The Lahore Conspiracy Case Revisited

Revolutionaries on Trial: Sedition, Betrayal, and Martyrdom by Aparna Vaidik, Aleph.

Revisiting the Lahore Conspiracy Case and its renowned martyrs—Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru, the “self-proclaimed revolutionaries”—Revolutionaries on Trial broadens historical analysis by examining the colonial state, the revolutionaries, and the Indian press (and public) as the plaintiff, the defendants, and the spectators, respectively, along with the witnesses for the prosecution.

While the book reconstructs this historical episode, it raises probing questions: Why were the revolutionaries tried at all? What were the strategic aims of this trial beyond mere propaganda? Can the history of nationalism be seen as a ‘collaboration’?

This book offers a vivid account of the people involved and the events of a trial that signifies the early chapters of India’s struggle for independence. The author is a professor of history at Ashoka University.