Shaheed Bhai Joginder Singh Sheena

Khalistan Commando Force

Bhai Joginder Singh Sheena Hirdewal was born in the house of Sardar Kartar Singh and from the womb of Mata Charan Kaur in 1964 in the village of Hirdewal, district Ludhiana. Bhai Sahib had 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Bhai Sahib completed his primary education from the local school of the village. From 5th to 10th class Bhai Sahib attended the Kishanpura High School and after went to Moga College to do his BA. Bhai Sahib was a great and a brave player of Kabbadi and had played at a state level many times. Bhai Sahib spoke to everyone with respect and was very polite, for this reason everyone around Bhai Sahib loved him dearly.

After passing his BA, Bhai Sahib started teaching at a local school. During this time Bhai Sahib started listening to speeches of Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwala and at times attended Sri Manji Sahib. When in June 1984 the Indian army stormed Sri Harimandir Sahib and demolished Sri Akaal Takht Sahib, many Sikh youths left their homes and seek revenge for the destruction of Sri Akaal Takht Sahib. Sikh youth were anxious to take part in the Sikh struggle and punish the enemy. Bhai Sahib also kicked his professional career as a teacher to step on the path of Sikh Freedom Movement and do his share of the sewa to gain justice for the killings of innocent Sikhs.

The owner of high and pure thinking, Bhai Sahib was always reciting Nitnem and remained in high spirit, Sikhi was passed on to Bhai Sahib through family as they were Amritdhari also. Bhai Sahib started doing sewa under the command of Bhai Gurjant Singh Rajasthani of Khalistan Commando Force. Bhai Sahib’s first encounter with the Indian security forces took place near the village of Shahkot, in which 6 CRPF personnel were killed. After many hours of battle with Indian security forces, Bhai Sahib and fellow singhs managed to escape unharmed. The next day Punjab police raided Bhai Sahib’s house at 4 o’clock in the morning. Most of Bhai Sahib’s family was not at home and avoided being arrested, but the Punjab police arrested Bhai Sahib’s father, Sardar Kartar Singh was taken to the local police station and brutally tortured for 15 days.

Bhai Sahib remained in high spirit and continued doing sewa within the Sikh Freedom Movement, but at the same time the Indian security forces were arresting and harassing family members of Jhujaru Singhs. An evil police officer of the area, Thanedar Mohinder Baba lived in Ferozwal village. This Thanedar had opened a torture centre within his house and had killed many Sikhs in his house through his torture. On daily basis the Thanedar would arrest Sikh youth and if they survived his blind torture they would get locked up in jail on many false cases. The wife of the Thanedar was a honest lady, who would always recite Gurbani asking for forgiveness for her husband. This lady had risked her own life to help escape many singhs and singhnia escape from the torture centre, but the Thanedar did not even spare his own wife. Once the Thanedar broke his wife’s leg for helping Sikhs escape the torture centre, this was only one of evil attacks he committed on his wife. Soon the Thanedar was promoted to the rank of SHO.

SHO Mohinder Baba had no faith in Sikh police officers, for this reason he kept only Hindu CRPF personnel as his security. Chief of Khalistan Commando Force, General Labh Singh gave Bhai Sahib the sewa of following the butcher SHO. Bhai Sahib soon passed on the information to the singhs, that the SHO will make his way to Dharamkot from Ferozwal village.

When the SHO came onto the main road to Dharamkot, there were fields of sugar canes on both sides. The singhs of Khalistan Commando Force had done Ardas and had taken their positions, waiting for the SHO. General Labh Singh, Bhai Gurjant Singh Rajasthani, Bhai Kulwant Singh Kala Arifke, Bhai Ajaib Singh Bajwa and Bhai Sahib had put a tree log on to the road that had stopped the traffic. When SHO Mohinder Baba’s vehicle came in the sight of the singhs they threw a hand grenade at the SHO’s jeep and opened fire on the SHO. The SHO survived the explosion and was busy ducking the bullets of the singhs, meanwhile Bhai Sahib quickly moved close to the SHO’s jeep and shot him dead. As well as killing the SHO, 7-8 CRPF personnel were also killed by the singhs and after the singhs took all their weapons and vacated the area with the war cries of, “Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akaal.”

