Boota Singh sometimes spelled as Buta Singh, was a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

ex-soldier of the British Army who served at the

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

front under the command of

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He is popularly known in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

for his tragic love story with Zainab, a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

girl he rescued during the communal riots in the time of

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947. They both fell in love and got married. Later, being a Muslim, Zainab was deported by Indian authorities and sent to the newly created

. Singh illegally entered Pakistan to reinstate contact with Zainab, but she ended the marriage under pressure from her family. In 1957, after the failure of the marriage, he took his own life by jumping before an upcoming train near Shahdara station in Pakistan along with his daughter, but his daughter survived. The love story of Singh's life is widely adapted in films and books on both sides of the border. A

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

film ''Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh'' (1999) is entirely based on the story. Ishrat Rahmani wrote a novel, ''Muhabbat'', based on the story. The story also influenced many other films including a 2007 Canadian film ''Partition'' and the Bollywood films ''Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'' in 2001 and ''Veer Zaara'' in 2004.

Burial

In his suicide note, Singh expressed his last wish to be buried in Barki village where Zainab's parents resettled after partition. The autopsy of Singh's body was conducted in a hospital in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and was taken to the village on 22 February 1957 for burial but the villagers did not allow that and Singh was buried at Miani Sahib, the largest graveyard of Lahore.

In popular culture

* In 1999,

Manoj Punj Manoj Punj was an Indian punjabi language, Punjabi film director. He directed the hits in Cinema of Punjab, Punjabi Cinema. After graduating with a degree in arts, and experiencing theater in Chandigarh, he assisted Prof. P. S. Nirola who made ...

directed a

feature film,

Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh ''Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh'' is a 1999 Indian Punjabi language, Punjabi-language feature film based on the real-life love story of Boota Singh and Zainab Singh, Zainab, starring Gurdas Maan and Divya Dutta in the lead roles. The film is ...

, entirely based on the life story of Boota Singh. The movie stars

Gurdas Maan Gurdas Maan (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor mainly associated with Punjabi language music and films. He gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai". Since then, he had gone on to record ov ...

as Boota Singh and

Divya Dutta Divya Dutta (born 25 September 1977) is an Indian actress. She has appeared primarily in Hindi and Punjabi language, Punjabi cinema, and has received accolades including a National Film Award and a Filmfare OTT Awards, Filmfare OTT Award. Dutt ...

as Zainab. The music was composed by Amar Haldipur. It was an international hit and won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi The National Film Award for Best Punjabi Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards of India presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Ra ...

at the

46th National Film Awards The 46th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1998. Ceremony took place on 15 ...

and was also screened at many national and international film festivals including the 1999

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

and

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

. * It also influenced a 2007 Canadian film, '' Partition'', written by Patricia Finn and

Vic Sarin Victor Sarin (born 1945) is an Indian-born Canadian/ American film director, cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in film and television for over 60 years. Sarin was the recipient of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers Kodak New ...

, starring

Jimi Mistry James Patrick Mistry (born 20 March 1973) is a retired British actor. He is known for appearing in numerous films such as '' East Is East'' (1999), '' The Guru'' (2002), '' Touch of Pink'' (2004), ''Ella Enchanted'' (2004), '' The Truth About L ...

and

Kristin Kreuk Kristin Laura Kreuk (; born December 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. Debuting on teen drama '' Edgemont'', she became most known for her television roles as Lana Lang in the superhero television series ''Smallville'' (2001–2011), Catherine ...

in lead roles. * Ishrat Rahmani wrote a novel on the love story, titled ''Muhabbat''. * The story also has some details in an English book, ''

Freedom at Midnight ''Freedom at Midnight'' (1975) is a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre about the events around the Indian independence movement and partition. It details the last year of the British Raj, from 1947 to 1948, beginning with the appoin ...

'' by Larry Collins and

Dominique Lapierre Dominique Lapierre (30 July 1931 – 2 December 2022) was a French author. Life Dominique Lapierre was born in Châtelaillon-Plage, Charente-Maritime, France. At the age of thirteen, he travelled to the U.S. with his father who was a diploma ...

. * Jahangeer Badar also wrote a novel about it, titled ''Terey ishaq ki intah Chahta hoon''.

References

1957 deaths People from Jalandhar district Punjabi Sikhs Indian Army personnel of World War II Partition of India Suicides in Pakistan Year of birth missing Burials at Miani Sahib Graveyard 1957 suicides Suicides by train {{BritishIndia-mil-stub