Baba Prithvi Singh Azad- The Legendary Crusader- An Autobiography (An Old and Rare Book)

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When I started writing my autobiography at Gandhiji's instance, I was bothered by the thought whether there was any point in writing down everything. In prison I was full of other thoughts too. I had no hope of release from the British prison till 1966. I was asking myself if I would outlive my prison-term. At that was also not sure if the prison authorities would let my writing be taken out. It appeared unlikely that my writing would have gone uncensored. On the other hand, if they allowed it to be published after heavy editing, the end-product would be misleading. it was uncertain if I would be kept indefinitely in the small jail at Thana (near Bombay).

After my voluntary surrender, the Punjab Government had demanded my return on the ground that I was their prisoner. Unlike Bombay, Punjab was not a Congress-majority Province. I did not expect from the Punjab prison authority’s facilities for writing my autobiography. In view of the demand of the Punjab Government, I was expecting the Punjab Police to come any time and pick me up. Fifty days passed in this wait. This was a period for uninterrupted writing in the solitude of prison. I spent my entire time except the sleeping hours in writing. Nevertheless I could not complete my book in the prison. The reason for this was that I did not want to write anything which would compromise the identity of other people. I wrote out only those things which were well-known to the Police and which did not give away any-thing or anybody. In those fifty days I finished the portion of my autobiography upto 29th November, 1922.

Gandhiji secured the return of my entire manuscript on my release from prison on 23rd September, 1939. The manuscript was carefully gone through by Mahadev Desai and Kishorilal Mashruwala. Bapu advised me to write out my narrative after 1922 as well. Even though the Bombay and the Central Province Governments were under Congress Ministries, the rigour of the British rule was the same as before. It was, therefore, difficult to ex-pose everything in the autobiography. Even so at the instance of Gandhiji I devoted two months in "Janaki Kutir" belonging to Shri Jamnalal Bajaj at the Juhu Beach and wrote out whatever I felt like writing without let or hindrance. That entire manuscript was again read by Mahadev Desai and Kishorilal Mashruwala. Atfer going through it, they felt that it was worth publishing. Shri Kishorilal Mashruwala felt that if S. Prithvi Singh's autobiography were to be published, it would sell like hot cakes and would for ever sort out the financial problems of his family. Mahadev Desai, on the other hand, suggested that the autobiography be serialised in the weekly 'The Harijan.' Bapu suggested that if I had comprehended truth and non-violence fully and made them part of my life, then should say so at the end of the book. In that case, he would write the preface and pubblish it the world over. He thought that as the book got known, it might come to be translated into all languages.

I did not find myself in agreement with these three leaders. The greater part of my writing was done in prison. The rest I wrote outside at a time when the country was under the rule of the British. It was difficult to describe in detail what I went through and give a full picture of my life under a regime for whose end had worked throughout my life.

What weighed with me was the fact that once the book was published with Bapu's stamp on it, I would have little freedom to make alteration. The temptation of earning money and making a name was strong indeed, but I had not done anything with an eye on fame or wealth. 1, therefore, turned down the suggestion to pub-lish my autobiography in the form of a book. Nor did I agree to let my writings be serialised in Ilarijan.' Bapu was right in what he had asked me to do but I had never kept it a secret from him that in thought, word and deed, I had not understood the tenets of truth and non-violence. No doubt I have striven to adopt these principles in my life but it was a bit difficult to claim that I had imbibed those principles till I was sure.

I remained in prison for 16 months after self-sur-render. At that time, I had thought that I may be able to adopt truth and non-violence but as I emerged out of prison and saw those numerous people who had been Bapu's comrades for many years, I had a sudden realisation. It was patent to me that to practise truth and non-violence in thought, word and deed was no child's play. Bapu had asked me to declare my faith in his tenets be-cause he assumed that someone who was willing to choose a prison-term upto 1966 at his asking would surely have the strength to practise them.

