THE SIKH WARRIOR
The Sikhs have made a mark in history as soldiers in the service of the British Empire and now the Indian Empire. While the British made the Sikhs their friends before recruiting them in the British Indian Army in large numbers, the Indian leaders have looked upon them publicly as an ‘asset' but privately as the ‘enemy'.
The number of Sikhs in the Indian Army has been falling ever since India's birth in 1947. The Sikh turban and beard underlines their uniqueness and visibly different to the Hindus or the Muslims. Their language is also different; they speak Punjabi which is written in Gurumukhi script. This makes Sikh stand out as a
proud people. It is their pride and dignity which makes them loyal and sincere and hence good soldiers. They are loyal to their friends and hostile to those who cheat or betray them. The Hindus praised the Sikhs for having defended and protected them when India was ruled by the Mughals and later the British. But unlike the British the Sikh militancy was seen by the Hindus more as a threat rather than an asset. They were ever anxious to sideline the Sikhs and they eventually betrayed them. The Sikhs did not realize for several decades that they would be treated as mere subjects rather than equal citizens in "Independent India".
THE SIKH WARRIOR
By
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon
Editor in Chief, International Journal of Sikh Affairs ISSN 1481-5435
The Sikh Educational Trust
Box 60246
University of Alberta Postal Outlet
EDMONTON, AB T6G 2S5
CANADA
Printed in June, 2010
ISBN 978-0-9811360-7-3
DEDICATION
The author would like to devote this book for all the Sikhs men, women, youth, children, infants and mothers who made sacrifices to preserve the honour and dignity of their Holy and historic institutions of their Homeland, Punjab, in the undeclared war on the Sikh nation, Punjab, waged by the apartheid practicing, discriminatory and deceitful alleged Indian democracy, in the form of a brutal military “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984. The author would like to pay his tribute to the human rights activist Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Enriched tributes are also paid to the Sikhs who lost their lives since 15th August, 1947, at the hands of the armed and intelligence personnel of the alleged Indian democracy. Also, for those who mercilessly persecuted, tortured, and became the victims of genocide and pogroms carried out by the alleged Indian democracy, since 15th August. The author is grateful to those who have been continuing their “Struggle for Sovereignty and political independence, by peaceful means, since 14th March, 1849, for the Motherland Punjab. The first sovereign and secular nation of South Asia.” This was the day when Motherland Punjab was ‘annexed’ to the British Empire.
The book is dedicated to the memories of the Sikh and Muslim soldiers, who sacrificed their lives to preserve peace in the Eurpean continent in the World
Wars I & II. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten, as they made sacrifices, on behalf of the British India Army. Their present and future generations will always take great pride as they were the children of the Motherland Punjab.
Contents
Introduction
Sikh Guru Sahibaans era of the militalization in Sikhs for self-protection
General Banda Singh Bahadar’s contribution in the Sikh history
Monarch Ranjit Singh’s era of the ‘first Sovereign and Secular nation’ of South Asia
The Sikh warriors:
Baba Amar Singh Bibber, Baba Deep Singh, Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Himmat Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh, Nawab Kapur Singh Virk, Sardar Khushal Singh Virk, Hira Singh Nakai, Ganda Singh Dhillon, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, General Baghel Singh Dhaliwal hoisting the ‘Sikh nation’s flag at the Red Fort Delhi, Maharaja Hari Singh Dhillon, Sardar Mahan Singh, Phula Singh Akali, Sardar Chattar Singh Atariwala, Sardar Raja Mahan Singh Mirpuri
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Era, General Hari Singh Nalwa, Sardar Sher Singh Atariwala, General Sham Singh Atariwala
Post-Maharaja Ranjit Singh Era, Baba Gurdit Singh Kamagata Maru, Kartar Singh Jabbar, Harnam Singh Tundilaat, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Sardar Kishen Singh Sarabha, Sardar Kishen Singh, Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Speech of Quaid-e-Azam
General Mohan Singh Deb
Col. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Sikh Generals Commissioned in The British India Army
Battle of Saragarhi
Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon
Distinguished Sikh Generals and Officers
Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh, Chief of Indian Army, Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh, Lt. Gen Harbaksh Singh, Lt. Gen Jagjit Singh Arora, Lt. Gen Joginder Singh Dhillon, Lt. Gen Bikram Singh, Lt Gen Daulat Singh , Major ‘Baba’ Harbhajan Singh, Lt. Harcharan Singh, Pakistan Army
Role of Sikhs in the British India Armed Services in the World Wars I & II
Sikh Warriors in the alleged Indian democracy
Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman, Shaheed-Bilas Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale), Maj Gen Shahbeg Singh
Undeclared War on the Sikh nation, Punjab June 1984
Sayings of dignatories and historians since 1903
Dr Sekhon writes to the alleged Indian Prime Ministers (IK Gujral, PV Rao)
The Sikh personnel of General Staff of the Indian armed forces
Toll of the “OperationBluestar” of June, 1984
Cost of Removal of dead bodies following the desecration of the Darbar Sahib Complex
United Nations Commission, Sub-Commission and Human Rights Council, Geneva,
Switzerland
Dr Sekhon questions Prakash Singh (Sinh) Badal, Akali Chief Minister, Punjab
Sikhs against the British Imperialism under the British India Empire
Historical relationships of the Sikhs and the Muslims
Conclusions
THE SIKH WARRIORS
About the Author
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon is the son of a police officer late Sardar Dalbir Singh Sekhon and Sardarni Dhan Kaur Sekhon. He was born into the Machaki family in which those who were renowned included his grandfather Zaildar Sardar Narain Singh Sekhon and his great grand father Diwan Sardar Budh Singh Sekhon.
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon studied at the Agra University and obtained the degrees of B.Sc. and M.Sc. He then proceeded to Canada for higher studies and obtained a doctorate – degree of Ph.D. - from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Dr Sekhon is an internationally renowned Scientist in the discipline of Medical Mycology. He specialized in the diagnosis of human fungal infections and served as Mycologist in the Provincial Laboratory of Public Health, Edmonton; as Principle Scientist of the National Reference Centre for Mycotic Diseases Canada; as Acting Director (1986-87) of the Provincial Laboratory of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton; and as Director (1983-94) of the National Centre for Human Mycotic Diseases, University of Alberta and University of Alberta Hospitals. He became an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton. Dr Sekhon has served as an advisor to the Pan American Health Organization in Brazil. He has conducted several collaborative research and investigative studies on behalf of national and international health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO). He has more than 70 original research publications in peer- reviewed national and international journals to his credit and has made presentations of almost equal numbers at national and international meetings and congresses related to medical microbiology.
Being a proud member of the Sikh Diaspora, Dr Sekhon could not remain indifferent to the plight of the Sikhs in India particularly after the Indian Army assault on Durbar Sahib in June 1984. He has written extensively to promote global awareness among the peace and freedom-loving people of the suffering of the Sikhs in the Punjab that started as soon as the British granted its colony of South Asia freedom in 1947.
Since June 1984, Dr Sekhon has used every vehicle and means available to document the persecution, torture, murders in fake encounters, and planned genocide of Sikhs in which 250,000 children, many of them infants, and young men were systematically killed by state police. In 1992, Dr Sekhon co-authored with Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer “The Sikhs’ Struggle for Sovereignty – a Historical Perspective”, which was edited by A. T. Kerr. In 1993, as co-author again with Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, he compiled thepublication “India Kills the Sikhs”. He was a co-author of “A White Paper on Khalistan” (ed) AT Kerr 2006. He wrote a chapter titled “The Sikh Nation & Khalistan: A Historical Perspective” in an authoritative book “Authentic Voices of South Asia”(ed) Usman Khalid, published by the London Institute of South Asia (LISA) in 2005. Dr Sekhon compiled a book on the 25th Anniversary of the assault by the Indian Army on Durbar Sahib and wrote a chapter titled ‘Operation Bluestar, June 1984: An Undeclared War on the Sikh Nation’. The title of the book is “25 Years After 1984 Assault on Durbar Sahib, Laying the Foundation of Khalistan (ed) Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon in 2009; it was published by LISA are well known to the students and historians of South Asian affairs.
In 2009, too, Dr Sekhon, under the auspices of The Sikh Education Trust, Edmonton, published the second edition of “Betrayal of Sikh Nation by Master Tara Singh: British Documents of Transfer of Power 1947” by Ram Singh. His articles and views have been appearing regularly in Indo Canadian Times, World Sikh News, Charhdi Kala, The Sikh Messenger, Sant Sipahi, Ajit (Toronto), The Sikh Spectrum, The Sword, Malaya Samachar, The Punjab Times, Awaze Qaum International, The Sikhs: Past and Present, The International Journal of Sikh Affairs and several cyber e-groups. Dr Sekhon is the founding member of the London Institute of South Asia. His contributions at the United Nations Commissions, Sub-Commissions, Human Rights Council, under Interfaith International are well known. Dr Sekhon organized the first Seminar on the Sikhs of the Sikh Nation, Punjab under the occupation of the alleged Indian democracy in 2008 in the
United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland. The proceedings of the seminar have been published in the International Journal of Sikh Affairs.
Dr Sekhon has made presentations or speeches on international fora in Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and United States of America on the human rights violations perpetrated on the Sikhs, reviling of the Sikh faith, and their struggle to regain their lost sovereignty and independence. Dr Sekhon is the Director, Human Rights Wing, Council of Khalistan, Washington DC. He has written extensively on the “Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty, independence and political power going on by peaceful means since 14th March, 1849.” He supports the struggle for Self-Determination of all the peoples denied their right of self-determination by India notably of Jammu & Kashmir, which is recognized by the United Nations as a disputed area. He has supported the struggle of the untouchables for equality and human rights, who are 65% of the population of India. The seven states of Assam – usually known as Seven Sisters – also get support as do the southern Indian states notably Tamil Nadu.
Brig. Usman Khalid
President
London Institute of South Asia
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to the Almighty Waheguru ji, the Khudawand Bakhshinda, or the Almighty Lord for His blessings to raise his voice against the excesses committed by the evil society of the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’, who remained ‘subservient’ for more than 3,500 years of the reigns of every major empire and the ‘first sovereign and secular kingdom of a Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh’ of South Asia. He is thankful to his parents his father in law, Sardar Pritam Singh Sidhu, Sardar Inderjit Singh Sekhon and Sardarni Kulwant Kaur Sekhon of Faridkot, Dr Nicholas Colotelo, Dr J. M. S. Dixon, Dr Libero Ajello, the Honourable David Kilgour and A. T. Kerr, who inspired the author how to be firm, to follow the path of hard work, honest life, affection, regards for the precious human life and to serve the mankind truthfully.
I am grateful to the President Usman Khalid, London Institute of South Asia, for the love he has for the author. I am also grateful to my sister, the late Mohatarama Nazma Khalid, wife of President Usman Khalid, whom I met twice in her life. She left her sweet memories with the author. Her kindness is difficult to describe in words. In the meantime, the author pays his never ending tributes to my younger brothers (AK, R & I) who taught me how to knock the doors of the United Nations Commission and Human Rights Council, for the gross violations of human rights in the democratic India. I would not do justice if I do not pay my gratitude to my late sister of the non-Sikh faith. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr Charles Graves, Secretary General, Interfaith International, for providing me the platform to plead cases of the persecution, terrorism, genocide, pogroms, humiliation, dehumanization, etc., on the citizens of the Sikhs nation
and the day light ‘robbery’ carried out by the ‘Brahmin-Hindu and pro-Brahmins- Hindus’, like Master Tara Singh, a Hindu convert to the ‘House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib’, and many Dastaardhari/turbaned Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’, who I consider to had have no knowledge or were virtually ‘devoid’ of the meaning of ‘sovereignty and secularism’ of their own Sikh nation and the Sikh history, from the Sikhs’ point of view. The author would like to pay his gratitude to Sir V T Rejshekar, the Editor in Chief, Dalit Voice, and to my older brother, Janab Nisar ul Haq and Brig (retired) S. Qazi.
I have to pay my never ending respects to Sardar Jagpal Singh, Sardar Raghbir Singh, Sardar Gurbir Singh Vedanti, the families of my late older brothers, Sardar Bachan Singh Sekhon and Sardar Ranbir Singh Dhaliwal, Sardar Kesar Singh, Sardar Joginder Singh of B. C., Sardar Amritpal Singh Chauhan, Sardar and Sardarni G S Vig, the Sandhu brothers, the Bindra family, the late Sardar B. S. Mehta and my other younger and older Sikh brothers of Edmonton, along with the family of Sardar Jatinder Singh. I have to pay my special thanks to my older brother, Dr Surjit Singh ji, and younger brother Dr Harbakash Singh Sandhar, Sirdar Gurtej Singh, Professor of Sikhism and the Recipient of the LISA Book Award 2006, Sirdar Gurmit Singh Khalsa and Sardar Sarjit Singh Khalsa, for the discussions on the present state of the Guru Khalsa Panth, from religious and political points of view.
My thanks to Sardar and Sardarni Parmjit Singh Dakha, Sardarni Tejinder Kaur Hundal and family, Sardar and Sardarni K S Pannu, Dr Amolak Singh, Dr Gurprem Singh Kang and family, Sardar Jaswant Singh Thekedar, Sardar and Sardarni Manmohan Singh Randhawa, Sardarni P. K. Bains and family, Sardar Jasbir Singh Basuta, Sardar Amarjit Singh Khalsa, and Sardar Ranjit Singh Rai and his family, whose discussions benefited me very much.
My special and never ending tributes to more than two million martyrs of the Guru Khalsa Panth, who sacrificed their lives for the honour, dignity and integrity of the Sikh nation, Punjab (under the occupation of the devious, discriminatory and apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy).
PREFACE
The Sikhs have made a mark in history as soldiers in the service of the British Empire and now the Indian Empire. While the British made the Sikhs their friends
before recruiting them in the British Indian Army in large numbers, the Indian leaders have looked upon them publicly as an ‘asset’ but privately as the ‘enemy’.
The number of Sikhs in the Indian Army has been falling ever since India’s birth in 1947. The Sikh turban and beard underlines their uniqueness and visibly
different to the Hindus or the Muslims. Their language is also different; they speak Punjabi which is written in Gurumukhi script. This makes Sikh stand out as a
proud people. It is their pride and dignity which makes them loyal and sincere and hence good soldiers. They are loyal to their friends and hostile to those who cheat or betray them. The Hindus praised the Sikhs for having defended and protected them when India was ruled by the Mughals and later the British. But unlike the British the Sikh militancy was seen by the Hindus more as a threat rather than an asset. They were ever anxious to sideline the Sikhs and they eventually betrayed them. The Sikhs did not realize for several decades that they would be treated as mere subjects rather than equal citizens in “Independent India”.
Under a policy of the Congress led Government of India, the boundaries of states (also called provinces) were re-drawn on the basis of language. In the census
carried out for that purpose, it was found that the Hindus in the Punjab had been encouraged to specify ‘Hindi’, not ‘Punjabi’ as their mother tongue. Their idea
was to make the Punjab state as small as possible. They Congress Government succeeded in that effort. But it had the effect of creating a state in the Punjab
where the Sikhs are in majority. The Sikhs want the Indian leaders to fulfill their promise of a sovereign state of their own. The Indian Government has responded with policies that reduce the Sikh majority in the Punjab. The Sikhs have been spread all over India and by keeping the state industrially backward a huge number of Sikhs have been attracted by opportunities abroad. The Sikhs in Diaspora look at the Punjab, not India, as their home country. Because of their
energy and enterprise they enjoy the respect and trust of the host communities in countries of Europe and North America. While it is the Sikhs in India who suffer,
it is the Sikhs in Diaspora who articulate the aspiration of the entire Sikh nation better. That is because they live in free societies where they have come to learn
what freedom means and to value it. Re-evaluation of Sikh history, particularly of the role of Sikh soldiers in service of empires, is an essential part of the fulfillment of the aspiration for national sovereignty.
It is one of my younger brothers inspired me to take up the present project to write about militarization of the Sikh Nation. Khalsa by definition is a soldier. In south Asia, which had been unfamiliar with the concept of ‘nation’ and ‘national sovereignty; the Sikhs have the distinction of having founded the first ‘secular
sovereign’ nation. My interest in the Sikh history was aroused by one of my younger brothers, who said, “Brother, we know the Sikh history from the British
point of view, and that of Hindu India ruled by Brahmins-Baniya combine, but there is no coherent view of history from the point of view of the Sikhs.” The
Hindu faith, which is ‘neither a religion nor a culture’, is essentially subversive which employs humiliation and intimidation to keep the non-Hindu, who are in
overwhelming majority, in line. However, the Sikhs who are the 5th largest religion of the world, have their distinct culture, language and script (Gurumukhi),
and unlike other peoples of India their own polity (principle of national solidarity).
My brother, who belongs to a non-Hindu, non-Brahmin, non-Sikh and non- Christian faith, posed a challenge to tell the truth about Sikh history and nail the lies being presented by the rulers in India under ‘Brahmin-Hindu’ occupation since 15th August, 1947. The narration of events of “Operation Bluestar” of June,
1984, and massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in November the same year reveals how the victims have been reviled. There have been several commissions of inquiry on
Delhi massacres but no judicial probe into the assault on Durbar Sahib in Amritsar. Even the Delhi massacre has led to hardly any convictions or sentences that the heinous crimes warranted. The Sikh nation divided twice – once in 1947 and then in 1984 – needs to write and interpret its own history to underpin its
polity. I have no choice but to say that no writer has taken into account the definition of the Brahmin by the founder of Sikh religion, Guru Baba Nanak Sahib. Guru Baba Nanak described the Brahmins (rulers of India today) as duplicitous, devious, iniquitous and cruel. The followers of the Sikh religion and the Musalmaans of Punjab in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan share that view. That, beside the “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984, constitutes powerful reasons to revisit the conventional view of Sikh history.
It is pity that Diaspora Sikhs, have to obtain a visa from the ‘Brahmin-Hindu’rulers to visit their Homeland Punjab. It is primarily because of corrupt collaborators who headed Akali Administrations of Punjab like Surjit Singh Barnala, Prakash Singh (Sinh) Badal, his clan, and a big army of jathedars, hymn singers, granthis, and ‘jee-hazooriya Sadhs, ‘Derewalas’ and people like Maj Gen Jaswant Singh Bhullar of the present master of Punjab and New Delhi. A great majority of them can be described as ‘saffronized’ Rashtriya Swam Sewaksangh and its wing of the Dastaardhari (turbaned) Rashtriya Sikh Sangat members who still call themselves Sikhs. These saffaronized Sikhs would not like the truth, which the author has been writing. However, I have no choice but to convey the message of the Sikh Diaspora.
I would like to request my Sikh brothers and sisters, wherever they are, that the Sikhs have no future without their ‘Sovereign Sikh Nation State’. It is the right of
every Sikh to breath in the air of a sovereign state. The leaders and representatives of the Sikhs are requested to consider the author’s polite request to stand up to the enemies of the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland, Punjab. May Waheguru ji bless you all and the Sikh Diaspora in the efforts to regain Sovereignty that the Sikh nation enjoyed under its monarch Ranjit Singh from 1799 to 14th March, 1849.
Awatar Singh Sekhon
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
November 2009
INTRODUCTION
GURU SAHIBAANS’ ERA AND THE ORIGION OF THE SIKH MILITARY SYSTEM
Before the military system is explained, the author would like to elaborate briefly on the essentials of the Sikh religion. The religion is the combination of two terms, the religion and politics, (the Miri and Piri, please see below) both are inseparable terms from each other, as the Sikhs’ political matters centre around the religion. Because of they are inseparable, the latter has been devised and used for the ‘self- protection’. The Sikh religion was founded by Guru Baba Nanak Sahib, with its birth in 1469. As such, the Sikh religion, which is only 540 years old and in this period, it has become the 5th largest religion of the world. The followers of the Sikh religion are the enemy of none and the friends of all human beings, who love peace and preserve it at every cost. Guru Nanak Sahib, in his lifetime gave the message to his followers to earn their livelihood by fair means, remember the name of the Almighty, and share your food with the needy ones, who have no means to earn their livelihood. He in his childhood had to protect himself from the imposition of those who wanted to make him wear Hindus’ (neither a religion nor a culture, according to Raj Shekar, Editor in Chief, Dalit Voice, Dr Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer and many other non-Sikh academics, including J L Nehru alias Mobark Ali) (www.krishnajnehru.blogspot.com 6/8/09) sacred thread called ‘janeau’. The elite Hindus, the Brahmins, practinoners of apartheid, wanted him to wear the ‘Hindu thread or janeau’, but he refused. Later, in his teachings Nanak Sahib defined the Brahmin as ‘The Butcher of our world, saying “Mathe Tikka Terrh Dhotti Kakhai Hath Chhurri Jagat Kasai. As inscribed in the Asa-di-vaar section of the Sikhs’ Holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, Script Gurmukhi.” The simple translation of Guru’s teaching is that the Brahmin has painted his forehead, has a white piece ofcloth around his waist and has a chhurri or a sharp knife in his hand or a lethal weapon. In 20th and 21st centuries, the same Brahmin, after being ‘subservient’ to the Afghans, Sikhs, British, Portuguese and others for more than 3,500 years, has nuclear arsenal in his possession. Guru Nanak Sahib travelled widely, in China, the countries of the middle east and the small and large kingdoms of the Hindus, Mughals and Muslims. Guru Baba Nanak emphasized that his follower will not smoke, keep unshorn hair and keep themselves (male and females) clean. Guru Nanak Sahib taught equality in the human beings, with special reference to the equal rights to the woman. He opposed the persecution and oppression in his lifetime. So much so, the first Guru raised his voice against the excesses of the ruler, i. e., the Mughal ruler Emperor Babar. The second Guru, or his successor, was the next Nanak (the light of the same Nanak who founded the Sikh religion), was Guru Angad Sahib ji. He continued (13th June, 1539) the mission started by his predecessor, Guru Nanak Sahib. Guru Angad Sahib was an inspired poet. Many Gurdwaras, the Sikhs’ place of worship, were built in his time. He passedaway on March 29t, 1552. His successor, Guru Amardas, continuing the mission of the Nanak (first and second), the third Nanak, emphasized the institution of Langar or the community kitchen. It was the institution strengthened by him and asked no one will go without eating food, prepared by the community folks. Once Emperor Akabar sought an audience with the Guru. The Emperor and his people came to see him. The Emperor was asked to have langar first. While seeing the Guru Amardas, the Emperor said that he enjoyed the food served in the langar very much. Guru was delighted to hear the words of the Emperor regarding the institution of langar and some other kindness shown towards the Guru. While departing after the audience, the Emperor wanted to give offerings to the Guru for the langar he and his staff had before having audience with the Guru. Guru Sahib politely declined that the institution is run by the grace of the Almighty Lord and his disciples. It is served free regardless of the religion, sex, colour or creed. The institution is for the service of the mankind. The Emperor, however, did not want to leave without offering something to Guru and the ‘House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib. Tactfully, the Emperor asked the Guru, if not for the langar, but he would like to give something to Guru’s daughter, Bibi Bhani, as he considers her as his own child. Guru Sahib agreed to this proposal and the Emperor Akabar left after giving gifts to Guru’s daughter (Jalwehra 2008 ISBN 0-9549712-0-5). The fourth Nanak, named Guru Ramdass Sahib continuing the mission of Guru Nanak Sahib and started laying the foundation of Ramsar, named after him, the place in Amritsar, became known as the Darbar Sahib and along with it made a pond ‘sarovar’ or water reservoir. The main building of Darbar Sahib is surrounded by the water of the sarovar. In this sarovar, the pilgrims take their bath, according to the Sikh traditions. All four Nanaks and the fifth Nanak, Guru Arjan Sahib himself, continued their main duties of teachings, reciting, hymn singing and strengthening the House of Guru Nanak Sahib. The fifth Nanak realized that the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’ has been
established and was being strengthend. Now, the House of Nanak or Panth needs the ‘Granth’, to guide the Panth. Panth is the body of the House of Guru Nanak. It was at this stage, he started the compilation of the teachings of the first four Nanaks (Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Ramdas Saheb) and started adding his own
teachings to upgrade the Granth. For he visualized that the Granth, later known as the ‘Soul’ of the House of Guru Nanak, would serve as the ‘Constitution’ to lead the Panth alias the ‘House of Guru Nanak’. He started working on it and kept on compiling the Granth. When the compilation was complete, he started respecting the Granth by placing it on a place above him or the ground. He himself used to sleep on the floor, acted as caretaker, to guide the panth that the Granth or the soul of the panth may be two entities. In reality, however, the soul (Granth) and its body, the Panth or the House of Guru Nanank, are inseparable. Seeing the completion of the Granth in his lifetime, he ordered Bhai Budha ji, in the congregation or Sangat, to open the Granth and let the congregation hear the
message of the Akalpurakh. The couplet recited by Bhai Budhaji, from the Granth, was “Santan ke Karaj Aap Khaloya Har Kam Karavan Aaya Ram (here Ram is
referred to the Akalpurakh or the devine power of the invisible Akalpurakh, not as the Brahmins-Hindus had have been misleading that usage of Ram with one of the characters of the Hindus’ mythological epic Ramayana), Dharat Suhavi Tal Suhaava vich Amrit Jal Chhaya Puran Saaj Karaya Sagal Manorath Pure Ram,
Amrit Jal Chhaya Puran Saaj Karaya Sagal Manorath Pure, Jai Jai Kar Bhaii Jag Antar Sagal Manorath Pure, Jai Jai Kaar Bhaiya Jag Antar Laathe Sagal Visoore, Pooran Purakh Achut Abinasi Jas Ved Purani Gaaiya, Aapna Birad Rakjia Parmesar Nanak Naam Dhiaya (from Suhi Mahala 5). This was the devine order, from Granth Sahib to the House of Guru Nanak (Panth). After Guru Sahib’s completion of his work, he appointed Bhai Budhaji the caretaker of the Granth.
Guru Arjan Sahib was taken to Lahore, where he was subjected to extreme physical torture. He was made to sit on red-hot iron (Tawi) plates and burning
sand was poured over him. He was made to take a dip in boiling water. Sain Mian Mir, Arjan Sahib’s friend of the Islamic faith, came to see him and offered to
intercede on his behalf. Guru Sahib forbade him, however, He has to find peace in God’s Will (Tera Bhana). Guru Arjan Sahib left this world on May 30th, 1606
(Singh Harbans 1995 ISBN 81-7380-100-2). The Sixth Nanak, Hargobind Sahib succeeded to his father, Guru Arjan Sahib in 1606 at the age of 11 years. Guru
Hargobind Sahib Ji wore two swords when succeeded his father, i. e., the sword to represent the Miri or political power and the second was of the religion. Thus, the first sword was to protect religion and the tradition of ‘Miri and Piri’ began in the period of the sixth Nanak. Unlike his five predecessors, he adopted a princely style right from the time of his installation on the Seat of Nanak Sahib. As part of his investiture ceremony he wore two swords; one representing ‘Miri’ or political command of the community and the other ‘Piri’, its spiritual headship. For this reason, he is known as ‘miri piri da malik’ i.e. master of piety as well as, of power. This correlation between the spiritual and the mundane had, in fact, been conceptualized in the teachings of the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak
(1469-1539) himself.
In front of the holy Darbar Sahib), he constructed the Akal Takht i. e., the throne of the Almighty or of the Timeless one (AKAL), the Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity. Here he went through the investiture ceremony for which he put on a warrior’s accoutrement with two swords symbolizing assumption of the spiritual power as well as, the control of secular affairs for the conduct of which he specifically used this new seat. He also raised an armed force and asked his followers to bring him presents of horses and weapons. This was a practical measure undertaken for the defence of the Khalsa Panth’s right of freedom of faith and worship. The Sixth Nanak laid the foundation to protect the religious right, using the political strength. He received his education in Punjabi, Sanskrit and in other areas under the guidance of Bhai Bhudha ji. He attained perfection in the horse riding and defensive procedures. This was the beginning of a new chapter in the Sikh religion. Guru Hargobind Sahib’s period has special significance in the history of the House of Guru Nanak Sahib. Dispensing of justice by sitting on the throne of Almighty, raising military for the protection of his disciples of the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’, etc., it was the starting period of militarization in the House of Guru Nanak Sahib. While sitting on the throne of Almighty, he used to dispense right justice to the people. As a result, he was known as the sacra pat shah or the true king. On one hand he told his followers to remember the name of Almighty and on the others to be armed for their self-protection. He was of the opinion that his people will not be protected and there always will be chances for excesses and persecution. To cope with these, this seems to be the main point of his asking the disciples that they should bring horses and armaments. Guru Sahib raised a fair sized army of more than 2500 soldiers and a sizeable number of trained soldiers. The Commander of Guru’s army was a non-Sikh, Painda Khan. His time can be equated with a king in all aspects. The Mughal Emperor did not like his ever- growing influence over the people. For this, Guru was imprisoned in the Gwalior Fort, where some other Hindu kings had already been imprisoned. When the Emperor decided him to set free, Guru asked that these Hindu kings be set free, too. The Emperor agreed to Guru’s proposal and they were released as well. Later records show that the relations between Guru and the Mughal Emperor became stronger, codrial and friendly, as the Emperor came to know the culprit of destroying the relation with the Guru was the jealousy of a Hindu, named Chandu Shah. He was handed over to the Guru’s forces. To construct the Sikhs’ Supreme Seat of polity, The Akal Takht Sahib. He also founded the place named Keeratpur Sahib. During this period, the followers of other faith adopted the Sikhism. Therulers and residents of Kulu, Suket Mandi, Haripur, Kangra, Chamba and Pilibhit adopted the Sikh religion. Before his departure, Guru Hargobind Sahib ji passed on the Guruship to Har Rai, who became the seventh Nanak, on March 3rd, 1645. Guru was born on January 30th, 1630 and continued his leadership and duties to the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’ until 1661. Not having much confidence in his elder son, Ram Rai, Guru Har Rai ji appointed Har Kishan, his younger son, to the seat of the eighth Nanak, before he departed from this world on October 6th, 1661. The eighth Nanak was born on July 7th, 1656 in Keeratpur Sahib. The eight Nanak was polite, kind to others, devoted to the Will of Almighty. Because of these qualities, he earned the title of the eighth Nanak. Because of epidemic of cholera and smallpox, while looking after the sufferers, the Guru fell victim of the small pox. During his illness, his followers asked him who would his successor, if some unfortunate happening occurs. He said only the word ‘Baba Bakala’ and then his life came to an end on March 30th, 1664. The nineth Guru Teg Bahadar Sahib was born on April 1, 1621, in the house of the sixth Nanak, Guru Hargobind Sahib. He received his early education from Bhai Bhudha ji and Bhai Gurdas ji, He attained fluency in the Punjabi, Brij and Sanskrit languages. Guru Sahib’s knowledge of the history, philosophy,
mathematics and music, horse riding, the usage of armaments was superb of his
period. His active part in the battle of Kartarpur was remarkably extra-ordinary. He became the father of a child in 1666, who was named Gobind Rai. Beside his
interests in horse riding and perfections in the usage of the war hardware of the battlefield, he equally devoted his time in the remembrance of the Akalpurakh. His poetry verses have been incorporated in Granth Sahib. He discharged his duties of Guruship from 1664 to 1675. He travelled extensively from Lahore to eastern kingdoms of South Asia. He established a place named Nanki Chak, later came to be known as Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. The Sikh religion became highly popular in his time as he travelled and delivered his messages to the congregations of Amritsar, Lahore, Khadur Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Taran Taran, Khem Karan, Keeratpur, Walah, Ghukewali, Malva and Bangar areas in 1665. The nineth Nanak, Guru, Teg Bahadar, was arrested by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, as he could not stand the popularity of the Guru. He was brought to Delhi. After arriving in Delhi, he was presented before the Emperor. He was kept in the custody of Ram Singh and then released. While he visited the eastern kingdoms of South Asia, his mother, wife and disciples accompanied him. His travels included Assam, Dhaka, Patna, Mungher, Sasram, Gaya, Agra, Kanpur, Prayag, Mathura, Bindraban, Delhi, Faizabad, Dhamdhan areas, etc. The Kashmiri Brahmins, like Kirpa Ram, could not stand before the Emperor Aurangzeb, as the Emperor asked the Brahmins to accept Islam. The Brahmins-Hindus had no spine to open their mouth to argue their case of being Hindus before the Emperor, except to come forshelter and seek a solution to their problem from the ninth Guru. Since the Brahmins-Hindus are ‘neither a religion nor a culture’, Guru Sahib took the matter of forcible conversion seriously and considered the forcible conversion of religion as the violations of human rights. What these Brahmins-Hindus did not do themselves as they were either devoid of the human rights or were themselves involved in the persecution, they asked the Guru to do the job for them, keeping in mind the preservation of one’s religious or other rights.
