Unsung Punjabi Hero Who Fought for the Freedom of 2 Nations From The British
Besides lending a major hand in nationalist movements of Kenya and India, Makhan Singh, a revolutionary trade unionist, believed that the pursuit of freedom and justice is not restricted by your country of birth.
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In April 1950, Makhan Singh, a native of Punjab and a trade union leader fighting for the cause of Kenyan independence against the British, did something quite revolutionary. During a meeting in Nairobi between the Kenyan African National Union (KANU), the first ruling political party following their independence in 1963, and the East African Indian National Congress, a political party representing Indian/Asian interests in Kenya, Makhan Singh stood up to speak to his comrades sitting there.
Makhan Singh: The Punjabi radical who fought for freedom in not one but two countries
The trade unionist in Kenya recognised that to achieve freedom, it is important to first challenge the politics of indifference and segregation.
Uhuru Sasa, a Kiswahili expression meaning
Freedom Now. For the first time, someone had commanded the British to grant complete independence to their territories in East Africa.
Singh was soon arrested for being an “undesirable person” under the Deportation (Immigrant British Subjects) Ordinance of 1949. The arrest was not wholly unexpected. He had been orchestrating boycotts and strikes for a while, even before his call for freedom. His defence that his actions were “justified in the circumstances” was a show of defiance. Singh spent the next 11 years in detention, being moved from one facility to another. His son Hindpal Jabbal writes that during this time his father was not permitted any visitors, barring close family.