Who would be your unsung heros of modern Sikh history?

[genie]

We know the heros of the 80's and 90s aka the dharmi fauj Sikhs who defended and sacrificed their lives at darbar sahib and all those militant Sikhs in the fields and villages of punjab who fought the oppression of the indian state.

But in terms of non-combatant Sikhs the religious and political figures, who would you name as those who did great service for Sikhi and Sikhs in post- 1947 indian independence times and your reasons why?

My list would include the following:

• The late Sant fateh singh (In taking leadership role in the punjabi suba movement)
• The late Bhai Kapur Singh Sirdar (For his visionary and intellectually guiding light in Sikh affairs)
• The late Ganga singh dhillion (For his efforts in forming friendship with muslim leadership in pakistan allowing Sikhs to send jatha's for kar sewa helping to maintain Sikh shrines and gurdwara's across pakistan, afghanistan,iraq,iran and other parts of the world)

[Jonny101]

General Harbaksh Singh is an unsung hero. In 1965 when the Indian army was on the verge of defeat the Chief of Army Staff(a Hindu) had ordered the Indian army to retreat all the way back to river Beas. General Harbaksh Singh who was there and in command refused to follow this order of his superior because by retreating all the way back to river Beas would mean surrendering Sri Darbar Sahib and Amritsar to the Pakistanis. So the Sikhs in the Indian army fought so valiantly under General Harbaksh Singh that they turned a Pakistani victory into a defeat.

Since General Harbaksh Singh turned defeat into victory he was not court marshaled for refusing to follow the orders of his superiors. Seeing his rank and war experience he should have been the Chief of Army Staff instead of Manekshaw who was a minor junior Parsi officer in comparison but was elevated to the top position due to his closeness to Indira Gandhi who wanted an obedient yes man to fill that position.

 

[genie]

That reminds me the late general jagjit singh aurora is another hero of the kaum.

 

 

[Jonny101]

General Harbaksh Singh during 1965 war

 

[ChardikalaUK]

H.S. Phoolka. He has tried his very best to get justice for the 1984 victims in Delhi.

He seems like such an honest and honourable man.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._S._Phoolka

[proactive]

Since 1849 there have not been many heroes of the Panth who we can definitively say were uncompromising in their words as well as deeds. The problem is that when a people are under the rule of others then the actions of their heroes are always coloured by that reality.

In the period from 1849-1947 if our heroes were on the British side such as the soldiers at Saragarhi, or the ones that took revenge against the Purabias then their heroism is somewhat diminished by the fact that their actions either supported the continued rule of the British or extended it.  If our heroes fought against the British then their actions are also diminished because they were just substituting slavery under the British to slavery under the Hindus. The same is the case for period 1947-1984. During that period the Sikhs heroes such as Master Tara Singh were fighting for rights but still under the overall slavery of the Hindus. General Harbaksh Singh although he saved the Punjab from the Pakistanis yet he too was fighting for the status quo, because just prior to the 1965 war the Hindu government in Delhi had committed atrocities against the Sikhs. Being a part of an enslaved people, his daughter further disgraced him by marrying a Hindu Bania, I suppose this is what is the result is when you are serving your masters.

The only hero who was uncompromising in his words and deeds was Sant Jarnail Singh between 1978 -1984 and after June 1984 the countless Kharkoos such as Jugraj Singh Toofan, Sukhdev Singh Babbar, Baba Manochahal etc who fought for our freedom.  

As for H S Phoolka, I had a lot of respect for him because he has shown himself to be another puppet of the Hindu government. His call for the Nihangs who were arrested after the policeman's hand was cut off to be tried and convicted within a few weeks and for them to get exemplary punished shows that he has sold out. As a so-called Human Rights lawyer, he had no regard for the fact that no matter what their crimes, these Nihangs would certainly face inhuman torture at the hands of the criminals in uniform. He also had no comment to make on the fact that two Sikh women had also been arrested who had not been on the crime scene at all. 

So in essence our true heroes belong to the period from 1469 - 1849 and then 1984 onwards. 

 

[Tamansingh123]

2 hours ago, proactive said:

During that period the Sikhs heroes such as Master Tara Singh were fighting for rights but still under the overall slavery of the Hindus.

Master Tara Singh wasnt our hero. If he and his fellow people wanted raaj khalsa that could have been done in 47 itself. But he refused to do that and accepted hindu dominance. 

[Jonny101]

As always great post by proactive ji. True the Singh's since the time of Sant ji were the truest Sikh heroes since they served no one as their master. It is rare to find a Sikh like that between 1849 to 1984. I think after the fall of the Kuka movement the Sikhs stopped fighting to regain the Sikh raaj and instead faught for India and blurred ideas with that of other Indian nationalists.

A few Sikhs do come to mind though who can be genuinely regarded as Sikh heroes.

-Baba Ram Singh of the Kuka movement. He wanted to regain the Sikh state. His ideas were years ahead of other freedoms fighters like boycotting British made goods and services. Later the British turned his movement into a Gurudom. The kukas also lost their Khalsa spirit after that.

-Kartar Singh Jhabbar. He liberated so many Gurdwaras from the Udasin Mahants who regarded themselves as Hindus. The Hindu Indian nationalists even wanted the Sikhs to postpone their Gurdwara liberation movement and just focus on India but it seems deep down Kartar Singh understood that after the British are gone these Hindus won't give us anything. Even though I'm a vegetarian but the way he conducted the Jhatka conference I can't help but praise his Anakh when the Muslims tried to force Halal on the Sikhs.

-Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh ji. He fought against the British because of which he was imprisoned for years. During his lifetime western ideas like Marxism began to polute the minds of Sikhs like Bhagat Singh. He had written about these atheists in his books. He also tried to convince the Maharaja of Patiala to use his power and influence to create a Sikh state after the British departure but unfortunately the ruler if Patiala was too close to the Congress to listen.

These are men who worked hard only for Sikh interests.

[Premi5]

On 5/21/2020 at 6:04 PM, Jonny101 said:

As always great post by proactive ji. True the Singh's since the time of Sant ji were the truest Sikh heroes since they served no one as their master. It is rare to find a Sikh like that between 1849 to 1984. I think after the fall of the Kuka movement the Sikhs stopped fighting to regain the Sikh raaj and instead faught for India and blurred ideas with that of other Indian nationalists.

A few Sikhs do come to mind though who can be genuinely regarded as Sikh heroes.

-Baba Ram Singh of the Kuka movement. He wanted to regain the Sikh state. His ideas were years ahead of other freedoms fighters like boycotting British made goods and services. Later the British turned his movement into a Gurudom. The kukas also lost their Khalsa spirit after that.

-Kartar Singh Jhabbar. He liberated so many Gurdwaras from the Udasin Mahants who regarded themselves as Hindus. The Hindu Indian nationalists even wanted the Sikhs to postpone their Gurdwara liberation movement and just focus on India but it seems deep down Kartar Singh understood that after the British are gone these Hindus won't give us anything. Even though I'm a vegetarian but the way he conducted the Jhatka conference I can't help but praise his Anakh when the Muslims tried to force Halal on the Sikhs.

 

These are men who worked hard only for Sikh interests.

I don't think most of us have heard of these

 

@Jonny101 - please return to the forums