LĀBH SIṄGH, BĀBŪ (1895-1947), Akālī politician, was born in 1895 at the village of Lasāṛā, in Jalandhar district, the son of Dūlā Siṅgh. He spent his early youth at Queṭṭā and passed his Matriculation examination from the high school there. In 1914, he took up service in the army as a clerk. Like all clerks, he was addressed there as "Bābū", which prefix stuck to his name for the rest of his life. He resigned his job as a protest against the killing of Sikhs at Nankāṇā Sāhib on 20 February 1921, and joined the campaign for the reform of Gurdwārā management. He was arrested in 1922 in connection with the Gurū kā Bāgh agitation. On 18 April 1924, he courted arrest at Jaito and was detained in Nābhā jail. He was released along with other Akālī prisoners after the passage in 1925 of the Sikh Gurdwārā Act. In 1926, he was elected president of the district unit of the Jalandhar Akālī Jathā. In 1928, he participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission, and in 1930 he, along with a batch of 100 Sikh volunteers from his district, participated in the Civil Disobedience movement launched by the Indian National Congress. He was taken into custody in Delhi, but was released after the Gāndhī-Irwin Pact was signed in 1931. He was arrested under the Defence of India Rules during the Quit India movement. He organized from 25 to 27 November 1944 at Jaṇḍiālā, in Jalandhar district, a massive Sikh conference to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Shiromaṇī Akālī Dal. In 1945, he was elected president of the Shiromaṇī Akālī Dal which office he held until his death on 9 March 1947 at Jalandhar. He was stabbed by a Muslim fanatic while leading a peace march after communal disturbances in the town. The Civil Hospital and a gurdwārā in Raiṇak Bazar at Jalandhar commemorate his memory.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Dilgeer, Harjinder Siṅgh, Shiromaṇī Akālī Dal. Chandigarh, 1980
  2. Pratāp Siṅgh, Giānī, Gurdwārā Sudhār arthāt Akālī Lahir. Amritsar, 1975
  3. Akāli Lahir de Mahān Netā. Amritsar, 1976
  4. Ashok, Shamsher Siṅgh, Pañjāb diāṅ Lahirāṅ. Patiala, 1974
  5. Josh, Sohan Siṅgh, Akālī Morchiāṅ dā Itihās. Delhi, 1972

Harjinder Siṅgh Dilgeer