ਥਿਕਰੀਵਾਲਾਠੀਕਰੀਵਾਲਾ

The village that raised a movement's leader

Thikriwala is a large village in ਬਰਨਾਲਾ tehsil of ਬਰਨਾਲਾ district, Punjab, in the Malwa region, about 5 kilometres from ਬਰਨਾਲਾ town, at 30.4328 degrees north and 75.5261 degrees east. The census carries it as village code 039998, spread over 2,454 hectares, with its own gram panchayat. It is counted among the older and larger villages of this part of Malwa. The name is explained from the Punjabi word thikri, a shard or broken piece of pottery: because people of many gotras and castes settled here together, the village is said to have taken a shard's name. For the rest of Punjab, though, Thikriwala means one man. It is the birthplace of Sardar Sewa Singh Thikriwala, the leader who carried the demand for responsible government into the princely states.

From state service to the Singh Sabha

Sewa Singh was born in Thikriwala in the late nineteenth century, most accounts giving 1886, when the village lay in the princely state of Patiala. His father, Dewa Singh, was a senior official at the court of Maharaja Rajinder Singh, and Sewa Singh followed him into state service, working for a time as a health officer. His real energies went elsewhere. From 1911 he threw himself into the Singh Sabha movement in his own village: he organised its first Diwan, started Gurmukhi classes so that ordinary people could read their own scriptures, and in 1912 laid the foundation of Gurdwara Thikriwala, raised over the following years with donations sent by Sikhs in India and abroad. The official's son was becoming the durbar's most inconvenient subject.

President of the Praja Mandal

The Punjab Riyasati Praja Mandal, the people's movement of the princely states, demanded civil liberties, relief from oppressive taxes and, above all, responsible government answerable to the people. Sewa Singh became its president, and his open criticism of the Patiala durbar brought the state down on him. He was arrested and tried at Barnala on a charge of stealing a garwi, a small round metal vessel. The charge could not be proved, yet the state would not release him. Baba Kharak Singh led a fierce agitation demanding his freedom, while inside the jail Sewa Singh went on hunger strike against his treatment. When his condition turned critical, the state gave way and released him on 24 August 1928.

Freedom did not soften him. In 1931 Maharaja Bhupinder Singh opened negotiations, but they broke down on Sewa Singh's central demand: an elected assembly for the state. The same year he went to Simla for the Praja Mandal conference and discussed the problems of the princely states' people with Mahatma Gandhi. In August 1933 the Patiala police arrested him again, at Thikriwala itself. He refused to defend himself, and was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 500 rupees in the Khudiala Akali Conference case. In Patiala jail he began another hunger strike against ill treatment by the authorities. This time nobody intervened in time: his health collapsed, and he died in custody in January 1935.

The January barsi and the memorial

Thikriwala has kept his memory at the centre of village life ever since. Every year from 18 to 20 January the village observes his barsi, his death anniversary, with a Nagar Kirtan through the village, seminars and lectures, drawing visitors and political leaders from across Malwa. A statue of Sewa Singh stands in the village. His ancestral house, long neglected, has been promised a new purpose: the state government has announced that it will be converted into a memorial, and in 2023 ministers visiting the barsi announced upgrades for the village schools and a nursing college for Thikriwala. The village also carries a famous family connection. Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, is a descendant of Sewa Singh, and Thikriwala has publicly invited him to visit and see the memorials of his ancestors.

People and land

The 2011 census counted 10,080 people in Thikriwala: 5,471 men and 4,609 women, in 2,007 households at about 5 people to a household. The sex ratio was 842 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,133, about 11 percent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 3,000 people, about 30 percent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 70.98 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 74.35 percent and women at 67.01 percent. The village had grown from 9,323 people in 2001, a steady rather than spectacular rise for a settlement already large a century ago.

The land record holds a surprise. Of the village's 2,454 hectares, 480 hectares are recorded as forest, a very large wooded share for a Malwa village. The net sown area was 1,610 hectares, every hectare of it irrigated by wells and tubewells, with 121 hectares under non-agricultural uses and 234 hectares of culturable waste. Work followed the land, but not entirely. The census recorded 3,480 workers, about 35 percent of the village. Of the 3,279 main workers, the largest group was 1,469 other workers in trade, transport and services, ahead of 1,163 cultivators and 601 agricultural labourers. Counting the 201 marginal workers, the village had 1,176 cultivators and 661 agricultural labourers in all: a farming village in which non-farm work had already taken the lead.

Schools, health and daily services

For a village, Thikriwala's public services are strong. The 2011 Village Directory recorded a government school at every level, primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary, and a community health centre inside the village, the senior government health facility a village can hold, along with a veterinary facility. Drinking water came from tap water supply. The village has its own post office and sub post office and mobile phone coverage, with a common service centre 5 to 10 kilometres away. Public and private bus services both serve the village, and the nearest railway station is 5 to 10 kilometres away. A commercial bank operates in the village, though no ATM was recorded in 2011, with a co-operative bank 5 to 10 kilometres away. A public distribution system shop, an anganwadi centre and an ASHA worker complete the picture. Power supply in 2011 ran to 12 hours a day for domestic use and 6 hours for agriculture.

Who was Sewa Singh Thikriwala?

Sewa Singh Thikriwala (died January 1935) was a freedom fighter from this village who led the Punjab Riyasati Praja Mandal, the movement demanding responsible government in Punjab's princely states. A former Patiala state official turned Singh Sabha reformer, he was jailed repeatedly, tried at Barnala on a theft charge that could not be proved, and died on hunger strike in Patiala jail.

When is the barsi of Sewa Singh Thikriwala held?

His death anniversary is observed in Thikriwala every year from 18 to 20 January, with a Nagar Kirtan, seminars and lectures at the village memorial.

How far is Thikriwala from Barnala?

Thikriwala is about 5 kilometres from Barnala town, in Barnala tehsil of Barnala district, Punjab. Its PIN code is 148109.

Does Thikriwala have a hospital?

The 2011 Village Directory recorded a community health centre in Thikriwala, along with a veterinary facility. For hospital care, residents also use Barnala town, about 5 kilometres away.