ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MEV&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1915)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="MEV,SIDGH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279MEV&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1915), a simple but religious-minded peasant who was a reciter of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, came from the village of Lopoke, in Amritsar district. He migrated to Canada where he was an associate of Bh&#257&#299 Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh Bhikh&#299vi&#7751&#7693 and Balvant Si&#7749gh Khurdpur, two prominent leaders of Indian immigrants in Canada. In the Punjabi community, Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh had heard stories of the hostility towards them of a Canadian immigration official by the name of William Hopkinson. No further proof of his malice was required after his stooge and informer, Bel&#257 Si&#7749gh, had shot dead Bh&#257&#299 Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh while he was reciting the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in the Gurdw&#257r&#257. The immigration authority's complicity in the murders&#8212the second Punjabi killed by Bel&#257 Si&#7749gh on that occasion was Batan Si&#7749gh &#8212 was established on Bel&#257 Si&#7749gh's own admission. Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh vowed to avenge the murders. He started practising pistol shooting and he smuggled the weapon into the supreme court where the appeal in Bel&#257 Si&#7749gh's case was being heard. There in front of the judges, Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh shot Hopkinson. He was tried for murder and was sentenced to death. In jail, he spent his time reciting <i>gurb&#257&#7751&#299</i> and ascended the gallows singing Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur's line : <i>hari jasu re man&#257 g&#257i lai jo sa&#7749g&#299 hai tero</i> (Sing, O my heart, sing God's praise; He alone is thy supporter). There was an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> recited in his memory in the Vancouver Gurdw&#257r&#257. Daily <i>d&#299v&#257ns</i> were held thereafter for a whole week.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Pacific <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n of Stockton, California, circulated his portrait with these words printed beneath it : "Bh&#257&#299 Mew&#257 Si&#7749gh, martyr. Hanged January 11, 1915, 7.45 a.m.".</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The day of Bh&#257&#299 Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh's martyrdom is observed every year in the Stockton Gurdw&#257r&#257.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Asl&#299 Qaum&#299 Dard</i>, 6 August 1928.<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i><u>Gh</u>adar P&#257r&#7789&#299 Lahir</i>. Delhi, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Sainsar&#257, Gurcharan Si&#7749gh, <i>Gh</u>adar P&#257rt&#299 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Jalandhar, 1969<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sohan Si&#7749gh Josh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>