It is human to disguise one's weaknesses. But I re-fused to hide my own. I told Bapu frankly that I did not have the capacity to follow his principles. Bapu was happy at this frank expression of my feelings. He gave me his blessings for success in my efforts. It is now 20-25 years since then. Judging by how far the followers of Gandhiji truly adopted his tenets, it is obvious that, if I had deferred to Bapu's wishes and with his blessings and help let my book be published, I would no doubt have attained great fame. At the same time I would have earned a bad name. People would have thought that Prithvi Singh attained wealth and fame by deceiving Bapu. My life's experience even today points to my inability to practise truth and non-violence. By resisting every temptation and serving the Indian youth with affection, I have earned the esteem of a critical but awakened public. I never got into a confrontation with anybody nor have I betrayed anyone. In every way, I have conducted myself with restraint and righteousness. The other reason for writing this autobiography is that, ever since I returned to Punjab on 17th December, 1957, I have spoken at schools and colleges. There was a demand from all quarters that I narrate the story of my life. I felt that people were interested in my autobiography and were keen on deriving inspiration from my life. In political as well as human life, one faces many ups and downs. Many a difficult barrier has to be crossed and frustration faced. But it is still possible to steer through life.

This life-story seeks to portray how the ups and downs and frustrations of political life can be steered through if one keeps a level head and harnesses one's faculties. At 72, I find that age cannot weaken my control over my faculties.

We have enough literature full of the thrilling hero-ism of our National heroes. Ancient history is replete with several sagas but this is an autobiography of some-one who has been a comrade-in-arms of his countrymen and has been serving their cause. The different phases of my life may be divided as follows:

(a) 1892-1910

(b). 1911-1914

(c) 1915-1922

(d) 1923-1930

(e) 1931-1938

(f) 1939-1942

(g) 1943-1956

(h) 1957 onwards

When I jumped from a running mail train in 1921, there was no knowing what would happen. Would I meet instant death or live to bring freedom to the country?

Even at 72, Baba Prithvi Singh is altogether youthful. There are signs of old age on the body but a lion does not lose his roar merely from being put in a cage. His heart is still full of a youthful fire and his mind is filled with a wish to do something. Leading a life of ease and retirement is to his mind a wrong way of life. He is even today a young man to the marrow of his bones. He has written his life-story in his book. It makes one wonder-struck. This is a story of a journey through a stormy sea, of facing adversities and crises with good cheer. There is no pause or rest; only a driving urge to go on, to resist injustice and a determination not to be deflected from one's goals. Reading through it one gets the feeling of a steady yet moving flame through a storm - calm and constant.

