Shaheed Bhai Arjan Singh Raja

Khalistan Commando Force

Bhai Arjan Singh Raja was born on 15th September 1972 in the house of Sardar Tarlok Singh and from the womb of Mata Harbans Kaur, in the village of Jito Sarja near Batala, district Gurdaspur. Sardar Tarlok Singh had 4 children, eldest Bibi Kulwinder Kaur, second eldest was Bhai Sahib himself, third eldest was Bibi Manjit Kaur and the youngest was Bhai Shamsher Singh. Bhai Sahib’s family were poor and the little bit of land they had was sold and then the whole family moved to the village of Rasulpur in the Uttar Pardesh state. Shortly after settling in Uttar Pardesh, Bhai Sahib’s father passed away and now all the household responsibilities dropped on Bhai Sahib’s shoulder. Bhai Sahib worked really hard and did not allow any member of his family be upset or deprived from anything. Bhai Sahib opened a flour mill and worked hard, due to this Bhai Sahib’s family were now living in much better conditions.

Bhai Sahib always went to Gurdwara to thank Waheguru for the blessings and took pride in helping the local poor families. Like Bhai Tara Singh Ji Shaheed, who would prepare Langar for the Jhujaru Singhs of that time and do their Sewa, Bhai Sahib also took interest in doing Langar Sewa of Jhujaru Singhs who were active in the Uttar Pardesh area fighting in the armed struggle for Khalistan. Bhai Sahib gave this Sewa the priority as it was for the greater good of the Khalsa panth. It was due to such Sewa that the UP police started harassing Bhai Sahib and his family. The police would arrest Bhai Sahib and keep him in custody for many days, where he faced blind torture. Time came when Bhai Sahib had enough of the harassment that Indian security forces put him through and he decided to break all ties with his family and home to join the Jhujaru Singhs in helping establish Khalistan, where Sikhi and Sikhs would live freely and safely.

Bhai Sahib went to Punjab state and stayed with relatives from the village of Nangli. That night Bhai Sahib met Jhujaru Singhs of Khalistan Commando Force (Painta Group), such as Bhai Satvir Singh Kala and Bhai Harsukhminder Singh Painta. Bhai Sahib dropped every opportunity to return home and clearly told the Jhujaru Singhs that his remaining life will be used to do Sewa of the Sikh panth. Bhai Sahib requested the Jhujaru Singhs to arm him with weapons and give him knowledge as he is illiterate. The Jhujaru Singhs saw the passion to do Sewa within Bhai Sahib and that very night they recruited Bhai Sahib and armed him with assault rifle, to which Bhai Sahib bowed to and recited this line of Gurbani, “Namaskaar Sri Kharag Ko Kro Su Hit Chit Lai. – (meaning) I salute the Holy Sword with all my heart and mind.” Bhai Sahib then performed the Ardas in front of Dhan Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj for his blessings and protection during doing the Sewa of the panth and to give him the strength to fight against evil and also prevent him from doing wrong.

Bhai Sahib may have been illiterate, but his worldly knowledge was very high and pure, in the short time with the Jhujaru Singhs he had earned the respect with his love for Waheguru and respect for everyone. No one ever heard Bhai Sahib say the word ‘NO’ to may it be Sewa or any Jhujaru action, big or small. Bhai Sahib always remained in high spirits and always continuously recited ‘Satnam Waheguru’. Bhai Sahib would love spending time with Jhujaru Singhs has he learnt so much from them and when he met his Jhujaru brothers after few days, his eyes would be filled with tears of happiness. Bhai Sahib had immense love for his Jhujaru brothers as they had sworn to fight and attain martyrdom together. We can’t remember the exact time or day, but it was the year 1991 when Bhai Sahib joined his Jhujaru brothers in the fight for Khalistan.

