Rtn Hassan Singh Mejie, the great grandson of freedom fighter and philosopher, Dr. Thakar Singh Ikolaha, presented his biography to the Governor of Punjab Shri Gulab Chand Kataria at Punjab Lok Bhawan yesterday.
Hassan Mejie informed the Governor Punjab about India’s most extraordinary yet unsung freedom fighter, who expressed keen interest in the story.
A physician, statesman, and revolutionary, Dr. Thakar Singh was the first Secretary General of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and a former President of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
His life reads like a forgotten chapter of history: arrested multiple times by colonial authorities for his unflinching commitment to India’s independence, he carried the struggle far beyond Punjab’s borders.
During his years in exile, Dr. Thakar Singh’s residence in Canton, China, became a clandestine hub of the international freedom movement. It was here that revolutionaries including Ras Behari Bose, Raja Mohinder Partap Singh, and prominent Chinese freedom fighters and philosophers met regularly — strategizing, sheltering, and sustaining the dream of a free India.
The house stood as a rare bridge between India’s independence movement and the wider Asian anti-colonial struggle.
The biography draws on rare letters, archives of Imperial Library in London, UK, SGPC records, newspaper clippings, and historic documents to reconstruct the life of a man who shaped institutions, defied empires, and yet remained absent from popular memory.
It traces his journey from village physician to political architect, from prison cells to international diplomacy, and restores his place among the pantheon of freedom fighters who chose conscience over comfort.
“This is not just Dr. Thakar Singh’s story,” says his great grandson Hassan Singh Mejie, “It is the story of countless unsung heroes whose sacrifices were foundational to 1947.
“By remembering him, we remember what the freedom struggle actually cost — and who paid for it,” he adds.
The book explores themes of sacrifice, faith in action, transnational resistance, and the Sikh contribution to India’s independence.
Hassan Singh Mejie is a leading businessman with operations in India, Dubai and UK, and a philanthropist managing a social enterprise Mehar Baba Charitable Trust, serving the 200 villages in Fatehgarh District of Punjab since 1998.
