Interest in Sikh religion and history has been growing since the celebration of Tricentennial of Khalsa Panth in 1999-2000. Every generation rediscovers its roots in order to review its vitality and illumine the way to future, enabling the youth to cope with emerging challenges.
After the fall of the Sikh kingdom and annexation of the Punjab by the British empire in 1849, authentic accounts of the Sikhs' struggle for freedom have been few and far between. This chronicle of the life and times of the legendary hero, Bhai Kartar Singh is based on his personal diaries meticulously culled and collated by the inimitable Bhai Narayan Singh, himself a participant in the titanic struggle for liberation of holy Sikh shrines in British Panjab.
The original book opened a new window on the Post-Annexation period in general when Sikhism was confronted with the twin dangers: The inroads made by Christian missionaries after conversion of the child Maharaja Dalip Singh, and the pernicious propaganda launched by Arya Samaj aimed at assimilation of the Sikhs. This was compounded by the colonial administration siding with the Mahants who occupied holy Sikh shrines in Nankana Sahib and other historical sites. Besides, the British had developed a pathological fear of a Ghadrite uprising inspired by the expatriate community in Canada and USA. The bizarre voyage of Japanese ship, Koma Gata Maru in 1914, its expulsion from Vancouver and docking at Calcutta's Budge-Budge Ghat, and the brutal killing of unarmed Sikh passengers became the forerunner of a grassroots Panjabi struggle for India's freedom, and laid the gory foundation of Akali Dal as the premier Sikh organisation of which Baba Kartar Singh Jhabbar became the Jatbedar or supremo.
Narayan Singh's biography, in Panjabi, has been the lay reader's delight because of authentic eyewitness accounts, and breezy prose in unadorned folksy idiom. This English translation by the proactive Canadian, Karnail Singh serves a special need of English-knowing readers keen to delve into the harsh reality of colonial Panjab as well as the inspiring legacy of the Singh-Sabha movement that preceded emergence of the Akali Dal. This endeavour of the Sikh diaspora is doubly welcome at a time when we sorely need a leadership rooted in our own times. It also gives us an insight into the treachery of collaborators, who bend over backwards to please the ruling class in every era. The diary records, for instance, the infamy of the official custodians of Golden Temple, in 1919, conferring honours on General Dyer and governor Michael O'Dyer shortly after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, for which sycophantic deed the petty fogging manager became "Sir Arror Singh". The diary also mentions how Sikh prisoners at the Cellular Jail, Port Blair (Kala Pani) devoutly recited Sukhmani every morning before partaking of their meal, Baba Kartar Singh leading the way, and inspiring harmony among "Lifers" - including Vir Savarkar. It is another matter that the Baba and some other leaders were released as part of amnesty on the eve of the Governor General appointing the Hunter Commission of Enquiry: The Jathedar's moral reassurance to prisoners had worked wonders long before dawn of freedom in 1947. His courage and compassion come out in the book as qualities that are touchstones of leadership.
The brave have always been the life blood of nations. Their patriotism is eternal which places them at a higher pedestal. They become immune to physical hardshups and death loses its terror for them. They attune themselves to the will of God and live and strive for public good which provides them with a spirit of grit and fortitude.
The daily diary of Jathedar Kartar Singh Jhabbar is the life story of a hero of matchless daring and piety. It not only reveals bus services to the Sikh Panth but also his major contribution in independence and Gurdwara Reform Movement. It would have been a great injustice to Jathedar Jhabbar and future generations, if the pages of his diary were to remain locked in a box. The diary would provide a mine of information to the historians of the twentieth century. Therefore, it has been rendered into a narrative which is based on the diary's contents. Whatever is recorded beyond the diary, is relied upon what was learnt from the Jathedar himself. Therefore, these facts are in accordance with his daily diary and what was told by him personally.
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