Bamilaw222: Just completed a fresh chapter.

2023-07-18T04:03:11Z

Just completed a fresh chapter.

New page

{{Short description|A private Punjabi militia created to keep peace during the Partition of India.}}
{{Use British English}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name = Desh Sevak Sena
| native_name = ਦੇਸ਼ ਸੇਵਕ ਸੈਨਾ<br> देश सेवक सेना
| native_name_lang =
| caption = Tiger from the [[Azad Hind Fauj]]
| image = Azad_Hind_Gov._emblem.png
| founder = [[Mohan Singh (general)|General Mohan Singh]]
| leader_title = Senapati
| leaders = [[Mohan Singh (general)|General Mohan Singh]]
| active = 21 October 1947- 6 August 1948
| split =
| merged_into = National Volunteer Corps
| allegiance = [[Azad Hind]]
| clans =
| headquarters = Majithia House, [[Amritsar]]
| area =
| ideology = Anti-India, [[Islamophobia]]
| position =
| slogan = Desh Sevak Sena, Sada Jeev
| status = Disbanded
| size =
| partof =
| battles = Second Battle of Kasur, Montgomery Massacres
| war = [[Partition of India]], [[Sikhistan Liberation War]]
| flag =
| colours = Mazri and Maroon
| website =
| predecessor =
| successor =
}}
The '''Desh Sevak Sena''' (D.S.S.) was a private military created by the founder of the [[Indian National Army]], named [[Mohan Singh (general)|General Mohan Singh]] to protect the [[Sikhs]] and [[Hindus]] during the [[Partition of India]] from the armed Muslim groups.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Assembly (Legislative) |first=India Constituent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjIdyQtTjNoC&dq=desh+sewak+sena&pg=PA333 |title=The Constituent Assembly of India (Legislative) Debates: Official Report |publisher=Manager of Publications |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Chopra |first=Mohindar Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUluAAAAMAAJ&q=soldiers+story+1947 |title=1947, a Soldier's Story |publisher=Military Studies Convention |language=en}}</ref> It was staunchly an Indian nationalistic volunteer group although in time General Mohan Singh devised a plan to attack [[Shimla|Simla]] as an act to promote [[Sikh nationalism]] and start the Proposed Sikhistan Liberation War,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Lionel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8ZUDwAAQBAJ&dq=desh+sewak+sena&pg=PT661 |title=Towards a Ceasefire in Kashmir: British Official Reports from South Asia, 18 September – 31 December 1948 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-95854-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> although he was reprimanded and the Desh Sevak Sena was quickly absorbed into the National Volunteer Corps.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Datta |first=Nonica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPQtDwAAQBAJ&dq=desh+sewak+sena&pg=PT58 |title=Violence, Martyrdom and Partition: A Daughter's Testimony |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-908804-1 |language=en}}</ref> They were inspired by the various private militia of the [[Sikhs]] such as the Akal Regiment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chopra |first=Mohindar Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUluAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=1947, a Soldier's Story |publisher=Military Studies Convention |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

It was [[Gopi Chand Bhargava]] who had originally given land to General Mohan Singh in [[Gurgaon]], [[Hisar (city)|Hissar]] and [[Rohtak]] to train his army along with other bases in [[Bombay]] and [[Jodhpur]], although their main soldiers came from other areas in [[Punjab]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=CHOPRA |first=P. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urqvDQAAQBAJ&dq=desh+sewak+sena&pg=PA1839 |title=WHO'S WHO OF INDIAN MARTYRS VOL.I |publisher=Ministry of Education and Youth Services, Government of India |isbn=978-81-230-2180-5 |language=en}}</ref> General Mohan Singh performed the inaugural ceremony of the Desh Sevak Sena,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Patel |first=Vallabhbhai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zA6AQAAIAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Sardar Patel's Correspondence, 1945-50 |publisher=Navajivan Publishing House |language=en}}</ref> on the fourth anniversary of the [[Provisional Government of India]],<ref name=":7" /> and although the Indian Government helped them;<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":5" /> they were against [[India]] and instead fought for [[Azad Hind]].<ref name=":7" /> General Mohan Singh and other [[Indian National Army]] leaders decided to start a press at [[Ludhiana]] under the charge of Colonel Gurdial Singh Dhillon was made the Chief of Staff and published the "Hamara Desh."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patel |first=Vallabhbhai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSJuAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Sardar Patel's Correspondence, 1945-50: Patel-Nehru differences, assassination of Gandhi, services reorganised, refugee rehabilitation |publisher=Navajivan Publishing House |language=en}}</ref> An important amendment was made in the constitution of Desh Sevak Sena and Azad Hind.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nehru |first=Jawaharlal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvIdAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru: 7 April 1948 to 21 June 1948 |publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund |language=en}}</ref>

