A UK-based historian described Indian freedom fighters - Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad - as "terrorists" during a lecture held in Surat recently, sparking a controversy. Delivering a lecture on 'Nonviolent Resistance In India during 1915-1947', Warwick University's professor David Hardiman said, "Terrorist groups, who predate Mahatma Gandhi, were always there alongside Gandhi's non-violent movement."

"Some of these famous figures were Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad, who were involved in organisations like Hindustan Republic Association (HRA) and Hindustan Republic Socialist Association (HRSA)," the professor of United Kingdom's history said.

Speaking at the 24th IP Desai Memorial Lecture organised by Centre for Social Studies on February 14, Hardiman also said that Gandhi's movement was benefited due to other means of protests.

src: ibnlive