Shaheed Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda
Shaheed Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda
Khalistan Commando Force
Every martyr is great. As well as being great, each martyr has their own uniqueness. This uniqueness manifests from the deeds of that martyr and the ideas that they emanate. The uniqueness of Shaheed Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and of Bhai Sukhdev Singh ‘Sukha’ lies in that they tried to give new life to the humiliated and half-dead Sikh Qaum and in so doing put everything of their own at stake.
These martyrs avenged the nation’s humiliation in their own way and the methods that they used were in-keeping with the Sikh traditions and our history. The legacy that began in May 1740 when Bhai Mehtab Singh Mirankotia and Sukha Singh Mari Kamboki beheaded Massa Rangar of Mandiala who was guilty of desecrating Darbar Sahib Amritsar; which continued when Baba Deep Singh fought and was martyred in battles against the generals of Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1757 and Baba Gurbakhsh Singh who was martyred defending Darbar Sahib Amritsar in 1764; that legacy was matched by these two brave Sikhs in the Twentieth century. In 1940, Udham Singh took it upon himself to travel to the home country of Governor General O’Dwyer who was responsible for the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, and riddled him with bullets twenty years after the event. In this way, bodyguards to the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, who was responsible for the attack on Darbar Sahib Amritsar in 1984, took it upon themselves to seek vengeance concluding when Beant Singh and Satwant Singh rained a shower of bullets upon her at her home. Similarly, Harjinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh repeated history when on 10/8/1986 they brought her collaborator General Vaidya to an end with bullets at Poona. To kill someone is no simple task. One must put their life at risk. Those who avenge the humiliation of their nation are not murderers. They are national martyrs. It is for this reason that Harjinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh take a position as Sikh martyrs in that same space as Bhai Mehtab Singh Mirankotia and Sukha Singh Mari Kamboki. Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda:-
Harjinder Singh was born in February 1961 into the home of Gulzar Singh his father, and from the womb of Gurnam Kaur his mother, in Gadli village, district Amritsar. He received his early years’ education in his village; his secondary education until tenth grade at the Government High School in Gehri Mandi; and his twelvth grade education Twelfth from the Senior Secondary School at Jandiala Guru. He enrolled at Khalsa College, Amritsar, for his Higher education. He was studying in his second year of a B.A. degree when the holocaust of 1984 occurred. Sikhs gathered at Darbar Sahib Amritsar on the occasion of Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji’s martyrdom anniversary were pummeled by the bullets, bombs, cannons and tanks of the Indian army. The Sri Akal Takht Sahib was demolished. Because of these events, the blood boiled of Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda like every Sikh. His Sikh spirit awoke and he left his studies to join the Sikh struggle. When the Army took control of Darbar Sahib Amritsar, Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda was amongst the Sikhs of his locality who were attempting to travel into Amritsar to recapture the complex. But they could not break through the army checkpoints where the military persecuted and tortured any who came before them, and so he returned home along with the other Sikhs, despondent and having been beaten repeatedly.
He then went to his maternal village of Baiee Chakk, Sri Ganganagar. There he met with his maternal cousin Baljinder Singh Rajoo and his friend Sukhdev Singh Sukha of 16FF. to plan how they would seek vengeance for the disrespect and desecration done to Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Darbar Sahib Amritsar, and other institutions and shrines. Bhai Raju was captured by the police and upon hearing that he had been tortured their blood boiled even more.
In those days Bhai Labh Singh Panjwar, Bhai Jarnail Singh Halwara, Mathra Singh Chaureh Madhra, and Bhai Charanjit Singh Channi were actively operating in Ludhiana, Punjab. At the same time, Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha left Punjab for Delhi because the greatest number of Sikhs massacred had occurred there in November of 1984. Hearing the names of these Sikhs in Delhi and seeing their faces portrayed by the Government on television, the perpetrators of the Sikh genocide did not leave their homes.
On one occasion, Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda was captured by the police and sent to Ahmedabad Jail. From there somehow he escaped in April 1986.