On November 6th, 1675, Guru Sahib and his three disciples were brought to Delhi. They were asked by the Emperor to accept Islam. On November 11th, 1675, the ninth Guru was beheaded in response to the Emperor’s question in Delhi and to disobey him. The place in Delhi, where he was beheaded, a Gurdwara had been constructed in the memory of the Guru. A disciple of Guru Sahib brought his beheaded head brought to Anandpur Sahib and handed over to his son, Gobind
Rai. Guru’s son was very happy over the bravery of Bhai Jaitaji and he called him: “Rangretta Guru Ka Betta” meant all belonging to the ‘Balmiki’ families are thesons of Gobind Rai. After the martyrdom of the ninth Guru, his son Gobind Rai succeeded as the 10th Master or Guru of the Sikhs.
The tenth master of the Sikh was born on December 22nd, 1666. He was named Gobind Rai. Gobind Rai succeeded to his father, his grandfather, Guru Hargobind Sahib ji, spent the early days of his life in Patna. After his birth, a Muslim faqir, Bhikhan Shah, had said that this child will become a great person and will lead his people. Gobind Rai received his education of Punjabi (Gurmukhi) from Bhai Chand, Sanskrit from Pandit Harjas, Persian and Arabic from Qazi Pir
Mohammed. A rajput named Bajar Singh made him to attain perfection in horse riding and trained him in the usage of military warfare. Following accession to the
seat of the ninth Guru, Teg Bahadar Sahib, Father of the tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Rai followed the footsteps of his grandfather, Guru Hargobind Saheb. He used to go hunting. He constructed the Ranjit Nagara, a special drum. He constructed a special fort at the bank of the river Jamuna. Here he started the
military training to his Sikhs. At the advice of Pir Budhoo Shah, he admitted 500 Mughal soldiers, who had been shunted out of the Mughal army. Along with the
military training, Guru Sahib started writing down the literary work of the high calibre. Some of his literary works are:
“Raj bina naa Dharam chale hai, Dharam bina sab dale-male hai.” “Koi kisi ko Raj naa Deh hai, Jo bhee le hai Nij bal se lai hai”
“Inn Garieb Sikhan ko Deun Patshahi, ye yaad Karen Hamri Guryaaii” “Khalsa Mero Roop hai Khaas, Khalse mai Hon Karon Niwas”
“Jab Eh (Khalsa) kare Bipran ki reet, Mai Naa Karoon Inki Parteet” “Khalsa Akal Purakh ki Fauj, Pragatayo Khalsa Parmatam ki Mauj”
In 1686, the 10th Master came back to Anandpur Sahib. He constructed four forts, Anandharh, Lohgarh, Fatehgarh and Kesgarh Sahib, to strengthen his armed forces and continued to strength the ‘House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib’. With a handful of soldiers, he defeated the forces of the Hindu kings, whom he tried to unite to fight against the Mughals, but these Hindu kings turned against him, Guru Gobind Rai Sahib. With only 40 Sikh soldiers, he defeated the Mughal forces. Not only that the 10th Master gave a befitting defeat to the evil elements of the Sikhs, created in the times of Guru Ramdas ji, the fourth Master of Sikhs. This evil
element was the ‘Masands’. These were the people who forgot all the principles of the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’, became greedy, selfish, money-collectors and in the practices of anti-House of Guru Nanak Sahib.
On March 30th, 1699, Guru Gobind Rai ‘Revealed the Khalsa’ in a huge gathering. He asked those gathering for five people who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’. Here five men, named Daya Ram, Dharam Chand, Himat Rai, Mohkam Chand and Sahib Ram came forward one by one andoffered themselves to Guru Gobind Rai, to the Guru had asked for. After taking their lives, Guru prepared the Amrit to initiate them. He had prepared this ‘Amrit’ by putting in water, patashe (crystallized sugar), used a double-edged sword to prepare ‘Amrit’. While he was preparing the ‘Amrit’ he used to recite the ‘Name of the Almighty Lord’. When Amrit was ready, he initiated the five sacrificed disciples by putting in their mouths, in their hair, eyes and sprinkled on their body. After administering them ‘Amrit’, Guru asked ‘Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh’. These five disciples said the same “Waheguru ji ka Khalsa,
Waheguru ji ki Fateh”. Guru took five disciples in a tent and they were dressed in a new ‘uniform’. Thereafter, Guru asked to one of these five disciples that you are the ‘Khalsa (means Sovereign in the English language) or initiated Sikhs’ and now you administer the ‘Amrit’ to me and make me like you. It is said that one of them, Bhai Daya Ram who had become Daya Singh after initiation, asked Guru Gobind Rai that “we all offered our heads to you when you asked for the sacrifices. What will you give us in return to make you initiated?” Guru Sahib replied to Daya Singh, I have already sacrificed my father, the ninth master, Teg Bahadar, my sons, and my whole family is at the ‘service’ of the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’. One of the five initiated Sikhs, administered ‘Amrit’ to Guru Gobind Rai and made him Guru Gobind Singh now. Since the ceremony of initiation, Guru Sahib said that all the male members of the ‘House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib will have to carry ‘Singh’ word with their names, and the females will use ‘Kaur’. Accoring to Dr. Sangat Singh, a Sikh historian, the 10th Master of the Sikhs made his Sikhs a distinct nation by giving the surname/middle name ‘Singh’, meaning ‘lion’. He also blessed them with five ‘Ks’ i.e. ‘Kangha, Kara, Kachcha, Kes and Kirpan. The whole time possession of Kirpan (it be noted that ‘Kirpaan’ is a Kirpaan, there is no English word for the ‘Kirpaan’. Kirpaan is not a dagger or sword, combat. After the initiation ceremony, the ‘House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib’ was given the new name “Guru Khalsa Panth.” This was the ‘Revelation of Khalsa’ on March 30th, 1699. The work started by Guru Nanak Sahib was completed by the 10th Master, Guru Gobind Singh ji. The word ‘Khalsa’ means ‘Sovereign’ in the English language. The House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib, Guru Khalsa Panth, the Sikh Nation or Sikh Raj being used interchangeably. More details may be found elsewhere (History of Sikh Mother Land 2008 ISBN0- 9549712-0-5). By the ‘Revelation of Khalsa and initiation of the Sikhs’ made the Sikhs perfectly separated from the ‘Hindus (neither a religion nor a culture) and the followers of the Islamic faith’. This was the completion of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib’s teaching, who said that “Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims, Sikhs are Sikhs none else but the Sikhs’.
In 1706, after a rest of about nine months, Guru Gobind Singh ji continued his work to initiate the Sikhs. He completed the Sikh scripture, Granth Sahib and
incorporated the teachings of the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadar Sahib. The MughalEmperor Aurangzeb died in 1707 and Bahadarshah Zafar succeeded as the Mughal Emperor. In his time, the relations between the Sikhs and the Mughals improved drastically. In the last days, Emperor Aurangzeb had adopted a soft policy towards the Sikhs and invited Guru Gobind Singh to the South. Unfortunately, he died before Guru Gobind Singh could see him. On October 6th, 1708, Guru Gobind Singh ji ordered his Sikhs to ‘seek guidance from the Granth Sahib’ as now on, the Sikhs’ Guru will be the ‘word or shabad Guru. With this order from Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikhs’ Guru is the Holy Scripture, Script Gurmukhi, Adi Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh left this world on the following day, October 7th, 1708.
In the Sikh Gurus’ period and thereafter, the sword was never meant as a symbol of aggression and it was never to be used for self-aggrandizement. It was the
emblem of manhood and self-respect. It was to be used only in self-defence, as a last resort for protection from evil forces of aggression. Guru Gobind Singh Saheb, the 10th Master of Sikhs, said in a Persian couplet in his Zafarnamah (Letter of Victory to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb):
“When all other means have failed, It is but lawful to resolve to the sword.”
As the Sikh historian Dr. Sangat Singh has said, “Man has always advocated peace, but he is yet to learn peaceful co-existence. It is hence, indispensable for
every nation, state, country or group of people to evolve some concept of self- defence against the aggressions. Sikhism is no exception to that. The concept of
defence and offensive war, when indispensable, is found even in the teachings of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. Sangat Singh, in his book entitled “The Sikhs in History 2002” writes on page 19 as under: “Guru Nanak took a special note of Babar’s use of match-lock gun which, according to Babar’s Memoirs proved decisive in his victory. Guru Nanak wanted the people to equip themselves with sophisticated weapons to create a strategic balance of forces, or a balance of terror (which in itself is sufficient to prevent a war), to pave the way for an equal contest, if needed. It was Guru Nanak who laid the foundations of martyrdom in Sikhism. He said, “If you want to play the game of devotion, place your head on the palm of your hand, and follow my way (inscribed in the Sikhs’ Holy scripture, Adi Guru Granth Sahib ji). Once you take a step in this direction, you should not hesitate in laying down your life, and not look back.” With the passage of time, the concept of warfare kept developing. Guru Hargobind gave a very clear concept of ‘Miri Piri (see above)’ to the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’.
Before departing from this world, Guru Gobind Singh ji met Madho Das, later known as the Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadar. Some historians named him
Gurbax Singh. General Banda Singh Bahadar established the first Sikh Raj, 1708 –1716. After the victory of the battle Chapreh-Chirhi, this was considered the
beginning of the Khalsa-sammat or the calendar of the Sikh rule (Dilgeer HS and Sekhon AS 1992 ISBN 0-9695964-0-5). General Banda Singh Bahadar issued the Khalistani currency, with the Persian inscription:
Sikka Zad Har do alam Teg-I-Nanak Sahib ast Fateh Gobind Singh Shah-i-Shahan Fazal-I-Sacha Sahib ast
The seal of the Khalistani state was: “Deg-o-Teg-o-Fateh-o-Nusrat-bedirang,
Yafat as Nanak Guru Gobind Singh.”
Before his martyrdom on June 9th, 1716, General Banada Singh Bahadar, he suffered severe persecution, but he did not surrender and accept Islam. After the
martyrdom, it was the period of hide and seek until the sovereign and secular Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh came into being. However, the sovereignty of the
Sikhs, blessed by the Sikh Gurus, was re-asserted by two Sikhs named Garja Singh and Bota Singh. Both declared that area had been freed by the Sikh nation.
They put up the flag of Khalistan, blocked the road leading to Lahore near Sarai Bur-ud-Din and began charging a toll tax from all vehicles travelling through the
road. The users paid the toll tax without protest. When all this went unchecked, Bota Singh and Garja Singh decided to inform the Governor of Lahore. They
wrote a letter to the governor. It said (the English version): This letter is dictated by Bota Singh. He holds a big club in his hand. He stands on path to Lahore.
“He levies One Anna for a load of a cart. A paisa is charged for a donkey load. Tell my sister-in-law Madam Khano, this message comes from Bota Singh.”
Ahmad Shah Abdali attacked Punjab at the end of December 1747. For the next two years the forces of the Sikh Nation and Moghal fought fiercely. However, Mir Mannu started a fresh wave of persecution, which ended in a victory for the Sikh nation. Subsequently, the Sikh nation had a de facto control of the city of
Amritsar. The Khalistan army had enough arms, ammunition and horses to perform their future role in Khalistan. For their future role, a meeting of Sarbat
Khalsa was called on March 29th, 1748, at the Akal Takht Sahib, the Sikhs’ Supreme Seat of Polity. The meeting directed that the “struggle for their sovereignty be intensified with new and full vigour.” The Sikh nation had no less than 66 Sikh battalions (jathas) of the Khalistani army fighting for the Guru Khalsa Panth. The Sarbat Khalsa reorganized these battalions into 11 misls (groups). By 1799, the Sikh nation, Khalistan, was under the control of the Sikh army. In the meantime, Chet Singh Bhangi Misl, the in charge of Lahore, started posing problems to the Sikh nation. Some prominent and respectable Sikhs, including Gurbax Singh, and Muslims sent a memorandum to Ranjit Singh, theyoung 19-year-old chief of Shukarchakia Misl, to attack Lahore and offered him complete promise of support.
Ranjit Singh discussed the letter with his mother-in-law, Sada Kaur, at Batala. She agreed to be a party to it. Ranjit Singh attacked Lahore without calling Sarbat
Khalsa at the Akal Takht Sahib, nor did he discuss the matter with the chief custodian of the Darbar Sahib. This had been the major un-Sikh act, which became the basis of mutilation of the Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty (Dilgeer and Sekhon ISBN 0-9695964-0-5). Following this Ranjit Singh concentrated his military
might. Subsequently, Ranjit Singh established a ‘Sovereign and secular’ Sikh kingdom, her mother-in-law was the guiding force to the ‘sovereign and secular’
Sikh state in South Asia. Ranjit Singh used to hold his royal court in Lahore. In September 1814, a Sikh General Akali Phoola Singh issued a stern warning to
Ranjit Singh to remove dogras, Brahmins and some other Hindu and the Dogras who provoked Ranjit Singh against Sher Singh. The former realized his
shortcoming and promised Akali Phoola Singh to be careful in future. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s soft corner in his heart brought more problems before his death July
27th, 1839. Kharak Singh succeeded Ranjit Singh and remained Maharaja until October 8th, 1839.
Military System of the Sikhs In the Pre-Ranjit Singh era
The common soldier was clad in turban, a shirt, and a pair of knickerbockers with tight fitting slippers. The chiefs wore chain amour with a steel helmet,
breastplates, back-plates, wrist guards and gloves. There was no training in combined movements or any drill for individual soldiers. The place of discipline
was supplemented by courage and enthusiasm.” Leaders of Dal Khalsa were looked upon as heads of faith and state. When the Sikhs went to battle against a common enemy they formed a unified command under one supreme chief. Disciplinary cases were dealt with by a council of war consisting of five prominent leaders of the Dal Khalsa. There was another democratic institution known as ‘Sarbat Khalsa’. All the Khalsas assembled in a meeting at a central place and arrived at a common decision. Its decisions were also called “Gurumata” as it was believed that the decisions were sanctified by the presence of the Guru. Too much of democracy was not conducive to over-all control and discipline. Gough, rightly pointed out, “Any fighting machine must have a single controlling head, whereas, the Sikh doctrines of brotherhood and equality made the very chief kick at the idea of insubordination.” The soldiers were not paid on a monthly or weekly basis. There was no regular system of payment. They were sometimes paid in cash and sometimes in kind. They were also permitted to retain a portion of the bounty. Each soldier was given some grain and fodder for himself and his horse. A soldier was equipped with offensive as well as defensive weapons. They hadswords, spears, scimitars, sabers, bows and arrows, lances, musket guns and arms pouches. Their accoutrements also consisted of two blankets, a grain bag and cooking utensils, which were carried on ponies. In camps they did not carry any tents. As they were lightly equipped and carried all their requirements on their horses they were very mobile. Hence, they could carry out raids on the enemy. It was in these raids that the Sikhs were at their best. When pursued they retreated into the foothills. The Sikhs were adapted in guerrilla tactics. Franklin observes, “Inured from their infancy to the hardship of a military life, the Sikhs are addicted to predatory warfare in a manner peculiar to themselves alone.
Military organization of Monarch Ranjit Singh The first Sovereign and Secular Nation of South Asia
Ranjit Singh reorganized the Sikh army and modernized it to cope with the changed conditions that arose on account of the advent of the British. He saw that
the British were winning battles against native powers with the help of the British India Empire’s troops employed in their services on account of their superior
training and superior artillery. It should be stated here that the Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh’s artillery might was far superior than the British Empire, according
to Qazi (2004. Gun and Political Developments in the Subcontinent from Medieval Times ISBN 969-8563-14-8). He realized that the Sikh tactics of guerrilla warfare, which proved so successful against the troops of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali, would be of no avail against the British. Ranjit Singh then employed foreigners to train his regular battalions on the foreign pattern. The foreigners who distinguished themselves in his service are Generals Alard, Ventura, Avitable, Court, Lt. Col. Steinbach, Captain Ford and John Holmes. There are differences of opinion about the actual strength of Ranjit Singh’s army.
It is believed that he had 300,000 irregulars and about 100,000 regulars (Qazi 2004 ISBN 969-8563-14-8), which included 50,000 cavalry and 300 field guns.
Ranjit Singh did not depend on the foreigners for the supply of his arms and ammunition. He gained complete self-sufficiency in defence stores and equipment.
There were government arsenals at Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Jammu and Srinagar where guns and mortars were manufactured. Here also he took the help of
the foreigners but he encouraged the local talent, too. Two British Indians who distinguished themselves in his service were Nuruddin who was in charge of his
ordnance factories and gunner Sardar Lehna Singh who cast shrapnel shell. The Khalsa army was variously classified on the basis whether or not it was paid
by the state or whether or not it was trained on European model. All these classifications were arbitrary and did not give a complete structure of the Army.
A Known Sikh historian Fauja Singh gives out the following classification:
1.Regular Army or Fauj-e-Ain. This force comprised of soldiers trained on the European pattern. Regular Army constituted the largest and the best portion of the
Sikh army and was under the personal supervision of Ranjit Singh himself. Its main components were artillery, cavalry and infantry. Brigade was the highest
formation in the regular army but its strength and composition was not uniform in all the brigades. Normally a brigade had three to four infantry battalions, one or
two batteries of artillery and one regiment of cavalry.
2. Irregular Army
a. Jagirdari Fauj.These forces were maintained by Jagirdars. Each Jagirdar was supposed to maintain a stipulated quota of horses. These were reviewed by the
king once in a year, mostly on the day of Dusserah. The Jagirdari troops were organized like the regular forces. Usually they comprised infantry, cavalry and
artillery.
b. Fauj-i-Sawari The/or Ghoracharah Fauj They were the remnants of the old Khalsa horsemen. They were irregulars and did not go through proper training. However, they had wild courage. They were retained to enlist the support of the entire Sikh community. These troops were subdivided into Khas and Misaldar Sawars. The Ghoracharah Khas were recruited from the nobility to have faithful body of warriors round the person of the king. The Misaldar Sawars were those who had formally served some chieftains, overthrown by Ranjit Singh.
c. Fauji-i-Qilajat. Forts were built at strategic places like Peshawar, Attock, Multan and Kashmir etc. These forts were mostly manned by regular and irregular
troops of inferior combat ability. These forts were self-contained in food-grains and war materials for long sieges. Discipline was maintained in the fort. Orders on the subject were exhaustive which were enforced rigorously.
3. Infantry. Originally, infantry was not a popular arm of service and infantry men were ignored by Indian rulers. Ranjit Singh saw that the British were winning
battles in India primarily because of their well-trained and well disciplined infantry and the steady fire of the gunners and musketeers. Ranjit Singh very
wisely paid personal attention to this decisive arm and encouraged the good manpower to join infantry and lured them by offering attractive pay and gaudy
dress. Ranjit Singh himself attended their parade dressed as infantry officer and distributed gifts in terms of money and kind to the youth. Descriptive roll was
maintained by the deserters from the East India Company. The Italian General Ventura was in charge of training of the Sikh infantry.
4. Artillery. The Sikhs did not have any scientific knowledge of gunnery in thebeginning of the eighteenth century but Ranjit Singh made it the best-served arm
of the Sikh army. Ranjit Singh saw with his own eyes that the success of the British in India against Indian powers was due to their superior artillery and better
trained infantry on European lines. He had his own foundries where guns were cast and he was not satisfied like the Marathas with the rejected guns of the
European powers. Ranjit utilized the services of the foreigners like General Court and General Gardner for raising, organizing and training of artillery regiments.
There were four types of artillery regiments in Ranjit Singh’s army:
1. Toup Khana Shutri : Camel Ridden Batteries 2. Toup Khana Gawi : Bullock Ridden Batteries 3. Toup Khana Fe-el Elephant Ridden Batteries 4. Toup Khana Aspi : Horse Ridden Batteries
The artillery was organized into batteries or Derahs (camps). A standard battery consisted of 8 to 10 guns and was divided into sections, each section comprising
one gun with ten or eleven gunners attached to it.
4. Fauj-i-khas. This was a special force organized on the lines of the French Legion and the Guard Battalions of the present armies. The French General Allard
and Ventura were made responsible for this force. The men selected were of better calibre and they wore distinguishing dress. Captain Wade writes, “It appeared to be a remarkably fine body of men. In passing the camp of the Legion, I noticed several standards with the tri-coloured flag, which the French officers, I find, adopted as the distinguishing ensign of their corps. The corp was extremely well equipped and very steady under arms. The battalion performed several maneuvers, executing them in a style of propriety that surpassed my expectations.”
5. The Akalis. They were orthodox Sikhs who did put on a special type of dress and were prepared to lay down their lives for their cause. They were the
forerunners of the present-day commandos.
6. Recruitment, Composition and Discipline: All classes of people irrespective of caste and creed were enrolled in the army. Panjabi Hindus, Mohammedans and Gurkhas were employed in large numbers, although the Sikh troops gained numerical superiority at a later stage. There were Europeans of different nationalities in the army and some put the figure at fifty. A recruit was selected by a prominent courtier first and he was duly presented to the Maharaja or his nominee for the final selection. Normally a recruit was appointed in the rank of a sepoy/private but sometimes youths with leadership andgood personality were selected direct as officers.
The Sikhs adopted the European mode of discipline credibility. But the discipline shown on the parade ground was not always displayed in the battlefield. One
British officer writes, “I think as do most others, that it (new discipline) is all fudge, well enough to look at and for display, but useless beyond this; the Sikhs
have never used it yet and never will and if ever they are induced to charge, it will be in a tumult manner and the straight parade line system will be entirely forgotten or despised in the hour of action. They themselves say it will do for parade but not for battle, you may therefore judge of what use all the drilling has been. But it has had one good effect, it has called attention to the state of the army, their arms and their physical appearance.” There were no written regulations for punishment for various offences. Each case was decided on its merit.
Soldiers were not given pension. They were allowed to serve as long as they were fit. Some even retired at the age of 60. Some vacancies were reserved for the
children of ex-servicemen. Widows of soldiers were granted an allowance called “Inglis” which amounted to one third of their pay. Ranjit Singh preferred to pay
salaries in cash although he could not totally dispense with the Jagir system.
(Lt. Col. H. C. Kar, Military History of (British and post-British) India, Calcutta, 1980) Classic warriors
BANDA SINGH BAHADUR (1670-1716)
General Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716)
Banda Singh son of Ram Dev was born at Rajauri, District Punch of Kashmir on October 27th 1670 A.D. His real name was Lachman Dev. His father was an
agriculturist of Sodhi sub-caste.
When he grew young, he first joined Bairagi Ram Das who gave him the name of Madho Das. Roaming about the country for few years, he settled down in the
Panchvati woods, near Nasik. He learnt yoga from Yogi Aughar Nath and after his death, left Nasik and established a math (monastery) of his own at Nanded on the left bank of the river Godavari.
He met Guru Gobind Singh on September 3rd 1708 at this place. Guru Gobind Singh took him to his own camp, administered him the vows of the Khalsa and
gave him the name of ‘Banda Singh’, from the word ‘Banda’, he had used for himself when proclaiming his allegiance to the Guru. Guru Gobind Singh gave
him a drum, a banner and five arrows as emblems of authority.
From here, ‘Banda’ started his war. He took his five most loyal companions with him and left for Panjab. These five companions included Binod Singh, Kahan
Singh, Baj Singh, Daya Singh and Ram Singh. When he reached the Panjab, Sikhs began to rally around his standard. Amongst the first to join him were Bhai Fateh
Singh, a descendant of Bhai Bhagtu, Karam Singh, Dharam Singh, Mali Singh and other Sikhs of Salaudi. Ram Singh and Tilok Singh, ancestors of Phulkian rulers,
provided material help. On November 26 1709, Banda Singh attacked Samana. After the success of Samana, Banda Singh occupied Ghurham, Thaska, Shahabad
and Mustafaabad.
Banda Singh was now the virtual master of territories between the Yamuna and the Sutlej, yielding annual revenue of thirty-six lacs of rupees. He now made the old fort of Mukhlisgarh, his headquarter and renamed it as Lohgarh. He assumed the style of royalty and introduced a new calendar dating from his capture of Sirhind. He had new coins struck in the names of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. Besides the names of the Gurus, the inscription of his seal contained the word ‘deg’ (the kettle in Guru Ka Langar signifying charity) and ‘tegh’ (the sword of the Khalsa Signifying victory). Banda Singh’s rule, though short-lived, had a far- reaching impact on the history of the Panjab. Banda Singh abolished the ‘Zamindari’ system and proprietary rights of the agriculture land were given to the
agriculturist.
In the summer of 1710, General Banda Singh Bahadar crossed the Yamuna and seized Saharanpur. On his arrival at Nanauta on July 11 1710, crowds of Gujjars,
who called themselves Nanak-panthis gathered around him, but he had to return to Panjab, without making any further conquest in the Gangetic valley. In Panjab, he took Batala and Kalanaur, marched towards Lahore, while a contingent proceeded to occupy the city and parganah of Pathankot. Except the city of Lahore, the whole of Majha and Riarki had fallen into his hands. On October 3rd, 1710, he occupied Rahon in the Jalandhar Doab.
He also ransacked the sub-mountainous state of Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and Chamba. Banda Singh Bahadur died on June 9th, 1716 but had left enough for the
Sikhs to be the future rulers of the Panjab.
Baba Amar Singh Nibber
Better known as Mahant Singh, in the Sikh history, Baba Amar Singh Nibber was born in a Nibber family of Khemkaran. His childhood name was Amar Chand but after initiation (taking Amrit) he was known as Bhai Amar Singh. His father Raghupat Rai Nibber was a big landlord of Khemkaran and came from a family
whose ancestors held royal positions in the Mughal courts. According to Gyani Gyan Singh’s Panth Parkash, Baba Amar Singh was of Kamboj lineage.
His elder brother Bhai Mool Chand was also an excellent soldier who had bravely fought for Guru Gobind Singh in several battles prior to his martyrdom.
Baba Amar Singh was a man of very strong, stout and tall physique. He was a very fierce and formidable warrior who could continuously wield a double-edged sword (Kharasang or Khanda) weighing about twenty kilograms. He was nicknamed as Bir (Knight).
BABA DEEP SINGH (1682-1757)
Deep Singh was born at Pahuwind in district Amritsar in 1682. His father, Bhagtu Singh was a prominent Sikh of Sandhu clan.
Baba Deep Singh is remembered as one of the most hallowed martyrs in Sikh history. The term ‘Baba’ is used to give respect to an elder in the sub-continent. He
is also revered as a highly religious person in Sikhism and enjoys great respect for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of Sikh Gurus. He was initiated as Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib by Guru Gobind Singh and he took Khande di Pahul (ceremonial initiation into Khalsa). As a youth, he spent considerable time in close companionship of Guru Gobind Singh and started learning weaponry, riding and other martial skills. He learnt reading and writing Gurmukhi and the interpretation of the Gurus' words from Bhai Mani Singh. After spending two years at Anandpur Sahib, he returned to his village in 1702, got married and settled down. He was summoned by Guru Gobind Singh at Talwandi Sabo in 1705, where he helped Bhai Mani Singh in making copies of the Guru Granth Sahib. Before departing for Deccan, Guru Gobind Singh installed him as the caretaker of Gurdwara Damdama Sahib.
In 1709, Deep Singh joined Banda Singh Bahadur during the assaults on the towns of Sadhaura and Sirhind. In 1733, Nawab Kapur Singh appointed him as leader of an armed squad (jatha). On the Baisakhi of 1748, at the meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar, the 65 jathas of the Dal Khalsa were reorganized into twelve
Misls. Baba Deep Singh was entrusted with the leadership of the Shaheedan Misl. To upkeep the dignity of the Darbar Sahib (Harmandar Sahib), his sacrifices are unforgettable in the Sikh history. According to the Sikh tradition, in the battle of Amritsar, in 1757, Baba Deep Singh fought very bravely. According to some Sikhtraditions his head had got separated from his body and yet kept fighting.
The spot where Baba Deep Singh's head fell is marked in the Darbar Sahib complex, and Sikhs from around the world pay respect there. Baba Deep Singh's
30 kg Khanda (double-edged sword), which he used in his final battle, is still preserved at Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, one of the five centres of temporal Sikh
authority.
It was only after his death that the Misl that Baba Deep Singh ji led was named as Misl Shaheedan (the Martyrs) in the memory of his martyrdom. Baba Deep Singh is considered to be the first jathedar of the Damdami Taksal. Baba Deep Singh's descendants live mainly in Panjab (now under the occupation of India, since
August 15th, 1947) and England. In Panjab, the primary family home is located in village Dogarpur of district Hoshiarpur. This residence was established by the late Naranjan Singh Sandhu.
Bhai Mani Singh Sunam
Bhai Mani Singh belonged to the Mehroke landlord (Kamboj) family of Sunam. He had taken Amrit from Guru Gobind Singh at the time of the ‘Revelation of
Khalsa’ on March 30th, 1699. Once Guru Gobind Singh was holding his religious court at Anandpur Sahib, a Sikh scout brought the news that General Madan Khan from Gwaliar had entered Anandpur Sahib for a showdown with the Sikhs. Learning the news, Guru Gobind Singh asked for a brave man who could face and fight Madan Khan. Responding to Guru’s call, Bhai Mani Singh immediately sought his permission and blessings to empower him to fight against Madan Khan.
