Bhagat Singh
Why I Am an Atheist
A section for Bhagat Singh’s famous prison essay, with a source-safe excerpt and a summary at the end.
Original text excerpt
“A new question has cropped up. Is it due to vanity that I do not believe in the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God?”
The essay was written in 1930 while Bhagat Singh was imprisoned. This page is prepared for the full public-domain essay, but it currently includes a short excerpt and a source note to avoid publishing a long unverified copy.
Summary
Bhagat Singh argues that his atheism is not vanity or fashion, but the result of study, doubt, and independent thinking. He describes moving from inherited belief toward a rational position that demands evidence and refuses easy consolation.
The essay is also a defense of criticism itself. For Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary must be willing to question revered ideas, social habits, and even personal comfort. His atheism becomes part of a larger ethical discipline: courage without reward, sacrifice without heavenly bargain, and responsibility without superstition.
What endures is not merely disbelief, but intellectual honesty. The essay asks the reader to stand before fear, suffering, and death without surrendering reason.
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