When these Sikhs resided in Delhi, they were renting a house Bombay. Baljinder Singh, Daljit Singh, Sandhu and Sukhdev Singh Sukha came to Poona from Chandigarh. From Poona, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Baljinder Singh moved to Bombay. Daljit Singh rented a house in Poona and observed the house of Arun Kumar Sidhar Vaidya. After this, he too left for Bombay. Some days after Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda became a fugitive from Ahmedabad, Daljeet Singh and Sandhu returned to Punjab. They were travelling back to Bombay along with Sukhvinder Singh (K. C. Sharma) after a few days having procured a car and revolver, but were intercepted by the Police on route. The three of them managed to fend them off killing a D.S.P. and three officers in the process. Further along though, they suffered an accident severely injuring Sukhvinder Singh. They saved themselves by climbing aboard a truck. The driver of the truck feared what would happen if they remained and so again they had to move on. Daljit Singh caught a bus; Sukhvinder Singh and Sandhu caught a train and reached Bombay. Sukhvinder Singh was taken to hospital where he remained for around a month and a half.
On 3 May, 1986, the sub-inspector of Rajasthan Police travelled to Antop Hill in Bombay to arrest Bhai Sukha and his aides. On 4 May, he and an accompanying officer knocked on the door of the rented property where Daljit Singh, Sandhu and Bhai Sukha were staying. Sandhu opened the door. The officers told him to go with them to the police station, but he refused. One of the officers returned to the police station to bring more personnel, whilst the other remained on guard at the door. The stationary officer was lured inside with the offer of a cup of tea as they waited, but he was then locked inside as Sandhu escaped to Pune with 600,000 rupees and their weapons intact.
On 6 May, 1986, Daljit Singh Bittu bought an Indo-Suzuki Motorcycle using the name Sanjeev Kumar Gupta.
On 4 June, 1986, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and his collaborators made an unsuccessful attempt to loot from the Ganesh Khind branch of the Union Bank of India, shooting an employee during their escape.
29 June, 1986, Sukhminder Singh Sukhi and Baljinder Singh joined them. On 30 June 1986, Sukhi and Jasvinder Kaur left for the USA. They used the names Raju Pune Parkash and Savitri Sharma to travel. Sukhdev Singh Sukha left to join Harjinder Singh Jinda in Punjab. Then on 3 August, Sukhdev Singh Sukha using the name Pardeep Kumar, Nirmal Singh Nimma using the name Sandeep Kumar, and Harjinder Singh Jinda using the name Ravi Kumar Gupta, travelled to the home of Avtar Singh Randhawa in Durg, Madhya Pardesh.
On 6 August, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda travelled to Bombay, leaving Nirmal Singh Nimma behind in Durg. From Bombay, they reached Pune on 7 August. On 8 August 1986, the pair ambled around Koregaon Park in Pune near to the home of General Arun Vaidya. On 10 August 1986, at around 11am they went to his home. They paced past the front of the home a number of times but did not see General Vaidya. Then, holding an umbrella, his wife Bhanumati Vaidya and a personal guard came out of the house. General Vaidya also came out and the three of them sat in a car in which they headed into town. The two freedom fighters followed the vehicle on their motorcycle.
General Vaidya brought the car to a stop in town which he himself was driving. Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda parked their motorcycle to one side of the road. General Vaidya and his wife went into a shop but returned very quickly. They took the car further into town and stopped to buy some vegetables before heading home.
At that moment, Harjinder Singh Jinda stated that the General would not be permitted to return home today. He was steering the motor cycle. He brought it level to the car from where Sukhdev Singh Sukha fired shots from their weapon. The General was hit and his face slumped on to the steering wheel. Blood oozed from his mouth and nose. When they both were able to affirm that their mission was complete, they uttered a rousing slogan.
Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda went to the house that they had obtained. There, they changed their clothes and then travelled on separate buses to Bombay, followed by train travel into Durg once more.
