Shaheed Bhai Sawinder Singh alias Shinda Bhalwan

Babbar Khalsa

 

Bhai Sawinder Singh, also known as Shinda Bhalwan was born in year 1940, in the house of father Sardar Fauja Singh and from the blessed womb of mother Mata Charan Kaur, in the village of Bham near Batala, district Gurdaspur. Bhai Sahib was the third eldest of 6 siblings, they are as follows, eldest being Bhai Gurmeet Singh, Bhai Jagir Singh, Shaheed Bhai Sawinder Singh alias Shinda Bhalwan, Bibi Veer Kaur, Bibi Gurmeet Kaur and youngest sister being Bibi Kashmir Kaur. Sardar Fauja Singh looked after his family and provided for them by working in his farms. Bhai Sahib did not go to school to attain any worldly education. Bhai Sahib was married to Bibi Joginder Kaur, who was the daughter of Sardar Balwant Singh from the village of Behrampur, near Dinanagar. Bhai Sahib together with wife had two children, daughter Bibi Ranjeet Kaur and son Bhai Amarjeet Singh.

 

Bhai Sahib’s nephew, Bhai Hardeep Singh (Shaheed), son of Sardar Dalbir Singh, was a Jhujaru Singh of Babbar Khalsa. Bhai Sahib joined the Sikh freedom movement as he was inspired by the high-spirited life of his nephew. Despite Bhai Sahib being of an old age, he still carried out fierce Jhujaru actions for the freedom of the Sikh nation. Bhai Sahib was responsible for taking care of the accommodation for the Jhujaru Singhs, their food and their weapons. The Punjab police was very cruel towards Bhai Sahib’s family. They would arrest and torture the family members and also steal their belongings from the house, may be furniture, money or jewelry. Because of this, Bhai Sahib’s family had to live away from their home for three years.

 

Bhai Sahib used to live with the Jhujaru Singhs where their location was mostly changing to avoid capture. The Punjab police were hunting Bhai Sahib like a mad dog. One day, the police arrested Bhai Sahib from the crossroads of Kahnuwan and Sathiali village. The Punjab police did not want register his arrest, and decided to make Bhai Surinder Singh alias Shinda Bhalwan a martyr of Khalistan in a fake encounter on 3rd March 1991. After Bhai Sahib’s martyrdom, his son, Bhai Amarjeet Singh also had passed away. Now, only the daughter and the wife are alive.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Sawinder Singh alias Shinda Bhalwan