He fought bravely and proved his credentials. Later, when Guru Gobind Singh had left Anandpur Sahib and landed in Malwa, he sent for Bhai Mani Singh to meet him at Damdama Sahib. Bhai Mani Singh complied with the Guru’s instructions and reached Damdama Sahib forthwith. Acknowledging the role of Bhai Mani Singh as a warrior, the tenth Guru offered him a Hukamnama (edict) in recognition of his meritorious services to the Guru Ghar (the House of the Guru) on 15 Sawan Samvat, 1763 (1706 A.D). The original copy of the Hukamnama is said to be still in the possession of the descendants of Bhai Mani Singh at Sunam.
Bhai Mani Singh died as martyr to the Sikh cause while fighting valiantly at the Battle of Chappar Chiri on May 12th, 1710 AD.
Bhai Himmat Singh (1661-1705)
Bhai Himmat Singh son of Bhai Gulzari ji and Mata Dhano ji was born in 1661 in Jagan Nathpuri district. He was from a low-caste family of water suppliers.
He is, one of the Panj Pyare, or the ‘five beloved’, celebrated in the Sikh history. He came to Anandpur Sahib at the young age of 17 and attached himself to the
service of Guru Gobind Singh. Bhai Himmat, as he was called before his initiation, was one of the five Sikhs who one by one offered to lay down their heads in response to the Guru's successive calls made at an assembly of the Sikhs, especially summoned on the occasion of Vaisakhi of 1756 , (March 30th, 1699 A.D). He, along with the other four received the vows of the Khalsa at Guru Gobind Singh's hands and was renamed Himmat Singh. He proved to be a brave warrior and while at Anandpur, he took part in battles against the surrounding hill chiefs and imperial commanders. He died in the battle of Chamkaur on December 7th, 1705 together with Bhai Sahib Singh and Bhai Mohkam Singh.
Bhai Sahib Singh son of Bhai Guru Narayana was born at Bidar village of Karnataka state. His early name was Sahib Chand. His father was a barber. Bidar had been visited by Guru Nanak early in the sixteenth century and a Sikh shrine had been established there in his honour.
He travelled to Anandpur at the young age of 16 and attached himself permanently to Guru Gobind Singh. Sahib Chand, after undergoing the rites of the Khalsa,
became Sahib Singh, receiving the surname of ‘Singh’ common to all members of the Khalsa brotherhood or Sikh Nation. Bhai Sahib Singh was one of the Panj
Pyare or the five beloved who formed the Sikh nucleus of revered memory in the Sikh tradition.
He won a name for himself as marksman and he proved it at many occasions. In an action the Raja of Hindur, named Bhup Chand was seriously wounded by a shot from his musket, following which, the entire hill army fled the field. Bhai Sahib Singh fell in the battle of Chamkaur and died on December 7th, 1705 with Bhai Himmat Singh and Bhai Mohkam Singh.
Bhai Mohkam Singh (1663-1705)
Bhai Mohkam Singh was born Mohkam Chand and was one of the Panj Pyare or the five beloved of honoured memory in the Sikh tradition. His father Tirath
Chand was a cloth printer of Dwarka in Gujarat. He was about 3 years older than Guru Gobind Singh Ji. About the year 1685, he came to Anandpur, then the seat of Guru Gobind Singh. He practiced martial arts and took part in battles, fought by the Sikhs with the surrounding hill chiefs and imperial troops. Initiated into the
order of the Khalsa, Mohkam Chand received the common surname of Singh and became Mohkam Singh. He died in the battle of Chamkaur on December 7th, 1705 A.D with Bhai Himmat Singh and Bhai Sahib Singh.
Nawab Kapur Singh Virk (1697-1753)
Nawab Kapur Singh was born at Kaloke village in district Sheikhupura, in 1697 in the Panjab (now in Pakistan). His father was a Virk Jatt. Kapur Singh was eleven years old at the time of Guru Gobind Singh's death. Nawab Kapur Singh is considered to be one of the pivotal and legendary figures in Sikh history, under whose courageous leadership the Sikh community traversed one of the worst periods of its history. He was the organizer of the Sikh Confederacy and the Dal Khalsa. Nawab Kapur Singh is regarded by Sikhs as a leader and general par excellence.
When he seized the village of Faizullahpur, near Amritsar, he renamed it Singhpura and made it his headquarters. Due to this he is also known as Faizullahpuria or Singhpuria.
Kapur Singh underwent Amrit-initiation at a large gathering held at Amritsar on Baisakhi Day, 1721 from Panj Pyare led by Bhai Mani Singh. His father Dalip
Singh and brother Dan Singh were also among those who were initiated into the Khalsa fold on that day.
In 1733, the Mughal government made an offer of a grant to Sikhs and the title of Nawab was conferred upon their leader, Kapur Singh with a jagir consisting of the three parganas of Dipalpur, Kanganval and Jhabal. Consequent to this pact, theSikhs who were passing their days in distant jungles and deserts, were called back by him.
Nawab Kapur Singh now undertook the task of consolidating the disintegrated fabric of the Sikh Jathas. They were merged into a single central fighting force
(The Dal) divided into two sections - The Budha Dal, the army of the veterans, and the Taruna Dal, the army of the young. Sardar Hari Singh Dhillon was elected as its leader. The former was entrusted with the task of looking after the holy places, preaching the word of the Gurus and inducting converts into the Khalsa Panth by holding baptismal ceremonies. The Taruna Dal was the more active division and its function was to fight in times of emergencies.
Nawab Kapur Singh's personality was the common link between these two wings. He was universally respected for his high character. His word was obeyed
willingly and to receive baptism at his hands was counted as an act of rare merit. Entente with the Mughals did not last long and before the harvest of 1735, the
Sikhs were driven out of Amritsar into the Bari Doab and then across the Satluj into Malwa by Zakarya Khan's minister, Diwan Lakhpat Rai. They were welcomed by Sardar Ala Singh of the Phulkian Misl of Malwa. During his sojourn in Malwa, Nawab Kapur Singh conquered the territory of Sunam and gave it over to Ala Singh. He also attacked Sirhind and defeated the governor of the rule. On his way to Amritsar, he was pursued by Lakhpat Rai's army near Amritsar and forced to turn away. The Taruna Dal promptly came to his help. The combined force fell upon Lakhpat Rai before he could reach Lahore and inflicted a severe defeat on him. His nephew, Duni Chand, was killed in the battle.Under the leadership of Hari Singh, the Taruna Dal rapidly grew in strength and soon numbered more than 12,000. To ensure efficient control, Nawab Kapur Singh split it into five parts, each with a separate centre. The first batch was led by Baba
Deep Singh Shaheed, the second by Karam Singh and Dharam Singh, the third by Kahan Singh and Binod Singh of Goindwal, the fourth by Dasaundha Singh of Kot Budha and the fifth by Vir Singh Ranghreta and Jivan Singh Ranghreta. Each batch had its own banner and drum and formed the nucleus of a separate political state. The territories conquered by these groups were entered in their respective papers at the Akal Takht by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. Seven more groups were formed subsequently and towards the close of the century there were altogether
The founder of the rule-by-Misl system was Nawab Kapur Singh. He fought many battles. The last battle that he fought was the battle of Sirhind. After the fall of
Sirhind in 1763, a considerable portion of present-day Rupnagar District came under the Singhpuria Misl. These areas included Manauli, Ghanuli, Bharatgarh,
Kandhola, Chooni, Machli, Bhareli, Banga and Bela. By 1769, the SinghpuriaMisl controlled some parts of the districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur in Doaba,
Kharparkheri and Singhpura in Bari-Doab and Abhar, Adampur, Chhat, Banoor, Manauli Ghanauli, Bharatgarh, Kandhola, Chooni, Machhli Bhareli, Banga, Bela, Attal Garh and some other places in the province of Sirhind.
Nawab Kapur Singh now, requested the community to relieve him of his office, due to his old age, and at his suggestion, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was chosen as the
supreme commander of the Dal Khalsa. Kapur Singh died in 1753 at Amritsar and was succeeded by his nephew (Dhan Singh's son), Khushal Singh.
The village of Kapurgarh, in Nabha, is named after Nawab Kapur Singh.
Sardar Khushal Singh Virk
Khushal Singh son of Dan Singh was the younger brother of Nawab Kapur Singh, who succeeded the Nawab to the leadership of the Singhpuria Misl. He added a
number of places and parganahs such as Bharampur and Nurpur to his estate. After the death of Adina Beg, the faujdar of Jalandhar Doab, Khushal Singh, along with Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, attacked his diwan Bishambhar Mall in 1759, captured Jalandhar and several adjoining areas. The Ahluwalia Sardar allowed Khushal
Singh to make Jalandhar his capital. Khushal Singh captured the parganahs of Haibatpur and Patti from the Pathan chief of Kasur and placed these under the charge of his son Buddh Singh. At the time of the conquest of Sirhind by Sikhs in January 1764, he acquired Bharatgarh, Machhali, Ghanauli, Manauli and several
other villages as his share of the booty. He, along with other Sikh Sardars, kept making guerrilla attacks upon the invading Afghan hordes of Ahmad Shah Durrani
whenever, he could. Khushal Singh and Raja Amar Singh of Patiala seized 23 villages from the Nawab of Raikot around Chahat and Banur which remained under their joint control for several years. Khushal Singh built a bazaar in Amritsar, named Katra Singhpurian. It is now known as Bazaar Kaserian. Khushal Singh died in 1795. His territory annually yielded two lakhs (i. e., 200,000) in the Bari Doab, one lakh in the Jalandhar Doab and one and a half lakh in the Sirhind province.
Hira Singh Nakai (1706-1767)
Hira Singh Nakai was born in 1706 A.D. at Bahirval village, near Chunian in district Kasur of Pakistan. His father Chaudhari Hem Raj was headman of the
village. Hira Singh was Sandhu jatt and founder of the Nakai Misl. In 1731, he received the initiatory rites of the Khalsa at the hands of the celebrated Bhai Mani Singh and took to the adventurous and daring way of life of the Sikhs of those days. A number of young men of neighbouring villages also joined him in his exploits. When the Sikhs occupied Kasur in 1763 and conquered Sirhind in 1764, Hira Singh occupied Bahirval, Chunian, Dipalpur, Jambar, Jethpur, Kanganval and Khudian. He established his headquarters at Chunian, which is 60 kilometres from Lahore. The territory under his dominance was popularly called Nakkha. Hira Singh was killed in action, in 1767 when he attacked Pakpattan.
Ganda Singh Dhillon
Maharaja Ganda Singh Dhillon was a famous royal Sikh warrior of the late 18th century. He was Maharaja of Amritsar, Lahore, Multan, Chiniot, Jhang, Bhera,
Rawalpindi (now a twin city of Islamabad-Rawalpindi), Hasan Abdal, Sialkot and Gujrat. His father was the legendary Hari Singh Dhillon, one of the most powerful and famous of all the Sikh warriors of the time. He also had a famous warrior brother named Jhanda Singh Dhillon. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces by his elder brother Jhanda Singh. He became leader and Maharaja of the principality after the death of his elder brother Jhanda Singh. He died in 1776.
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1718-1783)
Jassa Singh son of Badar Singh was born on May 3rd, 1718. He lost his father at the age of five years. His mother, along-with her brother Bhag Singh, took him to
Delhi, where he grew up under the care of Mata Sundari, the widow of Guru Gobind Singh. Mata Sundri gave him a sword, a shield, a bow and a quiver which
was full of arrows. He later became the founder of Ahluwalia Misl. He came to Punjab in 1929 and joined the Jatha of Nawab Kapur Singh at Kartarpur. Nawab was deeply impressed by the courage and talent of this young man. During his first invasion in January 1748, when Ahmad Shah Durrani moved forth-wards from Lahore, the Sikh warriors, under Nawab Kapur Singh offered him tough resistance at Nur di Sarai and Varoval. Jassa Singh was also part of this battle and he emerged as a brilliant warrior in an action at Amritsar.
On the Baisakhi of 1748, a general assembly of Sikhs was convened at Amritsar which resolved to consolidate the sixty-five roving Sikh jathas into one command.
This centrally commanded force was named ‘Dal Khalsa’ and Jassa Singh was appointed its commander in chief. Its 11 subdivisions were called Misls, the twelfth Misl Phulkian traced a separate origin. After the death of Nawab Kapur Singh on October 7th, 1753, Jassa Singh started seizing villages and towns in the
Panjab. The Dal Khalsa, under Jassa Singh compelled the Afghan forces to move out of Lahore. In 1757, Jassa Singh struck at the rearguard of Taimur Shah, son of Ahmad Shah, who had been appointed governor of Lahore by his father and was marching towards the city after taking Kartarpur.
In response to the request of Adina Beg, who, after his dismissal from the governorship of Lahore, was attacked by the Durranis from Lahore under Murad Khan and Buland Khan, Jassa Singh came to his rescue and defeated the Durranis at Mahalpur, in the Jalandhar Doab. In March 1758, the combined force of Adina Beg, the Marathas, and the Sikhs ransacked Sirhind and then marched upon Lahore. In April 1758, The Dal Khalsa, led by Jassa Singh and other Sardars, took
a decisive part in reinstalling Adina Beg in Lahore. In October 1759, Ahmad Shah Durrani crossed the Indus and invaded northern India for the fifth time. For 15 months he was occupied subjugating the Marathas and the Jatts of Bharatpur. On January 17th, 1761, he finally defeated the Marathas at Panipat. During this period the Dal Khalsa established its authority in the Malva and Majha regions. A combined force of Sukkherchakkia, Kanhaiya and Bhangi Sardars besieged and occupied Lahore without any resistance. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was proclaimed King of Lahore with the title of Sultan-ul-Quam (King of the Nation). A coin was issued in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh commemorating the Sikh victory.
On hearing the news of the fall of Lahore, Ahmad Shah Durrani moved quickly towards the Panjab. This was his sixth incursion into India in 1762. The Sikhs
retired to the south of the Sutlej. The Shah sent orders to all his faujdars in the Panjab to join Zain Khan, the governor of Sirhind. He set out from Lahore with a
strong army and reached Malerkotla very quickly. The Dal Khalsa, under the leadership of Sardars such as Jassa Singh, Shiam Singh and Charhat Singh lay
encamped at Kup, 9 kilometres from Malerkotla. In the battle which followed, the Sikhs suffered extensively. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was seriously injured. The battle of Kup is still remembered in Sikh history as ‘Vadda Ghallughara’ or the Major Holocaust.
Returning to Lahore, Ahmad Shah marched to Amritsar and severely damaged the Darbar Sahib. Under the shadow of the carnage at Kup and the disaster at
Amritsar, Jassa Singh, with the remnants of the Dal Khalsa, fell upon Sirhind on May 17th, 1762. In April 1763, he marched into the Jalandhar Doab and occupied
Kathgarh and Garhshankar. The Bhangis and the Sukkherchakkias joined Jassa Singh and in November 1763 their combined force defeated the Afghan commander Jahan Khan, near Sialkot. The Dal Khalsa was again active and the Kanhaiya, Ramgarhia, Bhangi and Sukkarchakkia forces assembled under the
command of Jassa Singh at Ropar.
On April 17th, 1765 Sikhs reoccupied Lahore. When in 1765, the Durrani came again, he was obliged to be conciliatory and he wrote to Jassa Singh and other
Sardars seeking an agreement with regard to the future political set-up in the Panjab but the Sardars spurned his overtures. Jassa Singh and the Dal Khalsa got
time to consolidate their conquests. The Indian empire of the Durranis was now in ruins.
As leader of the Dal Khalsa, Jassa Singh had organized the Sikhs military and established the authority of Sikhs to independently rule the territories, they had
wrested from the Afghans. The province of Sirhind came under the Phulkian chiefs Lahore, the capital of the Panjab, was given to the Bhangis, the Jalandhar Doab was parceled out among several Misls and the foundations of the Ahluwalia principality were laid firmly at Kapurthala. Besides his leadership in the military and political spheres, Jassa Singh was widely revered for his deeply religious and pious character. It was considered especially meritorious to receive amrit, the Sikh rites, at his hands.
Jassa Singh died on October 20th, 1783 at the age of 65 and a samadh in his honour stands in the precincts of Gurdwara Baba Atal, near the Darbar Sahib Complex (aka Golden Temple Complex) at Amritsar.
JASSA SINGH RAMGARHIA (1723-1803)
Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was born at Ichogill village, 20 kilometres east of Lahore in 1723. His grandfather, Hardas Singh who died in 1716 had received the vows of the Khalsa, at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh and had fought in the campaigns of Banda Singh Bahadur. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was founder of the Ramgarhia chief-ship and one of the prominent military leaders of the Sikhs in the second half of the eighteenth century. After the death of his father Bhagvan Singh, young Jassa Singh joined the jatha of Nand Singh Sanghania and learned the art of warfare at an early age.
Within a decade Jassa Singh became one of the leading figures of the Dal Khalsa. In 1770, he led plundering expeditions into the hills. The local Rajas sought safety in submission and Jassa Singh collected a tribute of 2,00,000 rupees from the Kangra states. He built a fort at Talvara on the left bank of the Beas and stationed his brother, Mali Singh, with 4,000 horses, in the fort.
The Ramgarhia-Kanhaiya cleavage widened over their adjoining territories in the districts of Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. In the battle of Dinanagar in 1775, Jassa
Singh Ramgarhia joined the Bhangi sardars against the forces of the Kanhaiyas and the Sukkherchakkias. Soon a rift appeared between Jassa Singh Ramgarhia
and Jassa Singh Ahluvalia when the latter wrested Zahura, a Ramgarhia territory, and conferred it upon Baghel Singh Karorsinghia. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and
Jassa Singh Ahluvalia became sworn enemies of each other. Jai Singh Kanhaiya joined Jassa Singh Ahluvalia and the Ramgarhia Sardar had to flee the Panjab.
Driven out of the Panjab, Jassa Singh became a soldier of fortune. He took possession of Hissar and ran a large body of irregular cavalry. His depredations now extended to the gates of Delhi and its suburbs and into the Gangetic Doab. Jassa Singh and other Sikh chiefs conquered Delhi and entered the Red Fort. Jassa
Singh Ahluvalia ascended the throne on March 11th, 1783, but Jassa Singh Ramgarhia challenged his right to do so. Consequently, the Ahluvalia chief vacated the royal seat. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia then invaded Meerut and levied an annual tribute of 10,000 rupees on the Nawab. Soon after an army of 30 thousand, comprising of horsemen and soldiers on foot, under him and Karam Singh, crossed into Saharanpur district and ravaged it freely.
After the death of Jassa Singh Ahluvalia in October 1783 there were further fissures in the Dal Khalsa. Jai Singh Kanhaiya and Mahan Singh Sukkherchakkia
fell out. Mahan Singh won over Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra to his side and invited Jassa Singh Ramgarhia to come back to the Panjab and make a bid to
recover his lost possessions. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia returned to the Panjab and allied himself with the Sukkherchakkias in order to destroy his old foe. Jai Singh
Kanhaiya and Jassa Singh together marched upon the Kanhaiya citadel of Batala in 1787. Jai Singh was defeated and his son Gurbakhsh Singh was killed in this
battle. Jassa Singh recovered all his lost territories and settled at Batala, which he fortified by a thick wall.
At the height of his power, Jassa Singh’s territory in the Bari Doab included Batala, Kalanaur, Dinanagar, Sri Hargobindpur, Shahpur Kandi, Gurdaspur, Qadian, Ghuman, Matteval, and in the Jalandhar Doab, Urmur Tanda, Sarih, Miani, Garhdivala and Zahura. In the hills Kangra, Nurpur, Mandi and Chamba paid him a tribute of two hundred thousand rupees. Jassa Singh died on April 20th, 1803 at the age of 80.
Forces of Khalsa Dal defeated the Maharattas in a battle, which took place near Dhaulpur (now in Rajasthan) in 1766.
Under the Command of General Bibi Sahib Kaur, the Patiala forces defeated Marhatha army in a battle at Mordon in Ambala in 1794.
General Baghel Singh Dhaliwal (1730 – 1802)
One of the important generals was Baghel Singh in the turbulent times of the eighteenth century Panjab. He was born in the village Jhabal, about 20 kilometres
away from Amritsar city and grew up to become leader of the Karorsinghia Misl. Dozens of Misls had sprung up in the countryside to fill the power vacuum after
the decline of the once formidable Mughal Empire. After establishing his military grip over part of the cis-Sutlej Panjab, Baghel Singh Dhaliwal began to raid and loot parts of trans-Yamuna territories like Meerut, Saharanpur, Shahdra and Awadh, at the behest of his Afghan allies such as Zabita Khan and Ghulam Qadir.
The Sikhs however, remained a source of worry throughout the late 18th century, frequently supported by treasonous elements within the Mughal government or by the enemies. With the Mirza dead, Baghel Singh Dhaliwal was able to lead the Sikhs all the way to Delhi and in 1783 plundered the imperial capital, a move that alarmed the British as well as, the Marathas. The 1783 plunder of Delhi announced to the world that the Sikhs had arrived. A new power in the east was awakening.
Despite the treaty with the Marathas the same Sikhs of Malwa very quickly joined the British in the second Anglo Maratha war of 1803-1805. General Baghel Singh established an octroi post in Chandni Chowk, outside the Red Fort in Mughal capital Delhi in March 1783.
He is credited with the establishment of following Gurdwaras or Sikh places of
worships in Delhi:
Gurdwara Mata Sundri. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi. Gurdwara Bala Sahib, Delhi. Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, Delhi. Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Delhi. Gurdwara Moti Bagh, Delhi. Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla, Delhi. General Baghel Singh Dhaliwal died around 1802 in Punjab, near Hoshiarpur.
Maharaja Hari Singh Dhillon
He was Maharaja of Amritsar, Lahore and large areas of central and western Panjab. He was the nephew of a famous Sikh soldier named Bhuda Singh Dhillon.
They were a family of Jats of the Dhillon clan. Maharaja Hari Singh Dhillon was one of the most powerful and famous of all the royal Sikh warriors of the 18th
century. His military exploits and defence of Amritsar, against Afghan attacks is well remembered by the Sikh community even today. His army became the most
popular to join due to his classic defence of Amritsar.
Such was the respect and admiration of the Sikh community for Hari Singh, that at the formation of the Dal Khalsa in 1748, he was democratically elected as leader of the Taruna Dal at Amritsar which is considered to be one of the greatest honours given, in the 18th century, to any Sikh. He fought against the Afghans with the help of his friends Charhat Singh Sukkherchakkia (the grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) and Baron Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, during Ahmed Shah Abdali’s sixth invasion of the Panjab. He was a progressive soldier and a wise statesman. The author of Tarikh-e-Panjab writes that “Hari Singh was clever, powerful and a man of shining abilities.”
His two sons were Jhanda Singh Dhillon and Ganda Singh Dhillon. He based his Headquarters around Amritsar. After the death of Hari Singh Dhillon, the Dhillon sardars went on to become the most powerful family in Panjab. They ruled over most of the major cities of the Panjab, including Amritsar, Lahore, Multan, Chiniot, Jhang, Bhera, Rawalpindi, Hasan Abdal, Sialkot, Gujrat and large areas of central and western Panjab. They were the first Sikh family to conquer Multan, although they were unable to hold it. The Dhillon family’s power brought them into conflict with their neighbours, some 30 years later after Hari Singh Dhillon. They were eventually defeated by an alliance of rival Sikh Misls, led by Ranjit Singh.
Mahan Singh
Mahan Singh son of Charhat Singh of Sukkherchakkia Misl, was young in yearswhen his father died. During his minority, his mother, Mai Desan, carried on the
administration, with the help of her brothers. As soon as he came of age, Maha Singh embarked upon a career of conquest. He took the fort of Rohtas back from
Nur-ud-Din Bamezai. Aided by Jai Singh Kanhaiya, he advanced upon Rasulnagar. The powerful Chattha chief, Pir Muhammad, offered him stiff resistance, but was at last overcome. The town was occupied and renamed Ramnagar. As Maha Singh returned from his victorious campaign, he received the news of a son having been born to him on November 13th, 1780. He named his son Ranjit Singh (victor in war) and celebrated the event with great rejoicing. Continuing his campaign of conquest, Maha Singh took Pindi Bhattian, Sahiwal, Isa Khel and Jhang. He then seized Kotli Loharan, in the neighbourhood of Sialkot.
In 1782 like his father, he got involved in the affairs of Jammu. Taking advantage of the internecine feud between the Jammu brothers, he plundered the town and
collected huge booty, which he refused to share with his partners I-e the Kanhaiyas. Maha Singh won over Jassa Singh Ramgarhia to his side and both of them challenged the Kanhaiyas near Batala. In the battle that followed, Jai Singh’s only son, Gurbkhash Singh was killed and the Kanhaiyas were defeated. Later,
Sada Kaur, widow of Gurbakhsh Singh, Maha Singh’s next target was the Bhangi Misl. He picked a confrontation with his brother-in-law, Sahib Singh Bhangi son of late Gujjar Singh Bhangi. Sahib Singh shut himself up in the fort of Sodhra, a small town, about three olemnized east of Wazirabad, which was invested by the Sukkherchakkia chief. During the protracted siege, Maha Singh fell seriously ill with dysentery and was forced to retire. He died in April 1790.
Phula Singh Akali (1761-1823)
Phula Singh Akali son of Isher Singh was born at Shihan village of district Sangrur in 1761. Isher Singh was an associate of the Nishananvali Misl. Phula Singh Akali’s father died in 1762 and left his infant son to the care of Baba Narain (Naina) Singh who belonged to the Shaheed Misl. Baba Narain Singh brought him up, imparted him religious education and also trained him as a soldier. He also administered to him the initiatory vows of khande di phaul. As he grew up, Phula Singh joined the jatha of Baba Narain Singh at Anandpur Sahib and took part in many expeditions. After the death of Baba Narain Singh, he was elected as leader of the jatha.
In the midst of his soldierly occupation, Phula Singh developed concern about the manner in which the Sikh holy places were being administered and denounced. In 1800 Phula Singh, along with members of his jatha moved to Amritsar. In January 1802 when Maharaja Ranjit Singh attacked Amritsar to snatch control of the city from the Bhangis (Misl), Phula Singh mediated between the clashing groups and averted bloodshed. He then took charge of the holy shrines there and began
levying charges on the sardars and officials of the Sikh court for maintenance of holy places. As provost of the Takht Akal Banga, he once imposed punishment on Maharaja Ranjit Singh for infraction of the Sikh code.
In 1809, a British officer, named Lieutenant F. S. White, sought authority from Phulkian chiefs to survey the cis-Sutlej region. Accompanied by 80 soldiers, when F.S. White was passing through the area, he was challenged by Akali Phula Singh’s Jatha at Pattoki. However, timely intervention by the Nabha chief saved the life of Lieutenant White. Maharaja Ranjit Singh appointed Phula Singh as commander of the Akali troops in his service. These troops, not fully subservient to the Maharaja’s authority, were the most daring of his soldiers.
In 1816, during the sixth attack of Ranjit Singh’s army on Multan, Phula Singh led a storming party of his Akali zealots. The Akalis fought with great courage and
emerged as a pre-dominant force to contribute towards victory, in the final assault. Phula Singh and his jatha of Akalis also participated in the Peshawar (1818) and Kashmir (1819) campaigns.
Akali Phula Singh died a hero’s death on March 14th, 1823. He was cremated at Pirsibaq, 6 kilometres east of Naushehra, with full military honours. A smadh was
built on the site and the Maharaja attached a jagir for its maintenance. Another monument in Akali Phula Singh’s honour stands at Amritsar in the form of Burj
Baba Phula Singh.
Chattar Singh Attariwala
General Chattar Singh Attariwala was a military commander and a member of the Sikh nobility during the period of the Sikh Empire in the mid-19th century in the
Panjab. He was also Governor of Hazara province and fought in the Second Anglo-Sikh War against the British. His son was famous General Sher Singh Attariwala who gave a devastating blow to the British Army at Chillianwala.
Sardar Raja Mahan Singh Mirpuri
Sardar Mahan Singh son of Data Ram was born in Gujranwala in a Mohiyal family. His father was a solemnized to Sultan Mukkarb Khan, the Gakher Subedar of Gujrat. When Mahan Singh grew up, he went to Lahore to seek a job. It was just a chance or a stroke of luck that he got an opportunity to participate in a hunting expedition of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In this expedition he demonstrated his bravery by single-handedly killing a leopard with his sword. Impressed by his velour, the Maharaja inducted him in his army, under the famous General Hari Singh Nalwa.
Mahan Singh fought the battles of Peshawar and Kashmir. In the 1818 siege of Multan, he was seriously wounded twice. He went on to become second-in-
command to Hari Singh Nalwa. In April 1837, he was the main defender of the Jamrud Fort, holding out against an invasion by Afghans. In the subsequent battle,
Hari Singh Nalwa died but Mahan Singh kept the news secret until reinforcements arrived from Lahore. The title of ‘Raja’ was conferred upon him by Maharaja
Ranjit Singh for his brave military career.
Mai Desan, the widow of Hari Singh Nalwa, adopted Mahan Singh as her son and solemnized his marriage into a Mohan family of Gujranwala. Sardar Raja Mahan Singh was murdered by his own soldiers in 1844, when mutiny broke out in the Sikh army.
Mahan Singh had four sons, named Chhattar Singh, Himmat Singh, Sham Singh and Wadhawa Singh. His death at the hands of mutinying soldiers was avenged by
Chhattar Singh, who was killed himself soon after. Himmat Singh’s assistance to the British in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 on the orders of the Maharaja of Jammu
fetched him awards from the latter. The widows of Chhattar Singh and Himmat Singh were later given pensions by the British government along with grants of
agricultural land in District Jhelum, Gujranwala and Mirpur. Sardar Mahan Singh’s grandson, Rai Sahib Bakhshi Kartar Singh Bali was Vernacular Secretary
in the Government of Kashmir under Maharaja Partap Singh and President of the All India Mohiyal Conference of 1906.
Maharaja Sardar Ranjit Singh’s Period (1780-1839)
Ranjit Singh Maharaja of the Panjab, popularly called ‘Sher-i-Panjab’, i.e. the lion of the Panjab, was the most colourful, the most powerful and yet the most
endearing figure in the history of the Sikhs. He ruled over a domain extending from the Khaiber Pass in the west to the River Sutlej in the east, from the northern
extremity of Kashmir to the deserts of Sindh in the south, comprising the subas (provinces) of Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Kashmir and their dependencies.
He was a soldier statesman and his fame chiefly rests on his success in effecting the marvelous transformation of the warring Sikh states into a compact national
monarchy.
Ranjit Singh, the only son of Mahan Singh Sukkherchakkia was born on November 13th, 1780 at Gujranwala (Pakistan). His original name was Buddha Singh. However, in commemoration of a victory of his father, it was changed to Ranjit Singh (Victor in Battle). An attack of smallpox, during infancy, deprived Ranjit Singh of the sight of his left eye. He did not attend school and spent most of his time riding and hunting. He developed a passionate love for horses and had his
first encounter with steel at the age of ten when he fought beside his father against the Bhangi chieftains. Ranjit Singh lost his father soon after this episode. He
showed little interest in the administration of the estates that he had inherited from his mother and his late father. His father’s manager, Lakhpat Rai, looked after
them until his maternal uncle, Dal Singh and his mother in law, Sada Kaur, took over the management. In 1796 Ranjit Singh had married (at Batala) Mahitab Kaur,
daughter of Sada Kaur, head of the Kanhaiya Misl, who gave him active support during the early part of his soldierly career.
