Diwan Singh Kalepani (1894–1944) was a Punjabi poet. He participated in the
Indian freedom movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...
and the
Non-cooperation movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.Singh, Atamjit. "Twentieth Century Punjabi Literature" (249-288) in Handbook of Twentieth Century Literatures of India (ed. Nalini Natarajan). Greenwood Press, London: 1996, 253. He wrote poetry in free verse and composed two volumes of poetry: ''Vagde Pani'' (‘Running Waters’) in 1938, and ''Antim Lehran'' (‘Winding Waves’) which was published posthumously in 1962. His poetry often revolved around criticism of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
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* it is also called Crown rule in India,
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or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
and of organized religion.
Diwan Singh Kalepani passed his Matriculation in 1916 and in 1921 he got the diploma in Medical Service from
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
and joined the Medical Corps of the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
. The most important period of life began when he was transferred to
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
in
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
, from where he was transferred to the
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the ...
in 1927 to a school where students were taught Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi. In the Gurudwara, Diwan Singh used to recite his poems and discuss with Indian people the problems of slavery and freedom.Diwan Singh Kalepani /ref>
During the Second World War when Japan occupied the Andamans in 1942, Diwan Singh could not get reconciled to it. The Japanese officers ordered him to make a speech against the Britishers on the Penang Radio, but Diwan Singh declined. He was arrested in 1943 by the Japanese. The remaining 65 members of Punjabi Sabha were also put behind the bars. After about six months of torture, he was butchered along with other members of the Punjabi Sabha. Diwan Singh's collection of poems Vagade pani (Flowing water) was published in 1938 and his second collection Antim Lehran (Last tides) was published posthumously. Diwan Singh was not interested in conventional poetry and wrote in romantic-satirical free-verses on which Puran Singh's influence can also be seen. His scientific outlook made his poetry deep and intellectual. He believed in the direct poetry, very much like Puran Singh, and thus, strengthened the trend for succeeding generation of poets.