View source for Gurdev Singh Kaunke

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = Jathedar
| name                = Gurdev Singh Kaunke
| title               = [[Shaheed]]
| native_name         = <small>ਜਥੇਦਾਰ</small> <br /> {{Lang|pa|ਗੁਰਦੇਵ ਸਿੰਘ ਕਾਉਂਕੇ}}
| image               = File:Bhai sahib.jpg
| image_size          = 230px
| caption             = 
| office              = [[Jathedar of Akal Takht|Acting Jathedar of Akal Takht]]
| term_start          = 26 January 1986
| term_end            = 1 January 1993
| predecessor         = Jasbir Singh
| successor           = [[Gurbachan Singh Manochahal]]
| birth_name          = Gurdev Singh
| birth_date          = 1949
| birth_place         = Kaunke Kalan, [[Ludhiana]], [[Punjab, India]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|01|01|1949}}
| death_place         = Chuhar Chak, [[Moga district|Moga]], [[Punjab, India]]
| nationality         = 
| appointed           = [[Sarbat Khalsa]]
| alma_mater          = [[Damdami Taksal]]
| mother              = Chand Kaur
| father              = Gurdial Singh
| spouse              = Gurmel Kaur
| children            = 3 <!-- Please only add name of the children if they are independently notable -->
| residence           = 
| known_for           = 
}}
'''Gurdev Singh Kaunke''' ({{lang-pa|ਗੁਰਦੇਵ ਸਿੰਘ ਕਾਉਂਕੇ}}; 1949 – 1 January 1993) was a Sikh priest who served as the acting [[Jathedar of Akal Takht]] from 1986 to 1993.

==Early life==

Gurdev Singh was born in 1949 at village Kaunke Kalan under [[Jagraon]] subdivision of [[Ludhiana]] district in [[Punjab, India]]. His father was Gurdial Singh and mother Chand Kaur. Gurdev Singh's grandfather, Jathedar Totha Singh was a companion of [[Baba Nand Singh ji|Baba Nand Singh]] of Nanaksar. At a young age, Singh took the vows of the Khalsa and became an initiated Sikh. After completing 6 levels of primary school, he enrolled into [[Damdami Taksal]].<ref name="NF84">{{cite web|last1=Singh|first1=Zorawar|title=Shaheed Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke|url=http://www.neverforget84.com/shaheeds/shaheed-jathedar-gurdev-singh-kaunke|website=Neverforget84.com|accessdate=2 November 2016}}</ref>

==Jathedar of Akal Takht==
A [[Sarbat Khalsa]] was called at [[Akal Takht]] in [[Amritsar]] on 26 January 1986. At the gathering, the delegation of Sarbat Khalsa announced Jasbir Singh Rode as the [[Jathedar of Akal Takht]]. Rode was imprisoned during his appointment; therefore, the delegation assigned Kaunke to serve as the acting [[Jathedar of Akal Takht]].<ref name="GoL">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Harjinder|title=Game of Love|date=2011|publisher=Akaal Publishers|location=Walsall|isbn=9780955458712|pages=96–97|edition=2nd}}</ref>

On 29 April 1986, the Panthic Committee held a press conference at [[Harmandir Sahib]] and declared an independent Punjabi Sikh homeland, [[Khalistan]]. Straight after the declaration, all members of the Panthic Committee escaped the scene. Subsequently, the police and army surrounded the premises and arrested Jathedar Kaunke, being the only person of significance at the complex.<ref name="GoL" />

Whilst Gurdev Singh Kaunke was imprisoned, [[Gurbachan Singh Manochahal]] and later Professor Darshan Singh served as the acting [[Jathedar of Akal Takht]].<ref name="MoS">{{cite web|last1=Walia|first1=Varinder|title='Misdeeds' of stalwarts during militancy Amritsar ex-DC reveals it all|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020713/main2.htm|website=The Tribune|accessdate=6 November 2016}}</ref>

