Ferozepur March 24:
Harbans Singh, an associate of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who experienced third-degree torture from British police, claims that he lost vision in the one eye due to torture, remained in jail for two months and provided safe shelter to these national martyrs for about two years to facilitate independence for the country. He is penniless and bedridden in his small house in Gandhi Nagar here.
Gripped by extreme poverty, the sacrifices made by Harbans Singh to attain the freedom of the country are yet to be recognised by both the Centre and the Punjab Government. No monetary help has come to him so far despite the fact that he has reached the last leg of his life. The plight of Harbans Singh and members of his family could be judged from the fact that his son and four grandsons are working as iron smiths to eke out a living for the past many decades.
What adds insult to injury is the fact that a Cabinet rank minister of Punjab once promised him that he would be given Rs 1 lakh in recognition of his contribution to freedom struggle but the money never reached him. Belonging to Bagrian village of Lahore district, Harbans, who has crossed 100 years of age, took the British police head on whenever they raided his premises, situated on his farms, to arrest Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who would stay there for days together to keep their freedom struggle going.
“In one of the raids, conducted by British police from Lahore in my house in 1927, my right arm was broken by them and hence fingers of that hand got twisted and ceased to work properly,” he recalled, adding that this gave him a stronger resolve to helping Bhagat Singh and his comrades. Another raid was conducted at my house on July 12, 1928 when Bhagat Singh and his associates were three. “I was arrested by Din Mohammad, SHO, police station, Khana Kasha, Lahore on July 15, 1928.”
“After I came out of jail, I again came in contact with Bhagat Singh and others. I attended all the court hearings of the case, for which Bhagat Singh and his associates were facing trials in a Lahore court,” he said.
Harbans Singh, an associate of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who experienced third-degree torture from British police, claims that he lost vision in the one eye due to torture, remained in jail for two months and provided safe shelter to these national martyrs for about two years to facilitate independence for the country. He is penniless and bedridden in his small house in Gandhi Nagar here.
Gripped by extreme poverty, the sacrifices made by Harbans Singh to attain the freedom of the country are yet to be recognised by both the Centre and the Punjab Government. No monetary help has come to him so far despite the fact that he has reached the last leg of his life. The plight of Harbans Singh and members of his family could be judged from the fact that his son and four grandsons are working as iron smiths to eke out a living for the past many decades.
What adds insult to injury is the fact that a Cabinet rank minister of Punjab once promised him that he would be given Rs 1 lakh in recognition of his contribution to freedom struggle but the money never reached him. Belonging to Bagrian village of Lahore district, Harbans, who has crossed 100 years of age, took the British police head on whenever they raided his premises, situated on his farms, to arrest Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who would stay there for days together to keep their freedom struggle going.
“In one of the raids, conducted by British police from Lahore in my house in 1927, my right arm was broken by them and hence fingers of that hand got twisted and ceased to work properly,” he recalled, adding that this gave him a stronger resolve to helping Bhagat Singh and his comrades. Another raid was conducted at my house on July 12, 1928 when Bhagat Singh and his associates were three. “I was arrested by Din Mohammad, SHO, police station, Khana Kasha, Lahore on July 15, 1928.”
“After I came out of jail, I again came in contact with Bhagat Singh and others. I attended all the court hearings of the case, for which Bhagat Singh and his associates were facing trials in a Lahore court,” he said.
