On 31 July 1940, Shaheed Udham Singh, the Indian revolutionary, was hanged at Pentonville prison, London. He avenged the massacre of thousands of innocent Indians at Jallianwala Bagh by assassinating Michael O’Dwyer at Caxton Hall, London on 13 March 1940. Michael O’Dwyer was the former Lt. Governor of Punjab in British India and had supported the massacre. The British did not allow proper cremation and his remains were buried in this prison. In 1974, Udham Singh’s remains were exhumed and repatriated to India. He was cremated at his birthplace of Sunam in Punjab and his ashes were scattered in Sutlej river. Some part of his ashes are kept in a sealed urn at Jallianwalla Bagh.

We were able to see these historic landmarks in London, thanks to Shri. Vasudeo Godbole, who walked with us tirelessly an entire day and took us to several landmarks related to Indian revolutionaries and India’s freedom struggle. It was the same Pentonville prison, where Madanlal Dhingra, another great revolutionary was hanged by the British in 1909.