Bachhittar Singh, Bhai
One of the Martyrs of The Nankana Massacre (D. 1921)
Was a granthi (officiant) at the gurdwara in Chakk No. 85 Dalla Chanda Singhvala in Sheikhupura, in the newly colonized irrigation district in western Punjab. Nothing is known about his parentage or the date and place of his birth. He had arrived at the village in the company of a Nanga sadhu as a boy of 10 or 12 years and had stayed on in the local gurdwara. He had learnt to read Gurmukhi and the holy text from the granthi whom he replaced after the latter had left.
On the night of 19-20 February 1921, he was participating in an akhand path, unbroken reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, in a neighbouring village, when a jatha of reformist Akalis under the leadership of Bhai Lachman Singh passed that way. The jatha was proceeding to Nankana Sahib. Bachittar Singh had another granthi replace him on the akhand path roster and joined the jatha going to Nankana Sahib. At Nankana Sahib he, along with other members of the jatha, was showered with bullets by the mahant’s men.