On July 7th , 1799, Ranjit Singh drove the Bhangi rulers out of Lahore and became master of the capital. The populace, largely consisting of Muslims and Hindus
well co-operated with him.
On Baisakhi day, April 12th, 1801, Sahib Singh Bedi, a pious Sikh and direct descent from Guru Nanak, applied the ceremonial saffron mark to Ranjit Singh’s
forehead and proclaimed him Maharaja of the Panjab. For the coronation ceremonies Ranjit Singh refused to wear any emblems of royalty or sit on the throne. He continued to hold darbar seated cross-legged on his chair. He had his coins struck in the name of the Guru and did not lend them his effigy or name. Similarly the seal of the government bore no reference to him. Despite many sonorous titles, officials and others, used for him, the one by which he preferred to be addressed was the plain ‘Singh Sahib’. The government was not related to him or to his family. It was known as ‘Sarkar-e-Khalsaji’ i.e. Government of the Honoured Khalsa and the court was known as ‘Darbar-e- Khalsaji’.
The first task to which Ranjit Singh applied himself was to bring the entire Panjab under his control. His closest collaborators in this were his mother-in-law, Sada
Kaur and Fateh Singh, Chief of the Ahluwalias. Maharaja and Ahluwalia had ceremonially exchanged turbans to mark their fraternal relationship.
His most significant achievement was assumption of control of Amritsar, in 1802, the chief trading centre of the Panjab and the holy city of the Sikhs. He also
captured the powerful fort of Gobindgarh. Ranjit Singh received a great welcome from the people of Amritsar. After paying homage at the Harmandar Sahib he
ordered the Temple to be rebuilt in marble and its domes to be covered with gold leaf. The capture of Amritsar added spiritual sanction to Ranjit Singh’s temporal
powers.
In 1802, soon after the occupation of Amritsar, he engaged some deserters from the army of the East India Company to train his own infantry. Several new
commanders came to the force; Diwan Mohkam Chand, Hari Singh Nalwa, Hukma Singh Chimni, Fateh Singh Kalianwala and Desa Singh Majithia etc.
Heavy artillery was raised under a Muslim, Chaudhari Ghaus Khan. Ranjit Singh made it a daily practice to watch his troops at drill and maneuvers.
In the autumn of 1806, Ranjit Singh crossed the Sutlej and toured the Malva country receiving tribute from several Sardars including Tara Singh Ghaiba, head
of the Dallewalia Misl. He also settled a dispute, which had cropped up between the chiefs of Nabha and Patiala. Another notable acquisition was the fort of
Sheikhupura near Lahore.
By the autumn of 1808, Ranjit Singh had planned to subjugate the entire cis-Sutlej region. However, due to the arrival of the Metcalfe mission in 1808 and deep
British interest in the area, his dream could not be realized. Metcalfe’s mission to the court of Ranjit Singh was actually a deception plan based on a hypothetical
threat of French invasion under Napoleon Bonaparte. Later its primary object turned out to be the reduction of Ranjit Singh’s power. The British had planned to
extend their control over the Sikh occupations, south of the River Sutlej. Hence, they clearly demanded surrender of all conquests made by Ranjit Singh in this
region. Resultant negotiations were conducted between the two powers and the outcome was the treaty of mutual friendship at Amritsar on April 25th, 1809. The
treaty provided that the British government would count the Lahore Darbar among the most honourable powers and would, in no way interfere with the Sikh ruler’s dominions to the north of the Sutlej. It however, fixed the southern limit of his kingdom and barred further extension of Sikh frontier in that direction. The
establishment of peace and friendship between the two powers left Ranjit Singh free to pursue a course of conquest in the north and beyond the River Indus
unhampered and to consolidate his power in the central and southern Panjab.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh led another decisive campaign towards the northeastern hills. When Raja Sansar Chand sought the help of Ranjit Singh against incursion
of the Gorkhas under Amar Singh Thapa, in the Kangra valley; to help him, Ranjit Singh led an army himself and occupied the Kangra Fort on December 24th, 1809. He held a Royal Darbar, which was attended by the hill chiefs of Chamba, Nurpur, Kotla, Shahpur, Guler, Kahlur, Mandi, Suket and Kullu. Desa Singh Majithia was appointed governor of Kangra. On his return to his capital, Ranjit Singh launched expeditions to subdue scattered chief-ships that still demonstrated that they were independent. The estates of the Singhpurias and of the Bhangis at Gujrat were confiscated. The Baloch tribes around Khushab and Sahiwal were politically subdued. He also seized Jalandhar, Tern Tarn, Jammu, Mandi, Suket, the salt mines of Kheora, Daska and Halloval. Ranjit Singh did not spare his kinsmen and the estates of the Nakais and the Kanhaiyas were likewise reduced to fiefdoms.
His major victories began with the occupation of Multan in 1818. He annexed Kashmir in 1819 and then conquered Peshawar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Tonk and Bannu. Ranjit Singh then turned his attention to Sindh. He thought it necessary to have Sindh for gaining compactness of his
dominions but here he was forestalled and checked by the English.
To exercise effective control, he divided his conquered territory into four administrative units i.e. Kashmir, Lahore, Peshawar and Multan. In today’s
terminology we may call these units provinces. He then made a proper hierarchy to facilitate the function of the political system. Every village had a revenue
collector called, ‘muqaddam’ and a group of villages named ‘Ta-aluqa’ was in the charge of a chaudhari. The provincial heads were known a subedars.
Ranjit Singh created a well-organized army that comprised of almost one hundred thousands men, a cavalry comprising of about thirty thousand horses and a field
artillery of 288 guns. The army was nursed with one third of his entire revenue. The army had two main categories i.e. regular and irregular, organized into four
major divisions, to include infantry, cavalry, artillery and Fauj-i-Khas or the Special Force. It also contained a highly valiant wing, the Akal Sena, a body of
irregular horse of the reckless Akali warriors numbering four thousand. He abolished the crude military system inherited from Sikh Misls. Till 1822, he kept
introducing new methods of fighting in his army by copying whatever, he could from the practices prevalent in the forces of the East India Company, but he then
decided to modernize it along European lines. He recruited two Frenchmen, Jean Francois Allard and Jean Baptist Ventura, who had served under Napoleon, to take over the training of his cavalry and infantry, respectively. Thereafter many foreigners including French, English, Italians, Greeks, Americans, and Eurasians
were employed on very generous terms.
Ranjit Singh made the pathshalas (Schools), dharamshalas and mosques as traditional centres of learning to spread literacy. To teach English to the princes, he
had invited a Christian missionary, Rev. John C. Lowrie, but did not agree to his teaching Christianity as part of the curriculum. He sent some of the Sardars to
Ludhiana to learn English and French. The Persian school at Lahore was liberally endowed. The Maharaja got several of his Sardars trained by the Europeans in the art of surgery, engineering, arms manufacture and so on. He got many Sanskrit, English and French works translated into Panjabi or Persian prose and translators were heavily paid. His love for the arts was equally well marked.
Correctly appreciating the implications, he did not change the language of the court. It remained Persian throughout his rule. His illiteracy was counter-balanced
by a sharp inquisitive mind and a subtle genius and intuition with which he had mastered statecraft. He possessed a sharp intellect, retentive memory and an
imaginative mind. An inherent quality of kindness was a marked aspect of his disposition. In his life he never inflicted either capital punishment or mutilation.
He always treated his fallen foe with deliberate kindness, and seldom imbued his hands in blood. In the words of Baron Charles Hugel, “Never perhaps was so large an empire founded by one man with so little criminality.”
In the words of Khushwant Singh “Ranjit Singh was neither a selfish patriot nor an avaricious free-booter. He was neither a model of virtue nor a lascivious
sensualist. Above all, he was too warm and lively a character to have his life-story told in a lifeless catalogue of facts, figures and footnotes. As a political figure
Ranjit Singh was in every way as remarkable a man as his two famous contemporaries, Napoleon Bonaparte of France and Mohammed Ali of Egypt. He rose from the status of petty chieftain to become the most powerful Indian ruler of his time.”
Monarch Ranjit Singh was a devout Sikh. He considered himself a humble servant of the Guru. An inscription over the entrance of the central shrine at Amritsar read: “The Great Guru in His wisdom looked upon Maharaja Ranjit Singh as his chief servitor and Sikh and, in his benevolence, bestowed upon him the privilege of serving the temple.” He frequently visited the Golden Temple as it is evident from ‘Umda-tut-Twarikh’(the daily record of the Sikh court). There he would devoutly take a dip in the holy tank and made costly offerings. Some of his offerings, still preserved, include a bejewelled gold canopy originally presented to him by the Nizam of Hyderabad. In May 1836, Ranjit Singh issued an order to all members of the Sikh royalty and aristocracy to make nazars or offerings at the Darbar Sahib (aka Golden Temple), Amritsar.
Ranjit Singh’s court reflected the liberal pattern of his State. Amongst the first family to rise to prominence in Ranjit Singh’s court were the Bokharis, sons of
Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din of Lahore. Being of a Sufi persuasion they were known as Faqirs. The eldest, Faqir Aziz-ud-Din, was closest to the Maharaja and advised
him on external affairs. His two brothers Nur-ud-Din and Imam-ud-Din, also held important positions in his court called the Darbar. Khushal Chand, a Brahman
from Meerut, known after his conversion as Khushal Singh, became chamberlain. His nephew, Tej Singh, rose to be a general in the Sikh army. When Khushal Singh fell from the Maharaja’s favour, his place was taken by Dhian Sinh Dogra of Jammu. Dhian Sinh’s son, Hira Singh, became a great favorite and the Maharaja treated him like his own son. The Dogra family remained the most powerful in the counsels of his Darbar. There were no forced conversions in Ranjit Singh’s time. Ranjit Singh, the beau ideal of his people, died of paralysis at Lahore on June 27th, 1839 and was succeeded on the throne of the Panjab by his eldest son Kharak Singh (see below).
General Hari Singh Nalwa (1791-1837)
Hari Singh Nalwa son of Gurdial Singh was born in Gujranwala in 1791. He came from an Uppal Khatri Sikh family. His mother Dharam Kaur died soon after his
birth and his father left him orphan in 1797. His maternal grandfather, Sardar Hardas Singh, was killed when Ahmed Shah Abdali attacked Amritsar in 1762.
Hari Singh was thus brought up by his maternal grandmother Kashibai, daughter of Sadashivrao Bhau, the Commander-in-Chief of ill-fated Maratha forces during
third battle of Panipat. He was tutored well in administration by Kashibai. He was imparted artillery training by the personal bodyguard of Sadashivrao Bhau, named Fateh Khan Gardi.
Sir Henry Griffin called Nalwa the "Murat of the Khalsa". In 1816, Tits and Bits wrote an editorial piece in Britain, in which it was asserted that had Nalwa got the resources and the artillery of the British, he would have conquered the entire East. He is regarded a lot in the Sikh history. His contribution in the conquest of Kasur in 1807, Sialkot and Kashmir in 1814, Multan in 1818 and Peshawar in 1827 is well recognized by the historians. He was appointed governor of Peshawar and Kashmir in 1834. Nalwa was the only person whose name was minted on the currency of the Panjab. The Hari Singh rupee can be found in museums of India
even today. Hari Singh earned the name 'Nalwa' after he killed a tiger.
Nalwa was killed during the Battle of Jamrud (1837) while fighting against the Pathan army. It is believed that two Dogras that were in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's
cabinet (secretly on the pay roll of the British and the Afghans) were behind the attack. An undelivered letter to the Maharajah asking for assistance from Nalwa
was later found in the possession of one of these Dogras. Bibi Harshan Kaur then made her much-heralded walk of valour from Jamrud to Peshawar, carrying news that Jamrud was under attack, but it was too late for Nalwa. He died when sixty thousand troops attacked his fort. The Sikhs thought that he had died, whereas he was still alive. He then went on to the balcony and rested his Teer (arrow) into his ear and died while the battle was on.
Haripur city is named after him. Many authors are of the opinion that if Nalwa had lived, the British would never have been able to hold or enter the Panjab. He beat the Afghans at Attock Fort and held them, which the British had failed to do. His descendants still live privately in India and abroad. This tale runs counter to
the story of Maharajah Ranjit Singh's line, which was forever destroyed by the British, who abducted his children and took them to England, where they were
held hostage against the threat of India rising against the British rule. Nalwa was the senior most member of Ranjit Singh's court and one of his grandsons struck
out against the British rule when he was a cadet in the Indian army. Naturally he was brutally suppressed.
In 1881, British newspapers compared many great generals of the past and came with the following conclusion:
"Some people might think that Napoleon was a great General. Some might name Marshall Hendenburgh, Lord Kitchener, General Karobzey or Duke of Wellington etc. And some going further might say Halaku Khan, Changez Khan, Richard or Salah-ud-Din etc. But let me tell you that in the North of India a General of the name of Hari Singh Nalwa of the Sikhs prevailed. Had he lived longer and had he possessed the sources and artillery of the British, he would have conquered most of Asia …."
Nalwa had a number of conversations with British, French and German royalty, in which they conversed as equals. Baron Charles Hughart remembers him fondly in his memoirs on travelling through the Peshawar region, in which he was given a portrait of Nalwa by the man himself. Hari Singh Nalwa spoke, wrote and read
Persian as well as the Indian languages, and was familiar with world politics, including details about the European states.
Sher Singh Attariwala
General Sher Singh Attariwala was a famous royal military commander and a member of the Sikh nobility during the period of the Sikh Empire in the mid-19th
century in the Panjab.
He commanded the Sikh Khalsa army in the Second Anglo-Sikh War against the British East India Company. His father was General Chattar Singh Attariwala.
General Sher Singh and the army under his command gave a devastating blow to the British Army at Chillianwala. In this battle, the Sikh Khalsa Army successfully defended its position against the British army. Both armies retreated after the battle claiming victory. It was one of the hardest fought battles in the British Army's history. The loss of the British prestige at Chillianwala is considered to be one of the contributory factors towards the First War of independence, popularly known as ‘Soldiers Mutiny’, which occurred some nine years later. Within the British Army, such was the consternation over the events at Chillianwala that, after the disastrous charge of the Light Brigade, when Lord Lucan remarked "This is a most serious matter", General Airey replied, "It is nothing to Chillianwala." With the establishment of British control, Sher Singh Attariwala was forced into exile from the Panjab. The British feared that such a powerful leader could reignite a full-scale war with them. Sher Singh died in 1858, in Benares, where he was in exile, away from his homeland of the Panjab.
General Sham Singh Atariwala
Sham Singh Attariwala, a General in the Sikh army, was the son of Nihal Singh, who was known for his martial prowess and for his personal loyalty to Maharaja
Ranjit Singh. Sham Singh’s grandfather Sardar Gauhar Singh, in the early days of Sikh political ascendancy, joined the jatha or band of Gurbakhsh Singh of
Roranvala. He soon established his rakhi or protection over an area around Atari, a village he had founded some 16 miles from Amritsar.
Sham Singh entered the service of the Maharaja in 1817 and, in 1818, took part in the military campaigns of Peshawar, Attock and Multan.
At the Darbar, Sham Singh Atariwala acted on occasions as Chief of Protocol. In that capacity, he received Sir Alexander Burnes who had brought from the King of England, some presents of horses and a carriage for the Maharaja, in July 1891. He was charged with protocol duties at the Ropar meeting in October 1831
between Lord William Bentinck, the Governor General of India, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, as also at the Ferozpur meeting in November 1838 between the
Maharaja and Lord Auckland. Sham Singh’s influence at the court was further enhanced by the marriage of his daughter, Bibi Nanaki, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s
grandson, Prince Nau Nihal Singh.
In the cold season of 1844, Sham Singh led a punitive expedition to Jammu against Raja Gulab Singh and secured the surrender of Jasrota. His troops led the
insurrection against Dogra dominance in Lahore, which ended in the assassination of Hira Singh and his favourite Pandit Jalla. For his influence over the Khalsa
army and for his qualities of courage and forthrightness, Sham Singh was nominated to the council of regency, set up by Maharani Jind Kaur on December
22nd, 1844 for the minor sovereign Maharaja Dalip Singh. In March 1845, Sham Singh led another punitive expedition against Gulab Singh of Jammu who had
refused to surrender to the Lahore government. The treasure of Hira Singh amounted to thirty five hundred thousands rupees, which he had carted away from
Jasrota to Jammu. The army under Sham Singh reached within 10 kilometres of Jammu and obtained from Gulab Singh the undertaking to indemnify the arrears of
the tribute, pay nazranas and return Hira Singh’s treasure to the Lahore government.
At the outbreak of the first Anglo-Sikh war, Sham Singh was at Kakrala, south of the Sikh frontier, for the wedding of his second son, Kahn Singh. As he heard the news, he rushed back to the Panjab. The defeat of the Sikh forces at Ferozeshah led the Queen Mother, Maharani Jind Kaur, to summon him from Atari. Sham
Singh immediately returned to Lahore. He chided the commanders, Misr Tej Sinh and Misr Lal Sinh, who had fled the field and himself crossed the Sutlej swearing an oath on the Guru Granth Sahib that he would lay down his life rather than return in defeat.
He joined the battle at Sabhraon on February 10th, 1846. Dressed in white and riding his white steed, the grey-bearded Sardar Sham Singh moved from column
to column calling upon his men to fight to the last. As the battle was in a critical stage, Misr Tej Sinh fled across the Sutlej and sank a part of the bridge of boats
after him. Sham Singh, far from disheartened by this, rushed into the thick of the battle. He made a desperate charge, along with his fifty men against the advancing enemy. Within minutes he was overpowered and he fell to the ground dead. In the evening as the battle was over, his servants swam from across the river to recover the body. On February 12th, 1846, Sham Singh was cremated outside his village. A smadh raised on the site now honours his memory.
Sikhs’ Struggle For Sovereignty: Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty began on the day they surrendered to the forces of the British Empire on March 14th, 1849. Since
March 14th, 1849 their struggle for sovereignty, independence and political power is being continued to this day of writing. This is one of the significant chapters of the History of the Sikh Nation, as monarch Ranjit Singh made his kingdom the first ‘Sovereign and Secular nation’ of the South Asia. It must be mentioned that
just before the decisive day of victory or defeat of the Sikh forces of the ‘Sovereign and Secular Sikh Nation’, the British agent Lord Dalhousie had instructed his confidential information to his son that “all the confidential document of the British India Empire” must be destroyed as the defeat of the British forces is imminent. However, with the deceits of Dogras of monarch Ranjit Singh turned the victory of the Sikh forces into an unfortunate defeat, within just two hours. The Dogras of monarch Ranjit Singh’s court sent a message at the front of the battlefield that ‘there is no ammunition for them to fight’. This was the tragedy behind the defeat of the Sikh forces of the Sovereign and secular Sikh nation, on March 14th, 1849. The royal poet Shah Mohammad expresses his views on the unfortunate defeat of the Sikh forces as:
“Jang Hind Punjab da Honnh Laga, Doven Patshahi Faujan Bharian Nee,
Aj Howe Sarkar tan Mul Paave, Jiharrihian Khalse Ne Tegan Maarian Nee.
Shah Muhammada Ik Sardar Bajhon,
Faunjan Jit ke Ant Noon Haarian Nee.”(in Baba Fareed ate Faridkot by Inderjit Singh Khalsa, second printing 1989)
In 1878, Raja Bikram Singh of Faridkot sent the state armed forces, under the command of Deewan Sardar Budh Singh Sekhon, to fight in Afghanistan with the
British forces (Inderjit Singh Khalsa 1989 Baba Fareed (Shakarganj) ate Faridkot, publisher Gurdwara Godrrhi Baba Fareed, Faridkot).
It should be noted above that according to the Royal poet Shah Muhammad of Punjab, the war between Punjab and British forces were between two ‘nations’,
the Sovereign and secular nation of Monarch Ranjit Singh and the Hind under the British India Empire. Shah Muhammad’s writings clearly reflect that Monarch
Ranjit Singh’s sovereign Punjab and ‘Hind under the British India Empire’s Hindu kingdoms’ were two distinct nations, and the Punjab of Ranjit Singh had nothing
to do with the ‘Hindu kingdoms under the British Hindu Empire’.
Post-Maharaja Ranjit Singh Era
On March 14th, 1849, the Sikh forces of sovereign Punjab surrendered to the ‘British Empire’. The Sikhs’ struggle to regain their sovereignty, as said above,
began on the same very day. After taking the control of Punjab of monarch Ranjit Singh, the British Empire did not make any announcement. It was on March 29th, 1849, two weeks after the surrender of Punjab, the British agent, Lord Dalhousie, made an announcement from Rawalpindi, now the twin city of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, on the radio that the “Punjab, their newly conquered territory is ‘annexed’ but not amalgamated to the British Empire, for the ‘administrative
purpose only’. Since March 29th, 1849, Punjab remained ‘annexed’ to the British Empire. The authors would like to mention that the word ‘India’ did not exist in
any dictionary and/or encyclopedia of the English language and on the world map until March 29th, 1849. It is also noteworthy that none of the Hindu-Brahmin
kingdoms started their struggle for ‘freedom movement’ up until 1857. The only hint of the struggle in history is available when Queen of Jhansi, Laxmi Bai,
fought against the British or some Mughal empire. Here, the Hindus-Brahmins high jacked the struggle of the Queen of Jhani and deliberately gave the name of
the ‘Freedom movement of India. In author(s) are of the strong opinion that there was not even a trace of proof of the ‘Indian’s freedom movement until 1858. The Hindus-Brahmins cleverly and deviously highjacked the Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty, independence and political power, by peaceful means.
Baba Gurdit Singh, Kamagata Maru (1861 – 1954)
Gurdit Singh was born at village Sarhali, district Amritsar in 1861. He was grandson of Sardar Rattan Singh, who rejected the British offer of a Jagir, after ‘annexation’ of the Panjab. His grandfather, Rattan Singh was a high-ranking military officer in the Khalsa Army and had fought against the British during the
Anglo-Sikh wars. Later on, his father Hukam Singh went to Malaya where he settled down as a contractor. Gurdit Singh received little education in his childhood. Due to the harsh treatment of a teacher he left the school. However, at the age of 13, he privately acquired elementary education to enable himself to correspond with his father in Malaya. He got married in 1885 and had two daughters and a son. Unfortunately all three of them died. Balvan Singh was his only son who was from his second wife. Gurdit Singh visited Malaya in about 1885 and conducted business in Singapore and Malaya as a contractor. He returned home from Malaya in 1909. In 1911, when he was 50-year-old, he raised his voice against forced labour. He wrote to the government, complaining against officials, who forced poor villagers to work for them without remuneration. The government did not respond to his cry at all. Resultantly, he motivated the people of his village to refuse any ‘Begar’ (forced labour).
During WWI, the Canadian government had banned entry of Indian people in Canada. Baba Gurdit Singh was a courageous person with a revolutionary spirit.
To challenge this restriction and help the fellow citizens of the occupied Punjab, in Canada in 1914 he chartered a Japanese ship named Kamagata Maru and set on a voyage to Canada. The ship, renamed as Guru Nanak Jahaz, had a total of 376 passengers comprising 359 Sikhs and 17 Panjabi Muslims. The Sikh Muslim
amity is evident. The ship sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver on April 3rd, 1914. The obstructions put up by the alien authorities and the hardships faced by its passengers turned them into staunch nationalists of Punjab. The ship reached Vancouver on May 23rd,1914 but it was not allowed to anchor. Instead the ship
faced a surprise police attack at midnight. The attack was repulsed by the passengers and this incident created a great stir among the Punjabis in Canada.
This occurrence created such pressure on the Canadian government that it was forced to resort to negotiations with the Punjabis. The negotiations culminated in
an agreement and the ship sailed back to the British Indian port of Calcutta on September 29th, 1914. However, the passengers were not allowed to enter Calcutta. They were ordered to board a Panjab-bound train especially arranged for the purpose. On refusal to accept the offer, the group was fired upon and a great number were shot dead. The rest managed to escape and Baba Gurdit was one of them. He remained underground for seven years. Finally, he gave himself up to the police at Nankana Sahib on November 15th, 1921, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Sahib, after he had participated in religious observances at the shrine. He was imprisoned but freed on February 28th, 1922 in a little more than three months. On his release, he was warmly received throughout the Panjab. He was arrested again on March 7th, 1922 on charges of making seditious speeches at the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar and was held in jail for four years.
In 1926 he acted as president of the Shrimoni Akali Dal, during the absence (in jail) of Sarmukh Singh Jhabal. At the 1926 Gauhati Session of the National
Congress of the British India Empire, Gurdit Singh led a walk-out by 50 Sikh delegates to protest against the Subjects Committee’s decision. This was the time
when the ruler of the Sikh State of Nabha had been forced by the British to abdicate. The Sikhs had launched a mass agitation against this unjust depreciation.
Shiromani Akal Dal had actively supported the agitation. In the 1928 Congress Session of the British India, at Gauhati, Baba Gurdit Singh demanded that a
reference, pertaining to British injustice and transgression against Sikhs should be included in resolutions, passed by the Congress party. The Congress however,
refused to include anything, related only to Sikhs, in the resolution. Baba Gurdit Singh was hurt by this refusal and walked out of the Indian National Congress
Session, along-with his 50 Sikh companions. During the period from 1931 to 1933, Gurdit Singh was arrested three times for his political activities. Baba Gurdit
Singh died on July 24th, 1954 at Amritsar.
Kartar Singh Jhabbar (1874-1962)
Sardar Kartar Singh Jhabbar, the son of Tej Singh was born at village Jhabbar, district Sheikhupura (Pakistan) in 1874. His grandfather, Mangal Singh, had
served as commander in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Army. Kartar Singh had no formal education but somewhat late in life he went through a course of Sikh
religious learning and was trained as a missionary at Khalsa Updeshak Mahavidyala Garjakh from 1906 to 1909. After completion of the course he took
up preaching. In 1912 he set up ‘Khalsa Diwan Khara Sauda Bar’ at Gurdwara Sachcha Sauda in Farooqabad (old Chuharkana), near Sheikhupura. He also
opened a middle school in the town in 1917. In 1919, Kartar Singh took active part in anti-government demonstrations and addressed meetings protesting against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. For this he was arrested, tried and sentenced to death on May 22nd, 1919. The punishment was however, reduced to the life
imprisonment on May 30th, 1919. He was released from Andaman’s jail in March 1920 in the wake of royal clemency.
Sardar Kartar Singh Jhabbar is very famous for his spirited role in the Gurdwaras Reform Movement.
Maharaja Ranjit had constructed many Gurdwaras, tremendously facilitated them and ensured the sanctity of Sikh Holy Places. However, after the decline of Sikh rule the Gurdwaras were occupied by Hindu Mahants, who, according to Sikh history, carried out un-ethical and undesirable activities in the Gurdwaras and
collected the money. According to many Hindu authors and religious leaders; the worst of them was disinformation and distortion about the Sikhs and Sikhism that
they are not a nation but a ‘defected sect’ of Hinduism (neither a religion nor a culture). It was a disheartening situation for the Sikhs. With the passage of time
the Sikh nation, organized a proper struggle to liberate the occupied gurdwaras, which was called ‘Gurdwara Reform Movement’. Those who participated in this
movement are immensely respected and regarded by the Sikhs.
In early October 1920, Kartar Singh led a Jatha of Sikh volunteers to Sialkot to liberate Gurdwara “Babe di Beri’ from the control of a corrupt Hindu mahant or
custodian. The Shrine was taken possession of and a committee of the Sikhs was formed to manage it with Baba Kharak Singh as the president, later Baba Kharak
Singh became the prominent Sikh leader called ‘uncrowned’ king of Sikhs. This was the beginning of the Gurdwara Reform Movement.
Kartar Singh Jhabbar, along with Teja Singh Bhuchchar, got the Akal Takht released on October 12th, 1920. Teja Singh was appointed jathedar, custodian or
provost of the Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib. Jhabbar was included in the 9-member committee, which was set up for the management of the
Darbar Sahib Complex, Amritsar. He continued to be in the vanguard of reformist Sikhs’ campaign for liberating historical shrines. The more important ones he
helped to take possession of where Gurdwara Panja Sahib, (Hassan Abdal) (November 1920), Gurdwara Sachcha Sauda (Farooq Abad) (December 1920),
Gurdwara Tarn Taran (January 26th, 1921), and Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh (January 31st,1921). Following the possession of Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana
Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, where about 150 reformist Sikhs had been murdered by the Mahant and his men on February 20, 1921, Kartar Singh was
arrested on March 11th, 1921 and remained in jail for about six months. He was re- arrested in June 1924 and sent to Attock Jail (old Cambellpur Jail). In September 1925 he was transferred to Multan Jail and in April 1926 to Rawalpindi. He remained in custody for more than four years and was released in December 1928. After the control of the gurdwaras, which were handed over to a representative board of the Sikhs, by government legislation of 1925, Kartar Singh retired to a comparatively quiet life at his village. In January 1933 he faced a charge of murder, following a clash, which took place at Nankana Sahib over the possession of a portion of the Gurdwara land, but was acquitted by the court. After the partition of the Panjab in August 1947, Kartar Singh migrated to East Panjab and settled down at the village of Habri in district Karnal where he died on November 20th, 1962.
Harnam Singh Tundilaat Ghadriite (1882 – 1962)
Harnam Singh was born at village Kotla Nathu Singh of District Hushiarpur on March 11th, 1882. His father Gurdit Singh was a farmer of the modest means. He
learnt Gurmukhi (Sikhs’ scripture) from his village. After attaining the age of recruitment he joined the British India Army.
After sometime he quit the army and on July 12th, 1906 immigrated to Canada and then to California in the United States of America in December 1909, where he
worked in a lumber mill at Bridalville, Oregon. In 1912 he attended a meeting of Hindustani workers, which was later, renamed ‘Hindi (?) Association of the
Pacific Coast, but it is popularly known as ‘GHADR PARTY’. Initially, he was selected as secretary of the local branch, in a session, held on March 31st, 1913, at
Bridaliville. On December 13th, 1913, he was elected as a member of executive committee, in a session, held in Sacrament, CA.
A weekly publication of the Ghadr Party, entitled ‘Ghadr’, appeared on November 1st, 1913, in Urdu language and its Panjabi edition was published in
January 1914. Harnam Singh was also a member of its editorial board. He is a well-known Ghadr revolutionary.
