Shaheed Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi

 

Bhai Harbhajan Singh is the hero who had the good fortune to be in the company of Sant Kartar Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale and Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale and who bravely fought with the Indian Army in the battle of June 1984, suffered torture, helped the Jhujaru Singhs in every way, played a great role in the battle for freedom of Khalistan and finally achieving the ultimate goal of martyrdom.

 

Family Information

Bearer of Gurbani and the Sikh attire, a student of Damdami Taksal and a great Ragi, Shaheed Bhai Harbhajan Singh was born on 25th March 1962, in the house of Sardar Balbir Singh and from the blessed womb of Mata Parkash Kaur in Dhigana village, near Patti, district Sri Amritsar (now Tarn Taran). Later, Sardar Balbir Singh bought land in Jaura village, near Kairon and the whole family moved there. Bhai Sahib had an elder brother, Bhai Gurmail Singh and 2 younger sisters, Bibi Darshan Kaur, Bibi Gurmeet Kaur. Bhai Sahib studied at the government school of Ghariala upto 8th class, but he was very fluent in speaking and understanding the English language. His grandparents were also Gursikhs and Sardar Balbir Singh also remained in a Taksali attire.

 

Blessing of Amrit

From his childhood, Bhai Sahib felt a pull towards Sikhi, he would regularly go to his local Gurdwara and sit to meditate for many hours on end. Bhai Sahib would request his parents to take Amrit from the Panj Pyare with him, after which the whole family took the blessings of Amrit and joined the Khalsa Panth. Bhai Sahib would also request his family to take him to Sant Ji, but at that time they did not know which saint Bhai Sahib was referring to.

 

Meeting Sant Kartar Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale

Bhai Sahib was studying in 7th class when he went to a Gurmat Smagam in Bhura Kohna village with his grandmother, Mata Harnam Kaur. In this Smagam, Bhai Sahib sang a poem on the 4 Sahibzade, this was heard by the Sikh congregation and Sant Kartar Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale, who was amongst the congregation in the Smagam. Upon hearing the voice of Bhai Sahib, Sant Kartar Singh told Mata Harnam Kaur that her grandchild has beautiful voice and the family should teach him Kirtan. In fact, Sant Kartar Singh took the responsibility of making Bhai Sahib a Ragi Singh and asked the family to let Bhai Sahib join the Singhs of Damdami Taksal.

 

Admission into Damdami Taksal

After sometime, following the conversation the family had with Sant Kartar Singh, Bhai Sahib was bought the headquarters of Damdami Taksal at Gurdwara Sri Gurdarshan Parkash at Chownk Mehta. Bhai Sahib was handed over to Sant Kartar Singh to be taught Gurbani and Kirtan. Living at Damdami Taksal headquarters, Bhai Sahib received the Santhaya of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj and Sri Dasam Granth Sahib Ji as well as learning Harmonium/Kirtan, becoming a highly skilled Ragi Singh. Bhai Sahib’s voice was so sweet, lovely and charming that when he used to perform Kirtan, the Sangat (congregation) would be very happy, everyone’s attention would be focused on the name of ‘Waheguru’ and the Sangat would listen to Gurbani-Kirtan in unison. All the students of the Damdami Taksal also respected Bhai Sahib very much because he was the embodiment of devotion, service, humility and virtues. While living in the company of the great saints such as, Sant Kartar Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale, Bhai Sahib had memorized the complete Nitnem (daily prayers), Panj Granthi, Chandi Ki Vaar and many other prayers.

 

Radiant Face

Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi was so handsome that everyone’s soul was pleased to see his radiant and divine face. His round turban, Taksali Chola (traditional attire), three-foot long Kirpan (sword), small Sri Sahib (ceremonial dagger), Hazuria (scarf) around his neck, always smiling face, redness on his cheeks, and attractive eyes made him look very beautiful. Whenever Sant Kartar Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale used to hold Smagams while traveling in villages and cities for the propagation of Sikhi, Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi used to delight the congregation with the blissful Kirta. Sant Kartar Singh Ji often used to say, “Bhai Harbhajan Singh is the pride of Damdami Taksal and brave warrior.” In 1977, Sant Kartar Singh passed away and Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale was made the next Jathedar of Damdami Taksal. Now Bhai Sahib became amongst the closest Singhs to Sant Ji and also the most trusted.