There is no doubt that Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha were motivated by a spark of vengeance in the ,killing of General A. S. Vaidya, which had stirred in the minds of Sikhs due to Vaidya’s design of the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib. Khuswant Singh rightly writes, “Anyone who knows a little about the Sikhs should have known that the urge to avenge the desecration of Sri Harmandir Sahib and the desecration of Sri Akal Takht Sahib would not leave their minds until the offender seeks forgiveness. The feeling of revenge and martyrdom is deeply ingrained in the Sikh mind. Many had vowed to either correct those responsible for the disgraceful attack or to drink from the cup of martyrdom. They targeted President Zail Singh, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her family and General A. S. Vaidya and those who took part in the attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib.
The publication ‘India Today’, reported on General A. S. Vaidya’s murder thus: “General Vaidya was killed by four gunmen in Pune on 10 August, 1986. Four members of the Khalsa Commando Force claimed responsibility for the killing. The general had previously received several threats. But he used to say, ‘My name will be written on the bullet that hits me’.” Perhaps it was due to such negligence and pride, that despite the presence of his personal bodyguard he was left to lose his life that day. After killing Vaidya, they went home, changed their clothes and took separate buses to Bombay. From there they reached Durg and then Calcutta. On 7 September, 1986, as Sukhdev Singh went to Pune to collect arms, his motorcycle collided with a truck, injuring him and led to his arrest.
Harjinder Singh was captured in Delhi on 14 January, 1988. Harjinder Singh was shot in both legs causing them to be broken. He was kept in police custody for forty-four months and subjected to severe torture. He was later moved to Pune. Ten days later he was sent to Nashik and after staying there for six months he was brought back to Pune.
On 2 September, 1988, charges were laid against Harjinder Singh Jinda and his accomplices (Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha, Yadvinder Singh, Avtar Singh Randhawa, fugitive accused Avtar Singh and Jaswinder Kaur). The trial in the Vaidya murder case began on 3 November, 1988.
On 17 May, the special court Judge V. L. Ruikar acquitted Randhawa and Peerzada, and on 21 October acquitted Bhai Nirmal Singh Nimma. Bhai Harjinder Singh and Bhai Sukhdev Singh were sentenced to death. Punishment of death by execution was confirmed by the High Court on 15 July, 1992, and by the Supreme Court on 8 October, 1992. On 9 October 1992, Bhai Sukha and Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda were hanged.
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukhdev Singh, who killed the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army responsible for the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib on 9 August, 1986, were martyred by hanging some six years after the act. Their views are reflected in the letters they wrote during this long period. They were not typical murderers but men of high integrity and righteous thinking. They expressed their views on every wrongdoing and action perpetrated against the Sikhs. Reading their letters is a reminder of the letters written by Shaheed Bhagat Singh. These letters and the confessional statement give a true glimpse of the heart of the matter raised by Bhai Harjinder Singh. On 14 August, 1989, in his court statement presented before V. L. Ruikar, he confesses: I, Harjinder Singh Jinda, son of Gulzar Singh ‘Gadli’ reside in Amritsar. On 10 August, 1986, I and Sukhdev Singh ‘Khalistani’, son of Sardar Mehnga Singh of village 16FF Karanpur (Rajasthan) killed General Arun Kumar Vaidya. At that time, I was riding a black Indo Suzuki motorcycle. Sukhdev Singh was sitting behind me. Sukhdev Singh shot at Vaidya. Sukhdev Singh and I had at first gone to the house of Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh Dayal. We also intended to kill him because he too had a big hand in the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib.”
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha were sentenced to death on 21 October, 1989. On 27 October, 1989, Bhai Harjinder Singh wrote the following in a letter to his mother:
“Your sons have passed the real test of life… The day of 21 October, 1989, was a day of great happiness for Khalistan… Then the judge called me… The judge then told me that I had been accused in the General Vaidya case and asked if I wanted to say anything on the punishment. I told the judge that on the day when I began to walk this path, I gave my life to the Panth… The judge did not announce our sentence immediately. The time for the sentence was set for one hour later at 1pm… The judge returned at five minutes past two and begun to deliver the sentence. At seventeen minutes past two he called brother Sukhdev Singh to the stand where he was awarded with a death sentence… The judge then called me to the stand where he also awarded me with the death sentence. Just as brother Sukhdev Singh had done, I greeted the sentencing with a jakara showing my happiness whilst hailing Khalistan as well as Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, before we thanked the judge for our impending execution… Dear mother, we will not appeal in the Supreme Court.”
