Sikhitihasਸਿੱਖ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ

Baba Thara Singh

ਬਾਬਾ ਥਾਰਾ ਸਿੰਘ

June 1984·Senior member of the Damdami Taksal; in charge of Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash, Mehta Chowk; fell in June 1984

Senior member of the Damdami Taksal in charge of Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash at Mehta Chowk; his arrest in July 1982 helped start the morcha that became the Dharam Yudh, and he fell in June 1984.

Baba Thara Singh was a senior member of the Damdami Taksal and the man in charge of Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash at Mehta Chowk, the Taksal's headquarters near Amritsar and the base of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls him another senior member of the Damdami Taksal. The Taksal's own page says he was one of the senior Singhs who had come to Mehta Chowk with Sant Kartar Singh, and that he looked after the sewa, the santhya (teaching) and the administration of the Taksal.

Arrest and the morcha: In July 1982 the police arrested Bhai Amrik Singh, president of the All India Sikh Students Federation, on 19 July. The Encyclopaedia says Thara Singh was arrested the following day; Gurmit Singh dates the arrest to 21 July, and says three prominent supporters of Bhindranwale, including Thara Singh and Bhai Ram Singh, were arrested that day. He says Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and Gurcharan Singh Tohra condemned the arrests. Gurmit Singh writes that the Dharam Yudh was launched initially to press for the release of Bhai Amrik Singh and Baba Thara Singh, whom he calls close associates of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Release: A court released Amrik Singh and Thara Singh on 6 August 1983. Hundreds of Sikhs in the court complex brought them in a procession to the Golden Temple, and both were honoured at the Akal Takht on 8 August 1983 (Gurmit Singh).

June 1984: The Taksal's page says Thara Singh was given command of the Langar Hall and the Bunga Ramgarhia position during Operation Blue Star. Despite being wounded, he kept defending the eastern entrance of Darbar Sahib and went to his Shaheedi. The Army's account, which Gurmit Singh reproduces, says the 26 Madras recovered the bodies of Bhindranwale, Bhai Amrik Singh, Thara Singh and the dismissed Major General Subeg Singh from the Akal Takht.

  • 19 to 21 July 1982: arrested, with Bhai Ram Singh, a day or two after Amrik Singh.
  • 6 August 1983: released by a court; honoured at the Akal Takht on 8 August.
  • June 1984: killed in Operation Blue Star.

He is remembered as one of the Taksal's senior Singhs whose arrest set off the morcha of 1982 and who fell at Sri Harmandir Sahib in June 1984.

See its threads

Connected 12

Open on Threads

Hover or tap a connection: open it, read the sentence that says how, or tell us what you know.

People

Organisations

Events

Places

Sources

  1. History of Sikh Struggles, vol. II (Gurmit Singh), pp. 73 and 86-87, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1991 (Internet Archive scan). archive.org
  2. History of Sikh Struggles, vol. III (Gurmit Singh), appendix 13 (the Army's account), p. 102, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1991 (Internet Archive scan). archive.org
  3. Jarnail Singh Bhindranvale, Sant (1947-1984) (Major Gurmukh Singh), The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala. eos.learnpunjabi.org
  4. Baba Thara Singh, Damdami Taksal (the Taksal's own account). damdamitaksaal.org

I know how they're connected

Tell us how these two are connected and where it is written. The site's owner reviews every contribution before anything is published; nothing goes live on its own.

What you send is kept only to review the connection. Claims about living people and about 1984 always get the owner's own review.

Suggest a correction

Found something wrong? Tell us what should change, link a source that shows it, and say why that source is right.

What you send is kept only to review the correction. Your email is never published.