Shaheed Bhai Jagdish Singh Disha

Bindranwale Tigers Force of Khalistan

Shaheed Bhai Jagdish Singh Disha’s name comes in the never ending list of Sikh martyrs. From the district of Hoshiarpur is a village of Jahura, Bhai Sahib was born in the house of Sardar Gurbej Singh and from the womb of Mata Harbhajan Kaur on 10thAugust 1968. Bhai Sahib had 2 sisters, Bibi Malkit Kaur, Bibi Manjit Kaur and a brother, Bhai Kanwaljit Singh, Bhai Sahib was the eldest of all brothers and sisters.

Bhai Sahib stayed with his grandparents in the village of Nurdi, district Tarn Taran. Bhai Sahib studied up until 5th Class at Universal Midal School in village, Jhibal and then Bhai Sahib studied till 10th class in a government school of village, Tharu. After Bhai Sahib took admission into Khalsa College of Tarn Taran and studied here until 12th class and after Bhai Sahib went back home to his village of Jahura to do farming. Those days the Sikh Freedom Movement was getting stronger. Bhai Sahib went to meet his grandparents in Tarn Taran and from here Bhai Sahib went to Sri Harimandir Sahib with some friends and joined the Sikh Student Federation.

After this, Bhai Sahib received news of his close friend, Bhai Navdeep Singh Keronwal had been arrested and killed by the police in a fake encounter. This news had a deep effect on Bhai Sahib that he left home for a while. Locals say that Bhai Sahib went for weapon and combat training, but soon Bhai Sahib came home. But the police started harassing the family and trashing the house in search of guns.

In 1987 Bhai Sahib joined the group of Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Sangha, Bindranwale Tigers Force. Bhai Sahib did many actions in the area of Tarn Taran and Hoshiarpur. After Bhai Satwant Singh and Bhai Kehar Singh happily attained shaheedi by accepting noose of the Indian government for punishing Indira Gandhi for her actions on Sri Harimandir Sahib, Shiv Sena gave out sweets but this celebration of Shiv Sena was disrupted by Bhai Sahib and some more singhs. The police tortured Bhai Sahib’s father and after putting fake cases on Sardar Gurbej Singh, the police jailed him for 2 and a half years.

After the shaheedi of Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Sangha, Bhai Sahib stayed with Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran. Together, the singhs punished many enemies of the panth in the Ludhiana area. Bhai Sahib and Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran were masters of staying of the radar and doing actions undercover. Bhai Sahib mostly travelled on a bicycle and in the disguise of a factory worker and for this reason the security forces of India and even the public didn’t suspect anything. In 1992, Beant Singh was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab. The Indian army was deployed all over Punjab along with other security forces. Even then Bhai Sahib stayed in his disguise of a factory worker.

In the Sikh armed struggle only the traitors of the Sikh panth had our beloved saint soldiers killed at the hands of Indian government. One of the singhs from Bhai Sahib’s group was arrested and after some torture, he agreed on working with the police in catching Bhai Sahib and Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran.

On 12thJune 1992 Bhai Sahib and Bhai Rashpal Singh were travelling to Dugri on a bicycle. Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran was cycling and Bhai Sahib was sitting on the back. As the singhs approached near Gill bridge of Ludhiana, the singhs stopped the cycle to drink sugar-cane juice at a trolley that was stationed at a roadside. But the singhs didn’t know that the black gypsy with black windows parked near the bridge had an ex-companion of Bindranwale Tigers Force with the police to spot the singhs and also the man drinking sugar-cane juice beside them was a civil clothed police officer. After drinking the juice the singhs got on to the cycle and started cycling towards the bridge, the civil clothed officer gave the sign to the black police gypsy and then the gypsy drove to the cycle with full speed and smashed into the singhs, which sent Bhai Sahib and Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran flying on to the floor. Bhai Sahib jumped off the cycle and made run but didn’t get far as one of the officers pounced on him. Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran was injured and couldn’t escape, he was captured by the police. As Bhai Sahib saw no escape, he chewed on a Sy-Nyde and attained shaheedi on the spot. Bhai Sahib didn’t allow the police to capture him alive, but Bhai Sahib was taken in to custody and after brutal torture of the Indian police was made shaheed.

As soon as the Sikhs found out about the shahadats of these Sikh soldiers, they closed off main roads and told the police to provide the families with Shaheed Bhai Jagdish Singh Disha and Shaheed Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran’s body. After admitting defeat the police gave the body Shaheed Bhai Rashpal Singh Chhandran to the Sikh sangat but Shaheed Bhai Jagdish Singh Disha’s body already had been cremated by the police.

Even after the shaheedi of Bhai Sahib, his family was still harassed and tortured. A year after the shaheedi on 13thJune 1993, the SSP of Chabbaal arrested many Sikh youths from the village including Bhai Kanwaljit Singh, who was the younger brother of Bhai Sahib. Some of the youths were released after their family had paid money to the police as ransom, but the remaining family of Bhai Kanwaljit Singh couldn’t get the money, so the police declared their only son, disappeared. The family struggled to get information on where about of Bhai Sahib’s younger brother, until the family came across a sympathising police officer who said that Bhai Kanwaljit Singh and a youth of village Tharu, Bhai Surjit Singh were killed in a fake encounter by the police.

Human Rights organisations state that out of every 10,000 Sikhs that were killed by the Indian security forces, only 300 were suspected Khadku Singhs, how will India ever justify the killings of innocent Sikhs?

Baljit Singh Khalsa – Purja Purja Kat Maray