In the words of Harbans Singh “He wrote verse in Panjabi and contributed poems, to the paper, burning with patriotic fervour”. He became editor in April 1914. As quoted by Harbans Singh, “Talk of an impending war between Great Britain and Germany was in the air, and the programme of the Ghadr Party was directed
towards a planned rebellion in occupied British Kingdoms, as the British got involved in Europe. While Udham Singh Kasel started imparting military training
to a party of volunteers and Kartar Singh Sarabha went to the eastern coast to train as a flier-cum-aircraft mechanic, Harnam Singh learned bomb making from an American friend. During an experiment, on July 5th, 1914, his left hand was blown off as a result of which his left arm had to be amputated well above the wrist. After this he was given the new name of ‘Tundi Laat’, the armless Lord by his comrades. The epithet contained an ironic allusion to Sir Henry Hardinge,
governor-general of the British India (1844-48) at the time of the first Anglo-Sikh war, who was called by the Panjabis ‘Tundi Laat’ because he had lost a limb
during the Napoleonic Wars. Upon the outbreak of WWI on July 25th, 1914 the Ghadr Party directed its members and sympathizers to return to the British India
forthwith. Harnam Singh came via Colombo and arrived in the ‘annexed’ Panjab on December 24th, 1914. Disguised as a holy man in ochre robes, he roamed the
Doaba villages preaching the message of Ghadr. He also contacted, at the behest of the party, troops in Rawalpindi, Bannu, Nowshehra and Peshawar cantonments. The plan for a military and general rising on February 21st, 1915 later advanced to February 19th, 1915 having tailed owing to betrayal by a police agent smuggled into the party cadre, Harnam Singh Tundilaat, along-with Kartar Singh Sarabha and Jagat Singh of Sur Singh escaped to the North-West Frontier Province to seek temporary refuge in Afghanistan and plan afresh.”
Having failed to receive any support from that government, they turned back and arrived on March 2nd, 1915 at Wilsonpur, a remount farm in Chakk No. 105 in
Shahpur, District Sargodha, to stay with one Rajindar Singh, a military pensioner and an acquaintance of Jagat Singh, himself an ex-soldier. Rajindar Singh
however, betrayed them and handed over to the police through Risaldar Ganda Singh of Gandivand, who held charge of a remount farm. All three were arrested
and taken to Lahore Central Jail, where they were tried in what is known as the First Lahore Conspiracy case. The trial by a special tribunal under the Defence of
British India Act 1914 began on April 26th, 1915 and the judgement was delivered on September 13th, 1915. Harnam Singh Tundilaat was one of the twenty-four
sentenced to death with forfeiture of property.
The Ghadr leaders refused to file an appeal, but the Viceroy, on his own, commuted the death penalty into life imprisonment in the case of seventeen of
them, including Harnam Singh. He served six years in the Andamans and nine years in other jails in Madras, Pune, Bombay and Montgomery. On September
15th, 1930 he was released on medical grounds. He served another term in jail from 1941 to 1945. At the time of inter-communal turbulence in 1947, he helped
Muslim residents of his village and the surrounding area to evacuate to refugee camps. He died on September 18th, 1962 after a brief illness.
Harnam Singh was a revolutionary poet and a writer of prose of considerable merit. Three collections of his poems have been published Harnam Lafairan,
Kuriti SudSiar and Harnam Sandesh. His prose works include Sachcha Sauda, Akhlaq te Mazhab, both in Panjabi, and Mazhab aur Insaniat, in Urdu.
Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896- 1915)
“chalo chaliye desh nu Yuddha karan, eho aakhiri vachan te farman ho gaye" (come! let us go and join the battle of freedom; the final call has come, let us go!)
"Sewa desh di jinddhiye badhi aukhi gallan karnia dher sukhalliyan ne, jinha desh sewa 'ch pair paya ohna lakh museebtan jhalliyan ne."
(Serving ones country is very difficult It is so easy to talk
Those who vowed to serve the country Had to confront millions of calamities.)
Kartar Singh Sarabha, the only son of Mangal Singh was born at village Sarabha, district Ludhiana, Punjab in 1896. His father Mangal Singh was a well-to-do
farmer of Grewal Jatt family. He acquired primary education in his own village and then got admission in Khalsa High School Ludhiana. When he was in grade
10, he went to his uncle in Orissa. He completed his high school education in Orissa and joined a college for higher education.
At the age of 16 years he went to the USA and joined the University of California at Berkley in 1912, for a degree in Chemistry. For this journey, when the ship
anchored at San Francisco Port, the immigration staff rigorously interrogated and degraded the British-India passengers. On inquiry, Kartar Singh was told that the
reason for this disgrace was slavery (as Punjab and Indian kingdoms were a slave country). This incident hurt him tremendously and ultimately he became an active member of the cartel of freedom seekers.
In the words of Harbans Singh “The Ghadr Party was founded on April 21st, 1913 with Sohan Singh, a Sikh peasant from Bhakna village in Amritsar district, as
president and Hardyal as secretary. The aim of the Ghadr Party was to get rid of the slavery of the British occupiers by means of an armed struggle and set up a
national democratic government. Their slogan was "Put at stake everything for the freedom of the country."
Kartar Singh stopped his university work, moved in with Har Dyal and became his helpmate in running the revolutionary newspaper Ghadr (revolt) founded on
November 1st, 1913. This paper was published in the Panjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati and Pushto languages. Kartar Singh did all the work for that paper. He undertook the responsibility for printing of the Gurmukhi edition of the paper. He composed patriotic poetry for it and wrote articles. He also went out
among the Sikh farmers and arranged meetings at which he and other Ghadr leaders made speeches urging them to united action against the British masters. At
a meeting at Sacramento (California), on October 31st, 1913 he jumped to the stage and began to sing: "chalo chaliye desh nu Yuddha karan, eho aakhiri vachan
te farman ho gaye" (come! let us go and join the battle of freedom; the final call has come, let us go!") Kartar Singh was one of the first to follow his own call.
No sooner WWI broke out; the Ghadr Party decided to move back to the British occupied-India for a properly armed struggle against the British. Kartar Singh also returned to his Sikh nation, Punjab, via Colombo, on September 15th, 1914. He opened a small chapter of the Ghadr Party, in his village and expanded the
network in Ludhiana. He went to Bengal for procuring weapons and visited cantonments in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Agra, Allahabad and Banaras etc, to motivate
the serving Indian soldiers to participate in the combat struggle for freedom. Along-with his associates, he even succeeded in making small bombs at Ludhiana.
According to Harbans Singh, in January 1915 he participated in raids on a few villages to procure funds for the party.
According to Harbans Singh, “In February 1915, just before the planned revolt was to erupt, there was a massive roundup of the Ghadr leaders, following the
disclosures made by a police informer, Kirpal, who had surreptitiously gained admittance into the party. Kartar Singh, Jagat Singh of Sursingh, and Harnam
Singh Tundilaat escaped to Kabul. All three however, came back to the Panjab to continue their work. They were seized on March 2nd, 1915 at Wilsonpur, in the
Shahpur district, where they had gone to incite the troops of the 22nd cavalry.
The trial of arrested leaders in the Lahore conspiracy cases of 1915-1916 highlighted the role of Kartar Singh Sarabha in the movement. His defence was
just one eloquent statement of his revolutionary creed. The judges during his trial were impressed by his intellectual skills, but nonetheless he was sentenced to
death by hanging on September 13th, 1915 and he received the hangman's noose on November 16th, 1915.
He wrote a popular song, which he would sing and it is said that he died singing it:
"Sewa desh di jinddhiye badhi aukhi gallan karnia dher sukhalliyan ne, jinha desh sewa 'ch pair paya ohna lakh museebtan jhalliyan ne."
(Serving ones country is very difficult It is so easy to talk
Those who vowed to serve the country Had to confront millions of calamities)
He soon became the symbol of martyrdom and many were influenced from his bravery and sacrifice. Bhagat Singh, another great revolutionary of the (Hindu)
Indian freedom, regarded Kartar Singh as his guru, friend and brother. A statue of Kartar Singh, erected in the city of Ludhiana commemorates his legendary heroism. He has also been immortalized in the fictional account “Ikk Mian Do Talwaran” by the famous Panjabi novelist Nanak Singh.”
Sardar Kishen Singh (Founder of the Babbar Akali Movement)
(Babbars had refused to take the help of a lawyer and had said, "We have no faith in the Government. These courts are mere a facade and deceit.")
Sardar Kishen Singh, the only son of Fateh Singh was born at village Baring, district Jalandhar. He joined the British army as a sepoy/private in 1906 and rose to the rank of Havaldar Major in 2/35 Sikh Regiment. He was much affected by events such as the demolition of the wall of the Gurdwara Rikabganj in Delhi, the
firing on the Kamagata Maru passengers at Budege Budge, near Calcutta, and the Jallianvala Bagh massacre. He started criticizing the government for the
imposition of martial law in the ‘annexed’ Panjab for which he was court- martialled and sentenced to 28 days rigorous imprisonment in military custody. He
also was pensioned off.
He joined Akali Movement in 1920 A.D for gudwara reform. For being a good preacher, he was made secretary of the Akali Dal in April 1921 A.D. The Nankana Sahib massacre on February 20th, 1921 proved a real turning point in the life of Kishan Singh. He blamed the British for the tragedy and nursed thoughts of revenge.
In the Sikh educational conference, which was held at Hoshiarpur from 19-21 March 1921, he and Master Mota Singh held a meeting and resolved to slay those
responsible for the bloody happenings at Nankana Sahib on February 21st, 1921 A.D. Their first target was Mr. Bowering, the British superintendent of police at
Lahore. The attempt on his life aborted and the arrest orders of Kishan Singh and Master Mota Singh were issued on the May 21st, but both of them went underground. With a view to stage an armed rebellion he started making speeches against the government at fairs and other gatherings.
He held a conference at Rurka Kalan in Jalandhar district and named his preacher Jatha as 'Chakravarti Jatha' (Squad on the move), towards the close of 1921. In
August 1922 A.D. he started a secret newspaper by the name of Babbar Akali Doaba and renamed the squad as “Babbar Akali Jatha”. Provoking articles and
emotional poems were published in that newspaper. They also printed posters, which were pasted on the doors of the houses of adulators of the government so
that they may mend their ways which failing to do so they were to be punished. The Babbars eliminated Zaildar Bishan Singh, Numbardar Banta Singh, Subedar
Ganda Singh, Labh Singh carpenter, Bishen Singh Sandhran, Jwala Singh and many other adulators like them. The adulators stopped moving out of their houses
for fear of death due to which government work in courts started to suffer. In order to arrest Babbars, the Government started harassing those giving them shelter and tempted those helping in their arrest with reward. Falling to the temptations, those giving shelter started getting the Babbars arrested. In this way ninety-one of the Babbars had been arrested up to April 4th, 1924 and many had attained martyrdom in their encounters with the police. Those Babbars who escaped, left the Doaba region but they kept on chastising the adulators as long as they themselves were alive. On February 26th, 1923 Sardar Kishen Singh was seized.
Sardar Kishen Singh was one of those Babbars who had refused to take the help of a lawyer and had said, "We have no faith in the Government. These courts are mere a facade and deceit." On the February 28th, 1925 A.D., six Babbars were sentenced to death, ten were exiled and three-fourth were released. Six Babbars,
namely, Sardar Kishan Singh, Sardar Karam Singh, Sardar Santa Singh, Sardar Nand Singh, Sardar Dalip Singh, and Sardar Dharam Singh were hanged in the
Central Jail Lahore on the February 27th, 1926 A.D.
Shaheed Udham Singh
Those who lay their lives for some selfless or national cause, history never let’s them die. Shaheed Udham Singh is one of such persons. He was born in a village
named as his surname, situated in the then princely state of Patiala. His father Tahal Singh was a poor man who worked as watchman on a railway crossing in a
village named Upali. They were two brothers. His original name was Sher Singh and his brother’s original name was Mukta Singh. Unfortunately, Sher Singh lost
his parents before reaching seven years of age. Consequent to this tragedy, both of them were admitted to Central Khalsa Orphanage Amrtisar on October 24th, 1907. In the orphan house Sher Singh and Mukta Singh were renamed as Udham Singh and Sadher Singh, respectively. Unfortunately Udham Singh’s brother also died in 1917. He was now all by himself in the whole world, having no near and dear one.
Udham Singh left the Orphanage after passing High School in 1918. He was present in the Jallianvala Bagh on the fateful Baisakhi day April 13th, 1919 when a
peaceful assembly of people were fired upon by Brigadier General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, killing over one thousand people. The event, which Udham
Singh used to recall with anger and sorrow, turned him to the path of revolution. Soon after, he left ‘annexed’ Punjab and went to the United States of America. He felt thrilled to learn about the militant activities of the Babbar Akalis in the early 1920s and returned home. He had secretly brought with him some revolvers and was arrested by the police in Amritsar and was sentenced to four years imprisonment under the Arms Act. Following his release in 1931, he returned to
his native village Sunam but was harassed by the local police. He once again returned to Amritsar and opened a shop as a signboard painter, assuming the name
of Ram Muhammad Singh Azad. This name, which he was to use later in England, was adopted to emphasize the unity of all the religious communities in Punjab and elsewhere in the British India in their struggle for the sovereignty of his native Punjab.
Udham Singh was deeply influenced by the activities of Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary group. In 1935, when he was on a visit to Kashmir, he was found
carrying Bhagat Singh's portrait. He invariably referred to him as his guru. He loved to sing political songs. After staying for some months in Kashmir, Udham
Singh left Punjab and the British India Empire. He wandered about the continent for some time, and reached England by the mid 30s. He was on the lookout for an
opportunity to avenge the Jallianvala Bagh tragedy. The long awaited moment at last came on March 13th, 1940. On that day, at 4.30 p.m. in the Caxton Hall,
London, where a meeting of the East India Association was being held in conjunction with the Royal Central Asian Society, Udham Singh fired five to six shots from his pistol at Sir Michael O'Dwyer, who was governor of the ‘annexed’ Panjab when the Amritsar massacre had taken place. O'Dwyer was hit twice and
fell to the ground dead and Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for the British India, who was presiding over the meeting, was injured. Udham Singh was
overpowered with a smoking revolver. He in fact made no attempt to escape and continued saying that he had done his duty for his country.
On April 1st, 1940 Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Sir Michael O'Dwyer. On June 4th, 1940 he was committed to trial, at the Central
Criminal Court, Old Bailey, before Justice Atkinson, who sentenced him to death. An appeal was filed on his behalf, which was dismissed on July 15th, 1940. On
July 31st, 1940 Udham Singh was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London. Udham Singh was essentially a man of action. He gave a verbal statement before
the judge at his trial. There was no writing from his pen available to historians. Recently, letters written by him to Shiv Singh Jauhal during his days in prison
after the shooting of Sir Michael O'Dwyer have been discovered and published. These letters show him as a man of great courage with a sense of humour. He called himself a guest of His Majesty King George, and he looked upon death as a bride he was going to wed. By remaining cheerful to the last and going joyfully to the gallows, he followed the example of Bhagat Singh who had been his beau ideal. During the trial, Udham Singh had made a request that his ashes be sent
back to his country, but this was not allowed. In 1975, however, the alleged (Hindu-Brahmin) Government of India, at the request of the Panjab Government,
finally succeeded in bringing his ashes home. Lakhs of people gathered on the occasion to pay homage to his memory.
Shaheed Sardar Bhagat Singh
“If my marriage was to take place in Slave-India, my bride shall be only death." (1907 – 1931)
Bhagat Singh the second son of Kishan Singh and Vidya Vati was born at Chak No. 105 (commonly known as Banga Chak), district Faisalabad (Lyallpur, now in
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan) on September 27th, 1907. Bhagat Singh was imbued from childhood with the family's spirit of patriotism. At the time of his birth his father was in jail for his connection with the Canal Colonalization Bill agitation in which his brother, Ajit Singh (Bhagat Singh's uncle) took a leading part. Through his father, who was a sympathizer and supporter of the Ghadr campaign of 1914-15, Bhagat Singh became an admirer of the leaders of the movement. The execution of Kartar Singh Sarabha made a deep impression on the mind of the young man who vowed to dedicate his life to the ‘annexed’ Punjab, the first ‘Secular and Sovereign’ country of the South Asian region.
Having passed the fifth class from his village school, Bhagat Singh joined Dyanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore. In response to the call of nationalist leaders, to boycott government aided institutions, he left his school and got enrolled in the National College at Lahore. He was successful in passing a special examination preparatory to entering college. He was reading for his B.A. examination when his parents planned to arrange his marriage. He vehemently rejected the suggestion and said, “if my marriage was to take place in Slave-India, my bride shall be only death." Rather than allow his father to precede any further with the proposal, Bhagat Singh left home and went to Kanpur where he took up a job in the Pratap Press. In his spare time, he studied revolutionary literature. He joined the Hindustan Republican Association, a radical group, later known as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. When Bhagat Singh was assured that he would not be compelled to marry and violate his vows sworn to his motherland ‘annexed’ Punjab, he returned to his home in Lahore. This was in 1925 when a
morcha (agitation) had been going on at Jaito to protest against the deposition by the British of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, because of his sympathy with the Akali agitation. A warrant for the arrest of Bhagat Singh was issued as he had accorded a welcome to one of the jathas, but he managed to elude the police and spent five months under the assumed name of Balvant Singh in Delhi, where he worked in a daily paper ‘Vir Arjun’.
As Akali activity subsided, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore. He established contact with the Kirti Kisan Party and started contributing regularly to its magazine, the Kirti. He also remained in touch with the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. In March 1926 the Naujawan Bharat Sabha was formed. Bhagat Singh, one of the principal organizers became its secretary.
Along with his companions, he planned to avenge those who were involved in the famous massacre. However, J. P. Saunders, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, became the actual victim due to mistaken identification. Bhagat Singh and Rajguru had done the actual shooting. They and those who had served as lookouts escaped through the D.A.V. College grounds. The next day a leaflet was circulated by the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
Bhagat Singh escaped to Calcutta disguised as a wealthy person. He remained there for several months, but became active again when ‘Public Safety Bill’ and
the ‘Trade Disputes Bill’ were being debated in Delhi. As his group resolved to explode a bomb to express disapproval of the Bills, Bhagat Singh and B. K. Dutt
volunteered to carry out the plan. They were seated in the gallery of the Central Assembly Hall awaiting the reading of the proclamation that would enact the bills. When the announcement was made, Bhagat Singh jumped up and threw a relatively harmless bomb behind one of the member’s benches. There was an
explosion, followed by still another from a second bomb. No one was seriously injured. Bhagat Singh and Dutt began shouting revolutionary slogans and threw
leaflets explaining their intent of making "the deaf hear" with the loud noise of explosion. Both were promptly taken into custody. As the trial proceeded, a
statement, written in its entirety by Bhagat Singh, was read in defence of the two accused. Bhagat Singh said, that "force used for a legitimate cause has its moral
justification." He and B. K. Dutt were found guilty and sentenced to transportation for life. After the sentence had been pronounced in the Assembly Bomb Case,
Bhagat Singh was bound over for trial in the Saunders Murder Case, approvers having identified his role in the killing. While awaiting trial in the Lahore jail,
Bhagat Singh started a hunger strike on behalf of political prisoners. The fast was continued even after the hearing of the case began on July 10th, 1929, and was
subsequently joined by many others. It was not until after the death of one of these, J. N. Das, on September 13th, 1929, that facilities were promised to the prisoners and the hunger strike abandoned.
At the time of trial, Bhagat Singh offered no defence but utilized the occasion to propagate his ideal of freedom. He and his fellow accused kept delaying the
proceedings by refusing to appear before the court, by ignoring what was going on, or by disrupting the work by shouting revolutionary slogans. He heard with
defiant courage the death sentence pronounced on October 7th, 1930. In the same spirit, he kissed the hangman's noose on March 23rd, 1931, shouting for the last
time his favourite cry, "Down with British Imperialism." His body was secretly cremated at Husainivala by police and the remains thrown into the River Sutlej. It
is noteworthy that when Sardar Bhagat Singh was sent to gallows, he had grown his beared and hair in accordance with the Sikh way of life. In Bhai Randhir Singh’s title “Chithian jail dian by Bhai Randhir Singh”, a Sikh revolutionary and the founder of the Akhand Keertani Jatha, his title includes a photograph sitting on a cot with beard and hair tied of his head. Bhai Randhir Singh’s title carries his conversation with Bhai Randhir Singh and Bhagat Singh requesting him to initiate or make him a ‘amritdhari’ Sikh, according to the Sikh Way of Life. Bhai Randhir Singh expressed his unable ness because of the time limit. The alleged Indian democracy’s writers have been distorting the important aspects of the Sikh history, to please their Hindu-Brahmin masters. The next day, however, his comrades collected the bodily remains from the cremation site and a procession was taken out in Lahore. Mourning for him was spontaneous, widespread and homage was paid to him for his sterling character and sacrifice.
In 1950, after Independence, the land where Bhagat Singh and his companions were cremated was handed over by Pakistan to India, where a memorial was built.
In March 1961, a Shaheedi Mela or gathering of people was held there. Every year, on March 23rd the martyrs are remembered and honoured. Bhagat Singh is remembered by the endearing title of Shahid-i-Azam, the greatest of martyrs. He was first called ‘Shaheed’ by Maulana Zafar Ali Khan.
Paying his tribute to him at a meeting of the Central Sikh League at Amritsar on April 8th, 1931 Subhash Chandra Bose said, “Bhagat Singh who set an example of
character and patriotism by sacrificing himself for the sake of the country's freedom, the ‘annexed’ holy and historid homeland of the Sikhs, Punjab, was from
the Sikh community. Today, he is known to be a brave Sikh hero throughout the world. The Sikh community has to produce thousands of Bhagat Sighs for the
cause of the country, i. e., the cause of the Sikhs’ holy and historic homeland."
It is unfortunate that most of the Muslim references have been eliminated from the history, which is criminal. For example Bhagat Singh’s centenary birth fell on
September 27th, 2007. In Pakistan Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum organized various activities, extending over three days, which included an International Seminar, presided over by the Governor of the Panjab, a ‘Mushaira’ (Kavi Darbar) presided over by the Federal Minister of Minorities Affairs and a visit to ‘Bhanga Chak’, where a team of Patiala University performed ‘Bhangra’ and the entourage was entertained by the residents of his birthplace as their
personal and national guests. Guest scholars, poet and writers from around the world, had been invited.
During the seminar, presided over by the Governor of the Panjab, When Dr. Zafar Cheema disclosed that the first person, to address Bhagat Singh, as shaheed,
precisely on the second day of his death, was none else but Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, every one was surprised as if it was not not known to their visiting guests.
But when he showed them the book of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (Baharastan) and the poem titled “Shaheedan-e-Watan” with date, they believed it as a pleasant
fact. The poem opens with its first verse.
Shaheedane watan ke khoone nahaq ka jo sat nikley Tau es ke zaray zaray sey Bhagat Singh aur Dat nikley
Speech of Quaid-e-Azam
It is worth mentioning that father founder of Pakistan, vigorously defended Bhagat Singh. According to A.G Noorani:
“The man who goes on a hunger-strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul and he believes in the justice of his cause,” Mohammad Ali Jinnah exclaimed in the
Central Assembly on September 12th, 1929. By all contemporary accounts, his was a magnificent performance. But it has been completely ignored in all
Indian writings on Bhagat Singh and little noticed in Pakistan. An able compilation of his speeches in the Central Assembly, published in Pakistan, includes the speech but ignores it in the introduction. A rare exception is a collection compiled by the veteran human rights activist, I. A. Rehman, and two others with a most informative prefatory note to the speech. They rightly hold that “in his coolly logical and convincing manner he played a major role in foiling the attempt to make trial in absentia lawful”. This is what the Government sought to do by what was popularly called the Hunger – Strike Bill.”
He made a very lengthy speech, however, few important quotations are included in this book.
“I think I am speaking on behalf of a very large body of people when I say that,
if there is sympathy and admiration for the accused, it is only to this extent, that they are the victims of the system of government.”
“From the statement that was issued by Bhagat Singh and Dutt, what is an grounds – but according to the standard and the scale which is laid down for Europeans in the matter of diet and bare necessities of life.”
Addressing a joint session of the Assembly Muhamad Ali Jinnah said:
“As far as the Panjab Government are concerned, the Government do not merely wish to bring these men to trial and get them convicted by a judicial
tribunal, but Government go to war against these men. They seem to me in this frame of mind: “We will pursue every possible course, every possible method, but we will see that you are sent either to the gallows or transported for life, and in the meantime we will not treat you as decent men.”
“But may I ask, with whom are you at war? What are the resources of these few young men who, according to you, have committed certain offences? You want
to prosecute them, and after due trial you want to secure their convictions. But before they are convicted, surely this is not a matter on which there should be
this struggle that you should not at once yield to their demands for bare necessities of life. After all, so far as the Lahore case prisoners are concerned,
surely they are political prisoners and under trial. You ask me, what is a political prisoner? It is very difficult to define a political prisoner. It is very
difficult to lay down any particular definition. But if you use your common sense, if you use your intelligence, surely you can come to the conclusion with
regard to the particular case and say, here are these men who are political prisoners, and we do not wish to give them proper treatment. We want to give
them treatment as under-trial prisoners. If you had said that, the question would have been solved long ago. Do you wish to prosecute them or persecute them? “I am very glad that the Hon’ble Law Member has given me a reply. Then you want by this Bill really to break the hunger strikers. You want this House to
give you a statue laying down a principle generally in the criminal jurisprudence for this particular case, so that you may use it for breaking the hunger strike in the Lahore case. Remember, you have no other case that you can cite. One swallow does not make a summer. It is the Lahore case. Well, you know perfectly well that these men are determined to die. It is not a joke. I ask the Hon’ble Law Member to realize that it is not everybody who can go on starving himself to death. Try it for a little while and you will see. Sir, have you heard anywhere in the world, except the American case, which my honourable friend Mr. Jamnadas Mehta pointed out, of an accused person going on hunger strike? The man who goes on a hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by the soul and he believes in the justice of his cause; he is not an ordinary criminal who is guilty of cold–blooded, sordid or wicked crime.”
“It is the system, this damnable system of Government, which is resented by the people.” “I say this, that if ever there was a conscientious Judge and he was strong enough, if he had a judicial mind, and if he had any independence, let me tell you, that, in spite of this provision of yours, he would say. “True, the law has to be administered; I am obliged to make the order that the trial shall proceed ex prate; but I realize and I feel that it will be a travesty of justice and I cannot be a
party to it; and I shall, therefore, adjourn this case until further orders”.
I know the Home Member will tell me, “Yes, the doctrine is that no man shall be condemned unless he is heard and until he is given a hearing; but here it is the voluntary act of the accused, and if he chooses not to go there and insists
upon his being heard, it is his fault.” (Legislative Assembly Debates, Vol. IV, Part I, pp. 752-55 & 757-65.)
General Mohan Singh Deb (1909-1989)
Mohan Singh was the only son of Tara Singh and Hukam Kaur. His parents originally belonged to village Uggoke in district Sialkot. His father died two
months before his birth and his mother shifted to her parents’ home in Badyana in the same district, where Mohan Singh was born (1909) and brought up.
As he passed high school, he joined the 14th Panjab Regiment of the British India Army in 1927. After the completion of his recruitment at Ferozepur, Mohan Singh was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Panjab Regiment, then serving in the North West Frontier Province. He was selected as a potential officer in 1931 and after six months' training in Kitchener College, Nowgong (Madhya Pradesh) and another two and a half years in the British India Military Academy, Dehra Dun, he received his commission in 1934 and was posted for a year to a British unit, the 2nd Border Regiment, and then to 1st Battalion of his former 14th Panjab Regiment, which at that time was stationed at Jhelum.
World War II broke out in 1939. Mohan Singh had been promoted to the rank of Captain when his battalion was earmarked for operational service in the Far East. The battalion was still carrying out intensive training at Sikandarabad when he married, Jasvant Kaur, sister of a brother officer in December 1940. He left for Malaya with his unit on March 4th , 1941.
Japan entered the War with her surprise attack on the American air base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941 and over-ran the entire South East Asia within a few weeks. The Japanese IGHQ set up the Fujiwara Kikan or the F-kikan, in Bangkok in October, headed by the Major General Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army. They were tasked with intelligence gathering and contacting the “Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty going on since March 14th, 1849”
and high jacked as the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultan with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan. Fujiwara's staff included five commissioned officers and two Urdu- speaking interpreters. They established initial contact with Giani Pritam Singh.
The British force in the northern part of the Malaya Peninsula, including Captain Mohan Singh's battalion, 1 and 14th (or 1/14?) Panjab Regiment, was fleeing
towards the south. Mohan Singh's own forces had been outgunned and destroyed by superior Japanese forces at Jitra. Captured by Japanese troops after several days in the Jungle, Singh was taken to Alor Star to Fujiwara and Pritam Singh at a joint office of the F-Kikan and the IIL. Fujiwara, later self-described as "Lawrence of the Indian National Army" (after Lawrence of Arabia) is said to have been a man committed to the values, which his office was supposed to convey to the expatriate nationalist leaders and found acceptance among them. Although Pritam Singh was involved to a large extent, it was Fujiwara who, with
his sincerity of purpose and belief, convinced Mohan Singh to betray his oath to the Crown by uniting with the Japanese mission for the greater motive of the
Punjab’s Sovereignty Struggle/Indian freedom. This included the promise that he would be treated as an ally and a friend, and not a Prisoner of War. Initially
helping Fujiwara to take control of the situation of looting and arson that had developed in Alor Star. In December 1941, after meeting with the Japanese
commanding general, Singh was convinced of the feasibility of raising an armed British India unit. Between himself, Pritam Singh and Fujiwara, Mohan Singh set
about contacting Punjabis and non-Punjabis in the British India Army in South- east Asia and also began recruiting from amongst those captured by the Japanese
in Malaya. All Indian prisoners of war and stragglers were placed under his charge and he was asked to restore order in the town of Alor Star. Thus the nucleus what came to be the Indian National Army was born. Kuala Lumpur fell on January 11th, 1942 with 3,500 Indian prisoners of war, and Singapore on February 15th with 85,000 British troops, of whom 45,000 were from Punjab and British India kingdoms. Mohan Singh asked for volunteers who would form the Azad Hind
Fauj (Free India Army) to fight for liberation of India from the British rule. A large number of men, mostly Sikhs, came forward to join what came to be termed as the Azad Hind Fauj (National Army of sovereign Punjab). The new set- up came into being on September 1st, 1942 by which time the strength of volunteers had reached 40,000. Mohan Singh, now designated a general, was to command it. Already in a conference held at Bangkok during June 11th to 23rd, 1942 the Indian Independence League under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose, an Indian revolutionary who had escaped to Japan in June 1915 and who had been
living there ever since, had been inaugurated. Through one of the 35 resolutions passed by the conference, Mohan Singh was appointed commander-in-chief of the "Army of Liberation for India," i.e. the Indian National Army.
General Mohan Singh was soon disenchanted regarding the intentions of the Japanese who, it appeared, wanted to use Indian National Army only as a pawn
and who were deliberately withholding recognition and public proclamation about its entity as an independent liberation army. On December 29th, 1942 General
Mohan Singh was removed from his command and taken into custody by the
Japanese military police.
It was only after the arrival of another Indian leader of great political standing, Subhash Chandra Bose, from Germany to the Far-Eastern front in June 1943 that
the Indian National Army was revived and Mohan Singh reinstated to his former command with Subhash as the supreme commander in his capacity as president of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind.
