Amaninder Pal Sharma

Around 100 years after Ghadrite Bhai Mewa Singh became the first Indian to be hanged in Canada on charges of killing a senior British officer there, Punjabi community residing in the country is moving a petition against branding him as a criminal in the Canadian historical and legal records.

Mewa Singh

To take revenge on killings of two Ghadar party members -- Bhag Singh and Badan Singh -- whose names are recorded in the history books as the first two martyrs of the movement in Canada, Mewa had in October 1914 killed William Charles Hopkinson, a British immigration inspector working in Canada.

Charged for Hopkinsons's murder, Mewa Singh was hanged in New Westminster jail in January 1915.

Now, as the centenary of Mewa's execution is approaching, Vancouver-based Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh Memorial Society, along with other prominent organizations, including Khalsa Diwan Society (Vancouver), has prepared a petition to be put up before the Canadian government to revise the text and reference in records, which term him as criminal.
"We have drafted a petition in this regard and would submit it to the government after getting as many signatures as possible. We have also approached Punjabi MPs of Canada to raise the issue at appropriate platforms. Hopkinson's slaying should not be seen as a criminal act but a killing committed due to some unusual circumstances," Baaghi Sanghera of Bhai Mewa Singh Memorial Society told TOI from Canada.

Sohan Singh Deo, president of Khalsa Diwan Society, Vancouver, said: "For Punjabis residing here, he is a martyr. As his martyrdom centenary year is approaching, we would forcefully put forth our demand."

Vancouver-based journalist Gurpreet Singh, author of the book Why Mewa Singh killed Hopkinson? , said it was a chain of events after the Komagata Maru incident that finally resulted in Hopkinson's killing and Mewa Singh's execution.

Mewa Singh‘s funeral procession. Pic Courtesy: SF University Kohaly Collection

"Punjabi community in Vancouver was divided into two factions. A section headed by Bela Singh openly supported Britishers during the Komagata Maru crisis. As soon as SS Komagata Maru departed from Vancouver, tension filled the air in the city," said Gurpreet Singh, who, while working with University of British Columbia, also authored a research paper on Hopkinson's killing.
Two of Bela's supporters -- Harman Singh and Arjan Singh -- were killed August 31 and September 5, 1914, respectively. On September 5, 1914, Bela Singh went to a Vancouver Sikh temple and pumped bullets into the bodies of Bhag Singh and Badan Singh.
Bhag, who served in the British army before moving to Canada, had remained the president of Khalsa Diwan Society in Vancouver and was a prominent figure among Sikhs during the Komagata Maru incident.

From: Times of India