Madan Lal Dhingra Memorial Public Meeting

international | history and heritage | event notice Sunday February 15, 2009 18:12 by Madan Lal Dhingra Memorial Committee

A martyr to the independence struggle in the sub-continent

2009 is the 100th martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra, who sacrificed his life at a young age of 22 years in the Indian independence struggle. He was the first Indian revolutionary to be hanged in Britain. We've organised a public meeting to discuss the relevance, in today's world, of Madan Lal Dhingra's great scarifice. We cordially invite all anti-imperialists to the meeting commemorating Madan Lal Dhingra's revolutionary life.

In Homage to
Madan Lal Dhingra

A martyr to the independence struggle in the sub-continent

Speakers:

Salvinder Dhillon - Indian Workers’ Association
Radha D’Souza - Lecturer at Westminster University
Amrit Wilson - South Asia Solidarity Group
Kamel Hawwash - Vice-Chair of national PSC

1pm Sunday 22 February 2009

Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Centre
346 Soho Road, Birmingham B21 9QL

Madan Lal Dhingra was the first Indian leader to be hanged in Britain. Bhagat Singh was inspired by two heroes: Dhingra and Kartar Singh Sarabha. Like Khudi Ram Bose before and Bhagat Singh later, Dhingra kissed the gallows with a smile on his face.

"May I be re-born to the same Mother, and may I re-die in the same sacred cause till the cause is successful, and she stands free for the good of humanity and the glory of God."

These are the last words of the 22-year old Indian student of Engineering in London before going to the gallows on August 17, 1909 at Pentonville Prison, London, for killing Sir Curzon Wyllie, Political Aide-de-Camp to the Secretary of State for India, Lord Morley.

Indian sub-continent has a long history of fighting against imperialism. This struggle has produced many Great Martyrs who fought to the end for a truly independent India and to see its People free from foreign exploitation. Vast majority of the People on the sub-continent continue to be exploited and remain under the tight grip of poverty. The foreign exploitation has now taken on a different form and is being carried out under the policies of Globalization, Privatization and Liberalization, unleashing multi-corporates to exploit the People and loot the mineral wealth of the land. The struggle against imperialist exploitation continues even today.

We will be marking Madan Lal Dhingra’s life and at the same time reviewing the challenges the peoples of the sub-continent face today. Madan Lal Dhingra Memorial Committee welcomes all progressive organisations and individuals to join in the Centenary Celebration.

Madan Lal Dhingra Memorial Committee

e-mail: mldhingramemorial@googlemail.com

Homepage: http://www.1857.org.uk/