Darshan Singh Canadian
Darshan Singh Canadian | |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Darshan A. Sangha 1917 Langeri, Punjab, India |
| Died | September 25, 1986 (aged 68–69) India |
| Manner of death | Assassination |
| Nationality | Indian, Canadian |
| Political party | Communist Party of India Communist Party of Canada |
| Other political affiliations | Labor-Progressive Party |
| Spouse | Harbans Kaur |
| Occupation | Trade union activist |
Darshan Singh Canadian (born Darshan A. Sangha in 1917, in
Canada
Darshan Singh Canadian immigrated to
Return to India
Darshan Singh Canadian returned to India upon its independence in 1947 and adopted "Canadian" as his surname.
He became active in the
Darshan Singh married Harbans, the daughter of Baba Lal Singh, a Ghadar veteran from Jandiala in Jalandhar district. His two daughters settled in Britain and Canada. In his last years, he suffered from spondylitis and other health problems, and once went to USSR for treatment.[3]
Assassination
On the afternoon of 25 September, Darshan Singh was killed by Sikh militants.[4] Within two hours of his death, about a thousand demonstrators gathered at the police station at Mahilapur, and blocked the way to Hoshiarpur. They protested against police inactivity, and even accused the police of complicity in the crime.[3][5]
On 26 September, a huge march was organized from his native village Langeri to Mahilapur. The people shouted slogans as "Darshan Singh Canadian Amar Rahe" (Long Live Darshan Singh Canadian), "Canadian aman ekta da shahid" (Canadian was a martyr to peace and unity), "Na Hindu Raj na Khalistan, jug jug jive Hindustan" (Neither Hindu Raj nor Khalistan, long live India), "Hindu Sikh noon jo ladaye, oh desh da vairi hai" (he who makes Hindus and Sikhs fight, is an enemy of the nation), "atvad wakhwad murdabad" (down with extremism and secessionism), "Lokan da ekta zindabad" (Long live public unity), "Hindu Sikh ekta zindabad" (Long live Hindu-Sikh unity), and "CPI zindabad" (Long live CPI).[3] From Mahilapur, the procession came back to Langeri. A 20,000-strong rally was held in the village school ground, where Canadian's body lay. Thousands of Sikh youth participated in the rally, denouncing the extremist killers.[3]
His body was cremated after several leaders, including the SGPC President, paid their tributes to him.[3]
See also
- Achhar Singh Chhina
- Baldev Singh Mann
- Deepak Dhawan
- Gursharan Singh (theatre director)
- Jaimal Singh Padda
- Nidhan Singh Gudhan
- Pash
- Teja Singh Swatantar
- Punjab insurgency
References
- ^ "DARSHAN SINGH CANADIAN: TEN YEARS IN CANADA" (PDF). watanpunjabi.ca.
- ^ "Darshan Singh: Fighter for the people | Communist Party of Canada". Archived from the original on 5 February 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ ISBN 81-7488-865-9.
- ^ "Ghosts of Khalistan". The Hindu. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Killing of communist leaders in Punjab makes Left parties more firm in opposing terrorism". India Today. 17 February 2014.
External links
- The History of Metropolitan Vancouver's HALL OF FAME Archived 31 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Hansard, Vol. 2, No. 2, page 672 (Friday 10 April 1992)
- Works of Darshan Singh Canadian
- Darshan Singh Canadian: Ten Years in Canada
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