Shaheed Bhai Pargat Singh Fauji

Khalistan Liberation Force

In the village of Sangatpura, district Faridkot lived a true Muslim, Kushi Mohammed. He was a great man and was respected by everyone. In 1947, at the time of the partition, he went to Pakistan but Kushi Mohammed didn’t like it there and returned back to Sangatpura. He was married to Bibi Naseeb Kaur and had four children, Bhai Shaminder Singh, Bhai Shinda Singh, Bhai Pargat Singh and Bibi Shinder Kaur. Kushi Mohammed was a great farmer and had great knowledge of agriculture.

From childhood, Bhai Pargat Singh was coloured into the colours of Sikhi. Mata Naseeb Kaur would do Bhai Sahib’s hai and then take him to gurudwara. Bhai Sahib would listen to Gurbani very carefully and had started doing nitnem from a sundar Gutka at a very young age. Kushi Mohammed may have been a Muslim, but Bhai Sahib always called himself a singh of the Guru. Sikhi was the happiness of Bhai Sahib’s heart. The history of Sikh warriors and shaheeds was flowing through Bhai Sahib’s veins. Bhai Sahib passed 8th class at a local school in the village and later passed his 10th class in a school in the village of Baagha Purana. After passing 10th class Bhai Sahib joined the army. Bhai Sahib did his duty with honesty and bravery.

Bhai Sahib was given the duty at the army base in Bareli. Here Bhai Sahib had a disagreement with a senior army officer. The army officer looked at Bhai Sahib’s paperwork and said, “Pargat, what is this? You have written your name as Pargat Singh and your father’s name is Kushi Mohammed.” Bhai Sahib replied, “Sir, that’s correct. My father’s name is Kushi Mohammed and my father is a Muslim.” Then the army officer said, “Then your name should be Pargat Khan, your Pargat Khan not Pargat Singh.” Bhai Sahib answered, “Sir, I’m not Pargat Khan. I am Pargat Singh and I will show the world I am Pargat Singh. Sir, remember what I said, once I become the Sikh of the Guru the world will automatically call me, Pargat Singh Fauji Sangatpura.” The Hindu army officer could not win Bhai Sahib in this conversation. The last words of the army officer were, “Oh Ram, this boy is so stubborn. Being a son of a Muslim, he calls himself a Sikh.” In Bhai Sahib’s mind he thought, “This Brahmin army officer is nothing, even his mother Delhi will call me Pargat Singh and not Pargat Khan.”

Bhai Sahib remained in the army for three years and six months, after this period Bhai Sahib had come home on holiday. At this time Khalistan Liberation Force were doing actions in the Ludhiana and surrounding areas. As the village of Budhsinghwala is not far, the stories of Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala’s brave and fearless actions were talked about in every household. The Sikhs were great admirers of Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala, they had always look forward to meeting the Jathedar of Khalistan Liberation Force. The Khadku Singhs of Khalistan Liberation Force would regularly come to Sangatpura. One day Bhai Sahib came in contact with these Khadku Singhs. Then some days later, Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala and fellow singhs met Bhai Sahib away from home to talk about the Sikh Freedom Movement and the free homeland of the Sikhs. After the discussion Bhai Sahib wanted to do sewa within the Sikh Freedom Movement, upon hearing Bhai Sahib’s request Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala said, “Ok, Pargat Singh I respect you for wanting to do sewa. Khalistan Liberation Force needs trained singhs like yourself, but we will give you 15 days to fully think it over. The path of Khadku Singhs is full of petals. This path is for singhs that find life within death. Our mission is either victory or martyrdom. A step taken in a hurry is never right, sometimes people regret it. That’s why Pargat Singh we have given you time to think it over.” After this conversation Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala left.

The days kept on passing, Bhai Sahib was already a lover of Sikhi, so what was there to think about? Few days were left for Bhai Sahib to return to his duty. Bhai Sahib ironed his army uniform and prepared his army trunk, Mata Naseeb Kaur thought that her son is getting ready to go back to Bareli. Mata Naseeb Kaur had made Bhai Sahib panjeeri to take back to work. What did this innocent mother know that her son is not is leaving the job of the Indian army and joining the army of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the Khalistan Liberation Force. Bhai Sahib washed his hair and got his mother to oil his hair. Bhai Sahib tied a blue round turban on his head and said to his mother, “Mother, look at me, does my turban look nice?” Mata Naseeb Kaur replied, “Yes my son, you look like of Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale’s singhs with that blue round turban.” Bhai Sahib asked again to assure himself, “Mother, really do I look like one of the singhs from Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale’s Jatha?” Mata Ji said, “Seriously son, I’m not lying.” After this, Bhai Sahib went to the farms to see his older brother, Bhai Shaminder Singh. Bhai Sahib didn’t tell Bhai Shaminder Singh what had been going through his heart. Bhai Shaminder Singh finished his work at the farm and said to Bhai Sahib, “Come on Pargat, let’s go home.” Bhai Sahib replied, “Brother, you go don’t worry about me, I will come home later.” At this time, Bhai Shaminder Singh made his way home. Now Bhai Sahib was waiting for what he was destined to do. Night came, Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala and fellow singhs met Bhai Sahib deep within the farms. The singhs exchanged their Fateh, one of the singhs of Khalistan Liberation Force said, “Okay then soldier, where are rest of the singhs?” Bhai Sahib answered, “They pulled out last minute, they said they don’t want their families to go through the police harassment.” Then another singh said, “Soldier, that’s good. Maybe we are much more safer by your friends not joining us.” And another singh said, “Pargat Singh, from today don’t talk to these men and also don’t meet them. They can try and trick us, no one will know your part of Khalistan Liberation Force, until the army carry out an investigation as you will not return to duty. If the police come to your house within a day or two, then those singhs who were supposed to come with you, have told the police everything about you.”

