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Title: Hunger-strikers’ Demands
Author: Bhagat Singh
Date: 24th June, 1929
Language: en
Topics: hunger strike, India
Source: http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?link=hunger_strike
Notes: [Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt were sentenced to transportation for life in the Delhi Assembly Bomb Case. After conviction they were transferred to Mianwali and Lahore jails respectively. They started hunger strike for better treatment to political prisoners in jails. After a few days Bhagat Singh was also shifted from Mianwali to Lahore Central Prison. Dutt was already there. They jointly addressed this letter to the Home Member, Government of India, enumerating their demands. From here started a period of prolonged struggle for better treatment to political prisoners in jails.]

Bhagat Singh

Hunger-strikers’ Demands

Central Jail Lahore

24.6.29

WE, BHAGAT SINGH AND B.K. DUTT, WERE SENTENCED to life transportation in

the Assembly Bomb Case, Delhi, on the 19^(th) April, 1929. As long as we

were undertrial prisoners in Delhi Jail, we were accorded a very good

treatment from that jail to the Mianwali and Lahore Central Jails

respectively, we wrote an application to the higher authorities asking

for better diet and a few other facilities, and refused to take the jail

diet.

Our demands were as follows:

We, as political prisoners, should be given better diet and the

standard of our diet should at least be the same as that of European

prisoners. (It is not the sameness of dietary that we demand, but the

sameness of standard of diet.)

We shall no be forced to do any hard and undignified lobours at all.

All books, other than those proscribed, alongwith writing materials,

should be allowed to us without any restriction.

At least one standard daily paper should be supplied to every

political prisoner.

Political prisoners should have a special ward of their own in every

jail, provided with all necessities as those of the europeans. And all

the political prisoners in one jail must be kept together in that ward.

Toilet necessities should be supplied.

Better clothing.

We have explained above the demands that we made. They are the most

reasonable demands. The Jail authorities told us one day that the higher

authorities have refused to comply with our demands.

Apart from that, they handle us very roughly while feeding us

artificially, and Bhagat Singh was lying quite senseless on the 10^(th)

June, 1929, for about 15 mts., after the forcible feeding, which we

request to be stopped without any further delay.

In addition, we may be permitted to refer to the recommendations made in

the U.P. Jail Committee by Pt. Jagat Narain and K.B. Hafiz Hidayat

Hussain. They have recommended the political prisoners to be treated as

“Better Class Prisoners.”

We request you to kindly consider our demands at your earliest

convenience.

By “Political Prisoners”, we mean all those people who are convicted

for offences against the State, for instane the people who were

convicted in the Lahore Conspiracy Cases, 1915–17, the Kakori Conspiracy

Cases and Sedition Cases in general.

Yours

Bhagat Singh

B.K. Dutt