Sunder Singh Lyallpuri (1878 – 3 March 1969) was a leading Sikh member of the Indian independence movement, a general of the Akali Movement, an educationist, and a journalist. Lyallpuri played a key role in the development of the Shiromani Akali Dal and in the Gurdwara Reform Movement of the early 1920s. He was also a founding member of the Central Sikh League. He took part in several roles in the establishment and growth of Indian independence.
Family history and early life Sunder Singh was born in 1878 into a Kamboj farmer's family in Village Bohoru in Amritsar. His father's name was Lakhmir Singh Sandha and his mother's was Ram Kaur.
During the colonization of Bars, the Sandha family, along with many others, moved to Sheikhupura District (now in Pakistan) where they were allotted lands in the new Bar Chenab colony currently known as Faisalabad. In memoriam of their ancestral village in Amritsar, the colonists named their new settlement in Sheikhupura as Bohoru (Chak No 18 Bohoru). Sunder Singh was married in 1901 to Bibi Sant Kaur, the daughter of S. Mangal Singh of Nizampur.
Education and early activities Sunder Singh Lyallpuri received his basic education in Shahkot (Pakistan), and then obtained his B.A. (Honors), from Khalsa College Amritsar and his B.T. from Government College Lahore. Lyallpuri was invited for a personal interview for the position of tehsildar (revenue officer), but he sat in a chair in front of the Commissioner without his permission. This caused a verbal scuffle between him and the English officer, and he was sent back without being interviewed. On pressure from his relatives, he later took a position in Indian postal services, but here too he was entangled with his English boss. The senior officer called him into his office for inquiry and did not offer him a chair to sit on which again hurt the pride of Sunder Singh. Lyallpuri concluded that his self-respect would not allow him to serve the British Indian Government.
Khalsa Youngman Association Chenab colony of Lyallpur was a new colonial settlement as was Lyallpur itself. Sunder Singh made Lyallpur his land of action and henceforth was nicknamed as Lyallpuri. It was a time when the Hindu Arya Samaj movement was ruling supreme in Punjab, and the Sikh masses were coming to its fold in large numbers. To counter this phenomenon, Sunder Singh Lyallpuri started educating the Sikh masses about Sikhism and its history. In association with S. Harchand Singh Ryees and some other well-wishers, Lyallpuri founded the Khalsa Bhujangi Sabha (Khalsa Youngman Association), the members of which played a leading role in the Sikh affairs and for the country as a whole. It was this association that started the Gurdwara Rikabganj Morcha, later supported by the broad Sikh community, and won the victory for the Akalis.
Sacha Dhandora and Anand Marriage Act During this time, there was extreme illiteracy and ignorance in the Sikh community. Lyallpuri realized the urgent need to awaken and educate the community. He decided to create a weekly newspaper, the Sacha Dhandora, and began publishing patriotic songs and Sikh-ideology related nationalistic articles.According to the report from the Assistant Director of Criminal Intelligence, dated 11 August 1911, it "printed largely echoes of the violently nationalistic writings which were then appearing in the Punjab Press and which culminated in a series of press persecutions during 1909-10". Sacha Dhandora too fell a victim to prosecution and suppression----Encyclopedia of Sikhism, p 280, Harbans Singh. In those days, Tika Sahib (Wali Ahid) Ripudaman Singh of erstwhile Nabha State, was making outstanding contributions towards Sikhism, and his views on Sikhism were routinely published in Sacha Dhandora. This brought Master Lyallpuri and Tika Sahib together. Tika Sahib was also a member of the Imperial Council from 1906 to 1908. Together they worked on the draft for Anand Marriage Act, which was later submitted to the Special Committee for review. When Tika Sahib ceased to be member of the council after 1908, Sardar Sunder Singh Majithia became a member of the Imperial Council in his place. Because of this, Majithia continued to pursue the matter and the Bill got finally enacted on 22 October 1909.Akali Lehir da Sanchalak, Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, pp 20-22 The Sikh marriage called Anand Karaj was introduced from the time of the Sikh Gurus but it got statutory recognition only after the passage of the Anand Marriage Act 1909. According to the centrally approved Sikh Code (Sikh Reht Maryada), persons not professing the Sikh faith cannot be joined in wedlock by the Anand Karaj ceremony.
Morcha for Rakabganj Wall Along with S Harchand Singh, Teja Singh Samundri, S. Sardul Singh and Master Mota Singh, Master Lyallpuri played a crucial role in the Rakabganj Gurudwara Morcha through The Akali (Punjabi Daily); compelling the Government to yield. The write-ups in The Akali, published by Lyallpuri, played a very important and effective role in electrifying the Sikh community and rousing it into action for Gurdwara Rakabganj Morcha.
