Shaheed Bhai Lakhvir Singh Patwari

 

Bhai Lakhvir Singh was born in 1970 to the blessed womb of Mata Kartar Kaur and Sardar Bachan Singh, in the village of Khadial, Bhawanigarh, located in the Sangrur district of Punjab. He was the second youngest among eleven siblings—five brothers and five sisters. The family earned their livelihood through agriculture, cultivating their ancestral land, as is common among many families across Punjab. Bhai Lakhvir Singh completed his education up to the tenth grade at the local village school. He then pursued his eleventh and twelfth grades at Mastuana Sahib College in Sangrur, where he studied Pharmacy. Upon completing his studies, he began working as a Patwari (Government official who keeps records regarding the ownership of land) in the village of Khetla, near Dirba.

 

At this stage in his life, Bhai Lakhvir Singh had not yet taken Amrit. However, his character and lifestyle already reflected the virtues of a true Gursikh—he was deeply devoted to his faith and lived with integrity and humility. By 1990, the Indian state and central government had launched Operation Woodrose, a campaign that gave police sweeping powers to detain, torture, and kill Sikh men—young and old—under the guise of combating militancy. This operation aimed to instil fear among the youth of Punjab and deter them from being inspired by the Jhujaru Singhs and the armed resistance movement. The reach of this brutal campaign soon extended to the vicinity of Bhai Lakhvir Singh’s home village. He came under the scrutiny of the police, who, like in countless other cases, began targeting him solely based on his religious appearance.

 

Without warning, the police would repeatedly abduct Bhai Sahib, throw him into the back of their vehicle, and take him to the local station. There, he was subjected to horrific torture. Common methods included electrocution, the removal of fingernails, suspension with hands tied behind the back, beatings with metal and wooden rods, and the rolling of heavy logs over his legs—all intended to force confessions or extract information about alleged ties to the Jhujaru Singhs, despite his complete innocence. Bhai Sahib was eventually released each time under the false pretence that he had caused trouble for the village Panchayat.

 

This cycle of abduction and torture occurred at least three times. Yet, all Bhai Lakhvir Singh sought was a peaceful life—working during the day and returning home in the evening. Tragically, under Operation Woodrose, fake encounters became a grim norm. In 1991, on an unknown date, Bhai Lakhvir Singh was abducted once again. His family protested and pleaded for information about his whereabouts. But heartbreakingly, he was never seen again. It is widely believed that he was killed in a fake encounter, attaining Shaheedi—martyrdom—like countless other innocent Sikhs during that chapter of Punjab’s history.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Lakhvir Singh Patwari