Shaheed Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola

Babbar Khalsa

 

Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola was born in year 1949, in the house of Sardar Gurnam Singh and from the womb of Mata Jagir Kaur in Ghanauri Kalan, near Sherpur, district Sangrur. Bhai Bhola one older brother Bhai Karam Singh and a younger sister Bibi Karamjit Kaur. Bhai Bhola got married in December 1982 to Bibi Manjit Kaur who was from Patiala, and they had 4 children, 2 daughters and 2 sons. One of the Bhai Bhola’s son passed away due to illness in June 1984 and the other son passed away 7 days after birth in July 1992. Both his daughters (Bibi Gagandeep Kaur & Bibi Manpreet Kaur) are now married and settled in a village called Mari Buchian, Gurdaspur.

 

Bhai Bhola worked in the Indian army and was staged at Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar in June 1984. Being witness to the blind firing even though duty bound to his army, he realised this was a planned attack on the sacred Sri Harmandir Sahib and his conscience did not accept it. In retaliation, Bhai Bhola began firing back at his fellow army-men. Bhai Bhola was immediately arrested and sent to Nabha Jail then Jodhpur Jail. Bhai Bhola was kept in prison until 1988. During the time he was in jail, his wife was living with her parents in Patiala. Upon release Bhai Bhola bought a small plot of land in Patiala along with a number of cows to produce dairy and would sell milk to earn an income.

 

Bhai Bhola was just about settled and living a comfortable life when the police started harassing him and his family. Even his father, Sardar Gurnam Singh was not spared and was beaten on many accounts. This harassment became a daily occurrence and Bhai Bhola could not bear seeing his family members treated in this inhumane way. In 1989, Bhai Bhola was harvesting his wheat fields when all of a sudden the Punjab police came to arrest him, seeing this Bhai Bhola ran away and the police were unable to track his whereabouts. Bhai Bhola had enough of the Punjab police brutality and decided to go underground and fight for the establishment of Khalistan, in which he and many Sikhs could live in peace with their families and without police brutality.

 

After leaving his home to join his Jhujaru brothers, Bhai Bhola came into contact with Jhujaru Singhs of Babbar Khalsa. Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola started punishing police officers that committed injustices upon Sikh families, all his actions were done under the command of Bhai Wadhawa Singh Babbar and Bhai Sadha Singh. Bhai Bhola was trained in many weapons and soon was given the rank of area commander and contributed to many accounts of justice being served to enemy perpetrators. Not forgetting the explosion caused at Sherpur Police Station where numerous policemen were killed.

 

When Bhai Bhola’s youngest daughter was born he came home to visit his wife and child, but he did not come alone. Bhai Bhola was accompanied by 17 Jhujaru Singhs, who kept a look-out around his house and then there were numerous other Jhujaru Singhs who guarded the outskirts of the village. All the Jhujaru Singhs with Bhai Bhola greeted and gave their blessings to the newborn girl and then left.

 

Unfortunately, the police harassment continued and Bhai Bhola’s wife was regularly interrogated. She would be dragged by her hair and taken to the police station. In her eight month of pregnancy, July 1992, the police again dragged her to the police station and began a horrid regime of torture and humiliation. The police would roll a huge heavy wooden roller up and down her legs. The undersoles of her feet were stabbed and split apart with sharp metal rods (nails). One policeman even had the audacity to sit on her pregnant stomach. A week of this unbearable torture, Bhai Bhola’s wife was at her death’s door. The police then took her to hospital. The doctor’s confirmed she was in a serious condition and unlikely she would survive. The police worried at their own expense feared they would have a murder case on their hands. So, they decided to poison her food, but she did not eat it. The police had no choice but to drop her back home.

 

Having dropped Bhai Bhola’s wife back home in the morning, the police were back that same evening and picked her up again. It is beyond belief, but they started to torture her again even knowing her condition. Due to the heinous torture, the baby was forced to be born premature. The baby boy was born with cracked bones and major nerve damage. A family relative had shared the news of this birth in the local newspaper, so that the news would reach Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola who at this point was in Uttar Pardesh doing Jhujaru actions.

 

When Bhai Bhola heard of the news, he along with his Jhujaru brothers made plans to visit his family. On 21st July 1992, the owner of the house where these Jhujaru Singhs were staying in Uttar Pardesh, supported a plan to have them travel on a secure bus back to his village and even advised them there was no need to go with weapons. So, the Singhs left unarmed, but little did they know that this man had just instigated the biggest betrayal and had informed the Punjab police of the number plate to the bus. Enroute, the Punjab police surrounded the bus and the Jhujaru Singhs realised they were in trouble, with no way out. The Jhujaru Singhs were left no choice but to take cyanide capsules and attain martyrdom. This would leave the Punjab police with mere bodies of these Singhs and unable to get any information from them.

 

On that same day, 21st July 1992, the Bhai Bhola’s baby boy who was only 7 days old lost his fight for life also. The impact this had on the mother cannot be described, she became mentally unstable and was admitted to a mental health institute where she was kept in chains. www.1984tribute.com were heartbroken when they were writing the biography of Shaheed Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola. It was 6 months later that the family received news of Bhai Bhola’s martyrdom. The final Ardas for the Shaheed Singhs was performed at a secret location on 28th July 1992 by their Jhujaru brothers.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Sukhwinder Singh Bhola