 

Arrest from Nawashaher & Torture

Following the orders of Sant Ji, Bhai Sahib started living at Gurdwara Sahib in Nawashaher performing Kirtan there. It was while living there, Bhai Sahib completed his BA and MA in Music. Jhujaru Singhs like Bhai Gurmeet Singh Dhulkot would come visit Bhai Sahib at the Gurdwara Sahib in Nawashaher. When Bhai Gurmeet Singh Dhulkot attacked Darbara Singh, the chief minister of Punjab, the police targeted Bhai Sahib in the same case. The civil clothed police entered the Gurdwara Sahib of Nawashaher and requested Bhai Sahib to attend a religious program with them straight away as they had no Kirtani Singhs. At this point, the police did not identify themselves and Bhai Sahib thought that this was the genuine case of Kitani shortage. Bhai Sahib accepted the request and asked the men to grab the Harmonium and Tabla from inside. But the men replied that they had all the instruments there already and rushed Bhai Sahib to get in the car as the congregation was waiting for Kirtan Jatha.

 

Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi along with his 2 colleagues jumped in the car with the men. Bhai Sahib had no idea that these men were police officers and that he was actually being arrested. When the vehicle was going in the different direction to which the men had said, that is when Bhai Sahib realised that something is wrong. By then the pushing and shoving started by the policemen, other police vehicles came and took the other 2 Singhs with Bhai Sahib away. Bhai Sahib was taken to the CI Staff of Jalandhar and Ferozpur, where he was blindly tortured for 20 days. The question continued to ask Bhai Sahib was, “Which other Jhujaru Singhs come to see you at the Gurdwara and where are the weapons kept?” The police were ready to martyr Bhai Sahib in a false encounter, but the news of his arrest reached Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale, who assigned lawyers to have Bhai Sahib released. Eventually, Bhai Sahib was released.

 

Dharam Yudh Morcha

In 1982, Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale along with Akali Dal initiated the Dharam Yudh Morcha, a movement for the rights of the Sikh nation and Punjab. Bhai Sahib’s parents and siblings also took part in this movement as their moral responsibility. It was during this time. Sant Ji moved Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi from Nawashaher to Sri Amritsar. At first, Bhai Sahib stayed with Sant Ji in Nanak Niwas and after his Anand Karaj, Bhai Sahib moved to the rooms in Langar Hall, as all Singhs with families lived here. 

 

Anand Karaj

Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale had Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi married to Bibi Ravinder Kaur on 6th May 1984. Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano was from Dingrian village, near Adampur, district Jalandhar. It was on the same day that Anand Karaj of Bibi Paramjit Kaur (Shaheed) was done with Bhai Harminder Singh Sandhu, the general secretary of Sikh Student Federation. 

 

Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano

Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi’s wife, Bibi Ravinder Kaur, with whom he had Anand Karaj, was also very talented. Bibi Ravinder Kaur was a follower of Gurmat, full of fighting spirit and always recited Gurbani. Bibi Ravinder Kaur was arrested during the Dharam Yudh Morcha and went to jail three times for participating in Panthic activities. Bibi Ravinder Kaur also wrote letters during her jail time. The 1984tribute.com team has seen those letters and it is clear from reading them how much Bibi Ji was connected to Gurbani and how much Panthic enthusiasm was in her.

 

Bibi Ravinder Kaur, who also did Kirtan, was also very skilled in Shastar Vidya (Sikh martial arts), and was very educated and taught at the Government College in Sarhali. During the Dharam Yudh Morcha, she was called ‘Jathedarni’ of Adampur, because she led the groups who gave their voluntary arrest from that area. She often stood in front of the police during protest demonstrations, and her bravery is often discussed.

 

Arrest during Battle of Amritsar

The Indian army attacked Sri Darbar Sahib at Amrit Vela on 4th June 1984, this was to crush the movement of Dharam Yudh Morcha and hurt the Sikh self-respect. But, under the leadership of Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale, Bhai Amrik Singh, General Shabeg Singh, a handful of Jhujaru Singhs and Singhnia gave their lives defending the sanctity of Sri Darbar Sahib. The sons and daughters of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj, had repeated the history of Chamkaur, when handful of Singhs took on tens and thousands of Mughal soldiers. 

