Page 43 - PSLgurmatbook62020

Lesson 15: Shaheed Udham Singh

Shaheed Udham Singh, a freedom fighter, was born Sher Singh on

December 26, 1899, at Sunam, near Patiala. His father, Tehal Singh

worked as a watchman on a railway crossing. Sher Singh lost his
parents before he was seven years and was sent to the Central

Khalsa Orphanage at Amritsar on October 24, 1907. His name was
changed to Udham Singh.

Shaheed Udham Singh left the Orphanage after passing the tenth

grade in 1918. He was present in the Jallianwala Bag on the fateful
Visakhi day, April 13, 1919, when a peaceful assembly of people was

fired upon by General Dyer, killing over one thousand people.

O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab endorsed General
Dyer's action regarding the Amritsar massacre and termed it a

"correct action". This will cost O'Dwyer his life later.

Jallianwala Bag massacre, which Udham Singh used to recall with
anger and sorrow, turned him to the path of revolution.

Soon after, he left India and went to the United States of America.

He felt thrilled to learn about the militant activities of the Babbar
Akalis in the early 1920’s, and returned to India. He had secretly

brought with him some pistols and revolvers. He was arrested by the

police in Amritsar and sentenced to four years imprisonment under
the Arms Act.

In 1931, he returned to his village Sunam, but was harassed by the

local police. He again returned to Amritsar and opened a shop as a
signboard painter. He changed his name to Mohammad Singh Azad to

emphasize unity of religious communities in India.

Udham Singh was deeply influenced by Bhagat Singh and his group
for what they had done. In 1935, when he was on a visit to Kashmir,

he was carrying Bhagat Singh’s portrait that he referred as his

Sikh History and Gurmat Sikhia Book 6 2020 Edition Page 41