Why I am an Atheist

We know Bhagat Singh as the revolutionary who challenged the British rule and sacrificed his life for the motherland. But very few of us know that he was also an independent thinker. 'Why I am an Atheist' is an essay written by him in 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.
After the death of Bhagat Singh, the essay was published on 27 September 1931 in Lala Lajpat Rai's English weekly 'The People'. In this essay, he extensively talks about his beliefs and how he reached the conclusion that there exists no god.

About the Author:
Bhagat Singh was a socialist considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. Born into a Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj, as a teenager Bhagat studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchist and Marxist ideologies. He became involved in numerous revolutionary organisations, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) to become one of its main leaders, eventually changing its name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.

Bhagat Singh (1907-31) was a revolutionary in the Indian independence struggle. Post his graduation, he worked as a writer and editor for Punjabi and Urdu newspapers, advocating Marxist theories. Having popularized the phrase ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ or ‘Long live the revolution!’, he was later given death penalty for the murder of an English officer.