 

Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi’s position was with Baba Thara Singh on the upper side of the Langar Hall. He fought a fierce battle with the Indian army and shot down a helicopter and piled up the bodies of the soldiers. Not far from Bhai Harbhajan Singh, Bhai Major Singh Nagoke, Bhai Swaran Singh Rode, Bhai Dalbir Singh Abhyasi, Bhai Nand Singh Mehta were fighting from the Ramgharia Bunga and these heroes caused heavy damage to the Indian army.

 

Then, when Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Jhujaru Singhs were martyred on 6th June, Bhai Sahib’s passed through the middle street of the Langar Hall and came to the women near Dukh Bhajani Beri and showed his strength to Indian army with a face-to-face battle. He fought for several hours taking shelter of the building near the women. When Bhai Sahib went to drink water from the Sarovar, he was fired upon and fell on the steps of the Sarovar due to a bullet hitting his arm, from where the army arrested him. The Hindu soldiers took off his turban, tied his hands behind his back and tortured him severely by lying him in the scorching sun of June. It was in front of him, the Indian soldiers martyred many Singhs and members of the congregation, the pool was also stained red with the blood of Sikhs, and there were piles of corpses of Sikhs and soldiers in the Parikarma. 

 

Along with Bhai Sahib, many other Singhs were tied up by the army and sometimes they would hit their heads with the soles of their boots and sometimes with the butts of weapons. Bhai Sahib saw that the Hindu soldiers sitting in the Parikarma were drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes at night, they were abusing the Sikhs and behaving very badly. Bhai Surjan Singh Sarbala was being tortured in front of Bhai Sahib. Then, when the President of India, Giani Zail Singh, was to come to Sri Darbar Sahib on 8th June 1984, the Indian military officers asked the Sangat, “Is there anyone who can do Kirtan?” Then Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi said, “Yes!” and then he was taken inside Sri Darbar Sahib after wearing a new Chola from the Langar Hall Room and he performed Kirtan. On that day, Bhai Major Singh Nagoke and others attacked Giani Zail Singh from the Ramgharia Bunga.

 

Bhai Sahib continued to do Kirtan at Sri Darbar Sahib for 20 days after the attack. One day, as Bhai Sahib was doing Kirtan, his sisters heard his voice on the radio, they immediately recognized that it was the voice of their brother, Bhai Harbhajan Singh and he is alive. Before this, Bhai Sahib’s family and relatives thought that he had attained martyrdom during the battle of Amritsar. When the family told this to the village Sarpanch, he said that, “The cruel army has not spared anyone, how could Harbhajan Singh have survived, they must be playing old cassettes of him doing Kirtan.” But after a month, the Indian army released Bhai Sahib after a long interrogation and when he came home, the family and the villagers were very happy and surprised. Then Bhai Sahib told everyone that his mother and his Singhni had attained martyrdom and I survived these conditions after being injured.

 

Martyrdom of Mata Prakash Kaur and Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano

Mata Prakash Kaur and Bibi Ravinder Kaur were first with Bhai Sahib on the side of the Langar Hall and they were also helping the Singhs during the battle and were loading magazines into the weapons of the Jhujaru Singhs and throwing bombs at the soldiers. Then Bibi Upkar Kaur, President of the Women’s Wing of the Sikh Students Federation, and Bibi Paramjit Kaur, wife of General Secretary, Bhai Harminder Singh Sandhu, who had a lot of ammunition and bombs in the Akaal Rest House, took Bhai Harbhajan Singh’s mother and wife with them to the side of Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai Sahib. There, when the army started searching the quarters, the women shouted ‘Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akaal’ and attacked the soldiers. It was in this attack that Bibi Upkar Kaur, Bibi Paramjit Kaur Sandhu, Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano and Mata Prakash Kaur (mother of Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi) along with other women attained martyrdom. 

 

In the witness account of Giani Puran Singh, it states that Mata Prakash Kaur continued to say, “I want to attain martyrdom. These dogs have attacked the house of Sri Guru Ram Das Ji Maharaj, they will pay a heavy price for this. Hindustan will be destroyed and our Khalistan will be created. We will die and be reborn and will keep taking revenge from them again and again!” Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi also kept telling his family and the Singhs of the Damdami Taksal that his wife, Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano fought with complete bravery and she herself took up arms and killed many soldiers.