A letter written to the President from Pune Jail on 4 May, 1990, gives an accurate account of their views on all the burning issues.
The elimination of Mr. Vaidya, the General of your forces engaged in destroying the Khalsa Panth and its power, was a holy act on our difficult path of martyrdom. It has once again brought the historical truth to light the urge of the Khalsa Panth to breathe in freedom, its self respect and honor cannot be finished.
They continued, “…And we have the privilege of being in the loving care and companionship of that unique general of the Panth Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, blessed by the valiant and transcendental visionary Guru Gobind Singh. We are tiny particles of dust of the numberless heroic jewels of the Sikh nation who walked on the sharp edge of the Dagger, the Khanda, given to us by Guru Gobind Singh. Only the chosen few get the honor of laying down their lives for the nation.”
In no way is it just to accuse us of an unheroic act in attacking an unarmed man. We wish to remind you that by misusing your vast resources you have tried your utmost to humiliate us as a nation. In every field you have tried to make us helpless. You are empowered with your massive armed force and equipped with the most advanced military arsenal of our times. You have made us inadequate to fight you in the open battlefield. In the present situation there is no other alternative with us except to use the kind of method that we employed on General Vaidya to punish the tyrants for their evil deeds… When we attacked General Vaidya, apart from his own arms, he had with him a well-equipped bodyguard. Our attack was part of the same battlefield strategy that was once used by our hero-martyrs Madan Lal Dhingra, Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and even today it is used by revolutionaries the world over and considered right.
Through you we also wish to transmit this message that we harbor no enmity towards the great people and land of India. We are not touched even a bit by hatred for the people of India.”
Going further in this letter, they also condemned the steps taken by ‘so-called’ militants to prevent them from deviating from the right path. They wrote: “The way of the Khalsa is very trying. It is sharper than the edge of a Dagger, the Khanda, and subtler than a strand of hair. The Khalsa panth at all cost has to preserve the original and pure form of its great struggle. The struggle is a diving journey inspired by a transcendental consciousness… The Khalsa has to preserve its traditions established by the valiant Sikhs through martyrdom…
Sometimes, during our struggle we do commit something that is neither morally unique nor pious. Although we are marching towards our goal of achieving Khalistan with determination yet still we have not fully learnt how to go through this difficult terrain. The understanding and experience of our struggle are still diluted and surficial… Several times our arms have wrecked the joys, blossom and aspirations of those who had never directly hurt our movement. It appears sometimes as if we were trying to strike terror among the people although our commitment to the ninth Guru is nether to terrify nor to get terrified.”
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda was martyred on 9 October, 1992. He remained in high spirits until his very last breath. In a letter written from Pune jail on 5 October, 1992, he wrote, “We are in high spirits!” In that letter he wrote in detail about distributing his belongings to his various loved ones. In his letter of 6 October, 1992, he wrote that none should shed tears at their martyrdom. He wrote to his mother saying, “Dear mother, when I think of you I feel a great sense of pride that I was born to a divine soul such as you, and thanks to whose teaching I have reached my destination today.”
Undoubtedly, the deeds of Bhai Harjinder Singh and Bhai Sukhdev Singh and the views expressed in the letters are similar to those of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh had avenged the death of Lala Lajpat Rai by killing a British man, and they made the target of their wrath the then-Chief of the Indian Army who had attacked Sri Harmandir Sahib, thus reviving the great deed of Bhai Mehtab Singh and Bhai Sukha Singh who sought redress by killing Massa Ranghar. Due to their views, they were as prudent and balanced as Bhagat Singh and did not hesitate to oppose the mis-steps of other ‘so-called’ militants. Their martyrdom was purposeful and selfless. They were the lords of dazzling thinking and enlightened wisdom. It would be unjust to view their martyrdom through blurred spectacles.
Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda