Jump to content

Tara Singh (activist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SmackBot (talk | contribs) at 13:29, 7 March 2006 (RM caps in section headers, minor fixes. using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Master Tara Singh (24 June, 1885, Rawalpindi, Punjab - 22 November, 1967, Chandigarh) was a prominent Sikh political and religious leader in the first half of the 20th century. He was instrumental in organizing the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, in organizing Sikhs politically, and guided the Sikhs during the Partition of India, and later led their demand for a Sikh-majority state in Punjab, India.

Early life

Master Tara Singh was born on 24 June, 1885 in the village Harial in Rawalpindi District, now in Pakistan. His childhood name was Nanak Chand and his father’s name was Bakshi Gopi Chand, who by caste was a Malhotra, and a Hindu. He had four brothers and a sister. His father was the village patwari by profession and was held in great esteem by the villagers, and his mother was Mullan Devi, a very pious lady. The entire family, especially their parents believed in Sikh Gurus and Gurbani.

Education and Religious experiences

After passing his primary, he joined the mission school at Rawalpindi. There he baffled his teacher of divinity by asking him very probing and inquisitive questions about Christianity. Some times, he was attracted towards Hinduism and sometimes towards Christianity. During his childhood period there used to be a daily discourse from Sikh religious book Panth-Parkash in the village gurudwara. Nanak Chand daily went to the congregation to listen to the katha (discourse). His daily attendance had a deep-rooted effect and it became one of his foremost ambitions to become a Sikh as he was immensely inclined to the faith.

Whenever he came home on some holidays he along with several others went to have darshan of Attar Singh, a famous Sikh saint and theologian at Dera Khalsa. He was very popular in the area and held in high esteem by both Sikhs and Hindus. In 1902, on Attar Singh’s persuasion he was initiated into Khalsa order with some other friends and given a new name, Tara Singh. Attar Singh was very impressed by his personality and blessed him saying, "You are given inner illumination, go and give light to others too".

Tara Singh's family did not object to him becoming a Sikh, as it was normal practice in those days for the eldest son in a Hindu family to become one of the Khalsa, he continued living together even after his father's sudden death. He passed his matric in 1903 and decided to join the Khalsa College at Amritsar. He was good not only in studies but also a first class sportsman and captain of the college field hockey team and member of the football team. Singh was also admired for his spirituality and firm adherence to Sikh religious values.

Agitation in college

At the time when Tara Singh was a student of the Khalsa College, its management worked entirely under official supervision. As a student and a sports person Tara Singh was also conscious of traditions of selfless service and showed it effectively during his stay in the college. Once Major Hill who was a member of the governing council came to the college to enquire about the progress of construction work of the college, he found the pace of construction slow. Sardar Dharam Singh was overseeing the construction work in an honorary capacity. Major Hill is recorded to have remarked, "Labour of love is nonsense".

Dharam Singh was removed from the job and Tara Singh took it upon him as a challenge to the Sikh tradition of selfless service. He with the help of fellow students saw to it that the new engineer does not step into the college. On February 10, 1907 when the new engineer came to the college, the students under his leadership wore black badges. The persuasion of the principal of the college had no effect on him and the situation deteriorated so much that Maharaja of Nabha himself came to Amritsar and assured Tara Singh that Major Hill had no intention of showing disrespect to Sardar Dharam Singh or criticizing his spirit of selfless service.

Public service

In 1907, Tara Singh was a student when the farmers of Lyallpur inhabiting the colonies protested against the passage of the Colonization Bill. Tara Singh thoroughly studied the organizational, directional and the leadership aspects of the agrarian movement of 1907. He was instrumental in organizing a protest demonstration at the farewell visit of the outgoing lieutenant governor, Charles Rivaz. After studying all aspects of the movement he came to the conclusion that the leaders of the movement had been trying to exploit the reputation of the Sikhs in the eyes of the British.