The Indian National Army participated in the Japanese offensive on the Indo- Burma front in 1944 and gave a good account of itself. But the British forces
withstood the offensive and in fact launched a counter-attack during the winter of 1944-45. The Japanese as well as, the Indian National Army, retreated fast, and the war ended with Japan's surrender on August 14th, 1945. Even before that during May and June 1945, most officers and men of the Azad Hind Fauj (INA), numbering about 20,000, including General Mohan Singh, had been made prisoners by the British and brought back to India. They were all set free during
1945. General Mohan Singh and his comrades of the Indian National Army were acclaimed by Indians for their patriotism.
Mohan Singh's dream of liberation was realized which marked the end of the British Rule in India in the month of August 1947. Mohan Singh migrated from
Uggoke (Pakistan) to India. He settled in a village Jugiana, near Ludhiana where he was allotted some land. He entered politics and joined the Indian National
Congress. After a stint as a legislator in the Panjab, he was elected to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, for two terms. In and out of Parliament he strove for the recognition of the members of his Azad Hind Fauj as "freedom fighters" in the cause of the nation's liberation. General Mohan Singh died at Jugiana on December 26th, 1989.
Col. Gurbakhsh Singh Dhillon (1914-2006)
Lal Qile se aaee awaz, Sahgal Dhillon Shah Nawaz, Teenon ki ho umar daraz
Gurbakhsh Singh Dhillon was born at Algon on March 18th, 1914. His childhood name was Bakhshi. He was the fourth child of his parents. His father and mother
were descendants of the Dhillon and Dhariwal Sikh Jats, respectively. His father, Takhar Singh was of a humble origin from Narwar in district Lahore (Pakistan).
Sardar Takhar Singh was employed in 8th King George’s Own light cavalry. He was promoted to the post of Veterinary surgeon.
Gurbakhsh Singh’s grandfather, Sardar Harbhajan Singh was a Patwari. Towards the end of nineteenth century, with the advent of canal system he was awarded a murabba (25 acres of land), under the Upper Bari Doab canal in Chak 32 near Chhanga Maanga in tehsil Chunian (now in Kasur, Pakistan), where he settled
after retirement.
Dhillon married to Basant at the age of fourteen in 1928. Their first child, Amrita, was born on April 15th, 1947 at Simla. Amrita studied at Banasthali Vidyapith for eleven years and later became a doctor. Dhillon had two sons, Amarjit Singh and Sarvjit Singh. Both are settled at Shivpuri. His wife Basant died on March 19th, 1968 at Shivpuri. Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon was living in Dhillon’s Den at the village Hatod in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh during his last days of life.
Gurbakhsh completed his basic education from Sahiwal (Pakistan) and joined Gordon College Rawalpini for F. Sc. (Faculty of Science) but failed in 1933. He
joined the British India Army as sepoy and completed his training in March 1934.However, he struggled hard and ultimately became a commissioned officer in the British India Army. As an officer, he was posted to 1st Battalion of the 14th Panjab Regiment, which was called ‘Sher Dil.’ He joined this battalion on March 31st, 1948 at Lahore, in the same barracks, where he had been a sepoy in the 4th Battalion of the Panjab Regiment.
He served overseas, with his battalion and many other appointments. His battalion first went to Penang Island and from there to Ipoh, north of Kuala Lumpur in
Malaya. Dhillon was Battalion Signal Officer, where his battalion fought a pitched battle at Changlun, close to Thai frontier, on December 11th, 1941.
Dhillon and Mohan Singh were from the same unit and close friends. On February 17th, 1942 Dhillon decided to join the Indian National Army and took the
vow not to drink till Punjab became sovereign. Next morning Captain Mohan Singh issued orders to march off all the units of various camps on the island where
the units were to occupy their after becoming prisoners of war, the British India troops were handed over to Japanese. Dhillon was one of those.
The Japanese Headquarters had asked the Supreme Headquarters to provide 200 officers to guard the British and Australian prisoners of war at Changi Camp.
Dhillon took the risk and volunteered his services for this unpleasant task.
At Changi Camp, Dhillon and other friends were asked by the Japanese to give up the British drill and words of command and adopt Japanese ones. Within a
fortnight they learned the Japanese drill and words of command. Changi was under military control of Japanese as well as Dhillon. Dhillon inculcated amongst
the prisoners, the feelings of national unity, discipline and a keen sense of duty through daily lectures delivered by him. After some time at Changi Camp Dhillon
fell seriously ill. He was released from the command of the Changi Garrison and sent to Slater Camp and was admitted to a POW Hospital.
Dhillon also served as Second-in-Command to Major J. W. Rodrigues in December 1943, who had raised the 5th Guerrilla Regiment at Bidadari in Singapore.
Dhillon reached Pagan on February 17th, 1945. On February 23rd, 1945 General Shah Nawaz visited the Commander of Khanjo Butai and discussed co-ordination of Indo-Japanese operations in the Popa and Kyauk Padaung area. Colonel Sehgal was given the task to prepare Popa as a strong base with the view to take up an offensive role. Shah Nawaz arrived Popa on March 12th, 1945 and relieved Dhillon forthwith to join his regiment. On April 4th, 1945 his Division Commander, Colonel Shah Nawaz Khan, ordered Dhillon to return from Khabok to Popa. On April 5th, 1945 Dhillon was allotted the defence of Kyaukpadaung, south of Popa. Germany had surrendered. Japan was being heavily bombed daily. The British forces had occupied Pegu. Rangoon fell during the last week of April. Herein they decided that the surviving forces of INA should surrender to the British.
On May 17th, 1945 the enemy encircled the British India National Army and it surrendered without any surrender ceremony. They were put into prison at Pegu.
Shah Nawaz and Dhillon were taken to No. 3 Field Interrogation Centre under command of Major C. Ore on May 18th, 1945. Later, on the 31st May Dhillon was
sent to Rangoon Central Jail. On June 9th, 1945 Shah Nawaz was brought from Pegu and put up with Dhillon in Rangoon Jail. On July 1st, 1945 Dhillon was brought to Calcutta by plane and from there he was sent to Delhi by train. On July 6th, 1945 he was put in the Red Fort and interrogated by Mr. Bannerjee of the
Central Intelligence Department. The interrogation was over by the third week of July. On August 6th, 1945 Shah Nawaz, Sehgal and Dhillon were jointly
summoned to the CSDIC for the first time. It was the beginning of the first INA trial at Red Fort. On September 17th, 1945 the trio were served a copy of charge
sheet. The main charge was waging war against the King. The news of trial was made public through the press and All India Radio.
The historical trial of Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Shah Nawaz Khan at the Red Fort began on November 5th, 1945 by a General Court
Martial for the charge of waging war against the King. When the trial began a mass demonstration was going on outside the Red Fort. People gave voice to their
resentment on the trials by shouting:
Lal Qile se aaee awaz,
Sahgal, Dhillon Shah Nawaz, Teenon ki ho umar daraz
(Meaning: A voice comes from the Red Fort–All three should live long). This was the slogan that stirred the entire nation, particularly the youth who marched
through the streets of the country in 1945. The New Year's eve December 31st, 1945 was the last day of trial. The trial marked a significant turning point in
India’s struggle for Independence and Colonel Dhillon along with his two colleagues Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan
became a symbol of India fighting for freedom.
The verdict of trial came on January 1st, 1946. All three were found guilty of waging war against the King Emperor. Commander-in-Chief Auchinleck, taking
into consideration the prevailing circumstances, decided to treat all three accused in the same way in the matter of sentence, and decided to remit the sentences of deportation of life against all of the three accused, and they were later released. On the following day of the release, January 4, 1946 the whole of Delhi and its
neighbourhood had gathered to participate in a rally like never before organized in the history of Delhi.
Mr. K. R. Narayanan, President of the alleged Indian democracy, awarded Padma Bhushan to Colonel Gurbakhsh Singh Dhillon on April 12th, 1998. Indian Postal
Department issued a stamp in 1997 in the memory of Dhillon’s contribution to the liberation of India. Colonel G. S. Dhillon had also written a book “From my
Bones” in which he has recorded experiences that contributed so significantly to India’s Independence.
Colonel G. S. Dhillon died on February 6th, 2006 in the Intensive-Care-Unit of J. A. Group of Hospitals, Gwalior (M. P.) following a cardiac arrest after prolonged illness. His last rites were performed at Shivpuri with full military honours on February 8th, 2006.
At the First Death Anniversary of Colonel Dhillon, on February 6th, 2007 a large number of people from different sections of society, gathered at his Memorial -
AZAD HIND PARK, the place in village Hatod of Shivpuri where his cremation took place on February 8th, 2006 to pay their tributes. Various freedom fighters,
government officials, politicians, a large number of school children, his friends & relatives along with local residents paid their homage to the Colonel on the
occasion.
Victoria Cross Winners
(The highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.)
Maj Parkash Singh VC (March 31st, 1913 – March 23rd, 1991)
Maj Parkash Singh was a Havaldar in the 8th Panjab Regiment of British India Army. He was awarded the V.C. in the WWII.
On January 6th, 1943 at Donbaik, Mayu Peninsula, Burma (now Myanmar), Havildar Parkash Singh drove his own carrier forward and rescued the crews of
two disabled carriers under very heavy fire. Again on January 19th in the same area he rescued two more carriers which had been put out of action by an enemy anti- tank gun. He then went out yet again and brought to safety another disabled carrier containing two wounded men. In recognition to his bravery and meritorious service he was granted commission and rose to the rank of Major. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum (London, England).
Captain Ishar Singh VC
(December 13th, 1895 – December 2nd, 1963)
Captain Ishar Singh was a Sepoy in the 28th Panjab Regiment, British India Army. During the campaign of tribal areas (India), he undertook the actions on April
10th, 1921 which led to the award of the VC. The citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette on November 25th, 1921.
He later retired as Captain.
Lt Karamjeet Singh Jadja was a Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion of the 15th Panjab Regiment in British India Army. He was awarded the V.C. during WWII.
On March 18th, 1945 near Meiktila, Burma (now Myanmar), Lt Karamjeet Singh Jadja was platoon commander of a company, which was ordered to capture a
cotton mill. During the accomplishment of this mission he dominated the battlefield by his numerous gallantry actions. After eliminating ten enemy bunkers
he directed one tank to within 20 yards of another and guided the tank commander to fire while he himself went for mop up. While doing so he was mortally
wounded.
Acting Subedar Ram Sarup Singh VC (April 12th, 1912 - October 25th, 1944)
Ram Sarup Singh was an Acting Subedar in the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Panjab Regiment, British India Army during the World War II. He was awarded the VC during following action. On October 25th, 1944 at Kennedy Peak in the Tiddim area, Burma (now Myanmar), two platoons were ordered to attack a particularly strong enemy position. The platoon commanded by Subedar Ram Sarup Singh attained its objective, completely routing the enemy. Although he was seriously injured, having fatal wounds on his both legs, he kept leading his platoon bravely. The enemy's fierce counterattack was also repulsed by Subedar Ram Sarup Singh's dashing counter-charge. He was again wounded in the thigh but continued to lead his men, killing two more enemy soldiers, until he was mortally wounded.
Naik Gian Singh VC (October 5th, 1920 – October 6th, 1996)
Gian Singh was a Naik in the 15th Panjab Regiment, British India Army, during the WWII.
On March 2nd, 1945 on the road between Kamye and Myingyan, Burma (now Myanmar), where the Japanese were strongly positioned, Naik Gian Singh who
was in charge of the leading section of his platoon, went on alone firing his Tommy gun, and rushed into the enemy foxholes. In spite of being wounded in the
arm, he went on hurling grenades. He attacked and killed the crew of a cleverly concealed anti-tank gun and then led his men down a lane clearing all enemy
positions. He went on leading his section until the action had been satisfactorily completed. He was awarded VC for this brave action.
Acting Naik Nand Singh VC, MVC
(September 24th, 1914- December 12th, 1947) Nand Singh was an Acting Naik in the 1/11th, Sikh Regiment of the British India Army. He was awarded the VC during the WWII in Burma.
On March 11th & 12th, 1944 on the Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road, Burma (now Myanmar), Naik Nand Singh was commanding a leading section of the attack
when he was ordered to recapture a position re-gained by the enemy. He led his section to an objective which was a very steep knife-edged ridge under very heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. He was severely wounded in the leg by enemy fire yet he captured the first trench. He then crawled forward alone and received more wounds in the face and shoulder. Nevertheless, he captured the second and third trenches also. He later achieved the rank of Jamadar in the post-independence Indian Army. He was from 1 Sikh Battalion of the British India Army.
On December 12th, 1947 Nand Singh led his platoon of D Coy in a desperate but successful attack to extricate his battalion from an ambush in the hills South-east
of Uri in Kashmir. He was mortally injured by a close-quarters machine-gun burst, and posthumously awarded the MVC, the second-highest Indian decoration for
battlefield gallantry. This makes Nand Singh unique in the annals of Victoria Cross winners.
Commissioned Officers in the British Army
Lt. Col. Chanan Singh Dhillon
Lt Col (retd.) Chanan Singh Dhillon was born in 1920. He is a famous Sikh from Punjab and celebrated soldier of WWII. He fought in WWII in the British India
Army. He was later taken prisoner of war (POW) by the Germans in 1943. He stayed in POW camps in Italy, France and Germany. In Germany he remained
confided to POW Camp XII in Limburg near Frankfurt. The International Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland, which was responsible for the welfare of POWs,
appointed him Chief Man of confidence. He escaped many times only to be recaptured by the Germans. One example is when with the help of some Canadian,
British and Australian POW soldiers, he managed to dig a tunnel out of Odine POW camp, near Naples in Italy. When the Germans arrested Marshal Mussolini,
the Italian guards became so disheartened that they became increasingly lax. He and the others used this opportunity to escape but they were soon captured. The
Americans rescued him in 1944. He was first taken to Paris then brought to London and ultimately sent back to India. After World War II, he rose to the rank
of Lt Col in the Indian Army. After retiring he became president of the ex-services league (Panjab and Chandigarh) in India. He has tirelessly campaigned for the full recognition of the sacrifice and courage of the Indian-subcontinent, African and Caribbean origin soldiers who fought in WWII for the Allies and the British. This campaign was realised by the building of a large memorial in London (Memorial Gates) on August 1st, 2001. Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation of the memorial on August 1st, 2001 and inaugurated it on November 6th, 2002.
BATTLE OF SARGARHI
The Battle of Saragarhi was fought during the Tirah Campaign on September 12th, 1897 by twenty-one Sikhs of the 4th Battalion (then 36th Sikh) of the Sikh
Regiment of the British India, to defend an army post. The battle occurred in the North-West Frontier Province, now a part of Pakistan, which then formed part of
British India.
The contingent of the twenty-one Sikhs from the 36th Sikhs was led by Havaldar Ishar Singh. They all chose to fight until death. Sikh military personnel and Sikh
civilians commemorate the battle every year on September 12th as ‘Sargarhi Day’. This battle has frequently been compared to the heroic stand of a small Greek
force against the mighty Persian Army of Xerxes at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. When the gallantry of Sargarhi was recounted to the Parliament of the United
Kingdom, the recitation drew a standing ovation from the members. The saga of Sargarhi was also brought to the notice of Queen Victoria. Parliament of the
United Kingdom hailed their brave act in the following words:
“The British, as well as the Indians, are proud of the 36th Sikh Regiment. It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war.” In the words of Field Marshal William Joseph Slim (1st Viscount Slim):
“You are never disappointed when you are with the Sikhs. Those 21 soldiers all fought to the death. That bravery should be within all of us. Those soldiers were
lauded in Britain and their pride went throughout the Indian Army. Inside every Sikh has got this pride and courage. The important thing is that you must not get too big-headed. It is important to be humble in victory and to pay respect to the other side.”
All the 21 Sikh non-commissioned officers and soldiers of other ranks, who laid down their lives in the Battle of Sargarhi were posthumously awarded the Indian
Order of Merit, the highest gallantry award of that time, which an Indian soldier could receive by the hands of the British Crown, the corresponding gallantry
award being VC.
The names of the 21 recipients of the gallantry award are:
(165) Havaldar Ishar Singh (332) Naik Lal Singh (546) Lance Naik Chanda Singh (1321) Sepoy Sundar Singh (287) Sepoy Ram Singh (492) Sepoy Uttar Singh (182) Sepoy Sahib Singh (359) Sepoy Hira Singh (687) Sepoy Daya Singh (760) Sepoy Jivan Singh (791) Sepoy Bhola Singh (834) Sepoy Narayan Singh (814) Sepoy Gurmukh Singh (871) Sepoy Jivan Singh (1733) Sepoy Gurmukh Singh (163) Sepoy Ram Singh (1257) Sepoy Bhagwan Singh (1265) Sepoy Bhagwan Singh (1556) Sepoy Buta Singh (1651) Sepoy Jivan Singh (1221) Sepoy Nand Singh
To commemorate the men, the British built two Sargarhi Gurdwaras: one in Amritsar very close to the main entrance of the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple),
and another in Ferozepur Cantonment, which was the district that most of the men hailed from. The Indian military, in particular the Indian Army have been pushing for the battle to be taught in India's schools. They want it taught, due to the heroism shown by the Indian soldiers to act as inspiration for young children – in the field of bravery. There were articles like these, printed in the Panjab's longest established newspaper, The Tribune in 1999: "the military action at Sargarhi is taught to students the world over and particularly to students in France." Although it is not clear exactly how widely the story was taught in France (it is not on the current national school curriculum there) the news was enough to provoke political debate, and the battle has been taught in schools in the Panjab since 2000.
Sikh Military Officers of the Sikh Nation, Punjab in the ‘Brahmin-Hindu’ India PARAM VIR CHAKKAR (PVC)
Flying Officer Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon (July 17, 1943 – December 14, 1971)
PARAM VIR CHAKKAR
Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon son of Warrant Officer Hon. Flight Lieutenant Trilok Singh Sekhon was born at Rurka Isewal village in District Ludhiana on July 17th,
1943. He was commissioned in the (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian Air Force on June 4th, 1967 as a Flying Officer.
He was the posthumous recipient of the only PVC (the highest military award in India) awarded to Indian Air Force personnel. Flying Officer Sekhon's award was
in recognition of his lone and fatal defence of Srinagar Air Base during an air raid in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
During the war, he was with the No. 18 Squadron, "The Flying Bullets" flying the Folland Gnat fighter aircraft based at Srinagar.
On December 14th, 1971 Srinagar airfield was attacked by a wave of six Pakistan Air Force F-86 jets. Flying Officer Sekhon was on readiness duty at that time.
Soon the Pakistani aircrafts started hovering over the airfield and strafing various targets on the ground. Attempting to take-off with enemy aircraft overhead and the runway under attack was suicidal. However, Flying Officer Sekhon, unmindful of his safety, flew his Folland Gnat to engage the two attacking Sabers. In the air battle that ensued, he secured a direct hit on one Saber and set another ablaze. The later was seen heading away towards Rajauri, trailing smoke and flame.
At this juncture four more Pakistani Sabers came on the scene and surrounded his aircraft. He chose to give a fight again. In the dog fight that ensued at tree-top
level, he held on for some time, but his aircraft was hit and he was killed. The bravery, flying skill and determination displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon, earned
him the highest wartime gallantry medal, PVC. His skill was later praised in an article by Salim Baig Mirza, the Pakistani pilot who shot him down.
Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon is remembered for his gallantry and his statues have also been installed in many cities in the Panjab (India). His citation is also
included for the interest of readers.
Citation
Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon 18 Squadron 10877 F (P)
Flying Officer Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon was a pilot of a Folland Gnat detachment based at Srinagar for the air defence of the valley against Pakistani air attacks. In accordance with the international agreement dating back to 1948, no air defence aircraft were based at Sirinagar, until the outbreak of hostilities with Pakistan.
Flying Officer Sekhon was, therefore, unfamiliar with the terrain and was not acclimatized to the altitude of Srinagar, especially with the bitter cold and biting
winds of the Kashmir winter. Nevertheless, from the outset of the war, he and his colleagues fought successive waves of intruding Pakistani aircraft with valour and determination, maintaining the high reputation of the Folland Gnat aircraft. On December 14th, 1971 Srinagar Airfield was attached by a wave of six Pakistani Sabre aircrafts. Flying Officer Sekhon was on readiness duty at the time. However, he could not take off at once because of the clouds of dust raised by another aircraft, which had just taken off. By the time the runway was fit to take-off, Pakistani aircrafts were overhead, and strafing of the airfield was in progress. Nevertheless, in spite of the mortal danger of attempting to take off during an attack, and in spite of the odds against him, Flying Officer Sekhon took off and immediately engaged a pair of the attacking Sabers. In the fight that followed, at tree top height, he all but held his own, but was eventually was overcome by the attacking force. His aircraft crashed and he was killed. The sublime heroism, supreme gallantry, flying skill and determination, above and beyond the call of
duty, displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon in the face of certain death, set new heights to Air Force traditions.
Subedar Joginder Singh (September 26th, 1921 – October 23rd, 1962)
Joginder Singh was born in Faridkot (Panjab) on September 26th, 1921. On September 28th, 1936 he was enrolled in the 1 Sikh Regiment. He was a Subedar
in the Brahmin-Hindu Indian Army. During the 1962 Indo-China War, Subedar Joginder Singh commanded a platoon in the Tawang sector of NEFA (North East Frontier Agency). While holding a defensive position on a ridge in Tongpeng La area on Bum La axis, the platoon noticed heavy Chinese concentration opposite Bum La across the McMohan Line on October 20th, 1962. This was indeed a preparatory step of the Chinese advance on Bum La axis on October 23rd.
At 05:30 hours on October 23rd the Chinese launched a heavy attack on the Bum La axis. The intention was to achieve a breakthrough to Tawang. The Chinese
attacked the Ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. The attack was supported by artillery and mortar fire, besides other weapons. The fierce resistance
of the Sikh platoon, however, compelled the Chinese to fall back with heavy losses. However, the Chinese regrouped quickly and launched a fresh attack under
the cover of an artillery barrage.Under such fatal circumstances Subedar Joginder Singh and his platoon stood firm before the advancing enemy. In this fierce action, the platoon lost half of its men but not the will to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh, despite a wound in the thigh, refused evacuation. The last wave of the Chinese attack, which was more determined and more forceful, followed next. Now the platoon had very few men left to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh,therefore, manned a light machine gun and killed a large number of assaulting forces. However, he could not stem the tide of the Chinese advance single-handedly. The Chinese Army continued advancing with little concern for the casualties. By now all ammunition with the platoon had been exhausted. When the situation became desperate, Subedar Joginder Singh and his men emerged from their position with fixed bayonets, shouting the Sikh battle cry, "Wahe Guruji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guruji ki Fateh." They fell upon the advancing Chinese and bayoneted many to death.
Finally better weapons and numerical superiority of the Chinese prevailed and Subedar Singh was captured after this epic battle. He died from his wounds and
frostbite as a POW (prisoner of war) in Chinese custody. One of his fellow soldiers later recalled that when his Chinese captors wanted to amputate his frostbitten
foot, he told them that it would affect his chances of promotion after release and refused to undergo the operation. Subedar Joginder Singh was awarded the highest wartime gallantry medal, the PVC, posthumously. His citation is as under:
Citation
SUBEDAR JOGINDER SINGH 1 SIKH (JC 1547)
Subedar Joginder Singh was the commander of a platoon of the Sikh Regiment holding a defensive position at a ridge near Tongpen La in NEFA. At 05:30 hours on October 23, 1962 the Chinese opened a very heavy attack on the Bumla axis with the intention of breaking through to Towang. The leading battalion of the
enemy attacked the ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. Subedar Joginder Singh and his men moved down the first wave, and the enemy was temporarily
halted by the heavy losses it suffered. Within a few minutes, a second wave came over and was dealt with similarly. But the platoon had, by then, lost half of its
men.
Subedar Joginder Singh was wounded in the thigh but refused to be evacuated. Under his inspiring leadership the platoon stubbornly held its ground and did not
withdraw.
Meanwhile the position was attacked for the third time. Subedar Joginder Singh himself manned a light machine-gun and shot down a number of the enemy. The Chinese however, continued to advance despite heavy losses. When the situation became untenable, Subedar Joginder Singh and the few men that were left in the
position fixed bayonets and charged the advancing Chinese, bayoneting a number of them before he and his comrades were overpowered. Throughout this action,
Subedar joginder Singh displayed devotion to duty, inspiring leadership and bravery of the highest order.
Naib Subedar Bana Singh
Naib Subedar Bana Singh was born in Kadyal in Jammu & Kashmir on January 6th, 1949. He was enrolled in the Indian Army on January 6th, 1969 into the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI). He was awarded the Param Vir Chakkar, the highest wartime gallantry medal in India.
Naib Subedar Bana Singh volunteered to be a member of a task force constituted in June 1987 to clear an intrusion by an adversary in the Siachen Glacier area at an altitude of 21,000 feet. The post was virtually an impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls, 1500 feet high, on both sides. Naib Subedar Bana Singh led his men through an extremely difficult and hazardous route. He inspired them by his indomitable courage and leadership. The brave Naib Subedar and his men crawled and closed in on the adversary.
He displayed the most conspicuous gallantry and leadership under the most adverse conditions.
Lance Naik Karam Singh (September 15th, 1915 – July 18th, 1948)
Lance Naik Karam Singh was born in Barnala, Panjab. He was an Indian military war hero who was awarded the Param Vir Chakkar, the Brahmin-Hindu India's
highest wartime military award in 1948.
He was enrolled in the 1 battalion of Sikh Regiment on September 15th, 1941 of the British India army. Karam Singh fought on behalf of the British India Empire
in WW II and was awarded Military Medal on March 14th, 1944. Karam Singh earned his PVC or his gallant action in the Brahmin-Hindu India’s war imposed on
Pakistan War of 1947.
Karam Singh retired from the Brahmin-Hindu Indian Army as Honorary Captain. His wife was Sardarni Gurdial Kaur.
Distinct Sikh Officers in Indian Army
Chief of the (Brahmin-Hindu) Indian Army
CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF JOGINDER JASWANT SINGH
General Joginder Jaswant Singh was born in Bahawalpur (Pakistan) on September 17th, 1945. He was the first Sikh Chief of Army Staff of the Brahmin-Hindu India. He served as Chief of Army Staff from January 31st, 2005 to September 30th, 2007. Belonging to the Sikh martial kaum, he is a third-generation soldier. His family migrated to India (Patiala, Panjab) following the partition of the Sikh Nation, Punjab in 1947. His grandfather served in the 1/67 Panjab Regiment during WWI in Mesopotamia and Kut-al-Amara, both in present day’s Iraq. General Singh was commissioned in a Maratha regiment during the times of the British India Army. His father, Lt. Col. Jaswant Singh Marwah served in the Electrical & Mechanical Engineers from 1943 to 1973. He was also a veteran of WWII.
General Singh has served on many prestigious appointments. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal, War Wound Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Chief of the Brahmin-Hindu Army Staff's Commendation.
He assumed the office of the Chief of the Army Staff on February 1st, 2005. He is widely considered to be an advanced thinking soldier and is a professional
personnel.
General Singh assumed command of the Brahmin-Hindu Indian Army, as the 22nd Chief of Army Staff, on January 31st, 2005 commanding the Brahminical
saffaronized army of over a million soldiers. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the 9 Maratha Light Infantry on August 2nd, 1964. He received the colour of the battalion from the late president Dr. Zakir Hussain at the Investitute Parade in 1968.
Following his retirement, he became governor of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in January 2008.
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh was born in Lyalpur (Faisalabad, Pakistan), in British ‘annexed’ Sikh Nation on April 15th, 1919 in an Aulakh family.
Arjan Singh was educated at Montgomery (Sahiwal-Pakistan). He entered the Royal Air Force (RAF) College Cramwell in 1938 and was commissioned as a
Pilot Officer in December 1939. He led No.1 Squadron, Indian Air Force into command during the Arakan Campaign in 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1944 and commanded the British Indian Air Force Exhibition Flight in 1945.
He was Chief of the Air Staff or CAS, from August 1st, 1964 to July 15th, 1969 and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1965. He was made Marshal of the Air
Force in January 2002.
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC is the only officer of the Brahmin- Hindu Indian Air Force to be promoted to five star ranks, equal to a Field Marshal.
Arjan Singh's two operational tenures on the Burma Front during WWII, the first as a Pilot Officer with No.1 Squadron ("Tigers") and subsequently in 1944, as
Commander of the same Squadron, are outstanding landmarks of his enviable flying career. In the first, he assiduously learned the techniques of air warfare in
the thick of battle, during ceaseless sorties that he flew day in and day out. During the second, as a consummate Squadron Commander, he displayed masterly
leadership to the maximum advantage of the Brahmin-Hindu IAF during the siege of Imphal. In recognition of his leadership and gallantry in the air, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on the spot, the first Indian pilot to be so honoured by the Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia.
In 1967, Arjan Singh had the unique honour of being invited to take the salute at the passing out parade of the Royal Air Force Flying College, Cramwell, where he had first learned to fly 28 years earlier and presented the 'Sword of Honour' to the best Cadet.
Measured by any standard, Arjan Singh has had some fine innings. Even after retirement he continued to serve the country. In 1971, he was accredited as India's
Ambassador to Switzerland. From there, in 1974 he went to Kenya, as the Indian High Commissioner, and returned to India in 1976, after having had a Six year
long ambassadorial stint, longer than any other officer from the armed forces. Some years on, he became the Lt. Governor of Delhi. For his meritorious services in the conduct of the 1965’s Brahmin-Hindus’ imposed war on Pakistan, Arjan Singh was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.
Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh
Dilbag Singh was born in Panjab on March 10, 1926. He was the second Sikh Chief of Air Staff, after Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh. Dilbagh Singh took an
interest in flying at a very early age. He joined the British IAF in 1944 at the height of WWII and was posted to the No.1 Squadron flying Hurricanes at Kohat
in 1945.
Promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader in 1954, he assumed the responsibilities of Officer In-charge of Flying at the Ambala Air Base. In August 1955 he was
given the command of No. 2 Squadron flying Spitfire XVIIIs. After four years of operational flying, Dilbagh Singh went to Jamna Nagar as the Chief Instructor at
the Armament Training Wing.
Dilbagh Singh shot into the limelight in late 1962, when he was selected to be trained on the MiG-21F, acquired by the Brahmin-Hindu India from the USSR. He
led the first batch of seven 'chosen' pilots and 15 engineers for training at Lugovya, an airbase in Qazzaqastan in the erstwhile in formerly the defunct state of the USSR for training on the MiG-21F fighter. He also commanded 28th Squadron and in May 1965, Dilbagh Singh handed over the command of No. 28 Squadron to Wing Commander M.S.D. Wollen (later Air Marshal) and joined Air Headquarters as Deputy Director (Weapons). He held the staff job till the end of the 1965, when he took over command of Halwara Air Force Base, in the occupied Punjab, in the rank of Group Captain. His services were recognized with the award of the Vayu Sena Medal in 1966. More staff appointments followed. Dilbagh Singh’s responsibilities included providing facilities to aircraft of the maritime air operations. He became the Senior Air Staff Officer in the Western Air Command of the Brahmin-Hindu India in 1976 and finally became the Air Officer
Commanding in Chief (AOC-in-C) of Western Air Command in 1978. In 1979, He received the Param Vishist Seva Medal for his distinguished services.
