Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali

Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali, (1861-1954), patriot of Komagata Maru fame, was born in 1861 ,into a Sandhu Jat family of Sarhali Estate, a village in Amritsar district. Gurdit Singh’s grandfather had served in the Lahore army as an officer but his father, Hukam Singh, was a small farmer of moderate means. Failing monsoon in 1870 drove Hukam Singh to seek a living away from home. He migrated to Taiping, Malaysia, where he became a small time contractor. His eldest son, Pahilu Singh, joined him there later but Gurdit Singh remained in the village where, in the absence of a regular school, he learned to read and write Gurmukhl at the feel of the custodian of the local dharamscda. A skilled horseman, Gurdit Singh of Sarhali entertained the ambition of joining the Indian Cavalry, but was turned down by the recruitment board because he failed to meet the required physical standards. In 1885, he joined his father in Malaysia where he became a successful contractor and businessman.

Gurdit Singh of Sarhali was married in 1885. From this marriage, he had two daughters and a son, all three of whom died. The wife herself passed away in 1904. His second wife bore him a son, Balvant Singh, who survived his father. Gurdit Singh of Sarhali established the Guru Nanak Steamship Company and leased a Japanese ship, the Komagata Maru, renamed Guru Nanak Jahaz, and launched it from Hong Kong in 1914 taking a batch of Indian emigrants to Canada.This was done to circumvent umvent the new Canadian immigration ordinances which, aiming to stop the influx of Indians, prohibited entry into Canada of persons of every nationality except by a “Continuous”journey on through tickets from the country of their birth or citizenship. There was no direct shipping service from India to Canada and the object of the Canadian government in passing the ordinances was specifically to debar the Indians. On the eve of the ship’s scheduled departure, Gurdit Singh of Sarhali was arrested and, pending final clearance. A large number of the passengers, cancelled their booking so that when he was released and the ship finally left port on 4 April 1914, only 194 of the original 500 rupee’s sengers were on board. Intermediate stops were made at Shanghai, Moji and Yokohama. Gurdit Singh received from Ghadar leaders, Maulawi Barkatullah and Gyani Bhagwan Singh, revolutionary literature which was distributed among the passengers whose number grew with groups picked up on the way to 376, of whom 359 were Sikhs. The ship finally arrived in Vancouver on 23 May 1914. Canadian officials refused to allow all but a few of the passengers to disembark and the ship remained at anchor for two months while Gurdit Singh tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the landing of his passengers. In this situation he enjoyed the full support of the Sikh community in Vancouver. Tension rose as the rations ran low. Alter a brief and violent confrontation in which a boatload of Canadian officials attempting to board the Komagata Marwwere repelled, a compromise was reached. The government of Canada provided rations and fuel for the return journey.

On 29 September 1914, the S.S’. Komagata Maru docked at Budge Budge, near Calcutta. Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali and his Sikh companions became rebels in the eyes of the Indian government. His ship was searched for any arms he might be smuggling into India. In Calcutta, a special train was kept ready for the passengers to be transported back to their homes in the Punjab. Seventeen Muslim passengers obeyed government orders and boarded the train.The Sikh passengers refused anand, forming themselves into a procession with the Guru Granth Sahib at the head of it, wended their way towards the city. British troops and police turned out and forced them back to the railway station where a clash occurred. Eighteen Sikhs were killed and twenty-five wounded. Police made arrests, but Gurdit Singh escaped and evaded capture for seven years, packed with adventure and drama. Finally, he gave himself up to the police at Nankana Sahib on 15 November 1921, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak after he had participated in religious observances at the shrine. He was imprisoned but freed in a little more than three months, on 28 February 1922. On his release, he was warmly received throughout the Punjab. He was arrested again on 7 March 1922 on charges of making seditious speeches at the Golden Temple at Amritsar and was held in jail for four years.

In 1926, he acted as president of the ShiromanI Akali Dal during the absence in jail of Sarmukh Singh Jhabal. At the 1926 GauhatI session of the Indian National Congress, Gurdit Singh of Sarhali led a walk-out by 50 Sikh delegates to protest against the Subjects Committee’s decision not to include in its resolutions a reference to the ruler of the Sikh Jat state of Nabha who had been forced by the British to abdicate and for whose sake the ShiromanI Akali Dal had launched a mass agitation. During the period from 1931 to 1933, Gurdit Singh of Sarhali was arrested three more times for his political activities. In 1937, he sought election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly as a nominee of the Indian National Congress, but lost to the Akali candidate, Partap Singh Kairon. Gurdit Singh of Sarhali took part in the Sarb-Sampradai Conference (1934) on behalf of the Akalls.
Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali died on 24 July 1954 at Amritsar.