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India observed Shaheed Udham Singh's 87th martyrdom day on 31 July 2026, marking his execution at Pentonville Prison, London, on 31 July 1940.
Udham Singh, who witnessed the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, assassinated Michael O'Dwyer — the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab who defended the massacre — at Caxton Hall, London, on 13 March 1940.
While in British custody, he signed his name as 'Ram Mohammad Singh Azad', symbolising Hindu-Muslim-Sikh unity and a free India; his remains were brought back to India in 1974 and cremated at Sunam.
His legacy includes Udham Singh Nagar district (Uttarakhand), a museum near Jallianwala Bagh, and a statue erected at Jallianwala Bagh in 2018.
Witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre while serving water to protesters
Arrested in India for illegal weapons possession; served 5 years
Assassinated Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton Hall, London
Executed at Pentonville Prison after a 42-day hunger strike during trial
Remains repatriated to India, cremated at Sunam
While in British custody, Udham Singh signed his name as Ram Mohammad Singh Azad — combining symbols of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism, with 'Azad' representing a free India, expressing his vision of communal unity in the freedom struggle.
Simple Analogy: A single name deliberately built from three faiths' names, to declare that the freedom struggle belonged to all Indians together.
GS Paper I > Modern Indian History, Freedom Struggle
Static GK > Freedom Fighters
An international organisation of Indian revolutionaries working for independence from British rule, which Udham Singh joined