Norma Margaret Jenckes Bains (1943 - 2022)

Obituary:

Norma Margaret Jenckes (1943 - 2022)

REMEMBERING JAGTAR SINGH GREWAL

 Jagtar Singh Grewal (1927 --2022)

The sad news of the death of a superlative Punjabi educator and research scholar reached us recently.

My husband Yashdip Bains recalls his relationship and long friendship.

I first met Jagtar when I was visiting in London enroute to take up a graduate Fellowship at Syracuse University.

Since I had never travelled outside of India, my friend Surjit Hans advised me to meet with Jagtar Grewal who was completing his doctorate in  History at the University of London.

Both were appalled by my lack of a winter coat and advised me that it would be a very cold winter in Syracuse.They also warned me about the climate of racism in America.They told me to shake hands with a firm grip and never myself express any sense of racial difference. All good advice.

Before I went there, they found an old heavy coat which I was glad to have during the long snowy days in the Syracuse winter.

 Three years went by. After finishing my own doctoral degree, I spent a few years  teaching in Saskatchewan, Canada and then in Providence, Rhode Island. Through correspondence with Jagtar,  I had learned of the establishment of a new university inAmritsar, Guru Nanak Dev University. My friend Surjit Hans was hired to teach Sikh Studies; he told me  that a new  English Department  would be opened there.Would I be interested in  returning to teach in Amritsar?

When I learned that Jagtar would create a new history department, I wanted to join this adventure  in education in Punjab.

Jagtar was an admirable educater. He was immersed in his own research and writing and brought the fresh fruit of his labors into the classroom.

He was curious and enthusiastic, and he made the other faculty members feel that they were launching a great enterprise.

I was invited to join as Head of the new English Department and with that appointment Jagtar and I started a fruitful endeavor to raise the level of graduate education inAmritsar.

Jagtar had that rare talent that combined administrative ability and scholarly intellectual curiosity. His scholarly publications set a high standard for rigor and originality and were published over several decades from 1969 to 2012.

Grewal's long and productive intellectual productions mainly explored the history of Sikism and its impact on India's cultural life and development. The range of his interests and accomplishments is expansive and praiseworthy:  an Indian writer, historian, scholar, and a vice-chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). After securing his Ph.D. and DLitt from London, he joined the GNDU, where he founded the Department of History. He was the first Dean of the Academic Affairs of the University and was a former member of faculty at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. After his superannuation from GNDU in 1984, he joined the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

We will miss this superb scholar and wonderful friend.

Bibliography[edit]

• J. S. Grewal (1969). Guru Nanak in History. Punjab University Press. p. 348.
• J. S. Grewal (1998). Contesting Interpretations of the Sikh Tradition. Manohar Publishers. p. 315. ISBN 9788173042553.
• J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 308. ISBN 9780521637640.
• J. S. Grewal (2001). Maharja Ranjit Singh: Polity, Economy and Society. Guru Nanak Dev University. p. 112. ISBN 9788177700268.
• J. S. Grewal (2004). Social and Cultural History of the Punjab. Manohar Publishers. p. 185. ISBN 9788173045653.
• J. S. Grewal (2007). Sikh Ideology, Polity and Social Order. Manohar Publishers. p. 303. ISBN 9788173047374.
• J. S. Grewal, Veena Sachdeva (2007). Kinship and State Formation. Manohar Publishers. p. 112. ISBN 9788173047183.
• J. S. Grewal (2009). The Sikhs: Ideology, Institutions, and Identity. Oxford University Press India. p. 400. ISBN 9780195694949.
• J. S. Grewal (2012). Historical Writings on the Sikhs (1784-2011). SAB. ASIN B00A3K71R2.

ONE OF MY FAVORITES---POEM ABOUT REMEMBERING OUR ANCESTORS

                Thinking of the sacrifices that have been made for  Ireland. Here is a great poem and I am thinking  of the recent sacrifices of the TenMen who died on Hunger strike and also the life of devotion  to the cause of Joe Cahill.

BEARING WITNESS TO OUR ANCESTORS

HERE IS A POEM THAT REMEMBERS THE BELOVED DEAD.  IT IS  A SOLDIER'S STORY AND WAS ONE THAT WE MEMORIZED IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL.  I LOVED THE LAST LINE.

The poet Robert Southey wrote an account of the battle and the burial events. His account was read by Charles Wolfe, a young country parson at a place named Donaghmore, in Ireland. Wolfe then wrote this poem, in 1814, when he was 22 years old.

The poem was published in a provincial Irish newspaper three years later. Lord Byron discovered it five years after that, admired it tremendously, but did not know who had written it.

Wolfe was not conclusively identified as the author until after his death from TB in 1823, at age 31.

