Bant Singh is a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

labourer and singer from the Jhabhar village in Mansa district,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, who has emerged as an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the landowner.Amit Sengupta,
Untouchable India
, p. 82–84 in ''Index on Censorship'', Volume 35, Number 4 (2006). Described by Amit Sengupta as "an icon of

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

resistance he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him both of his lower arms and his left leg." After his minor daughter was raped by some powerful men in 2000, he dared take them to court, a usual occurrence when a Dalit is raped by a non-Dalit, braving threats of violence and attempted bribes. The trial culminated in life sentences for three of the culprits in 2004, "the first time that a Dalit from the region who had complained against upper-caste violence had managed to secure a conviction."Annie Zaidi
Casteist Assault
, ''Frontline'' (India), Volume 23 - Issue 02, 28 Jan. – 10 Feb. 2006. Accessed online 13 June 2007. On the evening of 7 January 2006, Bant Singh was returning home through some wheat fields. He had just been campaigning for a national agricultural labour rally to be held in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in January. He was suddenly waylaid by a gang of seven men, suspected to be sent by Jaswant and Niranjan Singh, the current and former headmen of his village who have links with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

party. One of them brandished a revolver to prevent any resistance while the other six set upon him with iron rods and axes beating him to a pulp. He was left for dead, and a phone call was made to Beant Singh, a leading man in Jhabhar, to pick up the dead body. However, Bant Singh was alive, though barely. He was first taken to civil hospital in Mansa but was not given proper treatment there.Bant Singh Can Still Sing
''Word, Sound, and Power'', Video : Bant Singh Can Still Sing. Accessed online 1 October 2010. Then he was taken to the PGI at

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

, where both lower arms and one leg had to be amputated since gangrene had set in by then, and his kidneys had collapsed due to blood loss. The doctor was eventually suspended for his conduct.Amit Sengupta,
Untouchable India
, p. 82–84 in ''Index on Censorship'', Volume 35, Number 4 (2006), p. 83, mentions the incident, the bribe demand, and the damage to his limbs, and the doctor's suspension His biography titled ''The Ballad of Bant Singh: A Qissa of Courage'', written by

Nirupama Dutt Nirupama Dutt (born 1955) is an Indian poet, journalist and translator. She writes poems in Punjabi, and translates them into English herself. A senior journalist with forty years of experience, she has worked with leading Indian newspapers and ...

was published in 2016. Bant Singh was featured in 'Chords of Change' TV series and in a 2020 Tamil film '

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Bant Indian civil rights activists Living people People from Mansa district, India Activists from Punjab, India Caste-related violence in India Year of birth missing (living people) Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Punjab, India Dalit activists Indian Sikhs Indian farmers