On June 15, 1929, while incarcerated at Mianwali Jail following his conviction in the Assembly Bomb Case, Bhagat Singh launched an historic hunger strike. Upon his arrival at the prison, he observed glaring racial discrimination between European and Indian convicts. European prisoners, even those convicted of brutal violent crimes, were provided clean clothes, hygienic food, daily newspapers, books, and sanitary living conditions. In contrast, Indian prisoners—including political dissidents and freedom fighters—were subjected to filthy, rat-infested cells, unpalatable food full of insects, hard manual labor, and constant physical degradation by prison staff.
Bhagat Singh demanded that all Indian political prisoners be granted basic human rights and recognized as political prisoners rather than ordinary criminals. His core demands included decent quality food, clean clothing, access to books, daily newspapers, writing materials, relief from forced manual labor, and adequate medical attention. Shortly after Bhagat Singh began his fast in Mianwali Jail, Batukeshwar Dutt initiated a hunger strike in Lahore Central Jail. When Bhagat Singh was transferred to Lahore Central Jail to stand trial in the Saunders murder case (Lahore Conspiracy Case), fellow HSRA comrades including Jatindra Nath Das, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru joined the fast in solidarity.
The hunger strike captured the imagination of the entire nation and created a major political crisis for the British colonial administration. To break the fast, prison officials attempted brutal force-feeding techniques, inserting rubber tubes through the strikers' nostrils into their stomachs. The hunger strike lasted an unprecedented 116 days for Bhagat Singh, ending on October 5, 1929. During this ordeal, comrade Jatindra Nath Das tragically died on September 13, 1929, after 63 days of fasting. The extraordinary sacrifice of Das and the stubborn resilience of Bhagat Singh forced the colonial administration to establish the Punjab Jail Enquiry Committee to reform prison regulations, turning the hunger strike into a powerful moral weapon against imperial oppression.
Why it matters
This hunger strike highlighted racial discrimination within the British colonial justice system and transformed the struggle for political prisoner rights into a major national movement. Bhagat Singh's 116-day fast and Jatin Das's martyrdom galvanized millions of Indians, exposing colonial brutality and proving that non-violent resistance inside prison walls could severely challenge British moral authority.
Interesting fact
To defeat force-feeding, Bhagat Singh and his comrades swallowed small water pebbles or fought force-feeding teams so vigorously that prison doctors often failed to insert the feeding tubes, forcing guards to deploy up to eight men per prisoner.
People
- Bhagat SinghLeader of the hunger strike in Mianwali and Lahore jails
- Jatindra Nath DasHSRA revolutionary who died after 63 days on hunger strike
- Batukeshwar DuttCo-initiator of the hunger strike in Lahore Central Jail
- Sukhdev ThaparHSRA leader who joined the prison hunger strike
Quotes
"I am a man and all that affects mankind concerns me."
"If the deaf are to hear, the sound has to be very loud."
Location
Mianwali Jail · Mianwali · Pakistan
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