https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Darshan_Singh_CanadianDarshan Singh Canadian - Revision history2026-07-31T02:56:56ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Darshan_Singh_Canadian&diff=329926&oldid=prevUpdateBot at 12:11, 15 June 20222022-06-15T12:11:16Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Darshan Singh Sangha<br />
| image = Darshan Singh Canadian.jpg<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| honorific_prefix = [[Comrade]]<br />
| birth_date = 1917 <!-- {{Birth date|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} --><br />
| birth_place = <br />
| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1986|09|25}}<!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|2010|07|01|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth) --><br />
| death_place = <br />
| death_cause = Assassination<br />
| nationality = Indian, Canadian<br />
| other_names = Darshan A. Sangha<br />
| occupation = [[Trade Union]] Activist<br />
| organization = [[Communist Party of India]], [[Communist Party of Canada]]<br />
| spouse = Harbans kaur<br />
}}<br />
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'''Darshan Singh Canadian''' (aka '''Darshan A. Sangha''') (1917, [[Langeri]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], [[India]] – 25 September 1986) was a [[Sikh]] [[trade union]] activist and [[Communism|communist]] organizer in [[Canada]] and India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://watanpunjabi.ca/pdf/darshan-singh-canadian-english.pdf|title=DARSHAN SINGH CANADIAN: TEN YEARS IN CANADA|website=watanpunjabi.ca}}</ref><br />
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== Canada ==<br />
Darshan Singh Canadian immigrated to [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada in 1937. Upon his arrival, his uncle attempted to get him a job at Dominion Sawmills resulting in the uncle being fired and Sangha being hired at five cents less pay an hour. He became active in the [[Labor-Progressive Party]] (as the [[Communist Party of Canada]] was known).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.parti-communiste.ca/?p=1390 |title=Archived copy |access-date=11 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205225251/http://www.parti-communiste.ca/?p=1390 |archive-date=5 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was one of the founders of the [[International Woodworkers of America]] and served as one of the union's organizers as well as its [[general secretary]] from 1942 to 1946. He led striking woodworkers on a march on the provincial capital of [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] in 1946. He fought for the rights of B.C.'s East Indian woodworkers.<br />
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== Return to India ==<br />
Darshan Singh Canadian returned to [[India]] upon its independence in 1947 and adopted "Canadian" as his surname.<br />
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He became active in the [[Communist Party of India]] becoming party secretary in [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]]. Canadian was a powerful speaker, and addressed several meetings and mass rallies. He also served as the secretary of Punjab Kisan Sabha.<ref name="enpp">{{cite book | title = Encyclopaedia of Political Parties | author = Ralhan, O. P. | year = 2002 | isbn = 81-7488-865-9 | pages = 1165–1171}}</ref> He opposed the [[Khalistan]]i separatists among the NRI Sikhs, and actively campaigned against them through his articles and speeches.<ref name="enpp"/> He represented [[Garhshanker]], [[Hoshiarpur district]] as member of [[Punjab Legislative Assembly|Punjab State Legislature]] for three terms until his assassination in 1986, in retaliation for his comments against [[Khalistan movement|Khalistani militants]].<br />
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Darshan Singh married Harbans, the daughter of Baba Lal Singh, a Ghadar veteran from Jandiala in Jalandhar district. His two daughters settled in Britain and Canada. In his last years, he suffered from spondylitis and other health problems, and once went to USSR for treatment.<ref name="enpp"/><br />
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== Assassination ==<br />
On the afternoon of 25 September, Darshan Singh was killed by Sikh militants.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/ghosts-of-khalistan/article3978880.ece | title=Ghosts of Khalistan | work=The Hindu | date=8 October 2012 | accessdate=16 June 2015}}</ref> Within two hours of his death, about a thousand demonstrators gathered at the police station at Mahilapur, and blocked the way to Hoshiarpur. They protested against police inactivity, and even accused the police of complicity in the crime.<ref name="enpp"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19861031-killing-of-communist-leaders-in-punjab-makes-left-parties-more-firm-in-opposing-terrorism-801383-1986-10-31|title=Killing of communist leaders in Punjab makes Left parties more firm in opposing terrorism|website=India Today|date=17 February 2014}}</ref><br />
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On 26 September, a huge march was organized from his native village Langeri to Mahilapur. The people shouted slogans as "Darshan Singh Canadian Amar Rahe" (Long Live Darshan Singh Canadian), "Canadian aman ekta da shahid" (Canadian was a martyr to peace and unity), "Na Hindu Raj na Khalistan, jug jug jive Hindustan" (Neither Hindu Raj nor Khalistan, long live India), "Hindu Sikh noon jo ladaye, oh desh da vairi hai" (he who makes Hindus and Sikhs fight, is an enemy of the nation), "atvad wakhwad murdabad" (down with extremism and secessionism), "Lokan da ekta zindabad" (Long live public unity), "Hindu Sikh ekta zindabad" (Long live Hindu-Sikh unity), and "CPI zindabad" (Long live CPI).<ref name="enpp"/> From Mahilapur, the procession came back to Langeri. A 20,000-strong rally was held in the village school ground, where Canadian's body lay. Thousands of Sikh youth participated in the rally, denouncing the extremist killers.<ref name="enpp"/><br />
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His body was cremated after several leaders, including the SGPC President, paid their tributes to him.<ref name="enpp"/><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Achhar Singh Chhina]]<br />
* [[Baldev Singh Mann]]<br />
* [[Deepak Dhawan]]<br />
* [[Gursharan Singh (theatre director)]]<br />
* [[Jaimal Singh Padda]]<br />
* [[Nidhan Singh Gudhan]]<br />
* [[Pash]]<br />
* [[Teja Singh Swatantar]]<br />
* [[Punjab insurgency]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* [http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/whoswho_S.htm The History of Metropolitan Vancouver's HALL OF FAME]<br />
* [http://www.leg.bc.ca/Hansard/35th1st/h0410am.htm Hansard, Vol. 2, No. 2, page 672 (Friday 10 April 1992)]<br />
* [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3ADarshan+Singh+Canadian&qt=hot_author Works of Darshan Singh Canadian]<br />
* [http://www.watanpunjabi.ca/pdf/darshan-singh-canadian-english.pdf Darshan Singh Canadian: Ten Years in Canada]<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian, Darshan Singh}}<br />
[[Category:1917 births]]<br />
[[Category:1986 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:1986 murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Punjabi people]]<br />
[[Category:Assassinated Indian politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Communist Party of Canada]]<br />
[[Category:Trade unionists from British Columbia]]<br />
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from Punjab, India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Sikhs]]<br />
[[Category:People murdered in India]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian people murdered abroad]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Canada]]<br />
[[Category:Victims of Sikh terrorism]]<br />
[[Category:International Woodworkers of America people]]</div>UpdateBot