Shaheed Bhai Pargat Singh Sakheera

Khalistan Commando Force

 

Bhai Pargat Singh was born on 1st April 1973 to the blessed womb of his mother, Mata Kashmir Kaur and father, Sardar Bhai Major Singh in the village of Sakheera, near Manochahal. He was the eldest of three children, with a younger brother and sister. Bhai Pargat Singh’s family earned a living by working in agriculture and farming. Bhai Pargat Singh studied up to tenth grade at his local village school. Bhai Pargat Singh was a very devout Gursikh and would wake up daily to recite his morning prayers without fail. He would also regularly serve at the local Gurdwara by conducting readings of Sri Jap Ji Sahib and Sri Sukhmani Sahib. Whilst living his day-to-day life farming with his father, he would regularly visit another religious site of Thathi Khera. This organisation known as Kar Sewa were known to restore Gurdwaras and other religious buildings.

 

Here, Bhai Pargat Singh Sakheera came into contact with Bhai Kashmir Singh Thathgarh who was a known and respected Jhujaru Singh. Having spent time with the Jhujaru Singhs, he to became inspired to dedicate his life to the freedom movement and decided to leave his family home to join the Jhujaru Singhs indefinitely. Bhai Pargat Singh lived with another well-known Jhujaru Singh of Bhai Balwinder Singh Gagobua. He served selflessly and participated in many actions alongside the Jhujaru Singhs.

 

On one occasion, he was arrested outside a Gurdwara in Chandigarh. The police kept him in jail for up to fifteen days where he was brutally torture. His family seeked legal support and managed to get him released on bail. This time he made a vow never to return home. Bhai Pargat Singh went on to join the militia group Khalistan Commando Force under the lead of Bhai Wassan Singh Zaffarwal. Bhai Balwinder Singh Gagobua also went along with Bhai Pargat Singh to join the Khalistan Commando Force. Bare in mind at his age at this time was a mere 17/18-year-old. Yet, he served with full dedication and great maturity. The Jhujaru Singhs of this area had a lot of love and respect for him.

 

On the night of 11th November 1991, the Jhujaru Singhs had just carried out an action in the village of Sursingh. They were on their way back to the village of Gagobua. Bhai Pargat Singh was with two fellow Jhujaru Singhs, Bhai Balwinder Singh Gagobua and Bhai Hardev Singh. Suddenly, they realised the police were tailing them and being followed. The police forces immediately surrounded the entire area of Gagobua. Knowing that they had to hide or escape, Bhai Pargat Singh and Bhai Hardev Singh ran into the nearest sugarcane fields which was roughly 4 acres. Bhai Balwinder Singh Gagobua managed to escape the area. A full assault was led by the Punjab police and did not stop until they had identified the whereabouts of both Bhai Pargat Singh and Bhai Hardev Singh. They both fought back with great vigour and during this battle of fired bullets both Jhujaru Singhs attained Shaheedi (martyrdom) in the early hours of 12th November 1991.

 

Information given by the family of Shaheed Bhai Pargat Singh Sakheera