Bhai Gurmel Singh
| S. Gurmel Singh | |
|---|---|
| Born |
S. Gurmel Singh September 1957 |
| Died |
8 September 1991 Maujia, Mansa district, East Punjab |
| Other names | Mela, Sectory |
| Known for | Babbar Khalsa martyr |
Sardar Gurmel Singh (also spelled as Gurmail Singh) was a Babbar martyr of Raipur village of Mansa district of Punjab, India.
Early life
Singh was born in September 1957, to Jora Singh and Ajmer Kaur, in the village of Raipur in Mansa district of Indian Punjab. He has two sisters and two brothers. He passed his 10th class examination from the village school and due to good marks got a job as secretary in the village society.
He married Bibi Manjeet Kaur and had two children, son Sukhmilap Singh and daughter Veerpal Kaur.
Martyrdom
He was very religious and had great faith in Sikhism from his childhood. The 1978 Visakhi killings of Sikhs by fake Nirankaris made him very sad and serious and started meeting with members of Babbar Khalsa. After the Operation Blue Star in June, 1984, he left home and permanently joined the Babbar Khalsa. He was very brave and lead his team in many dangerous operations. He used to miss two of his close friends, Bhai Major Singh Naruana and Bhai Baldev Singh Naruana, who got martyrdom during an operation in Rajasthan.
In September 1991, he stayed at Maujia, a village in Mansa district, with eight friends. On the evening of 7 September 1991, the police surrounded the village after being informed of their presence. The police soon after received reinforcements from the BSF and CRPF, sealed the village and called on the Babbars to surrender. As this news reaches the surrounding villages, people left for Maujia in large numbers and tried to help the Singhs.
During subsequent firing there were many casualties. When the forces failed to stop the Babbars, the Para Commandos were called. At this point, Bhai Gurmel Singh asked his friends to get away: some succeeded in escaping, but Bhai Paramjeet Singh Phulewala, Bhai Khem Singh Fauji (Badal Kalan) and Bhai Gurmel Singh died in the operation on 8 September 1991 at 10 PM, after 28 hours of fighting.
Aftermath
After the operation the police tortured about 10,000 families of the area for helping the Babbars and refused to give their dead bodies to their families but the area people gathered around the police station in a huge number and expressed their true feelings. On that the police handed over the dead bodies and people cremated them according to the religious customs.