Shaheed Bhai Avtar Singh Rattan Chhattar

Babbar Khalsa

 

Bhai Avtar Singh was born in the year 1973, to the blessed womb of mother, Mata Mohinder Kaur and in the house of father, Sardar Bahadur Singh, in the village of Rattan Chhattar, near Dharamkot.

He was the youngest of six children with four sisters and one brother. The family earned a very minimal earning from farming and were barely making ends meet. Financially, the family struggled a lot. They owned just one acre of land and a few cows. It’s from these cows, where they would sell the milk and earn an income. Due to poor family conditions, Bhai Avtar Singh never went to school. His father also passed away when he was very young and it was on their mother’s shoulders to earn for the family. Still the family were devoted and had great love for Sikhi. Bhai Avtar Singh was blessed and baptised with Amrit at an early age. Although, he had never been to school, through doing his prayers he was able to read Gurbani /Gurmukhi. He had also memorised much Gurbani too. From a teenage, Bhai Sahib worked as a labourer. Then in his adult years he got a job with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee Amritsar, as a Sewadar at Sri Harmandir Sahib. He worked here for many years. He worked day and night, as many hours as he could. With his one salary he managed to finance the weddings of his four sisters.

 

In the year 1988, the Indian Government had rolled out what was known as Operation Black Thunder. This was to take out the Jhujaru Singhs and supporters of Khalistan, who were staying at Sri Darbar Sahib complex as a sanctuary. During this time, even though he worked for Shiromani Committee, Bhai Avtar Singh was still picked up and arrested. He was sent to Nabha Jail where he was detained for up to two years. His mother had to take out a loan to fight his case and have money to visit him in jail. This caused great hardship on the family. After two years he was finally released. As soon as Bhai Sahib returned home, his mother was worried for his future and immediately arranged his Anand Karaj to Bibi Rajinder Kaur (village Jaura). They were blessed with two sons – Bhai Gurvinder Singh and Bhai Shamsher Singh.

 

Seeing the injustice upon Sikhs in India, Bhai Avtar Singh decided to join the Jhujaru Singhs. He joined a branch of the militia group known as Babbar Khalsa, under the command of Bhai Mohinder Singh Bijliwal. Bhai Avtar Singh served alongside many prominent Jhujaru Singhs namely; Bhai Mathra Singh Shikar Machiya, Bhai Fauji Kotli, Bhai Gurmej Singh Dharamkot, Bhai Mohinder Singh Bijliwal, Bhai Gurmej Singh Dhilwan and many others.

 

From the day Bhai Sahib got married, the police continued to have their eyes on him. They regularly harassed him and his family members. There was not one day of any interference by the police. Because of this, he rarely ever stayed home. Bhai Sahib’s wife became very disconcerted and was vocal with him, that not once has he sat in his own home to even eat a proper meal. Bhai Sahib would always reply in high spirits and say, “It is not in our destiny yet to sit and enjoy these pleasures. We are here to serve the greater cause and the Khalsa Panth. Once we achieve our homeland Khalistan then we will live in peace.” Bhai Sahib’s wife would insist that Bhai Sahib stay and eat a meal at home.

 

So, one day he stopped a little longer at home to eat. Bibi Rajinder Kaur made a potato curry with rice. As dinner was about to be served, Bhai Avtar Singh sat out in the foyer waiting for dinner. Bibi Rajinder Kaur came out to hand him a glass of water before she came back out with the food. Just at that moment the local police officer, Thanedar Kunan Singh arrived with a platoon of police men and bombarded the house. Immediately, Bhai Avtar Singh was swift to make an escape and left. The police looked all over but could not find him. The police then turned to Bhai Sahib’s wife and arrested her, forcefully taking her away to the police station. Bhai Avtar Singh made contact with the police officer via wireless radio and warned him that should he lay a hand on his wife or subject her to any harm then he would put an end to every member of the Thanedar’s family. In fear, the police officer Kunan Singh did not harm Bibi Rajinder Kaur, rather he kept her in a comfortable cell and released her nine days later. The police continued to raid the family home and harass the family members. Bhai Avtar Singh’s mother became so distressed with the repeated harassment that she took poison and ended her life. This is the extent of how unbearable the lives were of families caused by police.

 

It was January 1993 and the armed struggle was nearing an end due to mass infiltration which had led to many prominent Jhujarus attaining martyrdom and now the Jhujaru groups were losing their stronghold. The police had touts and informants everywhere. Not to forget the massive number of fake encounters to which Punjab had lost an entire generation of Sikh males. Many Jhujaru Singhs had also gone into hiding. It was a collective decision by his command of Babbar Khalsa that Bhai Sahib should shift to Pathankot with his family for their safety.

 

It was 25th January 1993 and an inside traitor informed the police of Bhai Avtar Singh’s whereabouts. The police surrounded the entire house and captured Bhai Avtar Singh. He was tortured in front of his wife. Not once did he utter a cry of pain nor did he disclose any information. He uttered one word only and that was, “Waheguru”. On 2nd February 1993, the police took Bhai Avtar Singh to the riverside at the village of Chaki, near Pathankot and shot him in a fake encounter. He attained Shaheedi and sacrificed his life fighting for Khalistan. He spent 5 long years living underground and serving alongside many Jhujaru Singhs retaliating against an entire state government who were no match against their strength and bravery.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Avtar Singh Rattan Chhattar