Sardar Harbhajan Singh Duhra ( June 28, 1931 - October 1, 2021 ) was among the early immigrants to Canada. He came to Canada in March 1963, landed in Vancouver and settled in Surrey. He was very hard working, sincere, punctual, and helpful. He helped his brothers, sisters, parents, relatives and friends to settle in Canada. His father- in-law Sardar Karm Singh Aujla and four brother-in-laws Harbans Singh, Charan Singh, Kuldeep Singh, and Swaran Singh motivated him to come to Canada and they supported him in getting immigration and settling in Surrey. He came to Canada as an immigrant along with his wife, Parkash Kaur and son, Ravinder Singh, and daughter Rajinder Kaur. His second daughter Parminder Kaur was born in Surrey.
Harbhajan Singh Duhra was born into a Jat-Sikh family in village Duhra, District Jalandhar near Adampur. He was the second child of his father, Sardar Shiv Singh Duhra and and mother Besant Kaur Warraich Duhra. He had three brothers ( Karnail Singh Duhra, Malkiat Singh Duhra, Amarjit Singh Duhra ) and two sisters ( Gurmeet Kaur Kooner, Gurbachan Kaur Rai ). He did his primary school at Dolikae and passed the Matriculation Examination from Sanatan High School, Alawalpur in 1951. After Matric he joined the Indian Army service in Signal Department and he received Army training at Jabalpur for nine months. Later, he was posted at different places like Kashmir, Ambala Cantt, Jalandhar Cantt, etc. to serve in the Indian Army. He was married with Parkash Kaur Aujla, village Boparai Tehsel Nakodar in 1958. He served in the army for 5 years, and then got immigration for Canada.
When Harbhajan Singh came to Canada, I was studying in Pre-University Agriculture at Khalsa College Amritsar. He did his shopping at Amritsar and met me in the Nabha Hostel. Both of us were very sad as he was going to settle away at a very long distance. It was a very emotional separation. It was very shocking for the whole family, because he was the first person going abroad. He settled at Surrey. In those days there were only a few Indian families in Surrey but they had very close contact with each other. There were no Punjabi stores to get grocery and other daily-use items. Indians depended upon Canadian food and clothes. In general, there was discrimination against the Indian people, so they had to put on western wear when they went out as Indian wear was not acceptable. Even when they went to the Sikh-Temple or Hindu-Temple, ladies had to put western wear. There were few job opportunities and wages were quite low, so it was a tough time to live in, but all the families had close contact with each other and they had get-togethers on the weekend and kept themselves busy and happy.
Harbhajan Singh did very hard work to earn money, and he often did two jobs to improve his economic condition. His brother-in-laws guided and helped him in buying a house in Surrey. He made necessary arrangements to settle Amarjit Singh in 1969, Karnail Singh in 1970 and later many relatives like Harjit Singh Kuner, Jarnail Singh Dhaliwal, Surinder Singh Athwal, Joga Singh Athwal and many others. He built a big house in 1980 and also established a market with eight stores and fourteen shops in Surrey. During 1980 to 2010, he made good investments which resulted in making him economically sound. He always took an active part in Gurdwara management and served as President for many years.
Harbhajan Singh always maintained good health as he was very careful about his diet and exercise. He maintained close relations with his brothers and parents and always showed love and respect. In later life, his memory became weak which ultimately became the cause of his death. He passed away in 2021 and it made all of us very, very sad. I felt difficult to live without my brother Harbhajan Singh as he always supported me like a father. We, the four brothers, may be the exception as we never hit each other, we never quarrelled, we never insulted each other and always respected each other.
He contributed to renovating Gurdwaras in village Duhra and Boparai. He also contributed to develop sewerage in village Duhra and a scholarship for best student of Sikh National High School Dolike-Duhre. He was very popular among the early settlers in Canada.
I have many sweet memories of my big brother, Sardar Harbhajan Singh Duhra, which gives me inspiration and motivation.
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