A revolutionary who crossed oceans to settle a debt of blood — Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Friday, July 31 paid solemn homage to Sardar Udham Singh, the freedom fighter who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by assassinating the man responsible for it, on his death anniversary.

In a Hindi post on X, CM Choudhary offered a hundredfold salute — 'shata-shata naman' — to the martyr, describing him as a symbol of 'revolutionary valour, indomitable courage, and unbreakable patriotism.' He wrote that Udham Singh's supreme sacrifice for the honour and self-respect of Maa Bharati (Mother India) 'will forever inspire the countrymen toward national service, courage, and dedication.'

The man who made London answer for Amritsar

Sardar Udham Singh was present at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, when British forces under Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed crowd, killing hundreds. He carried that wound for over two decades. In March 1940, in London, he shot and killed Michael O'Dwyer — the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab who had sanctioned Dyer's action — at a public meeting in Caxton Hall. He made no attempt to flee. He was tried, convicted, and hanged on July 31, 1940.

That date — July 31 — is his martyrdom anniversary, the day British authorities executed him at Pentonville Prison. His act was not impulsive; it was a deliberate, decades-long reckoning that he framed as justice for his people.

A martyr reclaimed across the political spectrum

Tributes to Sardar Udham Singh have become a fixture of India's political calendar, with leaders across parties invoking his memory to anchor themes of sacrifice and national pride. For BJP leaders in particular, his story — one of personal resolve, cross-border action, and unflinching patriotism — resonates as a template for nationalist sentiment. CM Choudhary's post follows that established pattern, using the anniversary to connect Bihar's citizens to a broader freedom-struggle inheritance.

Udham Singh's legacy was formally recognised when his remains were repatriated to India in 1974. He is especially venerated in Punjab, where a district — Udham Singh Nagar — in the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand bears his name, and his memory is kept alive through school curricula and state ceremonies across the country.

Eighty-six years after the gallows at Pentonville, a Bihar Chief Minister's morning post is proof that Udham Singh's wager — that the act would outlast the empire — has held.