Angry with this action of the singhs, Sumedh Saini and CRPF terrorized Bhai Sahib’s village, Hirdewal. Two Sikh brothers of Hirdewal who were innocent, Bhai Darshan Singh and Bhai Gurmeet Singh were killed in a fake encounter to send a message to the singhs of Sikh Freedom Movement. Sumedh Saini did not stop here, he ordered his police force to destroy Bhai Sahib’s house and farms. Sardar Kartar Singh was arrested again and this time he was blindly tortured for 2 months. The Indian security forces were continuously chasing Bhai Sahib and had been raiding different places for Bhai Sahib. Bhai Sahib had many encounters with the Indian security forces and each time Bhai Sahib battled the fear in Indian security forces grew. Many times Bhai Sahib was surrounded by the enemy and each time after causing heavy damage to the enemy Bhai Sahib would escape unharmed.

Once Bhai Sahib was staying at a house 5km away from the Kishanpura village and an informant gave this information to the police, within in minutes the Indian security forces had surrounded Bhai Sahib. Bhai Sahib had just completed his Nitnem and was doing his Ardas, Bhai Kulwant Singh Kala Arifke informed Bhai Sahib that they were surrounded by the enemy. Singhs quickly grabbed their assault rifles and started the battle, hours into the encounter a fellow singh, Bhai Sarabjit Singh attained shaheedi and many of the CRPF personnel had been killed also. Bhai Sahib and Bhai Kulwant Singh Kala Arifke forces their way out of the area, but then the Indian security forces brutally tortured the owners of the house in which Bhai Sahib and fellow singhs were staying. Bhai Sahib thought of the Indian security forces to be from the linage of sheep, he used to say, “If our weapons remain true to us, we will tell the Indian security forces how brave the singhs are.”

Bhai Sahib and fellow singhs met Sardar Kartar Singh in the Kannian village. The father saw his son in dirty clothes and said, “Son, you can at least wear clean clothes.” But a person who has kicked all his wealth to fight in the Sikh Freedom Movement said, “Bapu Ji, we want to do sewa for the Sikh panth, we don’t want no crowns. All we want is to do sewa with honour and die in honour too.” As Sardar Kartar Singh returned from meeting his son, the Punjab police arrested him on the way home and said, “Old man, tell us where are your big warriors?” Bhai Sahib’s father took on all the torture and did not give a single gram of information to the police.

Once Bhai Sahib and a fellow singh were on their way to punish a black cat, who had disguised himself as a Gursikh and followed Jhujaru Singhs only to feed the information back to the police. Even the black cat now kept CRPF as his security as his cover had been blown and feared the Jhujaru Singhs. Bhai Sahib had reached the black cat’s base to eliminate him, as the singhs were setting their aim on the black cat the CRPF spotted the singhs and fired upon them.  The singhs also answered the enemy with bullets, in this exchange of bullets Bhai Sahib was seriously wounded. As the singhs tried to pick Bhai Sahib up and escape, Bhai Sahib stopped them and said, “Singho, you go and save yourselves, my shaheedi is meant to be here.”

Like this the fellow singhs of Bhai Sahib escaped and it was on 18th April 1988 that Bhai Sahib drank the nectar of martyrdom and became eternal. This encounter took place in the village of Adagman. The news of Bhai Sahib’s shaheedi spread like wild fire. Whole Punjab mourned the loss of a great warrior. Many Khalistani freedom fighting groups held Sri Akhand Paath Sahib at various places. Bhai Sahib’s family holds a shaheedi smagam every year on 18th April at the family house in Hirdewal.

Khalsa Fatehnama – April 2008