Bhagwan Singh Longowalia, was born on November 17, 1896, in Longowal village, district Sangrur, then in the princely state of Patiala. His father’s name was Rur Singh Dullat and his mother’s name was Baso. His early name was Inder Singh. At 18, he joined the British Indian army but soon he realized the slavery of Indians under the colonial empire and became a deserter. He changed his name from Inder Singh to Bhagwan Singh. He then started to take part in various movements of the Indian freedom struggle. He joined the Akali agitation for Gurudwara reform in 1922 and soon became its prominent worker.
On 24 May 1922, he was convicted and sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000 for a seditious speech delivered at Sherpur (Patiala State). He was tried for two other cases in the same year and was awarded a prison sentence. All these sentences were to run concurrently. He was released before time in April 1923. About a year later, he was again tried for a seditious speech delivered at an Akali gathering at village Longowal and was convicted and sentenced to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 500, and his property was confiscated including his two Kacha houses. He was released after the passing of the Gurdwara Reform Act of 1925 when most of the Akali prisoners were set free. He was a founder member of the Praja Mandal movement (a part of the Indian independence movement in which people living in the princely state of Patiala campaigned against feudatory rulers and their supporter British Government) of the Punjab States. He was also one of the leading organizers of the BirAkali, a weekly newspaper that was published in Gurumukhi, Reasati Dunia (Urdu weekly), and (Punjabi weekly). He used these papers to spread anti-state propaganda. He represented the States at the All-India States Peoples Conference held at Calcutta in 1928 along with the annual session of the Indian National Congress. Here, he proposed a memorandum against the cruelties of Maharaja of Patiala and the British Government. He had contact with Uddam Singh and Bhagat Singh, prominent revolutionaries of Punjab. He spent most of the years of his life in jail. He passed away on September 18, 1944.
References :-
- Eminent Freedom Fighters Of Punjab by Fauja Singh (1972)