In 1981, Dilbagh Singh became the Chief of Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal. His tenure lasted three years till 1984. During his command, the
Brahmin-Hindu IAF saw the induction of the MiG-25, MiG-23 and the selection of the Mirage 2000. Dilbagh Singh laid down the office of CAS in 1984, by which
time, in a career extending over four decades, he had about 5000 flying hours on different types of aircrafts. He was decorated by the government three times for
his distinguished services.
Lt. Gen. Harbakhsh Singh (1913-1999)
Before discussing the period of Lt.Gen Harbakash Singh, the role of prominent officers like Lt. Gen Bikram Singh, in charge, Western Command of the Brahmin-
Hindu India, Lt. Gen Daulat Singh and six other Sikh generals of the Brahmins- Hindu Indian army warrants discussion, to do justice on the role of these senior
and young officers. These officers were killed in an unfortunate helicopter crash in 1964. Their death in the helicopter crash or a sabotaged crash, which flew from Jammu to Srinagar, in the area of the Brahmins-Hindus occupied area of the Internationally Disputed Areas of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947, was not an
ordinary crash in the history of the Brahmins-Hindus Army and air force. Many (9 out of 10) officers killed were not any ordinary officers. They all had received
commission in the British India Empire. They were young officers and had well deserved to become the Chief(s) of the saffaronized Indian army of the Brahmins- Hindus. In 1964, one could see the photograph of the young Lt. Gen Bikran Singh in every shop of Jammu’s main market or bazaar. The Sikh Nation and the Guru Khalsa Panth lost her brave sons in the enemy’s vicious plot in the peace period. Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh was born at Badrukhan, Sangrur in 1913.After graduation from Government College Lahore he joined the British India army and was commissioned into the 5th Sikh Regiment in 1935. He was a graduate of the 1st course at IMA (British Indian Military Academy). He was attached for one year, with a British battalion, The Argyl & Sutherland
Highlanders, wherein he saw active service on the North West Frontier. He commanded a Company of 5th Sikh in 1942, in Malaya, against the Japanese.
Severely wounded in the head, a steel plate, which he carried to his last day, was a constant reminder. He was in a Military Hospital (MH) when General A. E.
Percival, Allied Field Commander, surrendered all Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore to the Japanese in 1942. Then followed three years of a miserable
existence and near starvation as a Japanese POW (Prisoner of War). Released at the end of the war in 1945, he remained in Japanese POW camps.
Posted as second-in-command of 4th Sikh on release from MH, he was perhaps the only deputy ever to ride a horse on parade in an infantry battalion, as he was too weak to march.
Promoted to command 163 Brigade, his was one of the two brigades launched by General Thimmaya, then in command of Sri Division (later 19 Division) of the
British India army, on May 17th, 1948 Commanding 5 Division and 4 Corps for a while, during the Chinese Operations or India’s China debacle of JL Nehru alias
Mobark Ali (www.krishnajnehru.blogspot.com 6/8/2009) of 1962, where many soldiers believe that had he been allowed to command the Corps during the second
phase of the battle by the Chinese, which started on November 20th, the situation would have been quite different in the Brahmins-Hindus Indian state of NEFA.
Sadly for the Corps, their old GOC, Lt. General B. M. Kaul, was sent back to command by the then Defence Minister. Lt. General Harbakhsh Singh was then
given command of 33 Corps at Siliguri and he finally took over as the Western Army Commander in November 1964. Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh was the General-Officer-Commanding-in- Chief of Western Army Command, (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian Army during the War of 1965.
Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh passed away on November 14th, 1999. Very few knew about it, therefore apart from his friends and contemporaries, former officers of the Sikh Regiment of which he had been colonel for over a decade, and others such as I, who had been on his staff, gathered at the Delhi cantonment to say our final farewell. The Army did give him pride by giving him a send off befitting to a great soldier.Lt. Gen Harbakash Singh’s story with the (Brahmins-Hindus) Army does not end here. He was a deserving candidate for the Chief of Staff of Army. However, his main drawback was that he was a Sikh officer and JL Nehru alias Mobark Ali was deadly against the Sikhs. As such, he was made to retire from the Brahmins- Hindus saffaronized army. The story of Lt. Gen Harbakash Singh does not end here. His name surfaced as the next High Commissioner of India to Canada after his retirement. Since he had been married in a Canadian Sikh family, the Brahmins-Hindus administration put the excuse that he cannot be appointed High Commissioner to Canada, because his wife is not an Indian by birth. However, Lt. Gen. Harbakash Singh gave a damn to the plum appointments. A Sikh general cannot be appointed as the High Commissioner to a foreign country because his wife is not an Indian by birth. However, a prime minister’s (Rajiv Gandhi) wife can be procured from a foreign country (i. e., Sonya Gandhi, an Italian by birth). Is she an Indian by birth? What hypocricy of the Brahmins-Hindus of the devious, discriminatory and apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy!
The words once used to describe Field Marshal Lord Wavell, seen apt for describing Lt. General Harbakhsh Singh, "He was essentially a soldier’s soldier,
and takes an assured place as one of the great commanders in military history." The last post was sounded and the pyre lit, and as the smoke curled its way into
the heavens and the bugle sounded reveille, transporting the General to Valhalla, to join the ranks of the many great soldiers who once trod this earth, there were moist eyes all around. As the mourners said their silent farewells, the words of Sir Walter-Scott from The Lady of the Lake came to mind: "Soldier, rest thy warfare is o’er, Dream of fighting fields no more; Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, Morn of toil, nor night of waking."
I said my final farewell, "Goodbye my General, till we meet again."
Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora (February 13th, 1916 – May 3rd, 2005)
Jagjit Singh Arora was born in Jhelum (Pakistan) on February 13th, 1916. He belonged to a Sikh family. His father was an engineer. He was commissioned in
the 2nd Panjab Regiment in 1939, after his graduation from the British Indian Military Academy. He had reached the rank of Brigadier by the time he was
involved in border hostilities with Chinese troops in 1961.
In 1971, Arora was appointed commander of the Indian Army in the Eastern front in the India’s imposed war for India’s peace making process of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which led to the dismemberment of the East Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh. He was responsible for creating hostilities in East
Pakistan.
Arora had also been closely involved in training and equipping the Mukti Bahinis to transform them into an effective guerrilla force to fight against Pakistan, in its
own territory. Arora had helped to oversee the logistical preparations for the coming battles, including the improvement of roads, communications and bridges,
as well as the movement of 30,000 tons of supplies close to the border of East Pakistan. On December 16th, 1971 East Pakistan became Bangladesh. The creation
of Bangladesh resulted in the massive surrender of nearly 90,000 professional soldiers under Lt. Gen Arora’s command. The in charge of the Pakistan’s professional soldiers was General Niazi. The latter was Gen Arora’s classmate in the army school, where both received commission in the British India army. The Brahmins-Hindus India took more than 90,000 prisoners of war. They were brought to India and kept in camps at various places. Right after the surrender
ceremony, Lt. Gen Arora went to the Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, to pay his respect to the Guru’s Darbar, the Darbar Sahib Complex, of the Almighty Waheguru ji. It is believed that Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi alias Maimuna Begum did not like Lt. Gen Arora’s going to the Darbar Sahib first rather than presenting his
salute to her. It is believed further from the reliable sources that the Brahmins- Hindus India administration wanted to massacre the professional sorldiers of
Pakistan, to make Pakistan without senior professional soldiers. However, it was Lt. Gen Arora’s stern warning to the Indian administration, as well as promise to
his friend of Pakistan, General Niazi, that ‘not even a single soldier will be missing when they are repatriated to their country’. General Arora kept his promise made to his friend, Gen Niazi. The notorious administration of the Brahmins-Hindus Indian administration kept on watching helplessly.
After his retirement Arora spent several years as a Member of of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) for the Sikh party, the Akali Dal.
He fiercely opposed the 1984 army attack on the Darbar Sahib Complex (Golden Temple Complex) in Amritsar, the Sikhs’ holiest and one of the historic and prime institutions, where more than 260,000 innocent Sikhs lost their lives during an ‘undeclared war on the Sikh Nation, Punjab, in a brutal military “Operation
Bluestar” of June, 1984 (Sekhon AS 2009 ISBN0-9548929-4-1). The holy building was turned into debris and precious sculptures were lost. Arora bitterly criticised the attack by his own army, on his “own nation and soul”, as he always said. He was also a leading activist on behalf of the victims of anti-Sikh riots in
Delhi in 1984 which followed the assassination of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, by her Sikh bodyguards and/or the Brahmins-Hindus India’s armed personnel. He died on May 3rd, 2005 at the age of 89, in New Delhi, India.It should be noted by the readers of this title, that one young Sikh Senior Vice Mashall, Manjit Singh Sekhon of Dakha, Punjab, was deliberately given an honourable discharge from the (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian Air Force during the administration of the saffaronized Hindu India’s New Delhi administration of a criminal prime minister AB Vajpayee. For the reasons that (i) a Sikh must not succeed as the Chief of the Air Force and (ii) because of the stupidity of Prakash (Hanera/Darkness) Singh (Sinh) Badal, the chief minister of Punjab, who insisted that Senior Air Vice Marshall Manjit Singh Sekhon should see AB Vajpayee, to bring him back to Punjab, as the Chief, Western Command of the (Brahmins- Hindus) Indian Air Force.
Lt. Gen. Joginder Singh Dhillon (1914-2003)
Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Dhillon was a decorated Sikh soldier.
He was commissioned in Bengal Engineer Group in 1936. It is said that he fought bravely in 1965 Indo-Pak war. Even his counterpart Pakistani Generals who fought against him in the 1965 war, on hearing his death, in 2003, paid warm tribute to him as a brave warrior. He was the first Army Officer to be awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’ on November 24th, 1965.
Maj. Baba Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh was born into a Sikh family at the village of Batthe Bhaini in Panjab (India) on August 3rd, 1941. He competed his preliminary schooling at the
village school, and then did his matriculation from DAV High School in Patti in March 1955. In June 1956 he enrolled himself as a soldier in Amritsar and joined
the Corps of Signals. On June 30th, 1965 he was granted commission and was posted to the 14 Rajput regiment. During India’s China debacle of 1962, he served
as Adjutant of his unit. It was with this regiment that he met his end on October 4th, 1965 in Sikkim.
Major "Baba" Harbhajan Singh died near the Nathula Pass in eastern Sikkim, India. He is remembered by the Brahmins-Hindus Indian army, by building a
shrine in his honour. Baba is reported to have granted favours to the soldiers, and guarded each one in the inhospitable terrain.
A shrine was built at his samadh, at an elevation of around 4,000 metres (13,123 ft). According to army folklore, Baba is a stickler for discipline and is known to admonish those who do not tow this line. A camp bed is kept for him and his boots are polished and uniform kept ready every night. The sheets are reportedly crumpled every morning and boots muddy by evening. The Major continues to draw a salary and takes his annual leave.
According to legend, Major Harbhajan Singh drowned in a glacier following the 1962 Sino-Indian War. In 1968, while escorting a column of mules to a remote
outpost. He was the first casualty of the 23rd Panjab Regiment, and a manhunt was launched to find him. He was found after three days and cremated with full
military honours. According to legend, it was Major Harbhajan Singh who led the search party to his body, and later, through a dream, instructed one of his
colleagues to build and maintain a shrine after him.
Legend also has it that in the event of a war between India and China, Baba would warn the Indian and Chinese soldiers three days in advance. During the flag
meetings between the two nations at Nathula, the Chinese set a chair aside for the saint. Every year on September 14th a jeep departs with his personal belongings to the nearest railway station, New Jalpaiguri, where it is then sent by train to the village of Kuka, in Kapurthala district in Panjab. A small sum is also sent to his
mother each month.
Lt. Harcharan Singh
Harcharan Singh was born in Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak in 1986. He is the first Sikh officer to be recruited in the Pakistan Army.
Harcharan Singh passed his matriculation from the Government Guru Nanak High School and passed his F Sc (pre-engineering) in 2004 from Forman Christian
College, Lahore. He then passed Inter Services Selection Board (ISSB) examination in 2006.
Harcharan Singh was commissioned in the Pakistan army by the then Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on October 27th, 2007 at Pakistan
Military Academy at Kakul.
A news, in a leading English Daily of Pakistan about the Singh, appeared as follows:
Pakistan army gets its first Sikh officer
One person stood out among the latest batch of smartly turned out cadets that graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy - the country's first Sikh army officer Harcharan Singh.
Singh, who was conspicuous due to his green turban and beard, marched in step with his fellow cadets before the army's vice chief, Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, during the passing out parade on Saturday.
Once the official ceremony was over, the 21-year-old officer joined his relatives and friends from Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, in
a spirited 'bhangra' dance to the beat of drums.
He also became emotional on meeting his parents after the parade.
"It is a matter of great privilege and an honour for me that today I am standing in front of you in the khaki uniform. I have been given a great responsibility," Singh told reporters at the Kakul academy at Abbottabad. "With the passage of time, I will rove that we (Sikhs) are more loyal than our Muslim brothers. I thank the Pakistan army that I have been given this chance," said the cadet who first came to the limelight in 2005 when he became the first member of Pakistan's Sikh community to be recruited by the army.
Born in 1986 in Nankana Sahib, Singh was part of the Pakistan Military Academy's 116th Long Course.
Other cream of the senior Sikh Generals, who had been killed in a helicopter crash near Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir (under the occupation of the alleged Indian democracy) had been 9 out of 10 killed in November, 1963. Among these nine Sikh Generals were Lt. Gen Bikram Singh, General Officer in Command of the Jammu and Kashmir area, Lt. Gen. Daulat Singh, Gen Pinto, and so on.
Lt. Gen Bikram Singh was one of the highly competent Sikh Generals. Had he been alive, he would have been the Chief of the army staff well before the Joginder Jaswant Singh, who had the blessings of an unelected but the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ choice through Rajiv Gandhi’s Italian born widow, Sonya Gandhi. Quite a few circles feel that despite Lt.Gen Bikram Singh’s popularity in the Jammu and Kashmir area, the JL Nehru’s anti-Sikh policies would have been the stumbling block in Lt. Gen Bikram Singh’s way to get the top job in the (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian army.
Major Gen Parminder Singh Bhagat, Maj Gen Rajinder Singh Sparrow, MVC, Lt. Gen. Joginder Singh Dhillon, Maj. Gen. Joginder Singh, Maj. Gen. Gurbaksh Singh, Maj. Gen. Rawind Singh Grewal. Lt. Col. Inder Jit Singh Butalia, Lt. Col. Gurbans Singh Sangha, Lt. Col. Ranjit Singh Dayal, Major Bhupinder Singh, Major Gurdial Singh, Major Ajit Singh, Lt Col Sampuran Singh, Major Sarvjit Singh Ratra, Captain Sansar Singh, Lt. Teja Singh, Lt. Ravinder Singh Bedi, Lt. Col. Jaswant Singh, Jemadar Kulwant Singh, Captain Sampuran Singh, Sardar Sewa Singh, Sardar Chuhar Singh, Naik Hardial Singh, Col Gursaran Singh, Majot Hardial Singh, Lance Naik Tirath Singh, Lance Havildar Balwant Singh, Subedar Major Dalip Singh Havildar Bagh Singh, Major Balwant Singh, Naik Kehar Singh, Sardar Harbans Singh, Major Harwant Singh, Maj Gen Jaswant Singh Bhullar (Conspired against the Sikh Nation, an agent of the Research and Analysis
Wing and the former Secretary General, World Sikh Organization (International).
In the Indian Air Force were Sardar Surjit Singh Majithia, Sardar Dalip Singh Majithia, Sardar Hardit Singh Malik, Air Commodore ‘Baba’ Mehar Singh, Sq Ldr Pritpal Singh, AVM Shivdev Singh, AVM Harjinder Singh, AVM Murat Singh, Wing Commander Prem Pal Singh, Major Mahinder Singh Chaudhary, Wg. Cdr. Chandan Singh, Sq. Ldr.Amarjit Singh Sandhu, Ft. Lt. Hamit Singh Mangat, Ft. Lt. Trilochan Singh, Sqn Ldr Harcharan Singh Gill.
Other officers included were Hon Captain Piara Singh, Havildar Prakash Singh, VC, Naik Gian Singh, VC, Lt Karamjeet Singh Judge, VC, Jamadar Nand Singh, Captain Gurbachan Singh Slaria, Subedar Karam Singh, Sardar Joginder Singh, Naik Chain Singh, Sardar Kewal Singh, Subedar Ajit Singh, Havildar Sarup Singh, Sardar Gurdip Singh, Lance Naik Sardar Singh, Jamadar Saudagar Singh, Sardar Jagpal Singh, Havildar Malkiat Singh, Sardar Gurdip Singh, Lt. Surinder Singh Sekhon, Lt. Har Iqbal Singh, Subedar Massa Singh, Subedar Gurdev Singh, Lance Nail Pritam Singh, Sardar Sewa Singh, Naik-Subedar Ajmer Singh, Risaldar Achhar Singh, Lance Havildar Gurdev Singh, Naik Chand Singh, Sardar Sarup Singh, Havildar Umrao Singh, Sardar Ujagar Singh, Sardar Bhag Singh,VC, Naik Pritam Singh, VC, Subedar Sohan Singh, VC, Sardar Maghar Singh, VC, Sardar Shingara Singh, VC, Havildar Joginder Singh, Subedar Mohar Singh, Jamadar Mohinder Singh, Sardar Mewa Singh, Sardar Ranjit Singh, Lance Naik Gian Singh, Naik Karnail Singh, Havildar Joginder Singh, Lt. Parminder Singh, Naik Ranjit Singh Dogra, Flt. Lt. Karan Singh Kalsia, Sardar Bachan Singh, Subedar Nasib Singh, Sardar Mohinder Singh, Captain Mehta Singh, Jamadar Prithi Singh, etc.
The Battle of Richhmar Galli brought the honour of 18 medals, the Junagarh Police Action, The Hyderabad Police Action brought 3 medals to Havildar Bachitar Singh, Naik Hardyal Singh and Seva Singh (one each); the Nagalan Operation brought 6 medals to the Sikhs. More Sikh officers were injured in the JL Nehru’s China Debacle of 1963. The Battle of Burki brought 6 medals to the Sikhs (The Sikhs: Portrait of Courage 1966
Role of the Sikhs in the British Armed Forces in the World War I & II
There had been more than 90,000 Sikhs sacrificed their lives, while fighting on behalf of the Great Britain, to preserve peace in Europe. Additionally, there had
been more than 104,000 plus armed personnel of Punjab, which had been ‘annexed’ to the British Empire. The Punjab of the Sikh monarch, Ranjit Singh, 1799 to 14th March, 1849. In addition to the Sikhs of Punjab, the Muslims of Punjab of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, fought to preserve peace in Europe in the periods of WW I & II.
Sikh warriors in the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ India
Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman (1885-1969)
Darshan Singh Pheruman, Political leader and martyr, was born at the village of Pheruman (in present-day) Amritsar district on August 1st, 1885. His father’s name
was Chanda Singh and mother was Raj Kaur. After passing his high school examination, he joined the Indian Army as a sepoy/private in 1912. Two years later, he resigned from the army and set up as a contractor at Hissar. He was doing well as a contractor when a taunt from his mother, who was deeply religious, led him to give up his business and plunge into the Akali Movement for the reform of Gurdwara management. In 1921, he was arrested in the morcha (agitation), launched by Sikhs, for recovering and seizing the keys of the Darbar Sahib (aka Golden Temple) treasury, from the British deputy commissioner of Amritsar. He was imprisoned for one year for this act.
In December 1924, he led the 14th Shaheedi jatha to Jaito, and was jailed for ten months. He also took part in the non-cooperation movement, serving a 14 month
term in jail. In 1926, he visited Malaya where he was detained by the British on the basis of his political record in the British India Empire.
While in jail, he went on a hungerstrike, in protest against the orders forbidding the wearing of Kachha or drawers, one of the five tenets of Khalsa discipline, the
Sikh Way of Life. He continued the hungerstrike for 21 days, till he had won his point.
Returning home, Darshan Singh joined the Civil Disobedience Movement and courted imprisonment three times. He took part in the ‘Quit India’ campaign during World War II. For a number of years, he was a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and its general secretary for two terms.
He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of parliament, and retained his seat up to 1964. In 1959, he served his connection with the
Congress and joined the Swatantra Party of which he was one of the founders.
The Panjab state had to face a political crisis when Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman, announced on August 1st, 1969 that he would go on a hungerstrike until
death on August 15th, 1969 to secure the inclusion of Chandigarh in Panjab. He accused the Akali leadership of lacking courage and blamed Sant Fateh Singh and
Master Tara Singh for lowering the image of the Sikhs in the eyes of the public by running away from martyrdom. A conference was held on August 1st, 1969 at
Rayya where Sardar Darshan Singh announced that he would go to Amritsar to pay homage at the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) on August 14th, 1969 and took a pledge to lay down his life if the demands were not conceded. However, on the night of August 12th the Panjab police arrested him from his residence at village Pheruman under section 9 of the Panjab Security Act and lodged him in the jail at Amritsar.
At that time, An Akali government, headed by Sardar Gurnam Singh, was ruling Panjab and Sant Fateh Singh headed the Akali Party. As already pointed out, Sant
Fateh Singh had agni-kunds constructed on the roof of the holy Akal Takht for his self-immomolation, in case he died while fasting for inclusion of Chandigarh in
Panjab. But when the Sant broke his fast without getting the demand conceded, people protested against the existence of these agni-kunds, which were a standing
disgrace to the Sikh traditions. Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman also wrote an open letter to Sant Fateh Singh, requesting him to demolish these agni-kunds, which were a symbol of hypocrisy and fraud and a provocation to the whole Guru Khalsa Panth.
Darshan Singh Pheruman, on the other hand, was a man of iron will and firm determination. He was determined and let the world know that a Sikh never relents
from a vow taken during the religious prayer, i.e. Ardas. He wanted to remove the stigma of unfulfilled vows on the fair name of the Sikh community, known for its long history of martyrdom and sacrifices — the stigma for which Sant Fateh Singh and Master Tara Singh were responsible. Therefore, on August 15, 1969 at 4
p.m., he did the same Ardas, which he was to do at the Akal Takht if he had not been arrested, and started his hunger-strike unto death in police custody. As the
fast progressed, the condition of Pheruman deteriorated and he had to be shifted to the Government Hospital at Amritsar, where he was kept under police security and interviews with him were strictly regulated by the police. Pheruman’s prestige enhanced, as it became known that he was determined to die by fasting unless his demands were fulfilled. On October 27th, 1969 Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, “I am sorry that no effort has been made so far by anyone to explain to you the real factors, a Sikh is bound by whatever he says in Ardas before his Guru. I went on this fast with a true and pure heart and by renouncing any fear of death. Once I have offered my Ardas, I cannot ignore it unless its purpose is fulfilled, i.e. till Chandigarh is given to Panjab.”
Sensing popular support for Pheruman’s fast amongst the Sikh masses, Sant Fateh Singh, accompanied by his entourage, visited the Government Hospital at Amritsar on October 27th, 1969 with a basket of flowers to call on Darshan Singh Pheruman and persuade him to give up his fast. However, per chance, the moment Sant Fateh Singh entered the hospital (at 3.30 p.m.), electricity failed in the whole town and remained off continuously for 48 hours thereafter, due to some major breakdown in the powerhouse. Pheruman died on the same day after fasting for 74 days. Thus he can be acclaimed as the first martyr in the cause of Sikh Homeland because, in his last statement, expressing his grief over the fact that, while “the country is now free but the Panth is still in bondage or enslaved,” Pheruman had reiterated his intention to lay down his life by fasting “so that the Panth may attain its true status of ungenerous sovereignty within the constitutional framework of a free and sovereign India”, and “so that the next step may become possible for the establishment of the Sikh Homeland within the Union of India.”
Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale (Shaheed-Bilas Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa) (1947-1984)
“Even Bhindranwale, the so-called extremist never demanded anything beyond the autonomy as envisaged in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which had been promised by Jawahar Lal Nehru alias Mobark Ali as far back as 1946, and which the Sikhs had unanimously demanded in 1949. In May 1984, Bhindranwale’s talk with Dr. Ravi, an emissary sent by the Prime Minister, showed that he was out for a compromise which would be in the interest of both India and the Sikhs. Kuldip Nayar wrote, “When the agitation began nearly two years ago, it was led by reasonable men seeking a reasonable settlement of reasonable demands,
and at least three times there were prospects of agreement at a negotiating table but each time Prime Minister Indira Ghandi alias Maimuna Begum sabotaged the agreement.” (Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, India Commits Suicide).
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, son of Baba Joginder Singh, was born at village Rode of District Faridkot in 1947. His father was a pious Jatt farmer of moderate means.
A phenomenal figure of modern Sikhism who within his seven brief years of a total of 37, marked by a precipitous course, emerged as a man of extraordinary grit
and charisma. Soon he came to be talked about in the far-flung academe as well as in political forums. He burst upon the world consciousness with an urgent message unmistakably delivered. He had a meteoric rise to fame and his photographs began to be avidly displayed on the front pages of newspapers and journals across the continents. Trained in a Sikh seminary to preach the holy word of the Gurus, he stood face to face with history at several critical moments.
The youngest of seven brothers, Jarnail Singh was educated in the village primary school. He engaged himself in farming until 1965 when he joined the Damdami
Taksal of Bhindar Kalan village, about 15 kilometres north of Moga, then headed by Sant Gurbachan Singh Khalsa. But his association with Bhinder village was
only notional because Sant Gurbachan Singh, thought associated with Gurdwara Akhand Parkash in Bhinder Kalan, usually took out his group of pupils on
prolonged tours. Jarnail Singh underwent a one-year course in scriptural, theological and historical studies, at the hands of Sant Gurbachan Singh Khalsa, partly during one of his tours, but for the most part during his stay at Gurdwara Sees Ganj Patshahi IX, near Nabha Sahib village, 15 kilometres south of Chandigarh along the Chandigarh-Patiala road.
In 1966, he rejoined his family and settled down to farming again. He was married in 1966 to Bibi Pritam Kaur, daughter of Bhai Sucha Singh of Bilaspur, and had
two sons, Ishar Singh and Inderjit Singh, born in 1971 and 1975 respectively. He continued his religious studies and also kept his close association with the Taksal, which after the death of Sant Gurbachan Singh Khalsa, in June 1969, was headed by Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa, who established his headquarters at Gurdwara
Gurdarshan Prakash at Chowk Mehta, 25 kilometres North-east of Amritsar along the road to Sri Hargobindpur. Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa was killed in a road
accident. Before his death on August 16th, 1977 he had mentioned the name of Sant Jarnail Singh as his successor as the new head of Damdami Taksal. Sant
Jarnail Singh was formally elected at the bhog (obsequies) ceremony in the honour of Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa at Mehta Chowk on August 25th, 1977.
Sant Jarnail Singh exhibited remarkable enthusiasm in carrying out his missionary responsibilities. The primary task he addressed was the administrating of Amrit
(Khalsa initiation). He vehemently denounced drugs, alcoholic drinks and trimming of hair. He took special notice of the Nirankari hearsay, which was
undermining the Sikh structure. Opposition to the Nirankaris had begun during the time of his predecessor, Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa. Matters came to a head on the
‘Revelation of Khalsa’ day of 1978 when Nirankaris held a convention at Amritsar. The Damdami Taksal under Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, another purely religious organisation, protested against the government allowing the Nirankaris to hold their convention at a time the Sikhs were celebrating the ‘Revelation of Khalsa’ anniversary. Some of them, who marched to the site of the convention, were fired upon by Nirankari guards, killing 13 of them on the spot and wounding 78 others. The episode brought Sant Bhindranwale into the political arena. He was sore against the Akali Dal, which was then leading the government in the Panjab, under Prakash Singh Badal, and was partner in the central authority in Delhi. On January 4th, 1980 two days before the Lok Sabha poll, all the 64 Nirankari accused, including their chief Baba Gurbachan Singh, being tried for the killing of Sikhs, were set free, by the sessions judge of Karnal in Haryana. This embittered Sant Bhindranwale. The Hindu media in the Panjab sided with the Nirankaris on the plea of secularism. So did the Congress party which, on returning to power at the Centre, dismissed the Akali government in the Panjab, where too fresh elections were held and Congress government installed.
On September 9th, 1981 Lala Jagat Narain, a press baron of Jalandhar, highly critical of Sant Bhindranwale, was assassinated. The Sant too had been a strong
critic of Jagat Narain. The government suspected the Sant’s hand in the murder and issued warrants for his arrest. He was then on a preaching tour in Haryana and was camping at Chando Kalan village in Hissar district, when a combined force of Panjab and Haryana police raided the village to nab him. He himself escaped to the security of his own headquarters at Mehta Chowk, but the police fired upon his jatha or team of disciples; their luggage was looted, and some of the sacred texts burnt. The Sant offered himself for arrest on September 20th, 1981. This was followed by a spate of violence.
The Sant was released after the Central Home Minister, Giani Zail Singh, declared in the Parliament on October 14th, 1981 that there was no evidence against him to show his hand in Lala Jagat Narain’s murder. The Sant had seen through the Congress conspiracy loaded against the Sikhs. His arrest and subsequent release raised the Sant’s stature among the Sikh laity who, especially the youth, judging him against the Akali leadership, flocked under his banner in ever-increasing numbers. The Sant became increasingly outspoken. The government took notice of the change in Bhindranwale’s stance and proceeded to take action against him. An attempt was made to arrest him while he was on a visit to Bombay and was staying in the Singh Sabha Gurdwara at Dadar on April 20th, 1982 but Sant Bhindranwale was again able to reach safety in the Gurdwara at Mehta Chowk. On July 19th, 1982 the police arrested Bhai Amrik Singh son of the late Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa and president of the All India Sikh Students Federation. Another senior member of the Damdami Taksal, Bhai Tara Singh, was arrested on the following day. Sant Bhindranwale felt highly provoked. Feeling that sanctuary at Mehta Chowk was not safe enough, he moved to the Guru Nanak Niwas rest house in the Darbar Sahib complex in Amritsar on July 20th and called for a Panthic convention on July 25th at which he announced the launching of a morcha (agitation) for the release of his men.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal had been conducting a morcha since April 1982 against the digging of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, which would divert
part of Panjab’s river waters to Haryana. The agitation in spite of massive support from the Sikh peasantry was not bearing any tangible fruit because the site (Kapuri village on the Haryana-Panjab border where the Indian Prime Minister had inaugurated the digging of the canal on April 6th, 1982) was in a remote corner away from the Akali Dal’s headquarters. The Dal now decided to transfer the agitation, now designated Dharam Yuddh or religious war, to Amritsar from
August 4th, 1982. Sant Jarnail Singh merged his own morcha with it, and thus became in a way the joint director of the entire Panth though he still swore loyalty
to the former dictator/director of the Akali morcha, Sant Harchand Singh Longoval.
