Baba Kharak Singh-the Neglected Leader
by Baba Kharak Singh did a lot for India and the Sikhs, but in the end he never got his due from the Congress government.
Baba Kharak Singh was a staunch Sikh who came from an elitist family. He was one of the first to graduate from Lahore in the late eighties of the nineteenth century. Kharak Singh supported Gandhi, who promised him that the Sikhs would be better off with the Congress. Thus the Baba led many morchas( agitations) against the British rule. For this he was imprisoned for many years. His most famous morcha was against the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar to take possession of the sacred keys of the Toshkhana, which had been taken by the British official. Suffice it to say that the British relented and the keys were given to baba kharak singh in a ceremony.
The baba now launched himself into the independence movement. He supported Gandhi and Nehru. The British arrested baba Kharak Singh and confined him to jail for many years. baba Kharak Singh continued his agitation even from jail and on 2 occasions the British enhanced his sentence of imprisonment.
Baba Kharak Singh settled down in Delhi after 1947 where he breathed his last in 1964. but teh man who had led the Sikhs at the behest of Gandhi and Nehru was largely ignored by the Congress. The Congress did name a road after his name, but that is sad consolation to his followers who felt the baba’s contribution to the cause of Indian independence was largely ignored. Even Nehru visited him just once in 17 years in Delhi.
The sidelining of baba Kharak Singh was perhaps ingrained in Nehru, who had some strange notions about Sikhs.One can’t forget that he superseded Lt Gen Kulwant Singh to make Cariappa the Army Chief. Similarly Baba Kharak also never got his due from the Congress rulers. But history and time is on the side of kharak Singh and at some stage his contribution will be acknowledged.
Liked it
