Renowned historian of India’s freedom struggle and veteran academic Prof. Malwinderjit Singh Waraich passed away on Saturday morning in Panchkula. He was 96. In accordance with his wishes, his mortal remains were donated to PGI Chandigarh for medical research.
Prof. Waraich was widely respected for his document-based research on revolutionary movements of India’s freedom struggle. He served as a Professor of Humanities at Guru Nanak Engineering College, Ludhiana, from 1960 to 1989, where he inspired generations of students with values of patriotism, discipline, creativity, sportsmanship and social harmony.
Originally belonging to Laddhewala Waraich in Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, his family migrated to India during Partition and later settled in Karnal after spending some time in Kapurthala.
Throughout his life, Prof. Waraich remained closely associated with the legacy of revolutionary freedom fighters. He had the rare opportunity to interact with several prominent figures linked to the Ghadar movement and the freedom struggle, including Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna, Baba Harnam Singh Kala Sanghian, Pandit Kishori Lal, Vidyawati, mother of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and many others.
He also played a key role in establishing youth awareness initiatives in Punjab to promote the legacy of martyrs and revolutionary movements. After retiring from teaching in 1989, he studied law and briefly practised alongside senior advocate RS Cheema. He fought several legal battles in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure recognition for revolutionary movements and compensation or restoration of confiscated properties belonging to freedom fighters and their families.
Prof. Waraich authored, translated or edited more than 62 books in Punjabi, Hindi and English. His research work included editing and publishing the judgments of the First and Second Lahore Conspiracy Cases, along with Harish Jain. He also contributed significantly to documenting the names and villages of 66 Namdhari Kuka martyrs executed by the British in Malerkotla.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Memorial Hospital and Medical College at Sarabha village by mobilising support and funds from students settled abroad.
During his long research career, he collected thousands of rare documents, books and personal belongings of Ghadar revolutionaries, which were later entrusted to his disciple Sita Ram Bansal and his wife Balwinder Kaur Bansal. These archives are currently preserved at the “Professor Malwinderjit Singh Waraich Revolutionary Research Centre” in Jalandhar for the benefit of researchers.
Prof. Waraich is survived by his only daughter Dr Minna Waraich and a large academic family of students, writers, researchers and admirers across Punjab and beyond.
