Chandra Singh Garhwali (1891–1979), a soldier of exceptional moral courage, is remembered on his death anniversary, 1 October, for an act of conscience that saved countless innocent lives and became a beacon of hope for India's freedom movement.
At a time when arbitrary wars continue to bring death and destruction to innocent people across the world, the role of conscientious soldiers remains profoundly important. A conscientious soldier is no less a patriot than anyone else, and no less willing to risk his or her life for the protection of the country. But such a soldier is also a thoughtful and deeply sensitive human being who refuses to be used wrongly in a deeply unethical way—to kill innocent civilians, to kill persons who did not attack or harm his country, or to fight highly unjust wars.
The stand taken by such soldiers and their acts of courage become especially significant during unjust wars, colonial conflicts, and waves of repression launched against freedom movements. In such situations, their actions have often saved the lives of many innocent persons while sending a powerful message about the seriousness of the injustice taking place. That such soldiers are exceptionally ethical, compassionate, and deeply sensitive is self-evident, for they act in full knowledge that they may face long years in prison—and in some places, even a death sentence.
The Story of Peshawar, 1930
The highly inspiring story of one such soldier relates to the Peshawar region of undivided India (now in Pakistan) in 1930, when the nonviolent freedom movement was moving towards one of its peak periods, particularly in that region.
It was a tense day in April 1930 in Peshawar. The freedom movement under the guidance of Badshah Khan—with the overall national leadership of Mahatma Gandhi—was progressing from strength to strength. The Khudai Khidmatgars (literally, "those who have committed themselves to serving God through service to humanity"), organized by the Badshah (literally "king," so called because he ruled the hearts of Pathans and others, although he personally lived the most frugal and simple life), had proven themselves true to their name. In their commitment to non-violence, these Pathans—earlier known for violent feuds and revenges—had proven themselves closest to the ideals of non-violence proclaimed by Mahatma Gandhi.
While the colonial regime sent soldiers armed with the latest weapons to curb them, the Khudai Khidmatgar protestors stood up bravely, unarmed, with prayers and freedom slogans on their lips.
Several Indian soldiers brought to suppress them were from Garhwal, known as very brave and hardy soldiers from the Garhwal region of the Western Himalayas. They had proven themselves capable of winning several tough battles. But here, when asked to fire on their own unarmed brothers, they became distressed and tense. How long could this go on? During holidays when they went to their villages, they heard about the great freedom movement progressing under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, and they felt happy and proud. But here they had been brought, as soldiers known for their loyalty, to suppress the same freedom movement in which their family members took pride and which attracted them too with its nobility and well-justified demands. What should they do?
The freedom fighters, on the other hand, were clear about their commitments and ready for sacrifice, and hence were not as tense as the soldiers. The freedom fighters were happy with what they were planning to do, despite all its risks, but the soldiers were not at all happy with what they were being asked to do.
The Moment of Reckoning
One unit of soldiers was led by Chandra Singh Garhwali (1891–1979), a thoughtful soldier who had risen in ranks due to his skills, bravery, and leadership qualities. The soldiers placed great faith and trust in him and looked up to him to guide them in situations of uncertainty such as the one they now faced. Chandra Singh Garhwali (also known as Chandra Singh Bhandari) had been discussing the fast-developing situation with his Garhwali soldiers. While no firm decisions had been made yet, enough words had been exchanged to convince Chandra Singh that many other soldiers of his unit were almost as disturbed and distressed as he was about the possibility of being asked to fire on unarmed, non-violent protestors and freedom fighters.
Finally, the moment of reckoning came. The unarmed freedom fighters stood before the soldiers bravely and calmly while the British commander gave the order to fire. Chandra Singh Garhwali was supposed to repeat this order, but instead he shouted: "Do not fire. Cease fire." The soldiers followed the command of Chandra Singh and not of the much more senior British officer. The news spread like wildfire and brought unprecedented new hope to the freedom movement.
Chandra Singh had no intention of a full-scale rebellion. He knew that his handful of soldiers stood no chance against the huge colonial force. He and his unit soldiers were content with their very important decision to refuse to fire on unarmed, peaceful protestors. Chandra Singh told the British commander very firmly that even if they were blown up with cannons, they would not fire on the unarmed, peaceful protestors.
Imprisonment and Later Life
Needless to say, Chandra Singh and his fellow soldiers all received very long and stringent imprisonments, even though his case was keenly contested by capable lawyers to avoid a death sentence, and later a further reduction of prison sentence could be worked out after a lot of efforts.
After his release in 1941 following 11 years in prison, Chandra Singh involved himself in diverse struggles and constructive activities. He also spent some time with Mahatma Gandhi in his ashram and later participated in the Quit India Movement as well—a very important phase of the freedom movement—leading to another prison sentence of three years.
After independence in 1947, he was also involved with the communist movement for some time. In his last days, he was involved in preparing a people-based development plan for a part of the Himalayan region. He had to endure a lot of economic hardships. He died after a life of many struggles and constructive activities in 1979 at the age of 88 following illness. His memory was honored in several ways by the government and people.
A Symbol of Inter-Faith Harmony
He and his fellow soldiers will always be remembered by the world peace movement for their courage and sacrifice in refusing to fire on peaceful protesters offering nonviolent resistance.
As he and his soldiers were Hindus and the overwhelming majority of the freedom fighters at this particular site were Pathan Muslims, Chandra Singh and his soldier mates also became a powerful symbol of inter-faith harmony, and remain so to this day.
Rahul Sanskritayan has written a detailed and great biography of Chandra Singh Garhwali in Hindi. Still, his noble sacrifice is not as well-known at the world level as it deserves to be, and his story should be told to a larger world audience.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include When the Two Streams Met (Freedom Movement of India), A Day in 2071 and Man over Machine (Gandhi's ideas for our times). His website is bharatdogra.in and his YouTube channel is Bharat Dogra | Save Earth Campaign
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