Bhai Sahib had started to walk on the path of Sikh Freedom Movement and did sewa under the command of Khalistan Liberation Force. The group of six singhs with assault rifles on their shoulders and bags full of ammunition walked through the farms at night to go to their base. In couple of days there was uproar in the village of Sangatpura, the so called friends of Bhai Sahib were in fact black cats of the police and had told the police about Bhai Sahib joining the Khalistan Liberation Force. The SHO of the local police station had started to torture and harass the family of Bhai Sahib. The police ordered the family to produce Bhai Sahib or the police will up their brutality. Bhai Sahib was known as one of the brave singhs of Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala. The bravery of Bhai Sahib was reported in the newspapers regularly. After the shaheedi of Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala, the police held press conference in which KPS Gill stated, “Now that Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala has been killed, only two more singhs of Khalistan Liberation Force are left, Pargat Singh Fauji and Kuldeep Singh Sheikhapura.” When Bhai Sahib went underground, the family started living away from home to avoid the police harassment, even in the empty house of Bhai Sahib, the police kept their presence.

On 23rd April 1993, Bhai Sahib and Manjinder Singh from the village of Talwandi Rai Ki carried out a mission to blow up the deputy commissioner in the Bathinda district by planting a bomb on his car. The deputy commissioner merely survived the attack but the Indian security forces quickly surrounded the area and an encounter had started between the singhs and the police. In this encounter a Thanedar and a constable were killed, along with many police officers were wounded. Both singhs had decided not to come into the hands of the police alive. When the ammunition of the singhs ran out, they both swallowed a capsule of Sy-Nyde each and attained the shaheedi together. When the firing had stopped, the police used locals as a shield and progressed towards the singhs. To show the world their bravery the police filled the dead bodies of the singhs with bullets to say the police had killed them in an intense encounter. The following day on 24th April 1993, the newspapers read the news of the police killing two Khadku Singhs after they killed a Thanedar and a constable. The police took the sarpanch of Sangatpura, Sardar Baldev Singh to identify the body of Bhai Sahib, the cremation of Bhai Sahib was also done by the police. In memory of both singhs, the fellow Khadku Singhs held a Sri Akhand Paath Sahib at a secret location. Then later when the family returned home knowing it was safe, they also held a Sri Akhand Paath Sahib for the chardikala of Bhai Sahib at the local gurudwara of Sangatpura.

This is the article of Shaheed Bhai Pargat Singh Fauji and Shaheed Bhai Manjinder Singh’s shaheedi taken from the newspaper:

 

“The deputy Chief of Bathinda injured in a bomb blast, a SHO killed and 6 constables wounded. Khadku Singhs killed security guards at a bank and stole their guns. “

Jalandhar 23rd April 1993, today in Bathinda, the Khadku Singhs blew up the car of Deputy Chief Mr RC Nayar and the vehicle of his security guards. According to the report sent to us from Bathinda, by the reporters of Ajit newspaper, Mr Hukamchand Sharma and Bhagwan Das Garag, today at approximately 3 o’clock in the afternoon about 20 kilometres outside Bathinda in a village called Poohla, the Khadku Singhs had planted a remote control bomb on the main road and as the deputy chief passed by, the Khadku Singhs triggered the bomb, blowing up the two targeted vehicles. The deputy chief was attending the bank, where the Khadku Singhs had killed two security guards there and stole their weapons. As the deputy chief was on his way to the scene as the same Khadku Singhs attacked the police vehicles. In this attack the car of the deputy chief was tilted over with impact of the explosion and the escort car was damaged. The security guards quickly assembled and started firing at the Khadku Singhs. In the encounter, the Khadku Singhs escaped while the wounded guards and the DC Nayar were taken to the local hospital for treatment.

Soon as the news of this encounter spread, the Indian security forces surrounded the area and found the singhs again, which triggered another encounter. In this encounter a SHO was killed. In the news received later, two Khadku Singhs were also killed in this encounter. In the press note, SSP Sharma stated the two Khadku Singhs killed in the encounter are Bhai Pargat Singh Fauji of Sangatpura and Bhai Manjinder Singh of Talwandi Rai Ki. Bhai Pargat Singh Fauji was the Lieutenant General of Khalistan Liberation Force and was wanted for more than a thousand murders and had the reword of 25 lakh rupees on his head. Bhai Pargat Singh Fauji was also known for attacking government vehicles.

Khadku Yodhe 2 – Manjinder Singh Baja