Tara Singh decided to awaken the farmers living in the colonies by spreading education to them. After completing his graduation in 1907, he consciously decided to become an educator and joined the Teacher Training College, Lahore for a teaching training diploma (S.A.V.). It was in the same year that he was married to Bibi Tej Kaur of village Dhamial in Rawalpindi District. In 1908, after completing his training he along with two fellows, Sunder Singh and Bishan Singh opened Khalsa High School at Lyallpur, now Faisalabad. Tara Singh preferred to give over his life to the service of his community. It is from this place that his career in public life began.

Tara Singh ran the Khalsa High School on an honorarium of rupees fifteen per month. His personality and sacrifice inspired several others to volunteer their services to serve the school as teachers; accepting salaries lower than warranted by their qualifications. The whole staff worked with devotion that motivated the students. In two years period it became one of the leading schools in both education and sports. Soon the school became the center of Sikh education in the district and several more schools opened as its branches.

Tara Singh by his sociability and competence succeeded in creating a group of Sikh workers in the district. Sardar Harcharan Singh Rias, Sardar Bishan Singh Singhpuria, Teja Singh Samundari, Maghar Singh Jamadar, Sadhu Singh, Hari Singh, Babu Tript Singh and Bhai Buta Singh became his comrades and formed a powerful group of workers who later became known in the community as The Lyallpur Group. His desire was to awaken the whole Sikh community to the reality of their proud heritage by effecting resurgence among them. Initially, as an attempt to realize this objective he brought out a weekly from Lyallpur called as Sach Dhandhora (Pbi). Thereafter, he came to be permanently associated with all kinds of political activities concerning Sikhs.

In 1914, the Sikh emigrants to Canada sent a representative delegation to Punjab, to make their countrymen aware of the discriminatory and unjust attitude of the foreign government towards them. In this delegation, Master Tara Singh’s old school mate, Nand Singh was also present. On hearing Master Tara Singh’s popularity in Lyallpur, came to meet him and familiarized Master Tara Singh towards the condition of the emigrants and injustice being done to them. Master Tara Singh organised many meetings at Lyallpur, Rawalpindi and Gujjarkhan criticising the Canadian as well as the British Raj against this discriminatory treatment and his revolutionary urge came in the open. The foreign bureaucracy did not like this and they started creating problems for him.

He left Lyallpur in 1914 for two years and served as headmaster of Khalsa High School, Kallar. At the time, the financial position of this school was not good and he put that budding institution on a sound footing. He returned to Lyallpur and was again working as Headmaster for his own school when Gurdwara Reform Movement started.

SGPC and the Gurdwara Movement

Tara Singh was one of the first members among the one hundred seventy five members elected to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, whose formation provided a focal point for the movement for the reformation of the Sikh religious places. Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee began controlling Gurdwaras one by one, but the trouble arose where the mahants were stubborn as they were shielded by law. Starting in late 1920, large number of reformers both in urban and rural Punjab had joined to form separate and independent groups called jatha, for gaining control over their local Gurdwaras. Leader of a jatha was called jathedar under whose command a jatha would occupy a shrine and try to gain transfer of management in its favor from its current incumbents. Sometimes the transfer went peacefully especially in the case of smaller Gurdwaras with less income resources, and sometimes with the threat of force.

The Sikh leadership was fully aware of the importance of press for the success of any movement. It enlisted the active support and sympathy of some of the important nationalist papers in the country like The Independent (English), Swaraj (Hindi), The Tribune, Liberal, Kesari (Punjabi), Milap (Urdu), Zamindar (Urdu) and Bande Mataram (Hindi). Two of the vernacular dailies Akali (Pbi.) and the Akali-te-Pardesi (Urdu) also played an important role. It brought the necessary awakening among the Sikh masses and prepared them to undertake the struggle for reform. Master Tara Singh remained the editor of these two papers. With the direct and indirect support of the Central Sikh League, the Indian National Congress and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the Shiromani Akali Dal started a non-violent struggle against the government for the control of the Gurdwaras.

