Bhai Manvir Singh Chaheru (1959 – December 1987; also known as "Bhai Manbir Singh Chaheru", Iqbal Singh, Hari Singh and "General Manvir Singh Chaheru",) was a founder and first leader of the organization

Khalistan Commando Force The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a militant Khalistani organisation operating in the state of Punjab with prominent members based in Canada, the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of Khali ...

Early life

Manvir Singh was born in 1959 in the village of Chaheru,

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

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 ...

. His father, Mohinder Singh, was a farmer. Manvir Singh completed his primary education from his village school. He then moved to the home of his maternal aunt Niranjan Kaur, in the village of Kala Bakra, for his secondary education. After passing his matriculation exams, he assisted his father in agriculture for six years. He later married Ranjit Kaur.

Baptism and religious inclination

The Nirankari-Sikh events of 1978 affected Manvir Singh. A retired army officer Giani Joginder Singh who was also son-in-law of Manvir Singh's aunt Niranjan Kaur, encouraged him to get baptised (a Sikh initiation ceremony). In 1979, Manvir Singh along with his wife and his father's younger brother, Karnail Singh, took the baptism from Sant Nihal Singh Harian Wela Wale at the Sodal Gurdwara in district of

. He came in contact with Bhai Mohkam Singh, Bhai Gurbant Singh, Bhai Prem Singh and

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...

while attending religious classes of

Damdami Taksal The Damdamī Ṭaksāl is an orthodox Sikh cultural and educational organization, based in India. Its headquarters are located in the town of Mehta Chowk, approximately 40 km north of the city of Amritsar. It has been described as a seminary ...

at the Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash, Mehta Chownk, district

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

, Punjab.

Association with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale

In 1981, Chaheru was arrested temporarily because of his heated arguments with a

Senior Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

, Gur Iqbal Singh Bhular, when Bhular questioned Chaheru about his actions. Chaheru's uncle, Karnail Singh, got him released on bail with a personal surety that Manvir Singh would appear at Police station the next day. After this incident, Manvir Singh approached

and moved to the Golden Temple (''Harmandir Sahib'') complex where he served food in the Sikh free kitchen (''Guru ka Langar''). Chaheru became Bhindranwale's personal bodyguard. Police arrested his uncle Karnail Singh for Manvir Singh's failure to appear at the police station per his assurance. In the Golden Temple complex, Manvir Singh stayed in room number 53 of Guru Nanak Niwas along with Giani Joginder Singh, Malagar Singh Babbar, Singh and Gurtej Singh. He came in contact with Major Singh Nagoke who fought against Indian forces during

Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...

, Sukhdev Singh Sukha of village Fatu Dinga, Balwinder Singh Khojkipur, Joginder Singh Rode and Kabal Singh. Giani Joginder Singh, a relative of Manvir Singh Chaheru, died while leading a band of Sikhs in fighting Indian army at the main entrance of Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar. Giani Joginder Singh's daughter later married Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's son Inderjit Singh.

Khalistan Commando Force

Manvir Singh Chaheru was not inside Sri Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple) during

in 1984. After the attack, he fled to Pakistan, but returned to avenge the attack and to achieve independence for

Khalistan The Khalistan movement is a Sikhs, Sikh Separatism, separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān ('-stan, Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab, Punjab region. The proposed sta ...

. He and others, including

Harjinder Singh Jinda Harjinder Singh Jinda (3 April 1961 – 9 October 1992) was a member of the Sikh separatist group Khalistan Commando Force and one of the two assassins of Arun Vaidya (the Chief of Indian army at the time of Operation Blue Star and architect of ...

Sukhdev Singh Sukha Sukhdev Singh Sukha was a Sikh, and member of the Khalistan Commando Force, a Sikh militant group and one of the assassins of Arun Vaidya, the Chief of Indian army at the time of Operation Blue Star to flush out heavily armed Anti government S ...

, Gurdev Singh Debu, Mathra Singh and Tarsem Singh Kuhaar, established the

and Manvir Singh Chaheru was declared its leader. Manvir Singh set up the KCF military hierarchy, but ad hoc groups conducted most operations at the local level. He participated in several encounters against Indian security forces. In 1986 Manvir Singh and Balbir Singh Raipur planned to release

and Sawarnjit Singh from Police custody as they were to appear in court on charges of slaying Ramesh Chander, a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

newspaper editor. Balbir Singh arranged a car and Jarnail Singh arranged a jeep as a get away vehicle. They planned to free both Sukhdev Singh and Sawarnjit Singh from the district courts in

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 ...

when the prisoners arrived for their monthly hearings. Manvir Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Balbir Singh Raipur, Rashpal Singh, Jarnail Singh met outside the courts. Manvir Singh was carrying a sten gun and all other Singh's had revolvers. When Sukhdev Singh and Sawarnjit Singh arrived under heavy police protection, Manvir Singh signalled them to go to the washrooms. Once they went, Manvir Singh and his partners opened fire on the policemen, the attackers killed four police officers inside the court complex and two at the courtyard gate. They were able to free Sukhdev Singh Sukha, Sawarnjit Singh and Gurinder Singh Bhola.

Arrest and death

On 8 August 1986, Manvir Singh Chaheru was arrested along with Major Baldev Singh Ghuman, Charanjit Singh dhami and two other Sikhs when approximately 200 paramilitary troops raided Major Baldev Singh's farm House on bootan village the outskirts of city of

, in state of Punjab. Punjab police stated that there were two dozen murder cases registered against Chaheru by that time. It is unclear as to what led to his arrest. It is possible that government infiltrators whose aim was to plot the Gurjit Singh faction against Kahlon faction did this. Subsequently the committee members of Kahlon faction were killed by the Gurjit Singh faction. Bhai Manvir Singh Chaheru was kept in various jails in state of Punjab, and later he was moved to another jail in the state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. In December 1987, police announced that Manvir Singh had escaped from the police custody while officials were returning Chaheru from Bihar to Punjab. There were claims that police had killed him while he was in police custody and disposed his body in the

Beas River The Beas River (Sanskrit: ; Hyphasis in Ancient Greek) is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is ...

. In the city of

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 ...

, the Punjab Police Chief

Julio Francis Ribeiro Julio Francis Ribeiro (born 5 May 1929, in Bombay) is a retired Indian police officer and civil servant. He held increasingly responsible positions during his career, and led the Punjab Police during part of the Punjab insurgency periods. In 19 ...

told news reporters afterward that "...they do not need to worry as Manvir Singh will not come back."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaheru, Manbir Singh 1959 births People from Kapurthala Indian Sikhs Khalistan movement people Indian murder victims People murdered in India Deaths in police custody in India Punjabi people Sikh terrorism Insurgency in Punjab 1986 murders in India 1987 murders in India 1987 deaths