He would be released after. Kaunke spent much time being illegally and officially arrested and released.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramakrishnan |first=Nitya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5-HAwAAQBAJ&dq=kaunke+arrested+released&pg=PA150 |title=In Custody: Law, Impunity and Prisoner Abuse in South Asia |date=2013-05-30 |publisher=SAGE Publications India |isbn=978-81-321-1632-5 |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1970, Singh married Gurmel Kaur through the [[Anand Karaj]] ceremony. The couple had seven children.<ref name="NF84" />

==Tortured to Death==
{{third-party|section|date=November 2016}}
Gurdev Singh Kaunke was arrested by a group of police officers led by Inspector Gurmit Singh on 25 December 1992, from his home in Kaunke Kalan.<ref name="IHRO">{{cite web|last1=Kaur|first1=Gurmel|last2=Kaur|first2=Paramjit|title=IHRO Report on Jathedar Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke on his clandestine murder|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBzzpltvZMk|website=YouTube|publisher=International Human Rights Organization (IHRO)|accessdate=6 November 2016}}</ref> On 28 December, Jathedar Kaunke's wife, Gurmail Kaur found out that he had been moved from Sadar Police Station Jagraon to the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) interrogation center at Jagraon. When Kaunke's wife brought food to the interrogation center, the police officer told her that Gurdev Singh Kaunke was in no shape to eat anything due to torture. This fact was also confirmed by a youth who was released on 30 December and a doctor who had seen him in custody.<ref name="WSO">{{cite web|last1=Singh|first1=Balpreet|title=First Hand Account of the Murder of Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke|url=http://www.worldsikh.org/first_hand_accounts_of_the_murder_of_jathedar_gurdev_singh_kaunke|website=World Sikh|publisher=World Sikh Organization of Canada|accessdate=2 November 2016}}</ref>

On 31 December, Gurmail Kaur was informed that Gurdev Singh Kaunke was taken away from the CIA interrogation center. After that, Jathedar Kaunke's whereabouts could not be discovered. The police authorities claimed that Kaunke escaped from custody of 2 January 1993, after breaking a chain restraining him.<ref name="WSO" /><ref name="IC">{{cite book|last1=Ramakrishnan|first1=Nitya|title=In custody : law, impunity and prisoner abuse in South Asia|date=2013|publisher=Sage|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788132109464|pages=149–153}}</ref>

In May 1997, the Committee for Coordination of Disappearances in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] (CCDP) investigated the enforced disappearance of Gurdev Singh Kaunke. The CCDP acquired conclusive evidence to show that Kaunke was inhumanly tortured first at Sadar police station of Jagraon and then at the CIA interrogation center of Jagraon from 25 December 1992 to 1 January 1993. The Committee also acquired irrefutable evidence to establish that the former [[Jathedar of Akal Takht]] was killed under torture.<ref name="USCG">{{cite book|title=Congressional Record|date=25 June 1998|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|location=Washington|isbn=9780160680359|page=14238|edition=Volume 144 - Part 10}}</ref>

==Police Accounts==
{{third-party|section|date=November 2016}}
The Committee for Coordination of Disappearances in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] (CCDP) led by Ram Naryan Kumar uncovered the mysterious disappearance of Gurdev Singh Kaunke through the deposition of two police officers who had personal knowledge of the incident. The first deposition was given by Darshan Singh who had been invited by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swaran Ghotna of Jagraon to join the police in May 1992. The other deposition was given by a serving SSP of the [[Punjab Police (India)|Punjab Police]] who was an eyewitness of the torture and death of Gurdev Singh Kaunke.<ref name="WSO" /><ref name="IC" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaunke, Gurdev Singh}}
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Punjabi-language writers]]
[[Category:Jathedars of Akal Takht]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Indian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Damdami Taksal alumni]]
[[Category:Khalistan movement people]]
[[Category:People from Ludhiana district]]