The reports of some immoral acts perpetrated at Tarn-Taran reached the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee at its meeting on January 14, 1921. A fortnight earlier a local jatha was beaten up and not allowed to perform kirtan at the Gurdwara. It decided to send a jatha from Amritsar under Jathedar Teja Singh Bhuchar. Jathedar Kartar Singh Jhabbar with Akalis from ‘Khara Sauda Bar’ joined him. On January 25, a group of about forty workers took over the control of Sri Darbar Sahib Tarn-Taran from its Mahant. In the ensuing conflict two Akalis were killed and several others wounded by the henchmen of the Mahants. The Mahants were ousted from the Gurdwara and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee appointed a managing committee.

Nankana Sahib massacre

There were many complaints of immoral practices in the Janam Asthan Gurdwara at Nankana Sahib, by the Udasi Mahant Narain Dass and his companions. The Sikhs resolved to take the management of the Gurdwara in their own hands. Accordingly, a posse of about 150 Sikhs, under the leadership of the Bhai Lachhman Singh on February 20, 1921 proceeded to take possession of the Gurdwara. The Jatha entered the Gurdwara as ordinary pilgrims, unarmed and peaceful. The Mahant Narain Dass, apprehended such an attempt and had collected plenty of arms and ammunition in the Gurdwara and had engaged a considerable number of Pathans inside the Gurdwara. The Sikhs were fired upon without any warning and hounded from room to room. According to government reports about 130 Akali devotees were massacred inside the Gurdwara. The wounded as well as the dead were then burnt in the fire of wood sprinkled with kerosene oil. Next day on hearing the news of the massacre, a jatha consisting of 1,000 Akalis headed by Kartar Singh Jhabbar marched towards the scene. Master Tara Singh along with Sardar Teja Singh Samundari also joined it. When the jatha was about to reach the Gurdwara the Deputy Commissioner of Nankana Sahib and Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh who was the public prosecutor of Lahore at that time met them on the way and requested them not to proceed to the spot in view of serious situation, to which the jatha agreed. The same evening the control of the Gurdwara was handed over to a committee of six members with Harbans Singh Attari as its president. The mahants of the other Gurdwara at Nankana Sahib voluntarily surrendered.

Next to the Amritsar Massacre, the tragedy of Nankana evoked the greatest public criticism in press and amongst the public. The tragedy greatly perturbed the Sikhs in different parts of the country who vehemently condemned the action of the mahant and sent messages of sympathy for the Akali martyrs. National leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Lala Dhuni Chand and Lala Lajpat Rai visited the scene of the tragedy and expressed sympathy for the Akalis. Prominent Sikh members of the Punjab legislative council, the Sikh League, the Chief Khalsa Diwan and other Sikh organizations reached the spot, especially at the time of the Shahidi Diwan held on March 3, 1921. The leaders used the inflamed sentiments fully and the Sikhs were asked to wear black turbans in honour of the Nankana Sahib martyrs. Information booth was opened to provide assistance to the families of the deceased. A school and a hospital at Nankana Sahib and a missionary college at Amritsar was opened in memory of the incident.

The Nankana Sahib tragedy in the year 1921 ended Master Tara Singh’s career as a teacher as he felt upon to take his share in the struggle that had come about as an inevitable result of the injustice, repression and disrespect to the Sikh religious places. Master Tara Singh had become an active participant in the Gurdwara Movement and at the historic Shahidi Diwan, Nankana Sahib, pledged before the Sikh sangat to devote his whole life to the cause of Sikh panth. Being an honest and sincere man with great prestige was requisitioned by Sardar Teja Singh Samundari and Sardar Harbans Singh Attariwala to come to Amritsar as a whole time worker and at the very outset, was appointed secretary of the newly formed Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.

