Shaheed Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu

Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan /Khalistan Liberation Force

 

Bhai Nishan Singh was born to the blessed womb of mother, Mata Jaswant Kaur and in the house of father, Sardar Buta Singh in the village of Vanjhoke, district Makhu. He was one of seven children, with four brothers and two sisters – Bhai Gurdeep Singh Darbara, Shaheed Bhai Chanan Singh, Bibi Surjit Kaur, Bhai Bohar Singh, Bhai Amrik Singh and Bibi Dato Kaur. Bhai Nishan Singh studied up to 5th grade then left school to work alongside his father in agriculture and farming their family-owned land. Bhai Makhu’s Anand Karaj was arranged with Bibi Joginder Kaur and they were blessed with two sons and two daughters. Bhai Nishan Singh was six foot tall with a strong athletic body, he was a brave, fearless and courageous individual. The family were closely associated with a non – orthodox faction known as the Radha Swami. However, they were very devoting and kept full faith in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj.

 

Bhai Nishan Singh’s path was about to change. One day someone had falsely accused him of a theft and he became falsely implicated in the case. Bhai Makhu was sentenced and sent to jail. During his time in jail, he met a very high spirited Gursikh who openly said to him, “Bhai Nishan Singh, you are a tall, well‑built, strong, admirable young individual. You should seriously consider surrendering yourself to fight for the Sikh homeland. Those who lay down their life for the Guru are honoured in history and remembered for eternity.” These words had a profound impact on Bhai Nishan Singh. Upon release from jail, these words still struck to him and he was eager to do something about it.

 

A short time later, Bhai Sahib came into contact with the Chief General of the Khalistan Liberation Force, Jathedar Avtar Singh Brahma. Here, Bhai Nishan Singh became acquainted with the group and began his Jhujaru activities. In the early days, his participation was kept secret, and he followed instructions only when given directly by the Jathedar Brahma. It was quickly noticed that Bhai Nishan Singh was very capable of carrying out tasks and taking part in actions. His valour was incredible and the Jhujaru Singhs of this militia, Khalistan Liberation Force, were extremely impressed. So much so that, he was appointed the Lieutenant General of the Khalistan Liberation Force. Inevitably, news of his position and active participation soon became knowledge amongst the Punjab police. During this period of the movement, there were many a police touts, infiltrators and informants who were quick to sell this news to the state government.

 

As had become the norm for the heinous Punjab Police, they were sent to raid and harass the family and home of Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu. The hunt had begun. Knowing he would need to leave home indefinitely in order to continue his Jhujaru activities, Bhai Nishan Singh left home and joined the Jhujaru Singhs of the Khalistan Liberation Force, going underground. The police were aggressively trying to hunt him down and his family had to face the brunt of this. The police murdered his brother, Bhai Chanan Singh following interrogation and harassment. Bhai Chanan Singh was honoured a Martyr. For their own safety, the family decided to move into the shelter of the Radha Swami institution. Once the police discovered this, they wasted no time in looting the family home and occupying it as their operational base in the area.

 

Khalistan Liberation Force were renowned for the all the actions they carried out and how they were paramount in spearheading the movement to great heights in Punjab. Due to this, Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu became well known and his name often appeared in local newspapers reporting the latest actions and Jhujaru stories. Many were inspired by him and they would often sing his slogans and praises at religious events. On one occasion, Bhai Nishan Singh was in the village of Sabrawan and a massive confrontation ensued with the Indian security forces. It was the festive day of Lohri and the police had come to know of Bhai Makhu’s whereabouts from an informant. The entire village was surrounded by police, CRPF and BSF forces. The police forcibly took tractors from local villagers, positioning them around the village and switching on their lights to prevent Bhai Nishan Singh and his fellow Jhujaru Singhs from using the darkness of night to escape. The BSF force commander made an audio announcement for Bhai Nishan Singh and his fellow Jhujaru Singhs to drop their weapons and surrender, as they have no way to escape now and they will not get out alive.

 

The police pin pointed the house in which the Jhujaru Singhs were positioned and began firing and shelling it down. The Jhujaru Singhs put up a massive fight in retaliation and the police were shocked of the might of these Jhujaru Singhs. They had eliminated countless police men who were dropping to the floor like flies. The police were unable to tame the fire of retaliation. The battle continued and some of the Jhujaru Singhs, such as Bhai Balraj Singh Ahlaan and Bhai Daler Singh (village Munda) were struck during this confrontation and attained martyrdom. Bhai Nishan Singh fought a brilliant fight and single handedly brought down many of the police men into piles on the ground. Bhai Nishan Singh got shot in his thigh and above his hip. However, he still managed to escape along with his fellow Jhujaru Singh, Bhai Sher Singh. Together, they escaped and made their way to the village of Sarhali, to another hideout. The following day, news spread like wild fire amidst news reports and newspapers of this notable battle. It was also mentioned how some Jhujaru Singhs attained Shaheedi, whilst Bhai Nishan Singh and Bhai Sher Singh managed to escape.

