2023-01-23 Mon

Baba Kharak Singh was the president of the Central Sikh League and a freedom fighter. He also served as the first president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Baba Kharak Singh belongs to the pioneer batch of students who graduated (1889) from Punjab University, Lahore.

Baba Kharak Singh presided over the historic session of the Central Sikh League held in Lahore in 1920, which took part in Non-Cooperation Movement. In the later years, he successfully organised the first Morcha against British Government, popularly called 'Keys Morcha'. He organised this protest to take back the keys of Toshakhana (treasury) of the Golden Temple, seized by the British Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. After this protest, the British Government arrested him and sentenced him to six months imprisonment on 2 December 1921, but he was released on 17 January 1922 with the keys of Toshakhana. In the same year, he was elected President of the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee.

The Indian Post issued his commemorative stamp in 1988 to commemorate him.

Image Courtesy: colnect.com