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Shingara SINGH - a tall Jat Sikh; says he is almost 100, or on
reflection 96 [[tho cd be ten years younger]]; still six feet
tall, stout, with a fine staff; bushy bearded; dishevelled orange
rural turban; family house is in Sultanwind, a village on the
outskirts of Amritsar; found him a couple of miles away, by a
wheat field he owns near the village of Rampura, sitting on a
charpoi overssing three labourers working to make a new fitting
for a tube well.
Says he was at Jallianwala bagh and helped take out the bodies;
later he was jailed for nine years for murdering a Muslim; later
still, during partition, says he and colleagues killed lost of
Amritsar Muslims in retaliation for attacks on the other side, and
he was again put in Lahore jail but got out on the 15th August
aftr about two weeks. His father had deserted from the army to
join the freedom fighters (and while in jail had killed two Pathan
? jailers who sodomised prisoners) - and so Shingara regards
himself as of a freedom-fighter's family. Had kept the best of the
swords he'd used during partition days, but that was takne by the
police during a raid. Five of his family have died because there
were militants (at least one being killed by other militants).
Jokes that he's only been to Lahore in shackles.
Has two sons, four daughters and at least 20 grandchildren. Says
at partition, has three daus and two sons. In 1919, was already
engaged to be married.
The land the family owns on the outskirts of Amritsar s
extremely valuable, but they live modestly in typical Jat style.
Shingara is loud, larger than life, still with a firm handshake
and a booming voice. A local sarpanch, present during the
interview, says: among thosw who witnessed the event of 47, the
anger is the same, but those who haven't are non-committal.
Interviewed in th fields, not more than a quaretr of a mile from
the New GT Road, on 19 March 1997
IN PUNJABI - with Asit Jolly providing first person translation
(most of my questions useable)
380 - gives name and says is a year and a half short of 100
385 > 19 years and 9 days old on day of J Bagh [in 1919]
390 > 'I went and cleared out the bodes from J B, J went from |
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