named after him to pay homage in October 1995 by the Mayawati government.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Sardar Udham Singh was an Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter who is best
known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab,
in London in 1940. He was born on December 26, 1899, in Sunam, Punjab, India.

Udham Singh was deeply influenced by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, in
which hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed by British forces in Amritsar. He
was only 20 years old at the time but the brutal incident had a lasting impact on him
and motivated him to join the Indian independence movement.

In 1924, Udham Singh went to the United States and Canada, where he worked as a
laborer for several years. He became involved in political activism and joined the
Ghadar Party, a revolutionary group of Indian nationalists based in California.

In 1934, Udham Singh went to England with the intention of assassinating Michael
O'Dwyer, who had ordered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. On March 13, 1940, he
shot and killed O'Dwyer at a meeting of the East India Association in London. Udham
Singh was subsequently arrested, tried, and executed for the assassination.

Today, Sardar Udham Singh is remembered as a hero of the Indian independence

movement and as a symbol of resistance against British colonialism

6
CHAPTER 2
EARLY LIFE

Udham Singh was born ‘Sher Singh’, on 26 December 1899 in the neighbourhood of
Pilbad in Sunam, around 130 miles south of Lahore, British India, to Tehal Singh,
a Kamboj, low-skilled low-paid manual labourer and his wife Narain Kaur. He was
their youngest, with a two-year difference between him and his elder brother,
Sadhu. When they were around age three and five respectively, their mother
died. The two boys subsequently stayed close to their father while he worked in the
village of Nilowal carrying mud from a newly constructed canal, part of Punjab Canal
Colonies. After being laid off he found work as a railway crossing watchman in the
village of Upali.

In October 1907, whilst taking the boys by foot to Amritsar, their father collapsed
and died at Ram Bagh Hospital. The two brothers were subsequently handed to an
uncle who being unable to keep them, gave them to the Central Khalsa Orphanage,
where according to the orphanage register, they were initiated on 28 October.
Rebaptised, Sadhu became “Mukta”, meaning “one who has escaped re-incarnation”,
and Sher Singh was renamed “Udham Singh”, Udham meaning “the upheaval”. At the
orphanage he was affectionately referred to as "Ude". In 1917, Mukta died of an
unknown sudden illness.
Shortly thereafter, despite being below the official age of enrolment, Udham Singh
persuaded authorities to allow him to serve the British Indian Army during the First
World War. He was subsequently attached to the lowest ranking labour unit with
the 32nd Sikh Pioneers to work on restoration on the field railway from the coast up
to Basra. His young age and conflicts with authority led him to return to Punjab in
less than six months. In 1918, he rejoined the army and was despatched to Basra and
then Baghdad, where he carried out carpentry and general maintenance of
machinery and vehicles, returning after a year to the orphanage in Amritsar in early
1919.

7
CHAPTER 3
Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh

On 10 April 1919, a number of local leaders allied to the Indian National Congress,
including Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, were arrested under the terms of
the Rowlatt Act. A military picket fired on a protesting crowd, precipitating a riot
which saw numerous European-owned banks attacked and several Europeans
attacked in the streets. On 13 April, over twenty thousand unarmed people were
assembled in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar to celebrate the important Sikh festival
of Baisakhi, and to peacefully protest the arrests. Singh and his friends from the
orphanage were serving water to the crowd. Troops under the command of
Colonel Reginald Dyer opened fire on the crowd, killing several hundred; this became
known variously as the Amritsar Massacre or the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Singh became involved in revolutionary politics and was deeply influenced by Bhagat
Singh and his revolutionary group. In 1924, Singh became involved with the Ghadar
Party, organising Indians overseas towards overthrowing colonial rule. In 1927, he
returned to India on orders from Bhagat Singh, bringing 25 associates as well as
revolvers and ammunition. Soon after, he was arrested for possession of unlicensed
arms. Revolvers, ammunition, and copies of a prohibited Ghadar Party paper called
"Ghadr-di-Gunj" ("Voice of Revolt") were confiscated. He was prosecuted and
sentenced to five years in prison.

8
Upon his release from prison in 1931, Singh's movements were under constant
surveillance by the Punjab Police. He made his way to Kashmir, where he was able to
evade the police and escape to Germany. In 1934, he reached London, where he
found employment. Privately, he formed plans to assassinate Michael O'Dwyer. In
Singh's diaries for 1939 and 1940, he occasionally misspells O'Dwyer's surname as
"O'Dyer", leaving a possibility he may have confused O'Dwyer with General
Dyer. Nonetheless General Dyer was already been dead in 1927, even before Udham
Singh had planned the revenge. In England, Singh was affiliated to the Indian
Workers' Association in Coventry and attended their meetings.

