Mahilpur man revered as Sikh icon in Canada

Vikramdeep Johal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 4

November’s first Sunday is special for Canadians of Punjabi origin, particularly Sikhs. For the past decade, it has been observed as the Sikh Remembrance Day at the grave of Pvt Buckam Singh in Ontario. Buckam, also spelt in different documents as Buk Am, Bukkan, Bukam and Bukum, was part of the Canadian infantry during World War I. Born at Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district in 1893, he died of war-induced illness in Kitchener, Ontario, in 1919. His grave is regarded as the only one of a Sikh soldier in Canada from both World Wars.

About 90 years after his death, Buckam was rescued from oblivion when his victory medal was found by Canada-based historian Sandeep Singh Brar. The latter is also credited with discovering Buckam’s grave at the Mount Hope Cemetery. Married at the age of nine, Buckam was barely a teenager when he landed in Canada in 1907. The harsh laws for immigrants neither allowed him to vote nor bring his bride to his adopted country. Working first as a miner and then a farmhand, he got himself enrolled in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. In 1915, he travelled to England on World War I duty, barely a year after the Komagata Maru incident had laid bare Canada’s discriminatory policies.

Buckam was among the 10-odd Sikhs who fought for Canada in the “white man’s war”. Two of his comrades, Pvt Gouger (Goojar) Singh and Pvt Lashman Singh, were killed in action in Belgium and France, respectively. Buckam’s wife Pritam Kaur is said to have stayed on at her in-laws’ place and never remarried after his death.

“It’s an irony that few people from my home town (Mahilpur), let alone Punjab, know about Buckam’s amazing story. His short but eventful life embodies the immigrant’s steely determination in the face of heavy odds,” says Gurvinderjit Singh Bains, an engineer based in Fresno, California.

Journey of a soldier

1893: Buckam/Bukkan Singh born at Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur) on December 5 to Badan Singh Bains and Candi/Chandi Kaur

1903: Marries Pritam Kaur of Jamsher, Jalandhar

1907: Arrives in British Columbia, Canada

1914-15: Works as farmhand in Rosebank, Ontario

1915: Gets enrolled in Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force; lands in England on board SS Scandinavian II

1916: Arrives in France; wounded twice in battlefield

1917: Tests positive for tuberculosis; sent back to Canada

1918: Discharged from army; shifted to TB hospital in Ontario

1919: Dies on August 27; buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener

Source: www.sikhmuseum.com