Sardar Sewa Singh Thikriwala

Sewa Singh Thikriwala was born at Thikriwala, near Barnala in Patiala state, on 24 August 1886 according to the Barnala district administration (a contemporary gave 1882). His father, Deva Singh, was a court official under Maharaja Rajinder Singh. Sewa Singh was educated in Patiala, worked as a senior health department officer, and resigned to serve the public. He took part in the Singh Sabha work of his time and protested the persecution of Sikhs at Hero Khurd and the repression at the Dhuri gurdwara reform.

The Praja Mandal

The Punjab Riyasti Praja Mandal was announced at a public conference at Mansa on 17 July 1928 by Akali workers from the Punjab princely states. Sewa Singh was in jail at the time and was elected its first president. Its aims were civil liberties, representative institutions in the states, and better conditions for peasants, and membership was open to all adults whatever their religion (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism).

He was released from Patiala Central Jail with about forty other Akalis on 24 August 1929. At the Praja Mandal's session at Ludhiana on 11 October 1930 he denounced Maharaja Bhupinder Singh and demanded his removal. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was sentenced to ten years and released after a few months. In 1931 he met Mahatma Gandhi, and Patiala issued an order banning political activity.

He was arrested again in 1933 for breaking that ban. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says January and Wikipedia says 25 August; the Khudiala Akali conference case is named as the charge, and the sentence is given as three or six years with a fine of Rs 500. He went on hunger strike over his treatment in jail. The Barnala district site says it lasted nearly nine months, a figure no other source opened gives. He died in solitary confinement in Patiala jail on 20 January 1935. Wikipedia also gives 19 January in one place, but the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and the Barnala site both say the 20th. By the Barnala account, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh sent his ashes to Thikriwala with full honours.

Key moments

• 17 July 1928: elected first president of the Praja Mandal, while in jail.
• 24 August 1929: released from Patiala Central Jail.
• 11 October 1930: demands Maharaja Bhupinder Singh's removal at Ludhiana.
• 1933: arrested again.
• 20 January 1935: dies in Patiala jail after a hunger strike.

What he is remembered for. Wikipedia says the Praja Mandal lost momentum after his death, and it lapsed in July 1948 when the Patiala and East Punjab States Union was formed. Every January a three-day function at Thikriwala remembers him as a martyr, and the Tribune has reported ministers paying tribute there.