Lucknow’s Sagar Sharma, 27, one of the intruders who jumped into the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and set off a smoke canister inside the legislature along with three others, not only hero-worshipped freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, but was also highly inspired by Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, besides Indian freedom fighters Sukhdev and Rajguru.
A scan through several posts and captions from two different Facebook IDs, conversations with his family, friends and acquaintances revealed his revolutionary aspirations to bring about a change in the society.
He nicknamed himself ‘Dilawar’ on Facebook (FB) after an Afghan farmer and taxi driver who was tortured to death by US Army soldiers. His FB bio reads, “Mera sapna hi meri daulta hai. Main itihaas likhunga, aya hoon duniya me kuch k(a)r k(e) marunga. (My dream is my asset. I will script history. Having come into this world, I do something notable before death).”
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He not only has several posts on Bhagat Singh, but most of his FB friends are people who have either Bhagat Singh or some revolutionary figure in their display picture.
{{/usCountry}}He not only has several posts on Bhagat Singh, but most of his FB friends are people who have either Bhagat Singh or some revolutionary figure in their display picture.
{{/usCountry}}Quoted ‘Che’, read his books and Sherlock Holmes
Besides Bhagat Singh, Sagar has frequently quoted Che Guevara in his Facebook posts. According to his father Roshan Lal Sharma, he had several books on Bhagat Singh and others on Che.
“He was also reading a diary,” his father said.
“He would often quote lines from Che Guevara’s book Motorcycle Diaries when he would join protests and refer to anecdotes from the Jail Notebook of Bhagat Singh, ‘Why I’m An Atheist’, ‘Without Fear-the Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh,” said a friend of Sagar with whom he was part of a student group.
“He was also reading detective novels like Sherlock Holmes and also had Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in Hindi,” said his father.
References to Kakori conspiracy, 1929 Delhi assembly bomb explosion
While his social media justified his love for the revolutionary icons, he seems to be highly influenced by their extremist side.
One of his posts from April 9, 2019 talks about the April 8, 1929 bomb explosion in the Delhi Assembly Hall. Indian freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutta and a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, along with Bhagat Singh, had exploded two bombs, in the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi on 8 April 1929. Another post on April 8, 2019 titled ‘Elan-E-Inqilab’ hailed the explosion.
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Sharing a black and white picture of Ram Prasad Bismil on June 11, 2020, one of the three freedom fighters behind the Kakori Conspiracy case on his birth anniversary, he hailed his effort and said, “Do you remember the anniversary of Kakori Conspiracy on 9th August? 123rd birth anniversary of martyr Ram Prasad Bismil.”
Bhagat inspired him first in school: Father
Roshan Lal Sharma, a carpenter by profession, said over the phone, “My son has done wrong and I’m absolutely against it. I have left it to the police to investigate, but I would say he was influenced by others.”
“I did not have any idea he would do this but I always watched him talking to people quietly over the phone. I’m sure they ruined his mind,” he added.
According to Sagar’s father, he first started idolising Bhagat when he was in school and read about him in a book that was in the syllabus. Later, he started reading about him on the Internet and then brought several books for in-depth study and had pictures of him on the wall.
“He went to Bengaluru in between for work and they met there during some protests (and) then were in touch over the phone,” the father said.
‘WE ARE IN CITY, HAVE NOT ABSCONDED’
Sagar’s rented dwelling at Ramnagar in Lucknow’s Alambagh was found locked from outside on Thursday, raising questions of the whereabouts of the family. Clarifying, the father said, “We can’t leave the city as we’re cooperating with the police investigation and we have been asked by police to stay in Lucknow.”
ACP, Kakori, Anup Kumar Singh said, “The family will be in Lucknow. They are staying at a relative’s home. Their presence in the city is part of the investigation.”