Why I Am an Atheist is an essay written by Indian revolutionary Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh on 5-6 October 1930, in Lahore Central Jail. The essay was a reply to his religious friends who thought Bhagat Singh became an atheist because of his vanity.
Bhagat Singh was a charismatic Indian revolutionary . In 1928, Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shot dead a junior British police officer John Saunders, in Lahore, Punjab, mistaking him for Police Superintent James Scott, in retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, an Indian nationalist, who had died after sustaining severe injuries in a lathi charge. Chandra Shekhar Azad shot dead an Indian police head constable, Channan Singh, who attempted to give chase as Singh and Rajguru fled.
Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were sentenced to death in a widely criticized farcical trial and stealthily executed 11 hours before his scheduled execution on 23 March 1931. While most Indian leaders condemned his murder of Saunders, and emphasized non-violent methods, the process of his trial and execution at age 23 was widely criticized and turned him into a folk hero.
Bhagat Singh continues to be a hero for Indians over 90 years after his death and is considered an icon across the political spectrum.
Jawaharlal Nehru wrote about him: "Bhagat Singh did not become popular because of his act of terrorism but because he seemed to vindicate, for the moment, the honour of Lala Lajpat Rai, and through him of the nation. He became a symbol; the act was forgotten, the symbol remained, and within a few months each town and village of the Punjab, and to a lesser extent in the rest of northern India, resounded with his name."
After the death of Singh, the essay was published on 27 September 1931 in Lala Lajpat Rai's English weekly The People.
On Bhagat Singh's anniversary this year, I happened to have a conversation with a friend who mentioned this essay as her introduction to rationalism and atheism long ago and said she finds reading difficult now due to failing eyesight and the unfamiliar usage of English from that time. I remembered David Tennant explaining that it is easier to understand Shakespeare's English through a performance rather than the text and thinking that it might work well for this too, attempted this audio recording for her as a gift.
I later turned it into a video in case others may find use for it. There may be a few errors. If you would like me to read other interesting texts, do let me know in the comments.