When India was in slavery, some young men found the situation humiliating and intolerable. They, there-fore, set out to throw out the alien domination risking their lives. Most of them had no definite picture of a future independent India. They were actuated by only one dominant passion: That was to free the country and throw off the foreign yoke. They challenged the British Government. They were restless and in great turmoil. Most of them did not pause to think that they were taking on a powerful empire. Nor had they any idea of its enormous resources. Those who take cautious steps after too much deliberation may pass for intellectuals and tacticians, but they are no revolutionaries. A revolutionary, on the Other hand, does not calculate nor think of the consequences of his action. His greatest companion is self-confidence and his source of inspiration is a definite goal. So long as the goal is set and confidence in himself remains unshaken, he forges ahead.. He enjoys moving on and does not care for the means. Baba Prithvi Singh was one such revolutionary. From his early youth he had resolved to shake off the British yoke. He thereafter never looked back. When the intelligentsia of his day were busy with constitutional niceties, he set out in the spirit of a martyr. The British empire trembled at the thought of this man. He took harsh sufferings with commendable equanimity. He went through self-imposed hardship, sometimes languishing behind the bars, sometimes moving around underground. But his self-confidence was unshaken. The autobiography shows the emotional ups and downs that he went through from time to time. However, these are transient feelings. There is a running thread of tremendous enthusiasm, of unshakable faith and dedication to his goal. This deep faith in himself still remains with him. That explains his youthfulness even at an old age, for what is youth except the steady ascendance of mind, of enthusiasm and faith. Countless revolutionaries challenged British rule. We do not know the names of many of them. There were many who withered before they blossomed. A few among those who survived after crossing a sea of troubles have not left any account of their lives. The advantage of such autobiographies is that they keep green the memory of those many people whom we have no other means of knowing. They have become so merged in history as though they never existed. In the course of this autobiography, Baba Prithvi Singh has referred to many such great lives. The sacrifices of these great martyrs contributed greatly to the status of India as a free country in the comity of nations. It will be a sad day when the new generation that has grown up after freedom forgets to express its respect for and gratitude to those martyrs. It is sad that we are forgetting those young men. The respect that India enjoyed for its spiritual heritage and idealism in the pre-independence days is gradually diminishing. We are blindly running after material prosperity, as individual self-interest has over-whelmed us. The blind pursuit of material prosperity has made us turn towards grossness. We have, therefore, lost that inner sensitivity. Gratitude is necessary even to the pursuit of self-interest but we have abandoned even that. In the autobiographies of revolutionaries, we get an idea of the measure of the sense of sacrifice of those many un-known ordinary men and women who helped the revolutionaries courageously at great risk to themselves. It is the courage of these ordinary people that gives us a true picture of the awakening in the country. In those days sympathy for and belief in freedom fighters were in abundant evidence. Those who could not themselves fight did nevertheless honour and help the revolutionaries as a matter of national duty. It is difficult to estimate the contribution of these many anonymous people in the shaping of Indian nationalism but it is on account of them that the revolutionaries were able to make headway. They required at all times the asylum of trusted people and they found it. Human nature, however, is everywhere the same. Even those who do not care for their lives are not free from the negative sentiments of jealousy, hatred and quarrelsomeness. There were many among the revolutionaries who, on account of their own weaknesses, turned witnesses for the prosecution and put their comrades in peril.

There were cases where they fell foul over small matters. But the dominant spirit was one of idealism and self-sacrifice. Government always tried to divide and weaken them. The selfish among our countrymen also pursued them and facilitated their arrest in hordes. Many imaginative novelists have vividly described those human weaknesses. But it is in the biographical accounts of these revolutionaries that we find a telling description of this weakness. It appears that many were motivated under the spur of the moment to take this difficult course but were unable to sustain their determination.

One often comes across in the writings of revolutionaries a certain bitterness and scepticism. One can also see the tendency to prove one's point of view all the time and equally to berate the other's standpoint. Nevertheless these accounts have a great significance as they bring out a particular writer's state of mind or temperament. Together they give a total picture of a nation in the making. It is now clear that there were all kinds of people among these revolutionaries. Later in their lives, some of them saw dreams of making a Hindu India, while others adopted the leftist or socialist ideology. There were still some others who had no constructive ideal before them. Many of them were full of bitterness. They expressed their resentment by opposing every new step. There were also those who were reconciled to the dominant trend. In spite of all this, it will be a mistake to forget their sacrifices. The terrible hardships they have suffered for the freedom of the country cannot in any way be minimised. What is special about Baba Prithvi Singh's autobiography is the evidence of great faith and self-confidence, integrity and introspection. It is remark-ably free from bitterness. He does not try to prove his point of view by condemning others. There is no place in his life for obstinacy. When he surrendered himself to Gandhiji, he showed an open mind, supreme courage and commendable detachment. He has the courage to shed his pet convictions. Human beings sometimes readily give up their wealth but are unwilling to come out of their mental grooves. People give up their attachment to their property and to the family readily but are unwilling to give up their views. Real detachment comes from a capacity to give up one's notions. I regard Babaji as a detached person. History changes its course as a result of the failure or success of any given plan of action.

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