Key's Agitation

Management of the Golden Temple had always been of special interest to the community. After the annexation of Punjab, the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, looked into the important Sikh affairs, which might have some impact on the government’s relations with the Sikhs. For the rest, the mahants had everything to their own way. At a meeting presided by the Deputy Commissioner and attended by leading Sikh Sardars held on December 22, 1859, decided to set up a management committee of nine members. It did not have much control and interest in management affairs and the mahants continued to be powerful as before.

Newly elected Executive Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee on October 29, 1921 adopted a resolution asking its secretary Sunder Singh Ramgarhia to hand over the keys of the treasury to its president, Kharak Singh. Sunder Singh Ramgarhia consulted the Deputy Commissioner and deposited the keys with the government treasury and subsequently also resigned as the sarbrah of the Golden Temple. The government appointed Honorary Captain Bahadur Singh as the new sarbrah. The Keys became the bone of contention and the Akalis had no alternative but to protest against the uncalled for and unwarranted interference of the government in the matters of Sikh religion. Public meetings were held throughout the province that was followed by widespread agitation. This agitation is known as ‘Chabian da Morcha (Key’s Affair)’ in the Sikh history. In order to put an end to the agitation the government invoked the provisions of the Seditious Meetings Act. Subsequently, Master Tara Singh and other Sikh leaders including Baba Kharak Singh and Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh were tried, convicted and sentenced to various terms of rigorous imprisonment. He was arrested in connection with his speech delivered in a Diwan held at Sri Akal Takht Sahib. This was his first arrest in public life. After this Master Tara Singh resigned from his job as a headmaster and solely devoted himself to the work of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and the Akali Dal.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee passed a resolution on December 16, 1921 that no Sikh should agree to any arrangement about the restoration of keys until all the Akali arrested in connection with the Keys Affair were unconditionally released. After arresting more than one thousand leaders and workers the government had to give up the policy of repression and on January 11, 1922 released all the prisoners. The Akali leadership refused to collect the keys from the district magistrate. The government had to send an Indian gazetted officer to hand over the keys to Kharak Singh at a diwan especially arranged for the purpose.

This was great victory for the Akalis, Mahatma Gandhi’s telegram to Kharak Singh read, “First battle for India’s freedom won, congratulations.” It was because of the policy of cooperation with the Indian National Congress, that the victory in the Key’s Affair was declared so by Mahatma Gandhi and Master Tara Singh was instrumental in the adoption of this policy.

Kirpan da Morcha

In March 1922, Master Tara Singh was again arrested in connection with the Kirpan-da-Morcha during which within a fortnight seventeen hundred black turbaned Sikhs were arrested. Sikhs were also persecuted for wearing Kirpan beyond certain length. The Sikh leaders on the other hand directed the people to wear them in the manner and length prohibited by the government. Ultimately, the government conceded the Sikh demand and the ban on the full size sword was removed. Later on it may be noted the keeping of the swords was exempted from the operation of the Arms Act not only in case of the Sikhs but for all communities.

Morcha Guru Ka Bagh

Master Tara Singh was soon re-arrested in the Guru ka Bagh Morcha on September 1922. The Mahant Sunder Das of the Gurdwara Guru-Ka-Bagh near Ajnala in the Amritsar district had submitted to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in August 1921. When the government after the ‘Keys Affair’ started taking repressive measures against the Akalis under a sense of humiliation, the mahant also reverted to his old ways after a year of his submission. On August 9, 1922 the representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee who had chopped wood from the land adjoining the Gurdwara for the langar (community kitchen) were arrested and put on trial for theft, on the basis of a complaint by Mahant Sunder Das that the land belonged to him. This provoked the Sikhs to assert their right, as the land was the property of the Gurdwara. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee started sending jathas of five Akalis everyday to Guru-Ka-Bagh from Amritsar. More than 200 Akalis were arrested by August 25. Every jatha was given strict instructions to remain non-violent and to bear all hardships and excesses on the part of the police without any retaliation.

