|
.
SOHAN SINGH BHAKNA (Baba)
(Freedom
Fighter)
Born
in January, 1870 at village Khutral Khurd, District Amritsar,
Sohan Singh was the only son of Sardar Karam Singh, a
well-to-do peasant who died when Sohan Singh was hardly a year
old. As there was no school in the village, Sohal Singh
received his early education at the local Gurudwara. When he
was eleven a primary school was opened in the village. When he
completed his primary education from here, he had already
grown too old, so that he did not pursue his studies any
further.
He
migrated to the U.S.A. about the year 1907 and joined the
Punjabi immigrants in California. In course of time the
miseries and hardships suffered by Indians in America made him
an ardent nationalist. Driven to desperation by the attitude
of foreign governments and desiring of seize the opportunity
presented by the war, Sohan Singh, Lala Hardayal, Pt. Kanshi
Ram and few others put heads together and founder the Pacific
Coast Hindi Association. Sohan Singh was elected its first
President. The same association later came to be known as the
Ghadar Party.
As
desired by the Party, Sohan Singh left America even before the
World War broke out and returned to India as the head of the
band of revolutionaries by the ship Namsang following the
Komagata Maru. He reached Calcutta in October, 1914 but was
arrested immediately. He was then tried and sentenced to death
in the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. Later, on appeal to the
High court the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He
was released after 16 years.
In
jail he went on hunger strike in 1929 in sympathy with Bhagat
Singh and his comrades. When Bhagat Singh tried to dissuade
him on account of his old age, he said, "What if the body
looks old, the revolutionary in me is not old". Such was the
spirit he retained right till his death.
When
he stepped out of prison he again plunged into political
activity. His first concern was to get the Ghadar prisoners
released. Even so his main interest henceforward lay in the
welfare of peasants and he participated in several Kisan
Morchas. This brought him closer to the Communist Party of
India. When the Second World War started, he was arrested and
sent to jail at the Deoli Camp (Rajasthan). In 1943 he was
released along with other detainee of his party.
For
the next twenty-five years of his life, he continued working
for the Kisan Sabha and the Communist Party of India. At one
time he was President of the All-India Kisan Sabha. He was so
popular among its members that the Kisan Sabha decided to
honor him by holding a conference at his village Bhakna Kalan
from 2nd to 4th April 1943. It was sheer coincidence that
Babaji had been released a day earlier.
Source: chakdephate.com
Back
to freedom fighter of Punjab index
|
