Comrade Naunihal passes away at 84

Jalandhar, May 25

Comrade Naunihal Singh, last of the three men considered three pillars of the Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Committee, has passed away. He breathed his last at 9 am on Sunday at the Yol Cantonment in Dharmsala. He was 84. He is survived by daughter Kirat, son-in-law Major General Kulwant Singh Nijjhar, son Karan, daughter-in-law Roop and his grand-children.

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He had donated his body to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences in Jalandhar for scientific research. However, due to the Covid lockdown, none of the Himachal Pradesh hospitals claimed his body and it was cremated at Chaminda Devi Shamshan Ghat last evening.

With Naunihal Singh, an era of ideologues committed to the cause of liberty and Ghadar has also ended. Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga and Comrade Gandharva Sen Kochar, who died in 2018, were the other two pillars. He was the eldest surviving member of the yaadgar committee. He had been the cashier and general secretary of the committee. Be it the concept of starting the historic Mela Ghadri Babeyan Da, call for the martyrdom status of those who died during the Kooka Lehar or the Komgatamaru incidents, or speaking up against the dilution of Jallianwala Bagh as a mere tourist spot, Naunihaal Singh, a steadfast leftist, was the foremost proponent of these movements. He is also credited with shaping the Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall as a literary and cultural hub. — TNS