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SGPC book says Bhagat Singh no martyr, Master Tara Singh’s grand daughter kicks storm

S P Singh

Chandigarh:  

Controversy over alleged interpolations in Sachi Sakhi, a best-seller in the relio-political Punjabi literature domain, has taken a new turn with SGPC member Kiranjot Kaur, a close kin of late Master Tara Singh, and several other Sikh scholars taking strong exception to allegations of corruption levelled against Master in the SGPC-published 1993 edition of Sirdar Kapur Singh’s magnum opus work and crude words used against Dr Ambedkar, father of the Indian Constitution. 

Scholars also slammed the interpolated paragraphs about martyr Bhagat Singh and claim that he could not be termed a "martyr" by any stretch of imagination. Kapur Singh claimed himself to be a witness to the police officer's murder committed by Bhagat Singh and also that he refused to identify Bhagat Singh despite the consideration that was offered to him. 

Kiranjot Kaur, grand daughter of Master, said the late Sikh leader and a colossal figure during the turbulent days of Partition had many admirers and critics "but never have there been allegations of financial irregularities against him."

Kapur Singh’s Saachi Saakhi, one of the widely read books by the former dismissed ICS officer who was a close confidant of the Akali leaders and is credited with authoring the Anandpur Resolution, in its 1993 avataar, claimed that Dr Ambedkar had demanded Rs 50,000 from the Akali Dal for electioneering in Bombay and that "Master Tara Singh and Sujan Singh Sarhali misappropriated the amount and it never reached Ambedkar." 

Sarhali’s son Amarjit Singh, when approached by The Indian Express, strongly criticised Sirdar Kapur Singh saying if the author had been alive, he would have slapped a defamation suit on him.

Kapur Singh in his book also claimed that Sarhali, in his meeting with Ambedkar just before Partition, had crudely told him that he (Ambedkar) belonged to a very lower caste and gave the man, who was soon to emerge as the key dalit icon, an ultimatum to embrace Sikhism within 24 hours. This, claimed Kapur Singh, turned Ambedkar away from embracing Sikhism. But Sarhali’s son said, "I knew my father very well and he told me the whole truth. My father could never use the language that has been attributed to him, particularly against Dr Ambedkar."

He said such remarks of Kapur Singh can hurt the sensibilities of millions of followers of Dr Ambedkar and "those who are defending Kapur Singh would be answerable for such interpolations too."

Shockingly, not a single one of these allegations find any place in the 1972 version of the book, and Kiranjot claimed that these were interpolations made by Sirdar later either due to his "dejected mental state or under a deep-rooted conspiracy to malign the great Akali leaders of yore." She has demanded a ban on the book’s sale and its withdrawal from the market. So far the book is freely available. 

Official SGPC reaction has been typical: pretend nothing has happened and things with resolve themselves. SGPC secretary Gurbachan Singh Bachan said he was a student of both Master and Sirdar and the controversy should be stopped "because any search for truth would lead to bitterness."

Renowned Sikh author and academic Piara Singh Padam, author of nearly 80 works on Punjab and someone who enjoyed the trust of both Master and Sirdar, said, "Kapur Singh was given to a lot exaggeration. Master’s honesty in financial matters was legendary and any allegations of graft against him deserve contempt."

"You can well judge by this example. I once spelled Kapur Singh’s name as Kapoor Singh and Sirdar wrote some six letters to me threatening to sue me because, as per his exaggerated sense of deriving meanings, I had called him 'poor'," Padam told The Indian Express. 

B S Bawa, who was press secretary of Kapur Singh’s bitter foe Partap Singh Kairon, but knew Sirdar well, also said Master Tara Singh was a man who could not misuse a single penny from party funds.   

Reliable sources told The Indian Express that the matter has been brought to the notice of Akali Dal president and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who has expressed surprise over how such a work came to be published by the SGPC. The SGPC, sources said, has already pulled out another edition of the book from going to the press. 

Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, senior vice president of the All India Shrimani Akali Dal (AISAD), also said Master's honesty has always been above board but objected to Kiranjot's comments against his party chief G S Tohra, during whose reign at the SGPC's helm was the book published in its new avataar containing a large number of interpolations.■  

August, 2000

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