4 min readLudhianaJan 20, 2025 04:30 PM IST
First published on: Jan 20, 2025 at 04:30 PM IST
January 20 marks the death anniversary of Sewa Singh Thikriwala, who spearheaded the Praja Mandal or self-rule movement against the rulers of Punjab’s erstwhile princely states. He died in jail while he was on a hunger strike in 1935.
Since then, a memorial has been held annually in his native village from January 18 to January 20.
Who was Sewa Singh Thikriwala?
He was born in the late 19th century in Thikriwala village, then part of princely state Patiala and now in Barnala, Punjab. His father Dewa Singh was a high-ranking official in the court of Maharaja Rajinder Singh. Sewa Singh was later appointed as a health officer.
What stands today of Sewa Singh Thikriwala’s house. (Express photos)
Despite being born into a rich family and holding an official post, he left his job to join the Singh Sabha movement. It emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, in reaction to the Christian proselytising activities following the annexation of the Sikh empire by the British. Sewa Singh would organise Gurmukhi classes in Gurdwaras and promote the traditional Sikh Anand Karaj ceremony to be performed at weddings.
Sewa Singh’s direct criticism of the prince’s rule led the state to implicate him on a theft charge. Though it couldn’t be proven, he was jailed. The Punjab Riyasat Praja Mandal was formed then with Sewa Singh as its president. The movement was largely run by Akali leaders. Sewa Singh’s fellow Akali leader Kharak Singh launched a campaign against the state and began a hunger strike in the jail, demanding his release.
What was the Praja Mandal movement?
The focus of the movement was to protect the civil liberties of the masses, protest against oppressive taxes, seek reforms in the peasants’ conditions, open educational institutions, and have a responsible government.
Spread over 600 princely states of British India, in Punjab, the movement was active in the Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Malerkotla and Faridkot princely states initially. Now part of the Malwa region, with some parts in Haryana, these areas are politically active even today and were hotbeds of the recent farmers’ agitations. Prior to it too, the Akalis demanded Gurdwara reforms against corruption and the control of Mahants (priests), whom the British protected.
Sewa Singh’s imprisonment
After coming out of jail in 1928, Sewa Singh attended several conferences of the Punjab Riyasat Praja Mandal. In Simla, he met Mahatma Gandhi in 1931. The same year, the Maharaja of Patiala initiated negotiations with Sewa Singh but talks failed over the demand for an elected assembly.
He was arrested in 1930 and sentenced to be imprisoned for 10 years, but released owing to public pressure. At a meeting of Praja Mandal leaders at Amritsar, they decided to send jathas (Sikh armed parades) to Lahore. Sewa Singh was then ordered to leave Amritsar and not to enter the districts of Lahore and Amritsar for two months.
After that, when he reached Thikriwala, he was arrested by the police in August 1933 and sentenced to three years in jail. In early 1934, he started another hunger strike over his mistreatment by jail authorities.
He remained on hunger strike for a long period in solitary confinement inside the jail until his death. The Praja Mandal movement then lost a major leader. Still, others like Kharak Singh and Master Tara Singh emerged from it.
What happens at the memorial?
The Thikriwala village has a statue of Sewa Singh. The annual memorial is said to have begun the year after his death, with a Nagar Kirtan, seminars and lectures in the village.
Sewa Singh’s house, though, lies in a dilapidated condition with most of his family no longer in the village. Several politicians have attended the memorial in the past, including then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2011, and promised amenities.
On Sunday (January 19), Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that a primary school in the village would be upgraded to the School of Happiness and allocated Rs 1 crore. He also announced a fund of Rs 92 lakh for Government Senior Secondary School and said the construction of a nursing college would soon start. Sewa Singh’s house would also be turned into a memorial, he said.
Sewa Singh’s direct criticism of the prince’s rule led the state to implicate him on a theft charge. Though it couldn’t be proven, he was jailed. 
What stands today of Sewa Singh Thikriwala’s house. (Express photos)
Share
