Like Moolah Jat, ‘Arjun Veli’, who was featured in Ranbir’s new film ‘Animal’
‘Arjun Vali killed Peer Jood ke Gandasi.’ Whenever these words of folklore resonate on the beat of the drum, the legs of Punjabis begin to tremble.
This song from Ranbir Kapoor’s movie ‘Animal’ has once again reminded me of Arjun Veli from Punjab.
Now the question is being asked that in this song of singer Bhupinder Babal, who is Arjun Vali Akhir Hain?
Even earlier, Arjun Valley was mentioned in a song from the 1982 Punjabi film ‘Put Jatan De’.
Arjun Vali’s revolt over the murder of his brother
The first claim is that Arjun Valley belonged to village Dudhar in Moga district. Arjun Valli became a rebel to avenge the murder of his elder brother Bachan Singh.
According to Jagraj Singh Dudhar, former sarpanch of Dudhar, Arjun Wali along with his colleague Roop Singh were killed in an alleged police encounter during the British rule in India.
The elders of the village said that Arjun Valli belonged to the lineage of Shobha Singh and Chanda Singh of the Sidhu dynasty. A mausoleum was also built in his memory.
82-year-old Namdar Jai Singh of the village remembers the days when his father and grandfather used to mention Arjun Valley at home.
They say that there was a procession in the village when Arjun’s family was having an argument with the villagers over something. “There was a fight in the marriage and Arjun Veli’s elder brother Bachan Singh was shot dead.”
It was after this incident that Arjun Veli decided to leave home. He was a very brave man.
Villagers said that when Arjun Veli ran away from home, a police station was set up in the village.
Former Sarpanch Jigraj Singh Dudhar says that Arjun Veli belonged to his family. When the battle of Barat took place, there was a fight with goons and thugs of the Arjun Valley faction. Baba Arjuna is famous for keeping his feet on the ground and fighting with goons.
He says that this is where the folklore originated that Arjun Vali killed Gandasi with his feet. Our sage Arjuna was very strong physically and also very sharp mentally.
Villagers proud of Arjun Valley
Apart from Arjun Veli’s family, the common people of the village are also happy to see Arjun Veli’s name in the movie ‘Animal’.
Balwinder Singh says that Arjun looks like his uncle. He says that we are very happy to hear the name of our uncle in the film. People are coming to our house to know about their lives.
My father told me that his house was demolished twice during the British rule. Yes, the most special thing about Arjun Valley was that he protected the honor of the daughters and sisters of the region.
Arjun also became famous for helping poor people’s daughters get married with money.
According to Balwinder Singh, the British government was busy killing dacoits and valleys in those days.
Elders said that in those days Vali Barhi was highly respected in the society because he robbed the rich but distributed the money to the poor and needy.
The alleged encounter
Gurpreet Singh, a youth from the village, also identified himself as a family from Arjun Valley. He said that the British police had mobilized their informer to kill Arjun Valli.
“Then a conspiracy was hatched,” he says. Arjun Valli and his companion Rup Singh stopped for the night at a hut near Dala village.
The informant somehow managed to poison them both. Seeing their death, both of them ended their lives by shooting each other.
Jigraj Singh Daudhar says that “when this information reached the police, the police fired shots to show that there was a police encounter between Arjun Veli and his accomplice.”
After that people were beaten and rounded up in the surrounding villages. Burials were thrown on Arjun Veli’s dead body. The police did this to get the bounty placed on Arjun Valli’s head by the British government.
But this ploy by the police did not succeed because when the post-mortem report came in Ferozepur, it was clear that Arjun Wali died of poisoning.
Youngsters who didn’t know about Arjun Veli are also happy to see Arjun Veli’s name in the film.
Buta Singh, a young man from the village, is a mechanical engineer. He says that it is a matter of happiness that his village is in discussion today because of Arjun Valley.
“Arjun Valley helped Muslims”
Following the mention of Arjun Veli in Animal, a family from Roorka village in Ludhiana district shared a post on social media claiming that Arjun Veli is their great grandfather.
The English Publisher contacted Joginderpal Singh Vark, who lives in Canada, by telephone.
He says that he is the great grandson of Arjun Valli born in Roorka. Joginderpal Singh Work said that his cousin Preet Pal Singh Work lives in Roorka.
According to Vark, Arjun Valli was a six-and-a-half foot tall young man and he respected no one.
In his social media post, Joginderpal Singh Vark has mentioned that Arjun Veli was fond of holding Gandasa in his hand.
They broke a policeman’s arm. Because of these habits, people started calling him Veli and he became Arjun Veli from Arjuna, but he was never brought up by an adult.
The alleged heirs of Roorka’s Arjun Valley said that Arjun Valley had helped many Muslims during the partition of India in 1947 and some of them had left the Malir Kotla.
“One of them was his Muslim friend Rila Teli whom he brought safely to Malirkotla, his gold, silver and jewelery kept in trust with him which was later returned by his son Sardar Khan,” Work said.
The family claims that Arjun Valli later became an ‘Amrit Dhari’ i.e. staunch Sikh and also served jail time in Ferozepur during the ‘Punjabi Sabha Morche’.
Joginderpal Singh Vark says that the Punjab government had also awarded Arjun the Tamar Patra honor for his services.
According to him, Arjun breathed his last in 1968 at Rajendra Hospital in Patiala, where he was being treated after a gallstone operation.
However, no documentary evidence has been found in any book or writing to confirm these claims related to Arjun Valley.
The mention of Arjuna is passed down from generation to generation through speeches and songs.
Singer Bhupinder Babal said while talking to the media that Arjun Veli was not a single person. In fact, these are the characters of the villages of Punjab who used to resist any oppression. These characters were also used in rural warfare. So it could be many.’