== During the Partition of India ==
On 21 October 1947, in the presence of about 500 persons at [[Amritsar]], General Mohan Singh declared the Desh Sevak Sena as a volunteer force to protect [[Sikhs]] and [[Hindus]] from [[Muslim]] armed gangs, they had an alliance with the [[Congress Seva Dal]], Punjab Home Guards and Punjab Raksha Dal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tanwar |first=Raghuvendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giduAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Reporting the Partition of Punjab, 1947: Press, Public, and Other Opinions |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-7304-674-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> He called for "Sons of the [[Sikh gurus|Gurus]] and [[Kshatriya]]s" to come to him to save India from [[Islam]], generally Sikhs joined, although they did have some [[Jats|Jat Hindus]] as well in the force.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sabha |first=India Parliament Rajya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpKKAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Who's who |publisher=Rajya Sabha Secretariat |language=en}}</ref> The uniform of the Desh Sevak Sena was to be a Mazri shirt and trousers and a turban or a cap of similar color.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sabha |first=India Parliament Rajya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_2ECA4GhQ0C&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Parliamentary Debates: Official Report |language=en}}</ref> ''Desh Sevak Sena Sada Jeev'' (Long live Desh Sevak Sena) was the main slogan that they had and the soldiers generally had and the [[Lee–Enfield|Lee-Enfield Rifle]] was the standard rifle of the force;<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Mushirul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59pjAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=India Partitioned: The Other Face of Freedom |publisher=Lotus Collection |isbn=978-81-7436-013-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> [[Vallabhbhai Patel|Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]] and [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] both supported him despite his anti-India standpoint. [[Vallabhbhai Patel|Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]] supplied him with monetary funds to create a grenade factory in [[Amritsar]] which was supplied to other ''Sikh Jathas'' as well.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nB-2AAAAIAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Journal of Indian History |publisher=Department of Modern Indian History |language=en}}</ref>

A pledge taking ceremony of Desh Istri Sena, the women's wing of the D.S.S., was held on 30 November at the Majitha House.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hopkinson |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PX0PAAAAMAAJ&q=desh+sewak+sena |title=Split Focus: An Involvement in Two Decades |publisher=Hart-Davis |isbn=978-0-246-64468-8 |language=en}}</ref> There was some resentment in INA leaders over the inclusion of Colonel Narinjan Singh Gill in the set up of D.S.S. as Colonel Siri Ram and Colonel Fauja Singh and others felt that Narinjan Singh Gill was suspected of being a British agent when he was working in the Indian National Army, and considered that he should not be given authority.<ref name=":5" /> Although all of them managed to save thousands of lives in East and [[West Punjab]], they cooperated with the 123 Infantry Regiment under [[Major General]] Mohindar Singh Chopra to create a boundary and peacefully allow both sides to migrate,<ref name=":5" /> although the D.S.S. had also supported the Sikh Jathas in certain cases, which Mag. Gen. Chopra did not agree with.<ref name=":5" /> The force did get radicalized in two isolated cases, specifically the Second Battle of Kasur and the Montgomery Massacres, where they massacred Muslims and ate pork in mosques.

== After the Partition of India ==
On 6 August 1948 after a plan created by [[Yadavindra Singh|Maharaja Yadavindra Singh]] to conquer [[Lahore]] and declare Sikhistan, General Mohan Singh in a speech in [[Bombay]] saying that in 1948 itself he would declare war on India, conquer Simla and announce it as the capital of Sikhistan.<ref name=":6" /> This information was given to [[Gopi Chand Bhargava]] who took immediate action and absorbed it into the National Volunteer Corps.<ref name=":9" /> Colonel Bhan Singh who fought in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and [[Burma campaign|Burma]] for India was shot and killed by [[Punjab Police (India)|Punjab Police]] in [[Kangra, Himachal Pradesh|Kangra]] as he tried to reestablish the Desh Sevak Sena in the Shimla Group of states.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Uncategorized}}

[[Category:Partition of India]]

Desh Sevak Sena - Revision history

Bamilaw222: Just completed a fresh chapter.