On August 26, 1922, eight important leaders of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee including Master Tara Singh and Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh were arrested who were trying to hold a meeting at the Gurdwara Guru-Ka-Bagh. Akali volunteers continued to reach Amritsar in a group of 80, 100 or even 200 and continued to march from the Akal Takht to the Guru-Ka-Bagh to suffer the most brutal repression of the police. By October 19, the number of Akalis arrested was more than 2,450.

It was here, in the morcha of Guru ka Bagh that the Akalis demonstrated the efficacy of the weapon of peaceful satygraha by their strict adherence to the vow of non-violence and thus set a new example to inspire the forces of nationalism in the country. Their firm faith shook the authorities whose immoral use of power was exposed by the patient sufferings of the peaceful Akalis. Hindus and Muslims both had their sympathy with the Sikh cause. This agitation ultimately came to an end through the intervention of Sir Ganga Ram, the well-known philanthropist of Lahore who took the land on lease and gave it to the Gurdwara.

Nabha Agitation

The next and final war of the movement was fought in the neighboring state of Nabha. The immediate cause for the morcha was the deposition of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha. It was believed by the British that he was in sympathy with the Akali Movement and was also considered to be too independent to suit their political needs. He had to abdicate the throne in a dispute with the Maharaja of Patiala, largely because of his being an Akali sympathizer. Master Tara Singh could not digest this act of gross injustice and through his forceful editorials in Akali and Akali-te-Pardesi was able to arouse the sentiments of the Sikh masses. In the Akali-te-Pardesi of July 9, of 1923 he wrote an emotional article regarding the deposing of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, it read,

"Lovers of the Panth, will you allow the guardians of Maharaja Duleep Singh to take charge of the Tikka Sahib of Nabha? Rise, hold diwans and deliver lectures. Every Sikh society should raise a storm of agitation against this treachery and deceit -- Do not stop, be fearless and come forward."

Through this spadework he was able to make a strong public opinion in favour of the Nabha issue. He was instrumental in Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee taking up the matter in its hand and passing a resolution in the first week of August 1923 to have the Nabha wrongs undone by every legitimate and peaceful means. As a link in the agitation akhand path was held at a Gurdwara at Jaito in the Nabha state to pray for the restoration of the Maharaja. The Nabha police entered the Gurdwara and arrested the Akali workers and the pathis. Akhand Path was thus interrupted. It was a great affront to the religious feelings of the Sikhs. The morcha was launched and the jathas from Amritsar started reaching Jaito where they were not allowed to enter and arrested on arrival. The Punjab government launched a rigorous attack on the base of Akali headquarters and declared the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and Akali Dal, as unlawful bodies on January 7, 1924 and arrested sixty-two of its leaders including the entire working committee of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Master Tara Singh and other Akali leaders were also put behind the bars. Their trial continued for two years and three months and is popularly known as Akali Leaders Case. The interesting thing about the case is that Master Tara Singh and other leaders were charged at the start of the morcha with harbouring feelings of mutiny for ending the British rule and establishing a Sikh Raj. In the statement in the Akali Leaders Case, Master Tara Singh frankly admitted this charge. He said,

"Another thing that I wish to say is that I am responsible for the Nabha agitation including the taking up of the question by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee."

Since the case was not based on legal sound footing and also no witness went into its favour, which, ultimately led the government to take back the case. Here are some extracts from the statements of Master Tara Singh in the court of J. P. Anderson:

"I am surprised that I have not been asked the question whether I am a conspirator and have joined in any kind of conspiracy? Has the court not asked me the question because it is convinced that this is the kind of conspiracy of which the conspirators know nothing? I do not understand the poetry of such laws or of such legal machinery. I have not yet understood what the facts produced by the prosecution are to prove? Was it intended to prove that these facts were the result of any conspiracy or that they may result in any conspiracy?"

