Prompt Cast
The Story of Udham Singh: From Witnessing Atrocities to Seeking Revenge
TLDR Anita Anand discusses her book "The Patient Assassin" which tells the story of Udham Singh, who witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 and went on to seek revenge by assassinating Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the man responsible for the massacre. Singh's journey takes him from poverty in India to the British army, the gutter movement, and eventually to various countries seeking justice.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Anita Anand discusses her book "The Patient Assassin" which tells the story of her grandfather's involvement in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.
05:16
Anita Anand's grandfather was in Amritsar during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 and narrowly escaped, which had a profound impact on him and their family.
09:54
Udham Singh's image has been mythologized in India and there is a postage stamp with the wrong man on it, but the truth is that he was born into poverty and his mother died when he was three years old, leaving him and his older brother to be raised by their father who worked for the railways.
14:21
Udham Singh, after being orphaned at a young age, is taken to an orphanage in Amritsar where he grows up, and later joins the British army during World War I.
18:44
Udham Singh, after returning from World War I and witnessing the atrocities of the Rowlett Act, becomes involved in the gutter movement, an international resistance group that embraces military resistance and investigates bomb building.
23:09
Udham Singh travels to East Africa to work on the railways, where he witnesses mistreatment and becomes aware of the international struggle, leading him to eventually make his way to America.
27:44
Udham Singh crosses the border into America without his friend Preetam and reinvents himself, learning English, walking with a swagger, wearing western clothes, and getting a new name, Frank Brazil, while also marrying a Mexican woman named Lupe.
32:15
Udham Singh, now going by the name Frank Brazil, becomes involved with the Guthers in America, helping to raise money for arms and working as a gun runner, eventually getting caught when he returns to India with small arms.
36:38
Udham Singh, also known as Frank Brazil, becomes involved in violent protest and seeks revenge for the loss of the Punjab throne, traveling to various countries including Nazi Germany and maintaining multiple addresses in Britain.
41:01
Udham Singh, also known as Frank Brazil, is involved in various activities and networks, including the peddler community, and is suspected of doing things for other people such as the Gathers, the Bolsheviks, and the Germans, while also being fixated on seeking revenge for the Punjab massacre and the actions of Michael O'Dwyer.
45:39
Udham Singh waits until the end of the speeches at Kaxton Hall, walks up to Sir Michael O'Dwyer, and shoots him twice through the heart, but fails to kill the Secretary of State for India.
50:11
Udham Singh is sentenced to death and hanged, but his memory as a hero of the nationalist movement in Punjab lives on, and his remains are eventually brought back to India.
Categories:
History