The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna (1817) Charles Wolfe Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Links On Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O’er the grave where our hero we buried. We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sods with our bayonets turning; By the struggling moonbeam’s misty light And the lantern dimly burning. No useless coffin enclosed his breast, Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him, But he lay like a warrior taking his rest With his martial cloak around him. Few and short were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow; But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead, And we bitterly thought of the morrow. We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed And smoothed down his lonely pillow, That the foe and the stranger would tread o’er his head, And we far away on the billow! Lightly they’ll talk of the spirit that’s gone And o’er his cold ashes upbraid him, But little he’ll reck, if they let him sleep on In the grave where a Briton has laid him. But half of our heavy task was done When the clock struck the hour for retiring; And we heard the distant and random gun  That the foe was sullenly firing. Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, But left him alone with his glory.

MORE ABOUT JOE CAHILL

 Here is the way Wikipedia describes the life and career of Joe Cahill

Joe Cahill (Irish: Seosamh Ó Cathail;^[2] 19 May 1920 – 23 July 2004) was a prominent figure in the Irish republican movement in Northern Ireland and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).^[3] He joined a junior-republican movement, Na Fianna Eireann, in 1937 and the following year, joined the Irish Republican Army. In 1969, Cahill was a key figure in the founding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. During his time in the Provisional IRA, Cahill helped import weapons and raise financial support. He served as the chief of staff in 1972, but was arrested the following year when a ship importing weapons was intercepted.^[3]

After his release, he continued to serve on the IRA Army Council and lead all financial dealings for Sinn Féin. In the 1990s, the IRA and Sinn Féin began to work on seeking peace. Cahill served on the council that called a cessation on 21 July 1997. Cahill attended several of the talks that finally led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. Shortly after the agreement was made, Cahill resigned as treasurer of Sinn Féin. To honour his service, he was made honorary Sinn Féin vice-president for life. Cahill served the republican movement in Ireland all his life, as one of the longest-serving political activists in Ireland of any political party.^[4]

Contents

• 1Background
• 2Early paramilitary career
• 3Founding the Provisional IRA
• 4Provisional IRA activities
• 5Peace process
• 6Death
• 7References
• 8Bibliography

Background[edit]

Cahill was born above his father's small printing shop at 60 Divis Street on 19 May 1920^[3] in West Belfast.

Cahill was the first child of eleven siblings born to Joseph and Josephine Cahill. Both of his parents supported republicanism. His father was involved with the Irish National Volunteers and would print republican material at his print shop. Joseph Senior applied to be a part of the Irish Republican Army but was asked to remain in the print business as his way of assisting the republican movement. He was arrested in 1932 for printing illegal material, but was acquitted for any crimes. Cahill's childhood was marked by hardship and his family was very poor. Cahill's grandparents were neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish socialist and Easter Rising leader James Connolly, who co-founded the Irish Citizens Army.^[3]

Cahill was educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' School, then located on Barrack Street. At age 14 he left school to assist in the print shop. Soon after, he joined the Catholic Young Men's Society, which campaigned on social issues with a focus on eradicating moneylenders from working-class areas of Belfast, as they often charged usurious interest rates.^[3] At the age of seventeen, Cahill then joined Na Fianna Eireann, a republican-orientated Scouting movement. Na Fianna Eireann was regarded as the "Junior Irish Republican Army".

Early paramilitary career[edit]

The following year, 1938, at the age of 18, Cahill joined the local Clonard-based 'C' Company of the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army. By 1942, Cahill was serving as second in command. That year, during an anniversary march by the IRA for the Easter Rising, Cahill got into a shootout with five other IRA men against four Royal Ulster Constabulary Officers.^[4] Several men were wounded and Constable Patrick Murphy was killed.^[5] Cahill and four of the other men spent time in prison in Belfast, where they were interrogated daily. Tom Williams, the sixth IRA man to be charged, spent time in the Royal Victorian Hospital due to his injuries. It was there that he made a statement taking full responsibility for killing Constable Patrick Murphy. All six men were found guilty and sentenced to death in August 1942. The men's legal team managed to suspend the execution date after the verdict. An appeal campaign began and 207,000 signatures were collected. The United States State Department and the Vatican also supported the campaign. As a result, the men's sentences were changed to life in prison, except for Tom Williams who was executed.

The IRA declared a formal ceasefire in 1945. Afterwards, republican prisoners began to be released. Cahill, Perry, Oliver, Cordner and Simpson, who had all been sentenced to life in prison, became free men in October 1949. Following his release from prison, Cahill got a job at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.^[6] It was at the shipyards where he was said to have contracted the disease asbestosis, one of the causes of his death many years later.

In 1953, Cahill had an accident on the job when he was hit on the head by scaffolding. He subsequently spent time recovering in a convalescent home. After he recovered, he travelled to Leixlip near Dublin to visit his aunt. It was there that he met Annie Magee. Joe and Annie were married on 2 April 1956 in St John's Church on the Falls Road in Belfast. Together they had seven children.^[6] Annie was said to be his best friend.^[3]

The IRA launched a new campaign in 1956. The IRA border campaign attacked ten targets in six counties, damaging bridges, courthouses and border roads.^[5] By 1957, three RUC officers and seven republicans had been killed during the campaign. Cahill was arrested and interned in January 1957 with several other republicans. In the same year, Cahill's first son was born and was named Thomas, after Tom Williams. Cahill was released from internment in April 1961.