 

After this, the police had taken over and fully occupied the family home. They had instilled fear into the locals with their regular appearance and constant questioning in a bid to find Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu. A bounty was placed on his head, encouraging informants to come forward. The bounty reward took effect as the whereabouts of Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu was informed to the police and he was found in one a specified hideout place in the village of Khemkaran, Ferozepur. Unexpectedly, there was complete cordon of police around the area. He was immediately picked up and taken to the police station. Here he was the subject of the most brutal torture, the police had been longing to capture him and this was there chance to extract information from Bhai Makhu. The interrogation and torture which ensued was relentless due to which Bhai Makhu took his last breaths at the hands of these disgusting puppets of the state. Bhai Nishan Singh attained martyrdom and lived up to the words of the Gursikh who had instilled the words of sacrifice and laid his life for the Guru Panth.

 

It was later discovered that an individual named Mohinder Aahlan had informed the police of Bhai Nishan Singh’s whereabouts in the village of Khemkaran. It became known that Mohinder Ahla made regular visits to the office of the SSP in Ferozepur. It was this SSP who captured and killed Bhai Nishan Singh of Makhu. The news of his Shaheedi made it to all the major newspapers and the local news TV channel. The news reports did not fall short of sharing their praises in his honour. The police held a press conference straight away and the DGP of Punjab police, KP Gill announced that Bhai Makhu had been martyred in an encounter along with another Singh. Bhai Nishan Singh’s dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten and his name is certainly etched into the pages of Sikh history and the fight for Khalistan.

 

Known KLF Jhujaru, Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu Martyred

Awaze Quam 19/25th November 1992:

Chandigarh – Bhai Nishan Singh, District Ferozepur was martyred in an encounter near Gander village. He was wanted in over 1000 militant incidents. He was the Deputy Chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force. It is learned that DGP KP Gill immediately took reporters with him to the location of the encounter. This encounter is said to have taken place in the morning. Along with Bhai Makhu, one of his close associates, Major Singh, was also martyred. According to police, on receiving information, security forces raided one of Bhai Nishan Singh’s hideouts, which led to an encounter in which Bhai Nishan Singh and Bhai Major Singh were martyred. KP Gill praised the Ferozepur police and said that Bhai Nishan Singh was a very big militant and he was wanted by the police in many cases and he was caught after a long time with great difficulty. He was first arrested during Operation Blue Star but he fled after his release. Gill said that Makhu had crossed the border into Pakistan at least 27 times in his nine-and-a-half-year militant life. He claimed that Bhai Makhu had brought 170 Chinese assault rifles, 10 machine guns, 27 rocket launchers, 160 rockets, 260 revolvers and pistols, 27 quintals of explosives, hand and stick grenades, 170 phosphorus bombs, 5-night vision devices and approximately 80,000 cartridges from Pakistan.

 

Gill revealed that Bhai Makhu became a militant after Operation Blue Star. He himself used to lead his group in the killings. He was first involved with Gurjant Singh Rajasthani’s faction. Then he joined BTFK (Manochahal) and then went to KLF and he was a very senior member of this group. After the martyrdom of Bhai Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala in Ludhiana last July, the Pakistani intelligence agencies asked Bhai Makhu to lead the KLF, but he refused. He made Bhai Pritam Singh Sekhon the head of this organisation, who was junior to him. After this Bhai Nishan Singh was given the title of ‘Chief Patron’. He actually leads this organisation.

 

DGP said that Bhai Nishan Singh also committed incidents in the Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh. There he had set up a KLF base. Now Makhu was working in the Makhu, and Patti area of Ferozepur district and the adjoining areas of Tarn Taran district. Sometimes he would go and hide in the area of ​​Mand along the Beas River and the Sutlej-Beas. Bhai Nishan Singh of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh was coordinating the activities of militants and cross-border activities. Bhai Nishan Singh had also killed several police officers. 2x AK47 rifles, a pistol, three stick grenades and some explosive materials were recovered from the spot.

 

According to Chandra Shekhar from Makhu, Bhai Nishan Singh had kidnapped 7 passengers from a bus from Makhu and killed 5 of them. He killed Harbhajan Singh Arhti, Vipin Kumar of Chilling Station, 25 soldiers near Basti Vasava Singh, 2 people were hanged near Padri. RP Studio of Zira’s Baldev Raj, a doctor from Makhu, Krishan Kumar and Sarpanch of Vanjhoke, Jarnail Singh were also killed by him. He had escaped from at least 9 police encounters before. He was the son of Buta Singh Radha Swami of village Vanjhoke. 

 

It may be recalled that the police had said in recent days that Bhai Nishan Singh had escaped during the encounter, while some newspapers had expressed suspicion that Bhai Nishan Singh had been arrested by the police. According to the police, the party in the encounter was led by Mohammad Mustafa, Senior Police Captain, Ferozepur. According to Punjab Police chief KP Gill, Bhai Makhu has a reward of Rs 20 lakh on his head. From Amritsar, the Tribune News Service has reported quoting high officials that Bhai Makhu was caught from Ferozepur district during an encounter three days ago, in which two militants and a soldier were also killed and the story of the encounter was fabricated after killing them.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Nishan Singh Makhu