Shaheed Bhai Naib Singh Gill Khurd

Babbar Khalsa

Since Visakhi massacre of April 1978 till 1993 uncountable Sikhs attained shaheedi in the movement which was initially started by Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale for the equal rights for Sikhs, this movement turned into a Khalistan movement after the Indian army stormed Sri Harimandir Sahib with tanks and cannons. These martyrs are the stars in the sky of Sikhi and amongst these stars is Shaheed Bhai Naib Singh Gill Khurd, who was an active member of Babbar Khalsa in the Bathinda area.

The village of Gill Khurd is situated roughly 8km from Bucho Mandi, a fearless warrior is from this village Shaheed Bhai Gurpal Singh Babbar. The respect the locals had for Bhai Sahib can be seen at the entry point of village Gill Khurd with a memorial gateway in Bhai Sahib’s name.

Bhai Sahib was born on 12th May 1962, in the house of Sadar Sardara Singh and from the womb of Mata Jangir Kaur, the family made a living from agriculture. From childhood Bhai Sahib was of religious views and had endless love for Sikhi. When the Indian security forces attacked Sri Darbar Sahib in June 1984 thousands of innocent Sikh pilgrims were mercilessly murdered and Sri Akaal Takht Sahib was destroyed by the Indian tanks and cannons. This evil act of government of India left Bhai Sahib broken inside and after the attack (Operation Bluestar) he started to attend Panthic gatherings.

Even though Bhai Sahib worked for the government in Jhandu for over 5 years, the attack on Sri Akaal Takht Sahib gave him restless nights. It was during Bhai Sahib working in Jhandu, that he met Bhai Hari Singh Leharakhana who was the area commander of Babbar Khalsa. In this group Bhai Sahib was joined by Bhai Diadeep Singh Bheni Mahraj, Bhai Sukhpal Singh Sukhia of Barnala.

For couple of years Bhai Sahib did his sewa with Babbar Khalsa from home. The Bucho Mandi police arrested Bhai Sahib and he sent some time in jail too, even when Bhai Sahib was bailed the police did not stop harassing him. It came to the point where Bhai Sahib could not tolerate the continuous harassment of the Punjab police that he decided to leave home and go underground. Now as the police could not get Bhai Sahib, they targeted his family and relatives. Bhai Sahib’s younger brother, Bhai Sukhmandir Singh and mother were regularly taken to CIA Staff and blindly humiliated and tortured during interrogation.

Once a singh from Babbar Khalsa was arrested by Punjab police as he was about to cross the border into Pakistan, his name was Bhai Avtar Singh Ladoo. The senior singhs Babbar Khalsa gave Bhai Sahib the task of freeing Bhai Avtar Singh Ladoo from the hands of Punjab police. After immense planning of this mission, Bhai Sahib and his group kidnapped the brother of SSP Paramjit Gill from Mansa. In this action Bhai Sahib would meet his wish to become shaheed.

Bhai Sahib and another singh, known as Bachi from the village of Akaanwali, district Mansa took the brother of the SSP to the village of Khang, in a house in the middle of the fields. The village Khang is near Patran, somehow the police got this information and location of Bhai Sahib. It wasn’t long before the Punjab police joined forces with CRPF and surrounded the house Bhai Sahib in. Bhai Sahib and another singh only had limited ammunition. Due to this both singhs went in opposite directions to split the enemy and make an attempt to escape. Bhai Sahib came face to face with the Indian security forces and he fought the enemy and after dropping many bodies of the enemy Bhai Sahib attained shaheedi and had his name written in the Sikh history with golden ink. This encounter took place on 9th September 1991.

Khalsa Fatehnama – April 2015