Basawon Sinha, also known as Basawon Singh, was born in 23rd March,1909 at Jamalpur, near Vaishali. He was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a campaigner for the rights of the underprivileged, industrial labourers and agricultural workers. He spent around 18 years in prison in British India. He absconded after the Lahore conspiracy case. He was co-accused in the Bhusawal, Kakori, Tirhut and Deluaha conspiracy cases.
During the Second World War he was the first man in Bihar to be arrested under Defence of India Ordinance on 26 January 1940 in Husainabad, Palamu and released after eighteen months. During the Quit India Movement, after the interception of Jayaprakash Narayan's Deoli letter addressed to him, he went underground in 1941 and went to Afghanistan to collect firearms and ammunition. He attended the Bombay AICC session (9 August 1942) and conducted the movement from the underground. He was held in Delhi and later freed, after which he continued his nationalist and trade union work.
The Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in his name on 23 March 2000. There is an indoor stadium named Basawon Singh Indoor Stadium in the city of Hajipur in Bihar.