Founding the Provisional IRA[edit]

Following his release from prison, Cahill was disappointed at the direction of the IRA. They had given up armed struggle, and desired seats in elections. Failed campaigns led to the IRA becoming weak and disorganised. Cahill resigned from the IRA around 1962.^[5]

In August 1969, intense rioting broke out in Northern Ireland, the most violent being in Belfast. In the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969, Cahill, along with Billy McKee, tried to defend the Catholic Clonard area from attack, but was unable to prevent Bombay Street being burned by Ulster Protestant rioters. When he subsequently tried to organise the defence of the Ballymurphy area, he was initially chased away by its Catholic residents. The 1969 Northern Ireland riots displaced 1,800 families from their homes. It was a humiliation for the IRA and made evident that they could not protect their people. The slogan 'IRA: I Ran Away' was painted on walls all over Belfast. The riots were said to be the beginning of "the Troubles" in Ireland.^[5]

Later that year, Cahill was a key figure in founding the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Angry at the failure of the IRA (led in Belfast by Billy McMillen) to defend Catholic areas during the communal rioting, Cahill and McKee stated in September 1969 that they would no longer be taking orders from the IRA leadership in Dublin, or from McMillen. In December 1969, they declared their allegiance to the Provisional IRA, which had split away from the leadership. This action took 9 out of the 13 units of the IRA in Belfast into the Provisional IRA. The remnants of the pre-split IRA became known as the Official IRA. The Provisional IRA was created and an executive council of 12 men was elected. Of the executive members, seven, one of whom was Joe Cahill.^[7] were elected to serve as the Provisional Army Council. Cahill also served as the second-in-command to Billy McKee, OC of the Belfast Battalion.^[5]

Provisional IRA activities[edit]

In April 1971, after the arrest and imprisonment of Billy McKee, Cahill became the commander of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade. He held this post until the introduction of internment in August of that year. It was during this period that the Provisional IRA campaign got off the ground in the city. Cahill authorised the beginning of the IRA's bombing campaign as well as attacks on British troops and the RUC. He based himself in a house in Andersonstown and toured the city, co-ordinating IRA activity. The day after the British Army mounted Operation Demetrius, designed to arrest the IRA's leaders, Cahill held a press conference in a school in Ballymurphy and stated that the operation had been a failure. He said, "we have lost one brigade officer, one battalion officer and the rest are volunteers, or as they say in the British Army, privates". To avoid the propaganda defeat that his capture would then have entailed, Cahill fled to the Republic of Ireland, temporarily relinquishing his command of the Belfast Brigade.^[3]

In March 1972, Cahill was part of an IRA delegation that held direct talks with the British Labour Party leader Harold Wilson.^[3] However, although the IRA called a three-day ceasefire for the talks, no permanent end to violence was agreed upon. Upon his return to Ireland, Cahill was arrested in Dublin by Gardaí and charged with IRA membership. He went on hunger strike for twenty-three days and was subsequently released due to lack of evidence. In November 1972, Cahill became the IRA's chief of staff and held this position until his arrest the following year.^[3]

Cahill was then put in charge of importing arms for the IRA. He liaised with the NORAID group in America and with the Libyan dictatorship of Muammar al-Gaddafi to this end. In March 1973 he was arrested by the Irish Navy in Waterford, aboard the Claudia, a ship from Libya loaded with five tons of weapons. Cahill was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Irish Special Criminal Court. Cahill stated at his trial that, "If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I did not succeed in getting the contents of the Claudia into the hands of the freedom fighters in this country".^[3]

Upon his release, Cahill again was put in charge of arms importation and to this end went to the United States. He was deported from the United States in 1984 for illegal entry (see Provisional IRA arms importation). He served on the IRA Army Council as late as the 1990s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he argued against proposals for Sinn Féin to stand in elections. However, in 1985, he spoke at the party's Ard Fheis in favour of republicans contesting elections and taking seats in the Dublin parliament, the Dáil.^[3]

Peace process[edit]

In his later years as honorary life vice-president of Sinn Féin, Cahill was a strong supporter of Gerry Adams and the Good Friday Agreement. In 1994, a controversial but central aspect of the IRA's ceasefire was the granting of a limited visa by then United States President Bill Clinton to Cahill, in the face of opposition by John Major's government,^[8] for the purpose of trying to win support for the new Sinn Féin peace strategy from Irish American IRA supporters.

In 1998 he stood in North Antrim in the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, but was unsuccessful.^[9]

Death[edit]

Cahill died at age 84 in Belfast. He had been diagnosed with asbestosis, which he probably developed while working at the Harland & Wolff shipyards in his twenties. He and several other former shipyard workers later sued the company for their exposure to the dangerous substances but only won minimal compensation.^{[clarification needed]} An Irish republican flute band in Glasgow is named after Cahill.^[10]