Shaheed Kaka Inderjit Singh

In 1955, a ban was imposed on the raising of slogans of the Punjabi Suba along with Panthic Jaikaras at public places in Punjab. During that year, on an afternoon in 1955, a 10 year old Bhujangi (literally little snake, see below) while returning from school yelled out Punjabi Suba Zindabad, Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh and Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal.

Some Haryanvi policemen standing nearby started beating him with batons and taunted the child saying: Call your Guru. You are going to die!

That bhujangi roared back: "We Singhs are fortunate to become shaheeds" and shouted out the Sikh athems again saying, "If Guru Gobind Singh Ji's children can be shaheeds, why can't I be shaheed?"

The cruel cops first shot him in the legs and then started hitting the bhujandi on his already injured arm. His arm was torn loose from his body, but that bhujangi kept on shouting jaikaras. After this the cops took out his eyes and threw him in the well nearby.

Afterwards his body was found. Sometime back his picture was put in the Darbar Sahib museum in Amritsar.

• During the reign of the Mughals and the latter invasions of the Afganis, the ferocity of the Sikhs and their lack of fear scared the the Mughals so much that they called them by the worst names they could think of - Dogs of hell or sons of snakes were among the titles they gave them. It is said that Guru Gobind Singh adopted the term - sons of snakes or snakes as a motivational name for the Sikhs, hence Bhujangi or little snakes for young Sikhs. The US marines in WWI, were because of their ferocity, called by the Germans the Teufel Hunden', (Devil Dogs) which they still use as a motivational nickname today.