9
CHAPTER 4
Shooting at Caxton Hall

On 13 March 1940, Michael O'Dwyer was scheduled to speak at a joint meeting of

the East India Association and the Central Asian Society (now Royal Society for Asian
Affairs) at Caxton Hall, London. Singh had entered the event with a ticket in his wife's
name. Singh concealed a revolver inside a book, which had pages cut in the shape of
a revolver. This revolver was purchased by him from a soldier in a pub. Then he
entered the hall and found an open seat. As the meeting concluded, Singh shot
O'Dwyer twice as he moved towards the speaking platform. One of these bullets
passed through O'Dwyer's heart and right lung, killing him almost instantly. Others
injured in the shooting included Sir Louis Dane; Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of
Zetland; and Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington. Singh was arrested
immediately after the shooting.

10
CHAPTER 5
Murder, trial, and execution

On 1 April 1940, Singh was formally charged with the murder of Michael O'Dwyer,
and remanded in custody at Brixton Prison. Initially asked to explain his motivations,
Singh stated:
"I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. I don't belong to society
or anything else. I don't care. I don't mind dying. What is the use of waiting until you
get old? ... Is Zetland dead? He ought to be. I put two into him? I bought the revolver
from a soldier in a public house. My parents died when I was three or four. Only one
dead? I thought I could get more."
While in custody, he called himself Ram Mohammad Singh Azad: the first three
words of the name reflect the three major religious communities of Punjab (Hindu,
Muslim, and Sikh); the last word azad (literally "free") reflects his anti-colonial
sentiment.
While awaiting his trial, Singh went on a 42-day hunger strike and was force fed. On
4 June 1940, his trial commenced at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, before Mr
Justice Atkinson, with V.K. Krishna Menon and St John Hutchinson representing him.
G. B. McClure was the prosecuting barrister. When asked about his motivation, Singh
explained:
I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. He was the real culprit.
He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him. For full 21 years, I
have been trying to seek vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not
scared of death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my people starving in India
under the British rule. I have protested against this, it was my duty.
Singh was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On 31 July 1940, Singh was
hanged at Pentonville Prison by Albert Pierrepoint. His remains are preserved at the
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. On every 31 July, marches are held
in Sunam (Singh's hometown) by various organisations and every statue of Singh in
the city is paid tribute with flower garlands.

11
Singh's speech
Following his conviction, he made a speech which the judge directed should not be
released to the press. However, political activists who had set up the Shaheed Udham
Singh Trust and working with the Indian Workers Association (GB), ran a campaign to
have the court record of his statement published along with other material. This
proved successful in 1996, when his speech was published along with three further
files covering the trial, and the Ghadar Directory, a document compiled by British
intelligence in 1934 detailing 792 people regarded as a threat including Udham
Singh.
He started the speech with a denunciation of British Imperialism:
"I say down with British Imperialism. You say India do not have peace. We
have only slavery Generations of so called civilisation has brought us
everything filthy and degenerating. known to the human race. All you have to
do is read your own history. If you have any human decency about you, you
should die with shame. The brutality and blood thirsty way in which the so
called intellectuals who call themselves rulers of civilisation in the world are
bastard blood . . ."
At this point he was interrupted by the judge, but after some discussion he
continued:
"I do not care about sentence of death. It means nothing at all. I do not care
about dying or anything. I do not worry about it at all. I am dying for a
purpose.’ Thumping the rail of the dock, he exclaimed, ‘We are suffering from
the British Empire.’ Udham Singh continued more quietly. ‘I am not afraid to
die. I am proud to die, to have to free my native land and I hope that when I
am gone, I hope that in my place will come thousands of my countrymen to
drive you dirty dogs out; to free my country.
"I am standing before an English jury. I am in an English court. You people go
to India and when you come back you are given a prize and put in the House
of Commons. We come to England and we are sentenced to death.’
"I never meant anything; but I will take it. I do not care anything about it, but
when you dirty dogs come to India there comes a time when you will be
cleaned out of India. All your British Imperialism will be smashed.’
"Machine guns on the streets of India mow down thousands of poor women
and children wherever your so-called flag of democracy and Christianity flies.’
"Your conduct, your conduct – I am talking about the British government. I
have nothing against the English people at all. I have more English friends
living in England than I have in India. I have great sympathy with the workers
of England. I am against the Imperialist Government.’

