Shaheed Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal

Khalistan Commando Force

Kisse Kaum Di Shakti Je Dekhni Hai,

Kade Gino Na Keehde Mureed Kinne.

Bande Gino Na Sagon Eh Karo Ginti,

Os Kaum Vich Hoy Shaheed Kinne.

Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal was born in the year of 1962 in the house of Sardar Chanchal Singh and from the womb of Mata Swarn Kaur in the village of Sohal near Panjwar, district Amritsar. Bhai Sahib was given all the luxuries of life as Sardar Chanchal Singh was the owner of 100 acres of farms. From childhood Bhai Sahib was attached to the local Gurudwara and did immense sewa. It was in his youthful days, when Bhai Sahib prioritised the panthic responsibilities over the household responsibilities. The attack on the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, Sri Harimandir Sahib by the Indian government and the killing of unarmed innocent Sikhs by the Indian army in June 1984 flamed the fire of freedom in the hearts of many Sikh youths, Bhai Sahib was amongst these youths. Bhai Sahib on many occasions was heard singing:

#Jad Dulda Khoon Shaheeda Da,

Takdeer Badaldi Kauma Di.

Ranbian Nal Khopar Lohande Jad,

Tasveer Badaldi Kauma Di.#

Bhai Sahib accepted shaheedi as the ultimate achievement and got engaged to martyrdom by joining Khalistan Commando Force under the command of Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar. Bhai Sahib always did Ardas before punishing the enemy for injustices they had committed on the Sikhs. As Bhai Sahib moved forward in the Sikh Freedom Movement, the anti-Sikh elements starting fearing the consequences for their actions, after all they did not want Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal knocking at their door.

The Zameendar from the same village as Bhai Sahib had killed Sardar Chanchal Singh over a land dispute. When the Zameendar got the news that Bhai Sahib had joined the Jhujaru Singhs of Khalistan Commando Force, he started hiding and at night would sleep away from home. A true Jhujaru Singh never joins an armed struggle to punish his personal enemies but instead to punish the enemies of the cause. Bhai Sahib was given the news of the Zameendar being afraid and in hiding, so Bhai Sahib paid the Zameendar a visit at his house. Upon seeing Bhai Sahib the Zameendar thought that his life has come to an end, but Bhai Sahib sat him down and said, “Are you running around and hiding from me because in have joined the Jhujaru Singhs? Do you think I will take revenge for the killing of my father? That’s not the case. I didn’t become a Jhujaru Singh to take revenge for my family’s personal dispute. My aim is a free home of the Sikhs. There is no need for you to fear me, the courts will decide the punishment of my father’s killers.”

The keeper of such high and pure thinking, Bhai Sahib attacked many police stations and CRPF checkpoints. Bhai Sahib was feared amongst the Indian security forces. After fighting many fierce encounters Bhai Sahib escaped unharmed and in high spirits. No Indian security force had the guts to go against Bhai Sahib or his fully armed group of Jhujaru Singhs. For the government of India, Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal was another name of fear.

To defame the Jhujaru Singhs, the black cats infiltrated the movement in the disguise of the Jhujaru Singhs and became active in their areas for carrying out acts of evil on the general public. The public began to feel unsafe in their own villages due to these black cats funded by the Indian government. Time came when times had gotten really bad and public were leaving their villages just to save their lives. Bhai Sahib took this situation seriously and started tracking such black cats to punish them and at the same time Bhai Sahib started offering free protection to families who were being targeted by the black cats, may it be a Hindu, Sikh or even a Muslim family. Bhai Sahib was also extremely upset about the Jhujaru Singhs being enemies of their own within the movement. Bhai Sahib took it as his responsibility to talk to these Jhujaru Singhs and create harmony.

One day Bhai Sahib was travelling to attend a Sri Akhand Paath Sahib of a close singh. On this day Bhai Sahib was unarmed. An informant had passed this information to the police and the Indian security forces took this as a great opportunity to capture Bhai Sahib. The CRPF had set up a checkpoint ahead of Bhai Sahib on the outskirts of Singhpura, soon as Bhai Sahib approached the checkpoint he was arrested. Bhai Sahib then was taken to the village of Ratoke where the police staged a fake encounter and made Bhai Sahib shaheed. The police secretly cremated the body of Bhai Sahib.

The public who live on the outskirts of Ratoke, near the location of the encounter said that Bhai Sahib bravely challenged the Indian security forces. Bhai Sahib was shot in the head from appoint blank range. The police had taken the body of Bhai Sahib but when the family reached the location of the encounter they saw a puddle of blood that was filled with Bhai Sahib’s blood. The date of Bhai Sahib’s shaheedi was 15th November 1990.

The news of Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal’s shaheedi bought oceans of sadness upon the locals. People cried and realised that they had lost their protector. In memory of Shaheed Bhai Sawinder Singh Sohal, the sangat has built a Gurudwara and a Nishan Sahib in the village where an annual Shaheed Smagam is held in November.

Khalsa Fatehnama