Once Bhai Sahib took his Jhujaru brothers to his village Rasulpur and after Langar they moved towards Dhanoha Mandi, when they were faced with a police party. The police had no chance of stopping of stopping these Jhujaru Singhs and in a blink of an eye, the Jhujaru Singhs killed 5 police officers and the remaining fled the area, running for their lives. This happened in the early hours and it was still dark, the Jhujaru Singhs continued to travel through the jungle and as the day was coming out they were once again faced by the police. This time again, the Jhujaru Singhs did not wait for the enemy to attack and straight away killed the leading inspector, Ram Sharma and a constable. After this the Jhujaru Singhs went into the jungle of Uttar Pardesh and by now the police force had been shaken after finding out that 2 of their checkpoints had been attacked and they had no one to hold responsible. This happened in the year of 1991. Once safe, all Jhujaru Singhs returned to Punjab. But as the UP police got nothing from their enquiries, they resorted to arresting Bhai Sahib’s mother and older sister along with many other innocent Sikhs. The police charged Mata Harbans Kaur and Bibi Kulwinder Kaur with fake cases and sent them to jail. The police had ruined Bhai Sahib’s family home and his young brother, Bhai Shamsher Singh who was only 8/9 years old had no one to look after him. Knowing this, Bhai Sahib did not get scared and continued to do Sewa of the Sikh panth in high spirits.

Bhai Sahib was such personality that was born in a poor household and had no attachment to money or materialistic things. Bhai Sahib never had greed for money and never showed worry for his mother and sister who were in jail. When asked about his family, Bhai Sahib would answer, “I have given my mind, body and soul to Maharaj. Now Maharaj will look after my worldly family. I have faith in him.” Bhai Sahib’s body was very fast and active, his eyes were always lit and aware. Bhai Sahib was a good player of Kabbadi, lifting weights was no worry for Bhai Sahib. On many occasions Bhai Sahib fought the Indian security forces and everytime he pushed himself to fight in front of his Jhujaru brothers. Once Bhai Sahib had an encounter with the enemy in the village of Chajjalwadi, in this battle Bhai Harsukhminder Singh Painta had twisted his ankle. At this moment, Bhai Sahib continued to battle the enemy and picked Bhai Harsukhminder Singh Painta up and helped him escape from the area along with Bhai Rajwinder Singh Raja alias Chhota Painta. This encounter had started at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and continued till 7 o’clock in the evening. Until every Jhujaru Singh did not escape, Bhai Sahib continued to battle the Punjab police.

Whenever the Jhujaru Singhs got into a battle against Indian security forces, Bhai Sahib would get happy and quickly rush to support his fellow Jhujaru Singhs. Bhai Sahib punished many robbers who would use the name of Jhujaru Singhs to loot people. In 1992, the Punjab government called in the army to assist them in fighting the Jhujaru Singhs. This did not scare Bhai Sahib, he and fellow Jhujaru brothers would create bunkers on roads and then send a message to the local police station giving his location. Soon as the enemy approached, the Jhujaru Singhs would open fire killing majority of the enemy and the remaining would run away. Like this Bhai Sahib did many actions that damaged the core of the Indian security forces. In the time that Bhai Sahib Sewa of the Sikh panth, he did with bravery, he never looked any woman with a bad eye and treated women as his sisters.

Bhai Satvir Singh Kala and Bhai Harsukhminder Singh Painta went out of Punjab for a mission and Bhai Sahib was left in Punjab. Bhai Sahib went to his relatives in the village of Nawapind, district Batala to stay. It was Bhai Sahib’s real brother in-law who had Bhai Sahib arrested. For many days Bhai Sahib was brutally tortured by the police, his body was cut and bones were broken. Bhai Sahib’s arms and legs were crushed, but the police still could not get information from him. In the end, on 5th May 1992 the police made Bhai Sahib a martyr in a false encounter in the village of Lalpura. After Bhai Sahib’s martyrdom, his brother in-law kicked Bhai Sahib’s sister out of his house too.

Information given by family of Shaheed Bhai Arjan Singh Raja