12
 "You people are suffering the same as I am suffering through those dirty dogs
and mad beasts. Everyone are suffering through these dirty dogs; these mad
beasts. India is only slavery. Killing, mutilating and destroying – British
Imperialism. People do not read about it in the papers. We know what is
going on in India."
At this point the judge refused to hear any more, but Singh continued:
"You ask me what I have to say. I am saying it. Because you people are dirty.
You do not want to hear from us what you are doing in India.
He then thrust his glasses back into his pocket, and exclaimed three words in
Hindustani and then shouted:
'Down with British Imperialism! Down with British dirty dogs!"
He turned to leave the dock, spitting across the solicitor's table.
When this material was published, it was reported in both British and Asian
press, the statement was translated into Gurmukhi script and distributed at
the Sikh Vaisaki Festival in Birmingham, April 1997. John Major, the British prime
minister at that time, remarked: "The Amritsar Massacre was an unhappy episode in
Indo-British relations which was controversial in both countries. Today [8 October
1996] I am glad to say, our relationship is excellent. India is an important partner and
a close friend of this country."

13
CHAPTER 6
Reactions

In its 18 March 1940 issue, Amrita Bazar Patrika wrote, "O'Dwyer's name is
connected with Punjab incidents which India will never forget".The Punjab section of
Congress in the Punjab Assembly led by Dewan Chaman Lal refused to vote for the
Premier's motion to condemn the assassination.In April 1940, at the Annual Session
of the All India Congress Committee held in commemoration of 21st anniversary of
the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, the youth wing of the Indian National Congress Party
displayed revolutionary slogans in support of Singh, applauding his action as
patriotic and heroic.
Singh had some support from the international press. The Times of London called
him a "fighter for freedom", his actions "an expression of the pent-up fury of the
downtrodden Indian people." Bergeret from Rome praised Singh's action as
courageous. In March 1940, Indian National Congress leader Jawahar Lal Nehru,
condemned the action of Singh as senseless, however, in 1962, Nehru reversed his
stance and applauded Singh with the following published statement: "I salute
Shaheed-i-Azam Udham Singh with reverence who had kissed the noose so that we
may be free."

CHAPTER 7
Repatriation of remains

In 1974, Singh's remains were exhumed and repatriated to India at the request
of MLA Sadhu Singh Thind. Thind accompanied the remains back to India.
The casket was received by Indira Gandhi, Shankar Dayal Sharma and Zail Singh. On
2 August 1974 his ashes were divided into seven urns and distributed; one each
to Haridwar, Kiratpur Sahib, Rauza Sharif, Sunam and the museum at Jallianwala
Bagh, and two urns to the library of the Shaheed Udham Singh Arts College in
Sunam.

14
CHAPTER 8
Legacy

In 1999, during the tercentenary of the creation of the Khalsa and the centenary of
Singh's birth, he was posthumously awarded the "Nishan-e-Khalsa" by the Anandpur
Sahib Foundation.

• A museum dedicated to Singh is located in Amritsar, near Jallianwala Bagh.

• Singh's ancestral house, in Sunam, has been converted into a museum. 30
letters and other objects are on display in the museum.
• The official name of his ancestral town Sunam was changed to 'Sunam
Udham Singh Wala'.
• Singh has been the subject of a number of films: Jallian Wala Bagh (1977),
Shaheed Uddham Singh (1977), Shaheed Uddham Singh (2000) and the
2021 film Sardar Udham.

Ashes of Shaheed Udham Singh at Jallianwala Bagh museum

• Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand is named after Singh.

• Singh is the subject of the 1998 track "Assassin" by Asian Dub Foundation.
• Frank Brazil, is named after an Alias of Singh, is a track by The Ska Vengers.
• Shaheed Udham Singh Chowk in Anupgarh was named for him.
• The day of his death is a public holiday in Punjab and Haryana.
• A statue of him was installed by International Sarav Kamboj Samaj at the
main entrance of Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar on 13 March 2018. The statue
was unveiled by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