 

Duty in the Shiromani Committee

After the battle of Amritsar, Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi stayed at home for some time and then joined the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and started performing the duty of Kirtan at Sri Darbar Sahib in Tarn Taran Sahib. There too, he gained a lot of respect, prestige and glory. He used to tell the congregation about the battle of Amritsar and the courage, bravery and fearlessness shown by the Jhujaru Singhs. Bhai Sahib also shared the painful stories about what and how the army atrocities were done to the innocent pilgrims.

 

Meeting Jhujaru Singhs

After the battle of Amritsar, many Singhs associated with Damdami Taksal had abandoned their homes and families and taken up arms and jumped into the battlefield to teach a lesson to the government of India and for the independence of the Sikh national home, Khalistan. Bhai Sahib often had the presence of Jhujaru Singhs and he would also support them to the best of his ability. He had great love for Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, Bhai Gurdev Singh Usmanwala, Bhai Gurnam Singh Bandala, Bhai Mahinder Singh Manochahal, Bhai Ranjit Singh Tharu and Bhai Avtar Singh Jandoke (Sarhali) and others. All the above Jhujaru Singhs used to stay at Bhai Sahib’s house in Jaura village or at his quarters in Tarn Taran. Bhai Sahib had rented a house for the Jhujaru Singhs in Tarn Taran and kept it as a secret hideout, and after doing militant actions or punishing anti-Sikh elements, the Singhs would often stay in this house for several days. Doing the duty of a Ragi Singh at Tarn Taran Sahib, the police did not suspect Bhai Sahib to be involved in any Jhujaru activities. But during the Anand Karaj of Bhai Sahib’s sister, Bibi Darshan Kaur, many armed Jhujaru Singhs attended and it was at this point the police started suspecting Bhai Sahib of some involvement. 

 

Martyrdom

Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi’s wife, Shaheed Bibi Ravinder Kaur Rano had attained martyrdom in June 1984, but his sisters and relatives pressured him to get married and after much convincing, Bhai Sahib agreed. Bhai Sahib’s second Anand Karaj was done with Bibi Amarjit Kaur (daughter of Sardar Roor Singh, village Jaura) on 25th June 1986. This Anand Karaj was attended by roughly 40 armed Jhujaru Singhs and after the wedding ceremony, they left. The next day, an informant told the local police that the Jhujaru Singhs are staying at Bhai Sahib’s house. 

 

In the early hours of 28th June 1986, roughly at 2am, heavy number of police and CRPF soldiers surrounded Jaura village. The Bhai Sahib’s family were alerted when they heard sounds outside and saw people walking around. The family didn’t suspect that the police and CRPF were outside in the farms, they thought that it could be thieves or looters. Bhai Sahib got up to check what the commotion was outside, soon as he opened his front door to go outside the crouched Indian security forces fired their guns towards Bhai Sahib. He was shot in the leg and fell to the ground there and then. Bhai Sahib bled out into the morning of 28th June 1986, attaining martyrdom. 

 

At that time, there were no armed Jhujaru Singhs at Bhai Sahib’s house, but the police and CRPF came prepared, laced with weapons. The police continued to fire at Bhai Sahib’s house, there were only 5 family members in the house who just barely managed to save themselves. Bhai Sahib’s father kept saying loudly, “They killed my son, they killed my innocent son!” When a member of the family tried to leave the house, the police would open fire indiscriminately, assuming they were Jhujaru Singhs. When the policemen came near Shaheed Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi’s martyred body in the morning, they also shot Bhai Sahib in the chest. As the day dawned, a search of the family house was conducted, the boxes-cupboards were searched, the furniture was broken, and the police took away the jewellery and money.

 

Then the police put Bhai Sahib’s martyred body in a car and brought it to Tarn Taran. When the police were pushing the martyred body in the car, Sardar Balbir Singh tried a lot to stop them, but the police started beating him as well. When the residents of Jaura and the surrounding villages came to know about Bhai Sahib’s martyrdom, the convoys of congregations immediately reached Tarn Taran and the congregations jammed and protested violently, after which the police handed over the martyred body of Bhai Harbhajan Singh to the family after conducting a post-mortem in the civil hospital. Then in Jaura village, the Jatha of Damdami Taksal and the congregations cremated Shaheed Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi according to Sikh Rehat Maryada, a huge gathering of thousands of people took place and everyone cursed the police and sang the praises of Shaheed Bhai Harbhajan Singh Ragi. 

 

Tavareekh Shaheed-E-Khalistan 3 – Ranjit Singh Damdami Taksal