Harnam Singh Tundilat, Was born in 1884 at Kotla Naudh Singh, District Hoshiarpur, Harnam Singh was known as Tundilat as he lost one of his arms in explosion while engaged on manufacturing of bombs. Being the son of a Jat farmer, Gurdit Singh, he could not continue his schooling beyond the Sth class and got no more than a rudimentary knowledge of Urdu and Persian. The Singh Sabha movement of the Sikhs, however, made deep impact upon his young mind, for which reason he grew up liberal and enlightened in his social and religious beliefs, For some years in his early life he served in the Indian Army. At the age of 22, he left India for the United States. From there he made a short visit to Canada, returning to the United States in 1909-10. While staying in the United States, Harnam Singh received his political education from LalaHar Dayal and other revolutionaries who happened to be functioning there at the time. He joined the Ghadar movement in 1914, Regarding the foreign rule as a curse, he, like most of the Ghadrites, believed that the majority of “our ills are due to our slavery’. He also believed that armed revolt was the only way to liberate India. Being in the confidence of Lala Hardyal, Harnam Singh started as his bodyguard, in which capacity he had constant association with the Lala whose inspiring leadership and ideology had deep effect upon him. He wrote Punjabi poems in the magazine of the Party and gradually rose to the position of a member of the Board of Editors of the paper. During his stay at San. Francisco, he learnt from one Mr. Jack the technique of manufacturing bombs. And it was here that in a mishap he lost his right hand.Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to India. After getting into the Punjab, he went from village to village, inviting the people to revolt against foreign rule. At Lahore, he met Rash Bihari Bose. In revolutionary work in India he was the right hand man of Kartar Singh Sarabha.
When the Government of India grew suspicious of his activities, he along with Kartar Singh Sarabha decided to flee the country. However, when he reached Peshawar, he changed his mind, thinking that it would be a cowardly act on his part. Soon after he was arrested and tried in the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. The’court sentenced him to death but later the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was transported to the Andamans. While there, he went on hunger strike to press the demands of fellow-prisoners. After undergoing imprisonment at places such as Madras, Poona, Bombay, Mianwali and Ambala, he was released in 1930 on grounds of ill health. After his release he joined the KirtiKisan Party and later on, the Communist Party which was born out of it. On account of his political activities, he was again imprisoned in 1941 and was detained till 1945. This valiant soldier of freedom died in 1962.
References :-
- Eminent Freedom Fighters Of Punjab by Fauja Singh (1972)