Educationist Sardar Harchand Singh was a good friend of Lyallpuri. Both realized the need for education among the Sikh community. So they opened first primary school in the building of Singh Sabha Lyallpura which soon was converted to Lyallpur High School. This noble action also brought several important people like Teja Singh Samundri, Master Tara Singh, S. Harchand Singh, Master Sunder Singh and Prof Niranjan Singh and Jathedar Buta Singh together who had played important roles in Sikh history. Slowly, the High School became the well-known Lyallpur Khalsa College. Other schools founded by Master Lyallpuri or which he helped in founding were: High School Chak No 41 Jhang Branch Khalsa High School Sangla Hill Sheikhupura, Khalsa High School Nwana Pind (Sheikhupura), Khalsa High School Kutia Baba Chetan Das (Sheikhupura), Khalsa High School Jai Chak (Sheikhupura), Kaumi High Schoolh Jhelum, Kaumi College Jhelum etc. Sir Sikander Hyat, the Prime Minister of undivided Punjab, Giani Kartar Singh, Mangal Singh Gill, Gopal Singh Kaumi, Sir Joginder Singh, Qazi Abdul Rehman etc., are some of the well known students of Master Lyallpuri. Some of the Kamboj and other Singhs who fell as martyrs in Saka Nankana had been students of Lyallpuri.
In several of the schools he had founded and served, he offered his services free in exchange for only two meals and a pair of personal clothes.Merian Kujh Itihaasak Yaddan, p 124-25, Hira Singh Darad.
Martial Law 1919 After the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 13 April 1919, the entirety of Punjab was placed under martial law including Lyallpur. There were no untoward incidents except destruction of telephone and telegraph wires near Lyallpur Railway Station. However, a huge mass of dry husk near the station caught fire and as a result 2-3 people burnt alive. It was a coincidence that Lyallpuri was on the station at the moment. In the early morning of April 22, English police fully loaded with machine-guns laid siege to LyallpurPunjab Disturbances, 1919-20, Vol I, Indian Perspective, p 149. and arrested 12 people including Lyallpuri.This included Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, Sant Singh Lawyer, Dr Dina Nath, Bodh Chand Lawyer, Bhagat Ram Lawyer, Dr Basant Ram, Amir Chand, Sita Ram Dala, Bhagat Singh Ditchkotia, Bajaj Harnam Singh, Hakim Nishan Singh and Hakim Nurdin (See: Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 287, S Kirpal Singh.
Lyallpuri was tried for charges of arson, violence and murder. Although the charges were not proved, Lyallpuri was sentenced to death by hanging. His case was taken up by famous lawyers like Pt. Moti Lal Nehru, C. R. Das and Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya. Later, under special government proclamation, the death sentence was commuted to fine and imprisonment. However, the nationalist lawyers continued to pursue the case and finally the sentence was reduced to a fine of Rs 1200 and imprisonment of 1.5 years, for which he was deported to Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.See: Baba Visakha Singh (Jiwani) p 24, Dr Jaswant Singh. The fine was paid by Lyallpuri's father by mortgaging/selling his land.Meri Aap Beeti, p 138, (unpublished), Lyallpuri.
Founder of The Akali Daily After being released from jail, Lyallpuri held a meeting of his friends which included Sardar S. Harchand Singh, S. Sardul Singh Kaveeshar, Giani Hira Singh Darad, S. Mangal Singh Gill (Tehsildar), S. Pratap Singh Gujjaranwala and S. Teja Singh Samundri in the house of S. Sardul Singh Kaveeshar. Based on the decision of the meeting, Master Lyallpuri founded a Punjabi daily which was named The Akali after Baba Akali Phula Singh.Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, SIKH HISTORY IN 10 VOLUMES, volume 4, pp 135-36. The Akali daily was meant to protect the rights of Sikhs and provide a political voice for their interests. The first issue of The Akali appeared on 21 May 1920 with Lyallpuri as its Owner, Manager, Publisher and Chief Editor. He was assisted by Giani Hira Singh Darad and S Mangal Singh Gill etc. It was the first Punjabi daily to be published and in its very first issue, it had outlined in its editorial note its programme advocating: (1) Panthic control over the Gurdwaras; (2) Panthic control of Khalsa College, Amritsar; (3) repairing the demolished wall of Gurudwara Rakabganj, Delhi; (4) creation of religious and political awakening among the Sikh masses and to line them up for more effective roles in India's struggle of independence; and (5) creation of a Sikh organisation and choosing its members democratically through elections based on Panchayat rules.See: Editorial Note by Lyallpuri, The Akali, 21 May 1920. The writings in The Akali were so effective and bold compared to the Urdu dailies of the times that some Hindus and even Muslims had especially learnt Gurmukhi to read The AkaliMerian Kujh Itihaasak Yadan, p 136, Hira Singh Darad The paper effectively and forcefully raised the wall issue of Gurdwara Rakabganj Delhi and roused the Sikh community into dynamic action and participation. A big Shaheedi Jatha was organised but before it reached Delhi, the Government yielded to the demands of the Sikh community.
Master Lyallpuri coined the expression Na-Milvartan Lehir, for Asehyog Lehir ('Non-Cooperation Movement') proposed by Mahatma Gandhi which name got the widest acceptance and popularity in Punjab.Merian Kujh Itihaasak Yaadan, p 166, Giani Hira Singh Darad. The coining of the impressive expression like Na-Milvartan and to make it most popular in Punjab could only fall to the share of a daily like The Akali alone. Not only in Punjab, this alternative expression started to be used in whole of India and became an integral part of the vocabulary of the national struggle and history.Teja Singh Samundri, p 64, Dr Piar Singh.
Founding of Akali movement