Giriraj Singh pays tribute to revolutionary Jatindranath Das on jayanti
Synopsis
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh honoured HSRA revolutionary Jatindranath Das on his birth anniversary, calling his 63-day hunger strike in Lahore Jail and ultimate sacrifice a timeless source of national inspiration.
Key Takeaways
Giriraj Singh posted a Hindi tribute to Jatindranath Das on his birth anniversary on 27 October 2026 .
Das was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) , the same network as Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad .
He died in Lahore Central Jail in 1929 after a 63-day hunger strike protesting discriminatory treatment of political prisoners.
Singh described Das as 'an immortal son of Mother India' whose sacrifice is 'a source of inspiration for all.' BJP leaders observe these freedom-struggle anniversaries as a consistent practice, broadening the independence narrative beyond the mainstream Congress-led account.
A hunger strike that lasted 63 days and ended in death inside Lahore Central Jail — that is the measure of Jatindranath Das, the Bengali revolutionary whose birth anniversary falls on Tuesday, 27 October. Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh marked the occasion with a heartfelt tribute on X, saluting Das as an immortal son of Mother India whose courage remains a living inspiration.
Posting in Hindi, Singh described Das as 'माँ भारती के अमर सपूत एवं महान क्रांतिकारी' — 'an immortal son of Mother India and a great revolutionary' — adding that his 'indomitable courage, historic struggle, and incomparable sacrifice for the country's freedom is a source of inspiration for all of us.'The 63-day fast that shook colonial India
Jatindranath Das, born in 1904, was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) — the same underground network that produced Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad. Arrested and lodged in Lahore Central Jail, Das joined a hunger strike demanding that Indian political prisoners be treated with basic dignity rather than as common criminals. He refused to break his fast for 63 days, dying in custody in 1929 at just 25 years of age. His death ignited outrage across the country and lent fresh moral force to the independence movement.Why BJP leaders keep this calendar
Singh's post follows a deliberate and consistent pattern among BJP leaders of commemorating armed revolutionaries on fixed dates in the freedom-struggle calendar. By honouring figures such as Das, Bhagat Singh, and Chandrashekhar Azad, the party broadens the historical narrative of independence beyond the Congress-led mainstream, reclaiming the revolutionary strand as a shared national inheritance. Tributes on 17 November (Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary) and 23 March (his martyrdom day) are similarly observed with near-ritual regularity by ministers and MPs. For a generation that knows Das primarily from textbook footnotes, Singh's post is a reminder that the freedom struggle was not one story but many — and that some of its most searing chapters were written not at the negotiating table, but inside a jail cell, in silence, one hunger-struck day at a time.Point of View
Not peripheral, figures in India's independence story — a counter-narrative to the Congress-dominated mainstream account. By posting on fixed calendar dates, senior leaders keep these figures in public memory with minimal political risk and maximum symbolic return. The HSRA revolutionaries, especially those who died young and violently, carry emotional resonance across political lines, making them safe and powerful touchstones. Over time, this annual rhythm of tributes amounts to a quiet but sustained rewriting of the national founding story.
NationPress
27 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Jatindranath Das?
Jatindranath Das was a Bengali revolutionary and member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) who died in Lahore Central Jail in 1929 after a 63-day hunger strike, protesting the discriminatory treatment of Indian political prisoners by the British colonial authorities. He was born in 1904 and died at just 25 years of age.
Why did Jatindranath Das go on hunger strike?
Das went on hunger strike inside Lahore Central Jail to demand that Indian political prisoners be accorded dignified treatment rather than being treated as ordinary criminals. He refused to break his fast for 63 days, ultimately dying from its effects in 1929.
Why does Giriraj Singh post tributes to freedom fighters?
Singh, a senior BJP leader and Union Textiles Minister, regularly posts tributes on the jayantis and martyrdom days of pre-independence revolutionaries. This follows a broader BJP pattern of highlighting the armed revolutionary strand of the freedom struggle alongside the more widely celebrated Congress-led narrative.
When is Jatindranath Das's birth anniversary?
Jatindranath Das was born on 27 October 1904, and his birth anniversary is observed on 27 October each year.