15
 REFERENCES

1. Swami, Praveen (November 1997). "Jallianwala Bagh revisited: A look at

the actual history of one of the most shocking events of the
independence struggle". Frontline. 22. Vol. 14. India. pp. 1–14.
2. Jump up to:a b Farina Mir (2010). The Social Space of Language:
Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab. University of California
Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-520-94764-1.
3. "Who was Sardar Udham Singh? Know interesting facts about the man
who avenged Jallianwala Bagh massacre". Free Press Journal. 25
December 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
4. Singh, Anand Raj (12 March 2015). "Mayawati may create new district to
tame old foe". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
5. Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i Anand, Anita (2019). The Patient Assassin: A
True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for
Independence. Scribner. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-5011-9570-9. When the faint
mewling of his son finally reached his ears, Tehal Singh might have
allowed himself a moment of relief but nothing more. He could barely
feed his existing family, let alone this new mouth. His little one was
blissfully unaware that his tiny wriggling body was saddled with an
invisible burden from the moment he arrived in the world. Like his
parents, he was Khamboj, one of the lowest castes in India
6. Fenech, Louis E. (2002). Johnson, Gordon (ed.). "Contested Nationalisms;
Negotiated Terrains: The Way Sikhs Remember Udham Singh 'Shahid'
(1899-1940)". Modern Asian Studies. Cambridge University Press. 36 (4):
830. doi:10.1017/S0026749X02004031. JSTOR 3876476. S2CID 1454052
22. ProQuest 196819206. According to general Sikh accounts, Udham
Singh was born in Sunam in the Punjab's Sangrur district as Sher Singh
into a Sikh family of the Kambojh caste. In 1907 after the early deaths
of his parents he and his brother were admitted into the Central Khalsa
Orphanage by an uncle
7. Jump up to:a b c d e Anand, Anita (2019). "5. Name, rank and serial
failure". The Patient Assassin. London: Simon and Schuster. pp. 55–
61. ISBN 978-1-4711-7424-7.
8. Stanley Wolpert, "The postwar years", India, Encyclopedia Britannica
9. Sikander Singh (2002). Pre-meditated Plan of Jallianwala Massacre and
Oath of Revenge, Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azad.
p. 139.
10. Tully, Mark (2006). Amritsar : Mrs Gandhi's last battle. New Delhi: Rupa.
p. 29. ISBN 978-81-291-0917-0.
11. Academy of Punjab in North America. "Shaheed Udham Singh (1899–
1940)".

16
12. Dr. Fauja Singh (1972). Eminent Freedom Fighters of Punjab. pp. 239–40.
13. Singh, Sikander (1998). Udham Singh, alias, Ram Mohammed Singh
Azad: a saga of the freedom movement and Jallianwala Bagh. B. Chattar
Singh Jiwan Singh.
14. Jump up to:a b The Murders of the Black Museum: 1870–1970 ISBN 978-
1-854-71160-1 p. 364
15. Pearce, Vanessa (2021). "Indian activists who helped change the face of
modern Britain". BBC.
16. Yashee (13 August 2022). "Udham Singh's English wife and other stories:
What history remembers, misses about Dalit freedom fighters". The
Indian Express. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
17. Jump up to:a b The Murders of the Black Museum: 1870–1970 ISBN 978-
1-854-71160-1 p. 365
18. Glasgow Herald 19 March 1940
19. The Black Museum ISBN 978-0-316-90332-5 pp. 364–365
20. The Murders of the Black Museum: 1870–1970 ISBN 978-1-854-71160-
1 pp. 364–365
21. Jump up to:a b c d e f Singh Sahota, Teja; Singh Johal, Avtar; Singh Kirti,
Karam (n.d.). Udham Singh's Last words "Down with British
Imperialism". Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Trust.
22. CRIM 1/1177, Public Record Office, London, p. 64
23. Vinay Lal (May 2008). "Manas: History and Politics, British India –
Udham Singh in the Popular Memory". Archived from the original on 5
August 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
24. Jump up to:a b Singh, Sikander (1998). Udham Singh, alias, Ram
Mohammed Singh Azad: a saga of the freedom movement and
Jallianwala Bagh. B. Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh. p. 300.
25. Manmath Nath Gupta (1970). Bhagat Singh and his Times. Delhi. p. 18.
26. The Times. London. 16 March 1940.
27. Public and Judicial Department, File No L/P + J/7/3822. 10 Caxton Hall
outrage. London: India Office Library and Records. pp. 13–14.
28. Jump up to:a b Anand, Anita (2019). "25. The return". The Patient
Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj. London: Simon
and Schuster. pp. 313–314. ISBN 978-1-4711-7424-7.
29. Fenech, Louis E. (2002). "Contested Nationalisms; Negotiated Terrains:
The Way Sikhs Remember Udham Singh 'Shahid' (1899-1940)". Modern
Asian Studies. Cambridge: University of Northern Iowa. 36 (4): 827–
870. doi:10.1017/S0026749X02004031. ISSN 0026-
749X. JSTOR 3876476. S2CID 145405222.
30. Ramnath, Nandini. "'Sardar Udham' review: A portrait of a man of
history and mystery". Scroll.in. Retrieved 31 January 2023.

17
18
19
20