Shaheed Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda 

Babbar Khalsa 

 

Babar Khalsa’s area commander, Shaheed Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda was born on 6th April 1970, in the house of father, Sardar Sukhwant Singh and mother, Mata Surjit Kaur in the village of Riali Kalan, Tehsil Batala, District Gurdaspur. Bhai Sahib had a fair complexion, hazel eyes, a slender body, and was five feet seven inches tall. He was of a gentle and friendly nature. Bhai Amarjit Singh, was the elder brother, Bhai Gurdeep Singh, was the younger brother and Bhai Sahib had two younger sisters, Bibi Sakuntala Kaur and Bibi Goga Kaur. Bhai Sahib came from a very poor family, and his father worked as a labourer. He studied up to the eighth grade and then started working as a lathe operator in a factory.

 

Joining Babbar Khalsa

It was during those days that Bhai Sahib met Bhai Dharam Singh Kashtival, the general of the Majha Zone of Babar Khalsa, and Bhai Sahib joined him in serving the struggle for the independence of Khalistan. Bhai Sahib had a very close friendship with Bhai Sahib Singh Kashtiwal and Bhai Tarsem Singh Riali Babbar, who was from the same village. In the ranks of the fighters, Bhai Sahib was lovingly called ‘Shindi’. In a short time, he did immense actions, and seeing his dedication and courage towards the struggle, Bhai Sahib was appointed as the area commander of Babar Khalsa. Bhai Sahib took part in many major encounters and punished many anti-Sikh elements. Whenever Bhai Sahib came home to visit his family, his mother would say, “Shinde son! Get married, I really want to play with your children…” Bhai Sahib would reply, “Mata Ji! Now I am going to marry death. You just pray for my martyrdom.”

 

Torture on Family

When Bhai Sahib was serving in the Sikh struggle, the police inflicted a lot of atrocities on his parents, arresting them and keeping them in Batala police station for several days. Bhai Sahib’s elder brother, Bhai Amarjit Singh, who was a very kind man and had a small tea shop at Aliwal Bus Station. The cruel police officer, Gobind Ram himself tortured Bhai Amarjit Singh. Police raids were frequent on the house. Bhai Amarjit Singh’s children were very young, and the CRPF personnel would kick them too. 

 

Martyrdom

Bibi Daljit Kaur, the eldest sister-in-law of Bhai Sahib, told us that the police had arrested Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda, from a house near Sri Hargobindpur in the village of Sathiala. SSP Gobind Ram tortured him relentlessly for a month and kept asking him about the hideouts and weapons of the Jhujaru Singhs, especially of Bhai Dharam Singh Kashtiwal’s group. Bhai Sahib had his skin pulled off his badly, but he did not give away any information on the Jhujaru Singhs and their weapons. During the torture, the police broke his bones and limbs, burned his entire body with presses, pulled his nails off the fingers, and hammered nails into his head. Then on 24th July 1989, the police martyred Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda and Bhai Gurdev Singh Sona (Riali) in a false police encounter on the bridge of village of Wadala Granthian.

 

Newspaper Report

The following day, on 25th July 1989 the newspapers printed their narrative on the martyrdom of Shaheed Bhai Kanwarjit Singh Shinda, “SSP Gobind Ram said that when a patrol party of the BSF went to search the village of Wadala Granthian under his leadership last night, six militants opened fire on us, and in the retaliatory firing, two militants were killed, one of whom was unidentified and the other was identified as Kanwaljit Singh Shinda, and four militants managed to escape from there. Gobind Ram described Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda as wanted in more than 50 murder cases and responsible for blowing up the highway express with a bomb, attacking the BSF in Shankarpur, killing soldiers in the village of Bhangali, and several other incidents. He also admitted that Bhai Kanwaljit Singh had a great terror in the area and the police considered him a very dangerous militant. It was also said that Kanwaljit Singh had come after receiving training from Pakistan. A 30-bore pistol, 10 live and 6 used cartridges, HE 36 hand grenade, a magazine of an AK47, 20 live and 27 used cartridges of an AK47 were recovered from him.”

 

The police had written Bhai Sahib as a terrorist in the copy of the FIR, but these heroes were not terrorists or separatists. They were only trying to restore the honor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj, take revenge for the desecration of Gurdwaras, and fight for the legitimate rights of the Panth and Punjab, they fought for the protection of daughters and sisters and for the establishment of Khalistan, they left the love of their families and jumped into the battlefield, these are the invaluable diamonds and heroes of the Sikh nation. Terrorists are the Indian government, Hindu rulers, Indian Army and police who committed our genocide and forced us to take up arms.

 

Martyrdom Ceremony

Babbar Khalsa along with other Jhujaru organisations and the family organised the Bhog of Sri Akhand Paath Sahib in the name of Shaheed Bhai Kanwaljit Singh Shinda at village Riali where countless congregations paid tributes to this warrior of Khalistan.

 

Tavareekh Shaheed-E-Khalistan 2 – Ranjit Singh Damdami Taksal