Boota Singh

**Boota Singh** (Gurmukhi: ਬੂਟਾ ਸਿੰਘ; Shahmukhi: بوٹا سنگھ), sometimes spelled as **Buta Singh**, was a Sikh soldier in the British Army. He served in Burma during World War II, under the command of Lord Mountbatten. He is very well known in India and Pakistan. He is famous for his tragic love story with a Punjabi girl who he rescued from the riots during the partition of India in 1947.

## Love story

Both fell in love and got married. Later, she was deported (sent back) to Punjab. Boota illegally entered Punjab to find her. She stayed away from him due to pressure from her family. Because of this, he killed himself by jumping in front of a moving train near Shahdara railway station in Punjab. He did this with his daughter, but she survived.

The love story of Singh's life has been adapted to movies and books, from both India and Pakistan. A Punjabi movie _Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh_ (1999) is entirely based on the story. Ishrat Rahmani wrote a book, _Muhabbat_, based on the story. The story also influenced many other movies including _Partition_, a Hollywood movie from 2007.

## Personal life

Singh lived in a village of Jalandhar district in British Punjab. When he returned home from fighting in Burma, his youth was over. All his friends were married with their own families, but he was still not married. He found no woman to marry him. Once a trader offered to sell Singh a bride from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar for rupees 2000/-. From this day onward, he started saving all his money for the dowry.

His uncle and cousins were wanting him to die unmarried, so that they could inherit his share of the family's land.

## Burial

In his suicide note, Singh expressed his last wish to be buried in Noorpur village near Barki. This is where his parents had resettled after the Partition. The autopsy of Singh's body was done in a hospital in Lahore. It was taken to the town on 22 February 1957 for burial. However, the townsmen did not allow him to be buried there. Instead, Singh was buried at Miani Sahib Graveyard of Lahore.

## In popular culture

In 1999, Manoj Punj directed a Punjabi feature movie, _Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh_, entirely based on the life story of Boota Singh. The movie stars Gurdas Maan as Boota Singh and Divya Dutta as the Punjabi girl. The music was composed by Amar Haldipur. It was a success internationally. It won the _National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi_ at the 46th National Film Awards. It was also shown at many national and international movie festivals, including the 1999 Vancouver International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India. Ishrat Rahmani wrote a novel on the love story, titled _Muhabbat_. The story also featured in an English book, _Freedom at Midnight_, by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre.

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Boota Singh
- **birth name**: Boota Singh
- **birth place**: Jalandhar district, British Punjab
- **death date**: February 19, 1957
- **death place**: Shahdara, Punjab
- **other names**: Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh
<small>(lit. Martyr-in-Love Boota Singh)</small>
- **children**: Tanveer Kaur (later Sultana)
- **known for**: His tragic love story