A young soul was born in a village in Punjab during the infant years of a revolution, the Indian independence from English rule. It was a male child who grew in a fairly well off Sikh family.

He grew up to be a young man and a farmer in the infant years of another revolution, the Green revolution, which would catapult Punjab into the most prosperous state in India.

One day he traveled about three hundred kilometers from his village to Harmandir Sahib in the city of Amritsar. He went into Darbar Sahib, paid his respects to the Guru and came out to walk by the Sarovar. He was hesitant to take a dip in the Sarovar but someone requested him to take a short dip. He complied with the request, took a dip in the Sarovar and on coming out felt something that had touched his heart. He decided to take Amrit in the near future.

He went back to his village and immersed himself in the recitation of Gurbani and Naam Simran. He would invite himself to gatherings in his village where a family had decided to do an Akhand Path and read from the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Usually a religious representative from a local Gurudwara performed this function in society for a monetary sum, but for this young man it was an opportunity to merge with the Sangat in the presence of the Guru.

Soon the word spread out to other villages that a man with the love of the Guru does very inspiring and uplifting Gurbani recitation and Gurbani Vichar. The young man, now in his mid to late twenties, was traveling from village to village serving the sangat by doing Gurbani recitation and Gurbani Vichar.

On the Vaisakhi day in the year 1978, there was a shootout in the city of Amritsar. There were conflicting accounts of the incident but the event ignited a political awareness in the young man's mind. He carried on with Gurbani Parchaar throughout Punjab.

In the year 1982 he, along with his wife and children, as part of a non-violent protest against human rights abuses in Punjab, was arrested and put behind bars. A month later the family was released and this initial arrest would mark the beginning of a series of arrests to break down this young man's Khalsa spirit. Upon his release on this occasion, he was arrested again on the same day apparently on no charges and released the next day.

By now word of this man's Khalsa spirit and the love of the Guru has spread all over Punjab. He attracted everyone to his sangat - men, women, children, common folk, freedom fighters and even policeman, who, of-course, working under the auspices of the Punjab and Central government were concerned about the possibility of this Khalsa creating more Khalsas.

He was in his village when the Harmandir Sahib was attacked by the Indian military. He decided, along with a few other Sikhs, to walk to the Harmandir Sahib since there was a curfew in Punjab curtailing any movement in the state. He was not successful in this endeavor and soon returned to his home.

In the first month of the year 1986, he was offered the post of Jathedar of Akal Takht. He refused the offer, initially. Upon much insistence of the Sangat he accepted the Jathedarship of Akal Takht in the Sarbat Khalsa gathering on January 26th, 1986. He accepted this position on one condition that as soon as the current Jathedar of Akal Takht who was behind bars was released, he would relinquish his post and hand back the Jathedarship to the elected leader.

Given the violent aggression and genocide against Sikhs by the Indian government, declaration of a sovereign and independent Sikh state was made on April 29th, 1986 by the five-member panthic committee. The Jathedar of Akal Takht was arrested the next day in the Darbar Sahib complex. For two years he remained behind bars, moved from one prison to another throughout Punjab. He was released from prison in 1988 along with his predecessor. He went straight to the Harmandir Sahib and handed over the Jathedarship to the elected leader and subsequently returned to his village.

The next few years would be spent doing Divans with Gurbani Parchaar throughout Punjab. He arbitrated disputes ranging from family disputes to disputes between businesses and individuals throughout Punjab and encouraged people not to go to courts and to settle disputes by the council of five respected Sikhs. His increasing popularity among the people of Punjab was perceived as a threat by the existing central and state government. Time and again efforts were made to frame him on false charges and put him behind bars for good but due to lack of evidence for obvious reasons he was released (not without torture being inflicted on his body) on every occasion except the last arrest.

This arrest came on December 25th in the year 1992. Five days later he was dead in police custody, with his body disposed off by the police without any proper rights. His death was celebrated by the police officers stationed at the police station by distributing sweets. To avoid popular public outcry at such a despicable show of inhumanity, all the officers at the involved police station were transferred to police stations in other districts in the state of Punjab.

It is a well known fact that this man of god spent most of his waking 20 hours in a day immersed in Gurbani and Naam Simran with sangat and in private. He stated on occasion that sometimes he preferred the solitude of prisons since he had more time to immerse himself in Gurbani recitation and Naam Simran.

He never wished or expressed ill will for anyone regardless of religious or ethnic background. He did stand up against tyranny and human rights abuse, be it a Sikh or Hindu tyrant.

Under his leadership at Akal Takht the movement for Sikh sovereignty gained enormous strength throughout Punjab. He opposed the practice of separate langars for special groups of people, be it religious or political leaders, at the Darbar Sahib complex. He opposed the practice of reserving rooms in the Harmandir Sahib complex for special people, since they were intended for anyone in the sangat. For him there was no high and low when it came to anyone visiting the Guru's Ghar (house) with the goal of paying respects to the Guru. For these noble actions, he made some enemies within the Sikh Panth, who did see high and low among fellow humans.

On many occasions prior to this Khalsa's physical death, the police and intelligence officers interrogated him on numerous occasions about people in his sangat, some of who were freedom fighters for Sikh human rights. He would always answer in the affirmative anyone he remembered to be in his sangat regardless of their background and the possibility of his being falsely framed. He could never lie even if it meant saving his life or a trip to prison.

His name is Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke. A special Divan was held in his memory in Gurudwara Glenrock, New Jersey on January 6th, 2002.