Boota Singh: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = Jalandhar district, British Punjab

| death_date = February 19, 1957

| death_place = Shahdara, [[Pakistan]]  

| other_names = [[Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh]]<br><small>(lit. Martyr-in-Love Boota Singh)</small>

'''Boota Singh''' ([[Gurmukhi]]: ਬੂਟਾ ਸਿੰਘ; [[Shahmukhi]]: بوٹا سنگھ), sometimes spelled as '''Buta Singh''', was a [[Sikh]] soldier in the British Army. He served in [[Burma]] during [[World War II]], under the command of Lord Mountbatten.<ref name="ti">{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99apr17/saturday/head6.htm |title=Silver lining in the clouds of Partition |publisher=[[Tribune India]] |date=April 17, 1999 |accessdate= July 29, 2013}}</ref> He is very well known in [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. He is famous for his tragic love story with Zainab, a [[Muslim]] girl who he rescued from the riots during the [[partition of India]] in 1947.<ref name="ti"/>  

== Love story ==

Both fell in love and got married. Later, Zainab was deported (sent back) to Pakistan. Boota illegally entered Pakistan to find her. Zainab stayed away from him due to pressure from her family. Because of this, he killed himself by jumping in front of a moving train near Shahdara railway station in Pakistan. He did this with his daughter, but she survived.<ref name="j">{{cite web |url=http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2010-weekly/nos-30-05-2010/she.htm |title=Shaheed-e-Muhabbat |publisher=Jang |date=May 30, 2010 |accessdate=26 July 2013 |archive-date=16 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316084209/http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2010-weekly/nos-30-05-2010/she.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The love story of Singh's life has been adapted to movies and books, from both India and Pakistan. A [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] movie ''[[Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh]]'' (1999) is entirely based on the story.<ref name="ti"/> Ishrat Rahmani wrote a book, ''Muhabbat'', based on the story. The story also influenced many other movies including ''Partition'', a Hollywood movie from 2007.<ref name="ti"/>

Singh lived in a village of Jalandhar district in [[Punjab (British India)|British Punjab]]. When he returned home from fighting in [[Burma]], his youth was over. All his friends were married with their own families, but he was still not married. He found no woman to marry him. Once a trader offered to sell Singh a bride from [[Uttar Pradesh]] or [[Bihar]] for rupees 2000/-. From this day onward, he started saving all his money for the [[dowry]].

In his suicide note, Singh expressed his last wish to be buried as a Muslim in Noorpur village near Barki. This is where [[Zainab Singh|Zainab]]'s parents had resettled after the Partition. The [[autopsy]] of Singh's body was done in an hospital in [[Lahore]]. It was taken to the village on 22 February 1957 for burial. However, the villagers did not allow him to be buried there. Instead, Singh was buried at [[Miani Sahib Graveyard]] of Lahore.<ref name="d">{{cite web |url=http://x.dawn.com/2013/01/14/shaheed-and-shahdara-ii/ |title=Shaheed and Shahdara – I |publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date= January 14, 2013 |accessdate= July 26, 2013}}</ref>

 

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Boota}}

[[Category:Punjabi people]]

[[Category:British military people]]

[[Category:Indian people]]