The jathas continued to march towards Jaito for courting arrest. The Nabha police fired upon one such shahidi jatha on Feb 21, 1924 in which about 40 Sikhs were killed. The government inquiry into the Jaito firing exonerated the state police and held the jatha responsible for initiating the trouble. The members of the jatha were persecuted and given long-term imprisonment.

Master Tara Singh in his autobiography Meri Yaad strongly condemned this false blame and prosecution of the jatha on false charges. He said that "he is not so such unhappy over the firing incident as he has regret over the lies of the government."

Another shahidi jatha of 500 men again marched from Amritsar towards Jaito. No firing was resorted to this time but all its members were arrested. A state of war was thus declared as jatha after jatha poured into Jaito to assert their right. The whole prisons of the Nabha state were filled with prisoners from Amritsar and the things became serious and beyond the control of the Nabha state, the Punjab government joined in the affray. During the jaito morcha the Sikhs were attacked on two fronts, one at Amritsar, the point of start and the other at the destination, at Jaito.

Leaders of the Indian National Congress, who were watching with keen interest the Akali movement in the "Nabha Affair", formally expressed sympathy with the affairs and condemned the official action. Public meetings were held at various places in the country, which were addressed by popular national leaders. In a resolution passed on December 31, 1923 the Congress described the official action against the Akali leadership as “a direct challenge to the right of free association of all movements for freedom” and appealed to the nation to stand by the Sikhs. In the special session of the Congress held at Delhi in September 1923, it was decided to send Congress observers to Nabha to get first hand information about the development.

Jawaharlal Nehru, A.T. Gidwani and K. Santanam who went there for the purpose were arrested as soon as they entered the state territory and were put behind bars. During his detention and subsequent trial in Nabha, Pandit Nehru became the great admirer of the Akalis and wished to prove worthy of their high tradition and exceptional courage. The Khilafat Committee and the Muslim League also expressed their sympathies with the Akalis. Nationalist members in the central assembly and the Punjab legislative council also condemned the Jaito firing.

This led the government to reconsider its position with the result that the policy of repression had to be abandoned both in Nabha and in Punjab. Twelve shahidi jathas had been dealt with at Nabha but the thirteenth was now left untouched and it marched triumphantly to the Gurdwara at Jaito. Akand Path was again held at the Gurdwara without any hindrance.

Gurdwara Act of 1925

At the same time Malcolm Hailey, the governor of the Punjab showed his readiness to assist the Sikhs in taking possession of all the important Gurdwaras in the province through a five-member committee constituted by the Sikh members of the legislative council. Hailey presented a draft of a new Gurdwara Bill to the Akali leaders imprisoned in Lahore fort. Master Tara Singh, Baba Kharak Singh and Sardar Teja Singh Samundri studied each clause of the bill carefully. The bill met all the Akali demands and was passed into law on July 28, 1925 by the Governor General of India after its ratification by the Punjab legislative council. The Act came into force on November 1, 1925 with a gazette notification from the government of Punjab. According to the Act a Central Gurdwara Board elected by the Sikhs was to be the custodian of all-important Sikh places of worship. The first meeting of the Gurdwara board passed a resolution that its designation be changed to Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which was accepted by the government. Thus ended what came to be known in common parlance as the Third Sikh War. The Punjab government recognized the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee as a representative body of the Sikhs. In making the Punjab government agree to such recognition, the Akali leadership scored a major victory over the British.

Leader of the Sikhs

The Sikh Gurdwara bill met most of the demands of the Sikhs, but the government was willing to release the prisoners conditionally i.e. on the understanding to be given by the Akalis that they would agree to work for the Gurdwara Act. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the executive declared conditions imposed for the release of prisoners as wholly unnecessary, unjust and derogatory. Among the prominent Akalis, Mehtab Singh and Giani Sher Singh along with twenty other Akali leaders accepted the conditional release. Master Tara Singh, Baba Kharak Singh and Teja Singh Samundari and sixteen other Akalis did not come out as government emphasis on eliciting written assurance and acceptance was to Master Tara Singh, an attack on the self-respect of the Sikhs. He said,

"We ourselves have enacted this Act and we are responsible for implementing it, then why this condition?"

