''Baldev Mann'' was a left-wing activist of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) New Democracy Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) New Democracy is a Communism, communist political party in India. The party was founded as a breakaway from the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Chandra Pulla Reddy) in 1988. The genera ...

. He was a state-level leader of Kirti Kisan Union and the editor of ''Hirawal Dasta'', a revolutionary journal of the

Naxalites Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic ...

. On 26 September 1986, during the

insurgency in Punjab, India The Insurgency in Punjab was an armed campaign by the separatists of the Khalistan movement from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Economic and social pressures driven by the Green Revolution in India, Green Revolution prompted calls for Sikh aut ...

, he was killed by Sikh militants while on his way to his village, Bagga Kalan, in

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most ...

. His daughter is actress Sonia Mann.

Life

Baldev Mann was born on 9 July 1952. He was the son of Inder Singh. He lived in the village Bagga Kalan, Ajnala

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

. After completing his primary education at the village school; he matriculated from government high school at

Raja Sansi Rajasansi is a town, near Amritsar city and a nagar panchayat in Amritsar district in the Indian state of Punjab. Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (Amritsar International Airport) is located in Rajasansi village on Ajnala-Rajasansi ...

. Mann then went to

Khalsa College, Amritsar Khalsa College ( ''khālsā kālaj'') is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling campus is located about eight kilometers from the ...

, during which he faced detention from college during the time of ' the Emergency', and graduated in 1983. While at Day College, he came in contact with the

. He organized young people in his village under the banner of 'Naujawan Bharat Sabha', a left-wing Indian association that sought to instigate revolution against by gathering together workers and peasant youths. He turned it into a district-wide youth moment in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

. While at Amritsar, he was held and tortured at Amritsar's interrogation center, but released in 1975. Approximately two years before his death, Mann married Paramjit Kaur, with whom he had a daughter Sonia Mann. She was one week old when he was killed while on his way to his village, Chinna Bagga, in Amritsar. Baldev Singh Mann was killed while on his way to visit his family. He wrote a letter to his daughter shortly before his death, stating "I am struggling for the birth of a social order in which the shackles that enslave human beings are broken to bits, where the oppressed can heave a sigh of relief".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Baldev Singh 1952 births 1986 deaths People from Ludhiana district Punjabi Sikhs Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) politicians Politicians from Ludhiana Politicians from Amritsar district Victims of Sikh terrorism Victims of the insurgency in Punjab Journalists from Punjab, India Assassinated Indian journalists People assassinated in the 20th century 1986 murders in India People murdered in Punjab, India Punjabi-language writers Politicians assassinated in 1986

Life

See also

References