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Full
Text
of
Statement
of S.
Bhagat
Singh
and
B.K.
Dutt
in
the
Assembly
Bomb
Case.
(Read
in
the
Court
on
6th
June,
1929,
by
Mr.
Asaf
Ali
on
behalf
of
Bhagat
Singh
and
B.K.
Dutt)
We
stand
charged
with
certain
serious
offences,
and
at
this
stage
it is
but
right
that
we
must
explain
our
conduct.
In
this
connection,
the
following
questions
arise.
1.
Were
the
bombs
thrown
into
Chamber,
and,
if
so,
why?
2.
Is
the
charge,
as
framed
by
the
Lower
Court,
correct
or
otherwise?
To
the
first
half
of
first
question,
our
reply
is in
the
affirmative,
but
since
some
of
the
so-called
'eye
witnesses'
have
perjured
themselves
and
since
we
are
not
denying
our
liability
to
that
extent,
let
our
statement
about
them
be
judged
for
what
it is
worth.
By
way
of an
illustration,
we
many
point
out
that
the
evidence
of
Sergeant
Terry
regarding
the
seizure
of
the
pistol
from
one
of us
is a
deliberate
falsehood,
for
neither
of us
had
the
pistol
at
the
time
we
gave
ourselves
up.
Other
witnesses,
too,
who
have
deposed
to
having
seen
bombs
being
thrown
by us
have
not
scrupled
to
tell
lies.
This
fact
had
its
own
moral
for
those
who
aim
at
judicial
purity
and
fairplay.
At
the
same
time,
we
acknowledge
the
fairness
of
the
Public
Prosecutor
and
the
judicial
attitude
of
the
Court
so
far.
Viceroy's
Views
Endorsed
In
our
reply
to
the
next
half
of
the
first
question,
we
are
constrained
to go
into
some
detail
to
offer
a
full
and
frank
explanation
of
our
motive
and
the
circumstances
leading
up to
what
has
now
become
a
historic
event.
When
we
were
told
by
some
of
the
police
officers,
who
visited
us in
jail
that
Lord
Irwin
in
his
address
to
the
joint
session
of
the
two
houses
described
the
event
as an
attack
directed
against
no
individual
but
against
an
institution
itself,
we
readily
recognized
that
the
true
significance
of
the
incident
had
been
correctly
appreciated.
We
are
next
to
none
in
our
love
for
humanity.
Far
from
having
any
malice
against
any
individual,
we
hold
human
life
sacred
beyond
words.
We
are
neither
perpetrators
of
dastardly
outrages,
and,
therefore,
a
disgrace
to
the
country,
as
the
pseudo-socialist
Dewan.
Chaman
Lal
is
reported
to
have
described
us,
nor
are
we
'Lunatics'
as
The
Tribune
of
Lahore
and
some
others
would
have
it
believed.
Practical
Protest
We
humbly
claim
to be
no
more
than
serious
students
of
the
history
and
conditions
of
our
country
and
her
aspirations.
We
despise
hypocrisy,
Our
practical
protest
was
against
the
institution,
which
since
its
birth,
has
eminently
helped
to
display
not
only
its
worthlessness
but
its
far-reaching
power
for
mischief.
They
more
we
have
been
convinced
that
it
exists
only
to
demonstrate
to
world
Indian's
humiliation
and
helplessness,
and
it
symbolizes
the
overriding
domination
of an
irresponsible
and
autocratic
rule.
Time
and
again
the
national
demand
has
been
pressed
by
the
people's
representatives
only
to
find
the
waste
paper
basket
as
its
final
destination.
Attack
on
Institution
Solemn
resolutions
passed
by
the
House
have
been
contemptuously
trampled
under
foot
on
the
floor
of
the
so
called
Indian
Parliament.
Resolution
regarding
the
repeal
of
the
repressive
and
arbitrary
measures
have
been
treated
with
sublime
contempt,
and
the
government
measures
and
proposals,
rejected
as
unacceptable
buy
the
elected
members
of
the
legislatures,
have
been
restored
by
mere
stroke
of
the
pen.
In
short,
we
have
utterly
failed
to
find
any
justification
for
the
existence
of an
institution
which,
despite
all
its
pomp
and
splendour,
organized
with
the
hard
earned
money
of
the
sweating
millions
of
India,
is
only
a
hollow
show
and a
mischievous
make-believe.
Alike,
have
we
failed
to
comprehend
the
mentality
of
the
public
leaders
who
help
the
Government
to
squander
public
time
and
money
on
such
a
manifestly
stage-managed
exhibition
of
Indian's
helpless
subjection.
No
Hope
For
Labour
We
have
been
ruminating
upon
all
these
matters,
as
also
upon
the
wholesale
arrests
of
the
leaders
of
the
labour
movement.
When
the
introduction
of
the
Trade
Disputes
Bill
brought
us
into
the
Assembly
to
watch
its
progress,
the
course
of
the
debate
only
served
to
confirm
our
conviction
that
the
labouring
millions
of
India
had
nothing
to
expect
from
an
institution
that
stood
as a
menacing
monument
to
the
strangling
of
the
exploiters
and
the
serfdom
of
the
helpless
labourers.
Finally,
the
insult
of
what
we
consider,
an
inhuman
and
barbarous
measure
was
hurled
on
the
devoted
head
of
the
representatives
of
the
entire
country,
and
the
starving
and
struggling
millions
were
deprived
of
their
primary
right
and
the
sole
means
of
improving
their
economic
welfare.
None
who
has
felt
like
us
for
the
dumb
driven
drudges
of
labourers
could
possibly
witness
this
spectacle
with
equanimity.
None
whose
heart
bleeds
for
them,
who
have
given
their
life-blood
in
silence
to
the
building
up of
the
economic
structure
could
repress
the
cry
which
this
ruthless
blow
had
wrung
out
of
our
hearts.
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