Teja Singh Samundari died of heart attack in the jail after some time. The Punjab Government failed to prove the charges against Master Tara Singh and the remaining Akalis, few months later they all were released unconditionally. The courage and sacrifice shown by the Akalis during the trial very soon drove the Mehtab Singh’s group out of the political field and led to a rift in the Akali ranks, as the newly released Akalis condemned Mehtab Singh’s group as collaborators. Mehtab Singh’s group was also known as Rai Bahadur Party. This group had majority in the committee and Mehtab Singh was elected its President. The Akali Party launched a campaign against the conditionally released leaders. When the new elections for the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee were held, the Akali Party won majority and the newly elected Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee elected Kharak Singh as the President and Master Tara Singh as the Vice President. Since Baba Kharak Singh had not yet been released the responsibility of the president fell on the shoulders of Master Tara Singh. He became indispensable in the cause of the struggle for the Sikh panth and emerged as the sole spokesman of the community.

Partition and Independence of India

Main Articles: Indian Independence Movement, Partition of India

Tara Singh was invited to represent Sikhs at the Round Table conference at Shimla after the end of the Second World War by the Governor-General Lord Wavell, to ease the political situation in the country, the Sikhs were given representation along with other communities. Tara Singh fiercely argued against the demand of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League to partition India, forcefully reiterating that such a move would irreparable hurt the Sikh community, which was scattered all over the province of Punjab without a majority in any district.

Tara Singh was especially infuriated at the prospect of Sikhs having to leave their most important and holy sites in the Punjab, such as Nankana Sahib, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. He was one of the first leaders to recognize that it would become impossible for Sikhs to continue living in what would become the new state of Pakistan.

The Congress Party assured Tara Singh, Baldev Singh and other Sikh leaders that India would belong to all its religious communities, and the Constitution would be secular. Having established faith and obtained some assurances through dialogue with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Tara Singh and the SGPC backed partition. Tara Singh also began to encourage Sikhs to leave Pakistan, so they could avoid the violence and repression he believed was inevitable.

But when partition came, over one million people, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were killed. Millions of Sikh and Hindu families were uprooted from Pakistan. During this period, many alleged that Tara Singh was endorsing the killing of Muslims as retaliation for the murders in Pakistan. When Sardar Patel and the Indian government assured the Sikh leadership that India would not hesitate to fight Pakistan if the violence did not stop, Tara Singh appealed to all Sikhs to stop and prevent all violence, and focus on helping the refugees arriving from Pakistan.

Punjab state

Tara Singh was the eldest leader and guide of the demand of the Shiromani Akali Dal and other Sikh groups for a state where Sikhs would be the majority, and Gurmukhi would be the official script. Tara Singh adopted this demand ever since 1947. He was aware that millions of Sikh families had suffered a lot and were uprooted in a matter of days from newly formed Pakistan by Muslims, he wanted a secure political space in India for Sikh communities.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, there were a series of demonstrations, especially when after 1957 the Union government began re-organizing state boundaries and creating new states on linguistic basis, but Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India was opposed to the creation of any state upon religious lines, fearing a repeat of partition and a degradation of Secularism.

However in 1966, with the political pressure coming to a climax following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, where thousands of Sikh officers and soldiers in the Indian Army had displayed tremendous valor in defending the country, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru granted the demand.

The state of Punjab was trifurcated into the Sikh-majority Punjab, which included the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. Hindu-majority areas were divided into the states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

This was Tara Singh's last agitation. He died on the eve of its fulfillment, on November 22, 1967.

References

Template:IndiaFreedom

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tara_Singh_(activist)&oldid=42637082"