KEHAR SINGH DHAMRAIT
1932 – 1914
RICHMOND – Sikh activist Kehar Singh Dhamrait, son of Sardar Harnam Singh Dhamrait, village of Balachaur, Distt. Nawanshahr, Punjab, India, passed away on Thursday and funeral services for the deceased will be held next Saturday, July 12..
He was born in Hoshiarpur in 1932, and raised and educated in that city. After his graduation from Punjab University and teacher training, he worked as a high school teacher at Government High School Nurpur Bedi, Distt Hoshiarpur in 1956. After three years he was transferred to teach at middle school Nainowal Jattan, Distt. Hoshiarpur and that’s when he decided to immigrate to England on Boucher system in 1962.
Kehar Singh, who eventually made his way to Canada in 1968, settling in Richmond, BC, leaves behind four grown kids, three boys and one girl as well as grandkids.
He worked three years in a lumber mill and thereafter he became a real estate agent for about twenty-six before retiring in 1998.
“I’ve always loved my country, native land of my gurus and ancestors. I’m a true Sikh myself, but I truly respect all other religions. Sudarshan Bakhshi, President of Hindu Praished is my best friend and so was deceased Riaset Ali Khan who was the President of the Pakistan Association of Canada. I am well known in the community for my community affairs and work. I always try to keep harmony and love among all communities and for this in 2006 I awarded and presented a trophy in a party held by the Goel family charitable foundation and Hindu Praished in regard of Nehru’s birthday anniversary,” he wrote before his death.
Kehar Singh was also the victim of harassment and intimidation by the Indian government for his outspoken views on the carnage against Sikhs in New Delhi in 1984 and his criticism of India’s horrible record on human rights.
“In 1984 the Sikh nation in India at the time of Blue Star Operation and thereafter the death of Indira Gandhi when thousands of innocent Sikhs were murdered and their properties destroyed and Sikh women were raped my pen shed black tears on the white paper against this genocide of Sikh nation. I wrote some articles against this and was black-listed by the Indian Government for that reason. During 1996 – 2001 my wife and I applied five times for a visa to go to India, but I was rejected each time, then with the help of Raj Babbar and then Minority Commissioner Chairman, Sardar Tarlochan Singh, now MP, I was granted the visa in November 11, 2001. When I landed at the Delhi airport by flight Air India about 2:00am the airport authorities refused my entry to India and ordered me back to Canada by next flight. After the intervention with the Minority High Commissioner and L. K. Advani I was let out of the airport, but was ordered to appear for further investigations at the Home Ministry’s office at the Khan Market in New Delhi. After the Home Ministry office cleared me of all investigations, I was placed under police surveillance in Hoshiarpur for one month. After all this my visa was reinstated.”
“Then again, I applied in 2006 to attend a close relative’s marriage and my visa was again refused. Once again, I had to request the Minority Commissioner and with his interference I got a three months restricted visa. In 2006, I again applied to take care of my property in Balachur, my native village, but I was told that I was back on the blacklist. Why? I don’t know.
“I am eighty-one year old man, and have heart problems. I had open-heart surgery in 2009. My wife has a chronic disease of bronchitis and has her one lung taken out. My only wish is to visit our mother-land, holy shrines and relatives before I breathe last in this world. There is no family left at my native town Balachur, therefore I want to take care of my property.”
Funeral services for Kehar Singh will be held next Saturday, July 12 at 12;35 at the Five Rivers Funeral home in Delta. It will be followed by bhog at New Westminster’s Sukhsagar Gurdwara at 2:30 pm.
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