The Red Fort Trial
The trial began on November 5, 1945, while a mass demonstration was going on outside the Red Fort. People gave voice to their resentment on the trials by shouting:
Lal Qile se aaee awaz,
Sahgal Dhillon Shah Nawaz,
Teenon ki ho umar daraz (Meaning – Sahgal, Dhillon, Shah Nawaz, comes the voice from the Red Fort. May the trio live long)
The trial concluded on December 31, and Dhillon, along with the other two defendants, became a symbol of the ongoing struggle for Indian independence. The verdict came the following day. All three were found guilty of waging war against the King Emperor, and the court was bound to sentence the accused either to death or to deportation for life. However, the Commander-in-Chief, Claude Auchinleck, taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances, decided to remit the sentences, and all three defendants were later released.
The release was of momentous significance at a national level, because the unprecedented publicity in the national papers and other media during the proceedings had enhanced the credibility and legitimacy of the freedom struggle by the Indian National Army. On the day after the release, January 4, the whole of Delhi gathered to participate in a rally.
Read more about this topic: Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Famous quotes containing the words red, fort and/or trial:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“You have created a monster and it will destroy you.”
—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)
“Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident—the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.”
—Edward C. Banfield (b. 1916)