Shaheed Bhai Salwinder Singh Dhamaka

Khalistan Commando Force

 

After the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib in June 1984, the youth of the Sikh nation took up arms to fight for the establishment of Khalistan and in this armed struggle, amongst thousands of Sikh Jhujarus, the village of Kalian Sakatran gave many Jhujaru Singhs who fought till their martyrdom, amongst them was Bhai Salwinder Singh Shonda. Bhai Salwinder Singh was born in the house of Sardar Dyal Singh and from the womb of Mata Veer Kaur in the year of 1972, in the Kalian Sakatran village, district Amritsar. Bhai Sahib’s eldest sisters were Bibi Balwinder Kaur, Bibi Narinder Kaur, Bibi Gian Kaur, Bibi Raj Kaur and his younger brothers were Bhai Pargat Singh, Bhai Jaswant Singh. Bhai Sahib met everyone with respect and love.

 

At a young age a youth of the village, Bhai Anar Singh Para had joined the Jhujaru Singhs of Khalistan Liberation Force under the command of Jathedar Avtar Singh Brahma. The Jhujaru actions of Bhai Anar Singh Para bought the name of Kalian Sakatran into the news daily. The bravery of Bhai Para was a motivation for the Sikh youth in the surrounding villages. Bhai Sahib was also motivated and left his home to join the Jhujaru Singhs of Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar) under the command of Bhai Surjit Singh Jhakkar. Only 20 days had passed since Bhai Sahib had left home, the SHO of Khemkaran police station, Suba Singh raided Bhai Sahib’s family home and demanded that the family present Bhai Sahib as soon as possible at the Khemkaran police station, but how was the family going to get hold of Bhai Sahib remained a question. Jhujarus that join a freedom movement have a free mind state also, they never get permission from their families to leave home and walk on a path full of thorns to achieve a greater good for their people. Jhujaru Singhs who step into the battlefield for the creation of Khalistan, they never return home until they win the battle. Victory or martyrdom is their destiny.

 

Below are the Jhujaru actions done by Bhai Salwinder Singh, which were reported in the newspapers:

 

  • The robbery of bullet action rifles at the police station of village Mallanwala, district Ferozpur was the Jhujaru action of Bhai Sahib’s group under the command of Bhai Surjit Singh Jhakkar.

 

  • Bhai Sahib was also amongst the Jhujaru Singhs who attacked a CRPF checkpoint in the Aasal Bhuri Tahli area. In this battle the Singhs killed all Indian soldiers and looted their weapons too.

 

  • On 30th July 1990, the Punjab police and CRPF had surrounded the Jhujaru Singhs in a house in the Lakhana village. The Jhujaru Singhs were sleeping, and the elderly woman of the house was making tea. She saw the Indian security forces marching towards the house and quickly woke them up and alerted them. The Jhujaru Singhs quickly grabbed their AK47 assault rifles and fired at the Indian security forces forcing them to run back and away from the house. Bhai Sahib was staying at this house along with his Jhujaru brothers, Bhai Satnam Singh Valtoha and Bhai Shinder Singh Kalian Sakatran. In this battle, Bhai Satnam Singh Valtoha and Bhai Shinder Singh Kalian Sakatran attained martyrdom, Bhai Sahib escaped by jumping through the window on the backside of the house.

 

On the night of Diwali in 1990, Bhai Sahib was arrested along with another 3 Jhujaru Singhs he was with from the Sursingh village, district Amritsar. These arrests were made under the command of SHO Didar Singh of Amritsar police station. Bhai Sahib along with his 3 Jhujaru brothers were blindly tortured at the B Block of Amritsar police station. The police wanted to know where the weapons and locations of other Jhujaru Singhs were, nails were hammered into the hands of Bhai Sahib in an attempt to extract this information. Then 6 police officers would climb on a tree trunk (Ghotna) and roll it over the joints of the Jhujaru Singhs. But the Jhujaru Singhs saved the immense torture with pure patience and recited Gurbani. They gave no information to the brutal Punjab police. All 4 Jhujaru Singhs were tortured for 15 days and in the end, they attained martyrdom during the blind torture.

 

The police then staged a false encounter near the river of Sultanwind in which they shot the bodies of all 4 Jhujaru Singhs. The Punjab police cremated the bodies of all 4 Jhujaru Singhs straight after. Follow Jhujaru Singhs of Bhai Sahib was informed of this and they then informed the families of the Jhujaru Singhs who had attained martyrdom. When the family tried to question the arrest of Bhai Sahib, the Amritsar police said they don’t know of any Bhai Salwinder Singh being arrested. The family then did Sri Akhand Paath Sahib at the local Gurdwara of Kalian Sakatran village. At the very young age of 18 years, Bhai Sahib attained martyrdom and did not give up any of his Jhujaru brothers to the oppressive Indian authorities.

 

Khadku Yodhe 2 – Maninder Singh Baja