A further provocation to the Sikhs came from the behaviour of the Haryana government and police during the Asian Games held at Delhi in November 1982.
Sikhs travelling from Panjab to Delhi or back, were indiscriminately stopped, searched and humiliated. Violence in the Panjab was on the increase. It was
becoming more and more clear that the government would seek a military solution of the unrest in Panjab rather than a political one. Sant Bhindranwale exhorted the people to be prepared for a showdown. On December 15th, 1983 he with his men entered the Akal Takht and with the help of a former major-general of the
‘Brahmin-Hindus’ Indian Army, Shahbeg Singh, prepared a network of defensive fortification inside the complex collecting in the meanwhile a large stock of arms,
ammunition and rations anticipating the possibility of a prolonged siege. The government on its part made elaborate plans for an army action (see blow) while
pretending all along its readiness for negotiations and denying any intention of sending armed forces inside the Darbar Sahib complex. The Panjab was placed
under the President’s rule on October 6th, 1983. An ordinance declaring some parts of the state, as disturbed area, was promulgated, and the police was given power to search, arrest or even shoot any person, without fear of any legal action. Six additional divisions of the army including especially trained para commandos were inducted into Panjab by the end of May 1984. On June 1st, while the Sikhs had started preparations in the Golden Temple for the observation of the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan, which fell on the 3rd of June, strict curfew was clamped on Amritsar and surrounding districts. The actual assault of the army’s operation nicknamed “Operation Bluestar” took place on the nights of June 3rd through 6th, 1984. A pitched battle ensued in which the army also used tanks and artillery. On the 7th of June the dead body of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was located in the basement of the Akal Takht. A detailed account of the
‘Undeclared war on the Sikh Nation, Punjab, June1984’ has been presented elsewhere and below.
Once he said in his speech:
“It should be clear to all Sikhs whether living in urban or rural areas that we are slaves and want liberation at any cost. To achieve this end, arm
yourselves and prepare for a war and wait for orders.”
In another speech, he described ‘Sikh Nation’ in these words:
“As far as, I am concerned, we want all the demands of the Anandpur Sahib resolution accepted i.e. ‘Sikhs are a separate nation (Qaum)’. That is all, I have to
say.”
Major General Shahbeg Singh
The Hero who Master-minded Defence of The Darbar Sahib Complex (aka Golden Temple Complex) Against Invading Indian (‘Brahmins-Hindus’) Army
He was ubiquitous, but few could claim to have seen this man whose authority was recognised by all; from the chief secretary of Agartala to those further down. Brigadier Shahbeg Singh had cut his hair short and, with his beard still intact looked like a Pathan. No one really suspected him of being the man in-charge of
the Delta Sector, when he walked acrossed to what was then East Pakistan and met Mukti Bahini volunteers he had organized during the Indo-Pak War of 1970-71.
At the end of the conflagration, Brigadier Shahbeg was a hero and was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. A person, who saw the action from very close
quarters in the eastern theatre, recalled the admiration he had felt for the Brigadier’s organizing capacity, and devotion to duty. The same man saw that
Shahbeg Singh’s bullet ridden body was found in the Akal Takht at Amritsar’s Golden Temple complex. It was a pity that a man, who had distinguished himself
as a nationalist, killed under such circumstances.
1n 1973, Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora, the General Officer in Command of the Eastern Command said of the role of the Mukti Bahini: “Our move to Dacca was
greatly helped by the local population and the Mukti Bahini who operated river craft, bullock carts, cycle rickshaws and provided valuable information to enable
us to continue our advances on to Dacca.”
Shahbeg Singh was the unquestioned master of the Mukti Bahini, or a militia of local volunteers, organized into pockets of amazing resistance. All Mukti Bahini
soldiers came to meet him and constantly sought his advice, Major Shafi, Captain Pasha, Captain Ghaffar and Major Salek, to name a few important visitors to secret meetings on the border, were almost all deserters of the Pakistani Army.
In the aftermath of the war, though Shahbeg Singh maintained a low profile, his mastery over guerrilla warfare was acknowledged without exception. No one
could have advised the Panjab Sikhs of better matters of warfare than Shahbeg Singh, said Colonel Usmani of the Mukti Bahini.
Shahbeg Singh was sacked as Major-General from the (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian Army.
How could such a nationalist lend his expertise for the cause of “so-called extremists” in Panjab? Was it frustration?
The process of his transformation to a Panthic activist is easily understandable. He could not tolerate his community being humiliated by the power-drunk
government at the Centre. That was why he organized training camps for Sikh volunteers and masterminded the defence of the Darbar Sahib Complex (aka
Golden Temple Complex) against marauding Indian Army.
During this inglorious assault Shahbeg Singh personally directed the defence of the holiest Sikh shrine in the world. And, in keeping with Sikh traditions, he laid
down his life on the top floor of the Akal Takht Sahib, which had been converted into a battlefield by the (Brahmins-Hindus) Indian Army, which he had served
with pride and dedication. It is noteworthy that his daughter fought the battle with her father, shoulder to shoulder. It is said that General Shahbeg Singh’s daughter
took care alone of the Para troopers.
Armymen then dragged his body into the basement of the Akal Takht. Shahbeg Singh’s life was well lived, first in the service of the country and then in
the service of the Panth.
The stiff resistance put up by Sikhs at the Darbar Sahib Complex (Golden Temple Complex) against the Indian Army was largely due to the training imparted by the defence bulwarks. He organized and the spirit of do-or-die that he infused among all those who came in contact with him.
An Interview with Major General Shahbeg Singh
Talveen Singh, correspondent of The Telegraph, Calcutta held the Interview, a bare 4 weeks before Shahbeg Singh was killed in the Army crackdown and his body was found riddled with bullets along with that of Sant Bhindranwale, in the basement of Akal Takht on June 7th, 1984.
I am a finer patriot than the Prime Minister, said General Shahbeg Singh.
Major General Shahbeg Singh, whose body was found in the basement of the Akal Takht on June 6th, along with that of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Bhai
Amrik Singh, was interviewed by ‘The Telegraph’ four weeks before he died.
He was a sad, sick man eaten up with bitterness against the Indian government and obsessed with the idea that he had been thrown out of the army only because he was a Sikh. A brilliant General who organized the Mukti Bahini in the 1971 war, was suspected of having taken away loot and eased out of the army.
He seemed surprised, however, that his name was being linked with the Dashmesh Regiment and said that he did not believe in violence.
He made no attempt to hide links with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. However, the General was a slight, frail-looking man with a long, flowing grey beard. His
bitterness about what had happened to him had obviously overwhelmed every other consideration. The ruling passion of his last years was anger and hate (what
might have been created by the anti-Sikh policies dating back from the J L Nehru’s times).
Q. Why were you removed from the army?
A. You should ask the army. I am the only person whom they did not even put on trial. If they could put up other Generals on trial, if they could take them to court and frame charges against them, why couldn’t they do the same for me?
Q. Why didn’t they give you a trial?
A. Because they had nothing against me and they just wanted to throw me out. Leave alone a fair trial, they didn’t give me any kind of trial. They threw me out under a special clause, which has never been invoked in the British army and has been invoked in the Indian army only in my case. This is a special power given to the Chief under which my services were administratively terminated one day before they ended. Then they started two other cases against me: one was that I got a truck in somebody else’s name and the other was that I built a house costing Rupees 900,000. I told them I had built the house for Rs. 1.75 lakhs. Vigilance valued it at Rs. 1.8 lakhs or something. In court it came down to exactly what I had said.
Q. So you won the cases?
A. I won the cases. This was after my dismissal. But I wasn’t dismissed on these grounds. What happened then was that they handed over the case to the CBI three years for the investigation. After dismissing me, they filed this case in the court. Hence, for the next five years I was humiliated and harassed in court. I realized they were delaying the cases deliberately, I went and talked to the then Home Minister, Giani Zail Singh and he assured me justice. I had gone with the
then Advocate General who is a friend of mine, and he told Giani ji that “this man has done so much for the country.” He said, “look this is probably your only General who has brought so much fame to the country and look what you are doing to him.” Giani ji asked for the case to be reviewed but he never did anything
about it. In any case nothing was done. And instead of withdrawing these false cases against me they went on deliberately delaying the legal proceedings. The judge wrote a letter to the CBI saying that the time and effort of the court should not be wasted and witnesses should be produced in court. In spite of this, the case
continued to be delayed and the CBI told me that they could delay it for 20 years if they wished.
Q. favour after being a hero in the Bangladesh War?
A. Because I made a statement, not a statement really, I just said during the Emergency that nobody is indispensable in the service of this country. This to me was a patriotic statement. But this statement was carried through the backdoor to the Chief and the PM and God knows what they thought, that I was a rebel or whatever. The aim was to deny me my promotion because I was a Sikh. This is how Sikhs are being persecuted in the army.
Q. Do you feel that other Sikhs in the army are also discriminated against like this?
A. Of course. It is not just a question ofbeing discriminated against. We are all suspects. It has been stated by no less a person than Air Chief Marshal Arjan
Singh on TV that Sikhs as a class should not be suspected.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the Mukti Bahini, how you went in and set it up.
A. These are all top secret things about which I am not supposed to talk. I am not even allowed to write a book. (If I talked) I would be called unpatriotic and I don’t want that.
Q. But can’t you tell us about the first time you went in and what it was like?
A. You can ask General Jagjit Singh Arora. He was my boss. I am not in the habit of talking about these things.
Q. But since you’ve been victimized….. Of course I’ve been victimized. I even appealed to Mrs. Indira Gandhi alias Maimuna Begum. I said, let me be
court martialled, or put me up before a civil court or a tribunal headed by an eminent legal man. As a last resort I even suggested that my case be looked
into by someone like Mr. Arun Nehru.
A. I also stated in my appeal that I was unwell and that my wife was suffering because I had continuous active service for 13 years with just a six months’ break in between. I was serving in Jammu and Kashmir when I went for the Chinese War. There again in Kaul’s book I am mentioned, because at a time when people were retreating and bringing dishonour to the country, I was going forward and bringing honour. Read Untold Story, page 419, I think!
Q. What was your rank at the time?
A. I was Lt. Colonel, yet the work I was doing was not that of commander’s. I was staff officer. First I was staff officer to General Harbaksh Singh, then I became staff officer to General Kaul and after that came General Manekshaw. I was General Staff Officer in IV corps for all these three Generals. Another person who was told to move forthwith from Jammu and Kashmir to go and face the Chinese took 20 days to get there. He was a Hindu; I took one day. Now, that is my patriotism. But I am a Sikh and he is a Hindu. He became an Army Commander, Lt. General, but I was singled out so that I could not come forward for further promotion. And all kinds of charges were brought against me. I was even told that I was a friend of Mr. Bahuguna after he had been removed from chief minister-ship. Now what I said then was, I’ve got nothing to do with politics but if he has been invited earlier when he was the chief minister to participate in a
mushaira, how can I tell him not to come; even though the police commissioner and the DIG told me that now regular reports were being considered an anti-national act. The fact that he came to a mushaira in Lukhnow arranged by me.
Q. But do you really think it was because you were a Sikh?
A. Aur kya, (what else).
Q. quite high up and so did General
Arora.
A. Well, then they probably denied that to me, because there would have been too many Sikh Generals.
Q. But were you supporter of the Sikh cause in those days? You see I am a non-drinker, non- smoker and vegetarian and my associations have always been with
sants (saints) and sadhus. I was once told that this man associates with mendicants that I have always been spiritually inclined. My mother taught me Japji when I was only five years
A. me Japji when I was only five years old. And then I was in the habit of always organizing an Akhand path wherever I went. When Gyani ji has a picture taken carrying the Granth Sahib on his head, he is considered a devout Sikh. But when I did it as a General they spoke of me as a religious fanatic.
Q. But weren’t you clean shaven when you went into Bangladesh?
A. Well! my beard was short and my hair which have never been very long were cut slightly.
Q. You went in as a Muslim, didn’t you?
A. Yes, how else could I have gone? I talked it over with Sam Manekshaw and I said, why are you sending me? He said, I have confidence that you will be able to make it. From doing counter-insurgency work in Nagaland I went on to insurgency work in Bangladesh. These people, who are crooked and clever in the Indian Army, never accept jobs like that, yet they became senior Generals. I would like to know if… Kaul, who is going to be the next Chief, has ever heard a bullet being fired. When the war is about to be over he arrives, but if it is about to start then he is always posted to a very nice, safe place. When the 65 ceasefire
came he was immediately posted to Jammu.
Q. How long have you been living here (the Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple)? For about three weeks. You see, after winning these two cases we had ‘sukhoed’ (vowed) a certain amount of prayers. So every Sunday for three Sundays we have had to go to Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh for six hours of meditation and recitation of the Sukhmani Sahib. Then we have
A. done an akhand path and langar to do at Baba Bakala. And a certain amount of prayers I still have to do here. I wake up everyday at 3 a.m., have a bath and then at 4.30 I am there for the Palki Sahib Sewa. When the Guru Granth is carried from the Akal Takht to the gurdwara, I stay on there for my normal Path. My Sukhmani Sahib I do either there or come back here. Then I go back for the Rehras (sunset prayers).
Q. So you’ve been here for some months?
A. No, only three weeks. As my village is here next door, I go and live there. It’s just about 10 miles from here, a village known as Khayala, where I was born.
You people are suspecting that I must be here for this and that reason. But it’s only because of these Path (prayers) and my wife’s illness, which is a gift from Mrs. Indira Gandhi. I have been living in non-family stations on active service continuously for 12 years. She was diagnosed as having a tumour in the bladder, an infection which has never properly healed. In my appeal to Mrs. Indira Gandhi I said, “Look we are getting old and if not for me, then for the sake of my wife who has done so much for this country, you should look into my case and give me justice.”
Q. Is there a case against you under NSA?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Are you a supporter of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale?
A. As far as my relations with Sant Jarnail Singh are concerned, there is nothing to suspect. I’ve told you that I am a patriot, probably of a finer mould than the Prime Minister herself. I have met Bhindranwale. There is no doubt about it and I also feel that there is a strong touch of spiritualism in this person. He is a man who stands by the truth. The government is deliberately terming him a traitor because of his brand of politics probably doesn’t suit them. But the fact is that there is hardly a Sikh in this world who does not accept him as a leader. I also accept him as a leader. I firmly believe that he is the only Sikh born after Guru Gobind
Singh who can get justice for the Sikhs as a community in this country where we have been persecuted ever since independence and suspected individually and as a community.
Q. But do you support violent means?
A. No, we don’t believe in violence and I proved it by courting arrest last year and staying in jail for three months. I think that is probably why they decided to punish me and not give me my pension. The orders were received when I was in jail. Having served this country with gallantry and exceptional distinction, this government thinks it is justice to deny me even my pension.
I became a Bengali for the sake of my country. I cut my beard and then I had to take Amrit (initiated) again. I trained General Zia-ur-Rahman. He and his
wife Khalida singled me out when they came here. He was directly under me as one of the subsection commanders responsible for Chittagong. I am the
only General to have been treated in such a shabby manner. I cannot afford medicines. I had a massive heart attack last year.
Let us join together to heal wounds. The best memorial to those who have lost their lives is to restore normalcy and harmony in the Panjab which they loved and served. To all sections of Panjabis I appeal: “Don’t shed blood, shed hatred.”
On the other hand, the Sikhs have been continuing their struggle for sovereignty to date. More details of the Sikhs’ sovereignty struggle, by peaceful means, may be seen elsewhere (Dilgeer HS Sekhon AS 1992 ISBN 0-9695964-0-5; Sekhon AS Dilgeer HS 2006 ISBN 0-9695964-8-0; Sekhon AS 2005 ISBN 0-9548929-0-9;
Sekhon AS 2009 ISBN 0-9548929-4-1; Memorandum to the United Nations: HRC on September 25th, 2009 presented by the Council of Khalistan, Washington DC
and related sister Sikh organizations, to be published in the Int J Sikh Affairs 19 (2) ISSN 1481-5435, in press). In December 1929, a huge demonstration of over
500,000 citizens of Punjab took place under the leadership of ‘uncrowned’ king of Sikhs, Baba Kharak Singh, by peaceful means. A newspaper of the United
Kingdom carried on the front page headlines that “such a peaceful demonstration of humans never seen in the history of mankind (The Times, London, December
29th, 1929). Thereafter, the Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty continued under different planks.
According to one of the authors (Sekhon), the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh, got in the trap of the Brahmin-Hindu clique by back stabbing the ‘uncrowned’ king of Sikhs, Baba Kharak Singh, and played in the hands of JL Nehru alias Mobarak Ali clique. He betrayed the Sikhs when Lord Mountbatten asked him to join in the meeting to have an important discussion on the matters related to the Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Master Tara Singh did not attend the meeting and gave his
proxy to the Hindus’ representative, JL Nehru alias Mobark Ali. The then Governor of Punjab and Lord Mountbatten did not trust Master Tara Singh and
regarded him a coward (Betrayal of Sikh Nation by Master Tara Singh, With British Documents of Transfer of Power 1947 by Ram Singh 2009 ISBN 978-0-9811360-6-6). According to Dr. Sekhon, Master Tara Singh alias Nanak Chand Malhotra had been bought and was ‘devoid’ of the Sikh character as a determined Sikh for the Sikh cause. Master Tara Singh, Akali leader, was one of the co- founders of the Hindu’s militant and terrorist organization (Wikipedia October, 2009). When a nation has a leader like Tara Singh and/or Fateh Singh, no nation needs to have any enemies, according to Dr. Sekhon. The Sikhs lost their chances of being sovereign. However, Master Tara Singh’s soft heartedness towards the Hindus-Brahmins clique and the enemies of the Sikh nation did not have much influence on the Sikhs’ aspirations being sovereign and independent, despite the fact they have been going through inhumane treatments of the Brahmins-Hindus’ New Delhi administrations of J L Nehru alias Mobark Ali, Indira Gandhi alias Maimuna Begum, Rajiv Gandhi alias Raul Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh (Sinh), a Hindu in ‘The Sikh Identity’, to say the least. The latter has not been elected to the parliament from any electoral constituency of India. However, he has been the (Selected, but not elected) Chief, Council of Ministers, of the New Delhi administration.
The Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty has been going on. The following is an account of the Sikhs and their Sikh nation when they have handed over from the slavery of the British India Empire to the ‘Slavery of Brahmins-Hindus’ on August 15th, 1947:
Undeclared war on the Sikh Nation Punjab: “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984, The Brutal Military Operation of the Indian administration and its armed forces: In the early 1940s at the Annual Conference of National Congress Party, Madan Mohan Malviya (MMM), a staunch Brahmin, said while conversing with the Sikh representative, Giani Sher Singh of the Shromani Akali Dal, said that “Giani ji, Aap Fikar naa Karen, Mulak ke Azad Ho Jaane do, hum (the Hindus/Brahmins and their pros) Apni Vidhya Prannali Mei Sanshodhan Kar Ke Musalmaano Kee Saari Musalmaani Nikaal Deynge,” which meant that Giani ji, do not worry about the Muslims, the followers of Janab M A Jinnah, the leader of the Muslims, “let the country (the Hindus/Brahmins) get its freedom from the‘Slavery of the British Empire’, we will take care of the Muslims by making appropriate changes in the Educational Syllabus of the British India, to suit the Brahmins- Baniya (elite-trader caste Hindus) clique and their followers.” The quote of MMM reflects one of the designs of the Brahmins-Hindus against the Muslims in particular and
other non-Hindu and non-Brahmin minorities in general. Whether they dealt with the Muslims or not, but the present write up is indicative of the Brahmins’ hatred towards the Sikhs, since the ‘subservient’, the of the Afghans, Mughals, Sikhs, British, Portuguese, and other for more than 3,500 years committed persecution, terrorism, educational, social, cultural, political genocide against the Sikhs of the House of Baba Guru Nanak Sahib. They did their inhuman, humiliation and dehumanization acts knowingly and deliberately that the followers of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib should not follow and practice their Guru’s teachings, especially when the Guru defined the Brahmin in his teachings, inscribed in Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ Holy scripture, “Mathe Tikka Terrh Dhotti Kakhai, Hath Chhurri Jagat Kasai.” Guru’s teaching means that the Brahmin has painted his forehead has a white cloth (Dhotti) around his waste, a lethal weapon in his hand (now the same Brahmin possess the nuclear arsenal), and he is the ‘Butcher of the world’. What was true in the 15th century, during Guru Baba Nanak’s time, has been proving
right in the 20th and 21st centuries. If the Sikh leaders like Giani Sher Singh and Master Tara Sinh (a traitor of the House of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib and the Guru Khalsa Panth; please see Ram Singh 2009 Second ed.,”Betrayal of Sikh Nation by Master Tara Singh with British Documents of Transfer of Power 1947, Master Tara Singh Da Sikh Kaum Naal Visahghat, in Punjabi ISBN 978-0-9811360-6-6; one of the co-foundrs of the militant and terrorist organization of the Brahmins-Hindus, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad), the latter being a well-wisher of the Brahmins as he himself was a convert Sikh from a Hindu family. Master Tara Singh (alias Nanak Chand before becoming Tara Singh) spent most of his time fighting to become the Sikh leader to depose the ‘uncrowned’ king of the Sikhs Baba Kharak Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Indeed, he succeeded in his intentions, but this coward had no courage and knowledge to become a politician and statesman of the Sikh Nation, the nation, which has been struggling to regain its sovereignty, independence and political power by peaceful means since March 14th, 1849. This was the day when the Sikhs surrendered their sovereignty to the forces of the British Empire. Master Tara Singh ignored the role of the earlier Sikh leaders like Mehtab Singh, Shivdev Singh, Shobha Singh and ‘uncrowned’ King of Sikhs Baba Kharak Singh, to say the least. He and his Akalis, although had been demanding the ‘sovereign, Azad (independent) Punjab, Khalsa ji de Bol-Bale, which meant the sovereignty to the Sikhs. Hollow promises were made by the ‘unelected’ Hindu- Brahmins leadership of the pre August 15th, 1947 era to please the Sikhs and get them on their side. He (Tara Singh) capitalized on the hatred ness against the Muslims brothers and followers of Janab MA Jinnah. The ‘Hindu-Brahmin’ clique deliberately overlooked that the first ’Secular and Sovereign nation’, Punjab or the Sikh Raj, of the South Asian region’s status was “annexed” to the British Empire, but not its amalgamation to the British Empire. Master Tara Singh also forgot that the “annexation” the Sikh Raj (March 14th, 1849 – August 15th, 1947) was for the administration purposes only. It should be noted that when the British Empire, divided the British India Empire, into the predominantly Hindu India and the Muslims of Pakistan, under the leadership of Janab MA Jinnah, the status of the “annexed” Sikh Nation, Punjab, the Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, or Khalistan [a term coined by Dr (Bhai)Vir Singh Bhatti in 1940; Khalsa means Sovereign + Stan means Land = Khalistan] remained as “annexed”, even after the political power was handed over to the ‘unelected’ Brahmin-Baniya clique, or ‘predominantly Hindu India’. This was done despite Tara Singh’s own protests and the protest of the Sikh Nation, to go with the Hindu India (Sekhon and Dilgeer 2003, 2006 ISBN 0.9695964-8-0; Dilgeer HS and Sekhon AS 1992 ISBN 0-9695964-1-3; Sekhon AS 2005 ISBN 0-9548929-0-9; Sekhon et al 2008 ; Sekhon AS 2008; 25 Years After 1984 Assault on Durbar Sahib Laying Foundation of Khalistan 2009 (ed) Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon ISBN 0-9548929-4-1)), which Tara Singh has forgotten or down played the saying of MK Gandhi, “We (the Brahmins-Baniya Hindus) have nothing common with the Sikhs. Additionally, the Brahmins-Hindus clique took a turn to create a wedge and hatred for the Sikhs in the recently acquired predominantly Hindu India. In the years to come, MK Gandhi’s statement and the Hindus’ policy against the Sikhs, the Muslims and other non-Hindu, non-Brahmin minorities took entirely a different turn, as reflected from time to time since 1929 (see below the quotes of MK Gandhi, JL Nehru, etc.). It ultimately culminated into their policy of hatred, in order to teach ‘a lesson’ to the Sikhs.
Subsequently, the Brahmin-Baniya clique, the unelected leadership of the Hindus will never recall the ‘Sovereignty, and independence of the Sikh nation’, until March 15th, 1849. To expand further the question as how and why, the Brahmins-Hindus, the peace- loving creatures, would like to teach ‘a lesson’ to the Sikh Nation, is examined below. The teachings of the founder of the Sikh religion, Baba Guru Nanak Sahib defined the Brahmin as the ‘butcher of the world’. This is the prime factor that the Brahmins-Hindus feel most insulted from the Sikh religion for their very existence, as it exposes them, their supremacy of the caste system, apartheid and their intentions to make them their ‘slaves or the Enslavement of the Brahmins’. The House of Baba Guru Nanak Sahib and the Sikhs of Punjab always posed a threat to their very survival, and the followers of the casteism, including apartheid. This had been true until the day of their ‘freedom’, so to speak, since August 15th, 1947. However, they knew it that they cannot keep their freedom without the Sikhs to be on their side. They also knew that they cannot expect to live peacefully with the Sikhs because of the Brahmins-Hindus’ ‘ulterior’ motives. The reason being the Sikh Religion is the 5th largest religion of the world, believes in the wellness of all the humanity, their equality, and is against the discrimination in the human race; whereas, the Hindus-Brahmins are anti-humanity and the followers of apartheid. There has not been any protection to the women’s rights in the Hindus’ caste system; whereas, the equality is the basis for both the gender in the Guru Nanak’s House. The Sikhism as the 5th largest religion of our world has been the cause of their headache as against the Brahmins-Hindus who are ‘neither a religion nor a culture’, according to the Hindu academics, Sir VT Rajshekar, the Editor in Chief, Dalit Voice. The Hindus-
Brahmins had no choice but to plan well before the British hand over political power to the ‘Brahmin-Baniya’ clique. The clique had to plan how to deal with the Sikhs, using their ‘divide and rule’ policy? How to make the best use of their divide policy as far as the Sikh nation and the remaining Muslims, after Pakistan is formed and separated, are concerned? Besides, they have to keep on working quietly until the political power is brought to them, after Pakistan comes into being. They had been looking forward to it so eagerly to see their own rule after their enslavement of more than 3,500 years, prior to pre August 15th, 1947 period. The Brahmins-Hindus realized that they had not devised any ‘freedom’ policy against their British masters or even before, because they were used to the political power while enslaved and/or ‘subservient’. The facts may be realized that MK Gandhi, who later became the father of the predominant Hindu nation after August 15th, 1947 was indeed held a rank of the ‘Sergeant-Major’ in the British Red Cross, had been responsible for the genocide of the Zulu tribe during his time in Africa, and he had advised the British man of the 20th century, Sir Winston Churchill, to accept the leadership of the Nazi Germany and of Adolf Hitler. Sir Winston Churchill’s hatred of Gandhi may be interpreted from his own words used for Gandhi as a ‘naked faqir’. MK Gandhi was famous to sleep naked, to test his ‘male hood’, with young girls and quite a few female politicians who had been the cabinet members in the post August 15th, 1947 India. According to the author, the so-called freedom struggle of India was, indeed, a ‘pseudo-freedom struggle of the Hindus-Brahmins’ or a ‘hoax’, if that was a struggle for freedom of the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ in the British India Empire, at all. In fact, the Brahmins-Hindus leaders high jacked the “Sikhs’ struggle for Sovereignty,
independence, going on by peaceful means, since the Sikh Raj surrendered its sovereignty on March 14th, 1849. A detailed account of the struggle is given elsewhere (Sekhon AS 2005 Authentic Voices of South Asia (ed) Usman Khalid ISBN0-9548929-0-9), one should see the peaceful demonstrations of the Sikhs and Punjabi communities of more than 500,000 under the leadership of the ‘uncrowned’ king of the Sikhs, Baba Kharak Singh (The Times published from London, December 29th, 1929). As compared to the Brahmins-Hindus under the leadership of MK Gandhi, ML Nehru son of Ghyasuddin alias Gangadhar Kaul, his son JL Nehru alias Mobark Ali, etc., which hardly attracted more than 35,000 people at the maximum. When the Brahmin-Hindu leaders like MK Gandhi, ML Nehru and his son, JL Nehru, etc., saw this procession and read about it in newspapers, they all were stunned and speechless. After a few days, these ‘Brahmin- Hindus’, the so-called the ‘Brahmin-Hindu’ leadership, approached the Sikh leader, Baba Kharak Singh, and requested him “Babaji, we need your help and support for a noble and common cause of ours against a common enemy. The ‘uncrowned’ king of the Sikhs agreed with the deceitful Hindu-Brahmin leaders, who could not attract more than 30,000 to 35,000 people at the maximum, in any of gatherings they had. What these deceitful Hindu-Brahmin leaders call their ‘freedom struggle of India, which did not begin the way the Sikhs have been carrying out theirs. Only record is the ‘revolt’ in the times of Laxmibai of Jhansi in 1857. The 1857’s struggle was for her kingdom of Jhansi and not for India, as no ‘India’ was around at that time, with the exception of the small kingdoms
of Rajputs and Mughals, of course. Constitution of India (1950): The Sikhs’ elected representatives, Sardar Hukam Singh, Sardar Bhupinder Singh Mann and Sirdar Kapur Singh, ICS, MP, MLA and the National Professor of Sikhism (all members of parliament), ‘rejected’ it repeatedly, in its draft and final forms, in 1948, November 26th, 1949, 1950 (the day it became effective on January 26th, 1950) and September 6th, 1965. They ‘rejected’ it because of the advice received from the Sikhs’ political party, the SAD, the SGPC, all executives of the Sikhs’ religious institutions (Gurdwaras), the Sikh Students Federation and its units, the Sikh academics and the intelligentsia. The latter called the draft of constitution, a ‘Death warrant for the Sikhs’ if accepted by their representatives on behalf of the Sikh nation. The reasons were obvious that the ‘Brahmins-Hindu’ clique termed the Sikhs as ‘long-haired Hindus’ Hindus, wiping out their Sikh religion, The Sikh Identity, and Sikhs’ social, religious and political traditions and the Sikh culture constitutionally. Before ‘rejecting’ the Indian constitution in the
parliament, Sirdar Kapur Singh, M P, expressed in the house and said that, “Like the curate’s egg, though it might be good in parts, it is a rotten egg. It might be edible, but only as a measure of courtesy, as it is devoid of nutritional qualities and since its putrefaction is forgone, it is really unfit for human consumption. He said that, “I am convinced that it is deleterious for the Sikhs however strong their stomachs might be supposed to be, as Hon’ able Mr Tyagi hints. I oppose this bill, on behalf of my constituents and reject it on behalf of my parent party, Shiromani Akali Dal. I do so for three reasons, firstly, it is conceived in sin, secondly, it has been delivered by an incompetent and untrained midwife and thirdly, it is opposed to the best interests of the nation, as it will almost certainly lead to weakening of national integration and loss of faith in the integrity of those who exercise political power in the country.” Sirdar Kapur Singh said further that “SIKHS RESOLVE AND PROCLAIM their determination to resist, through all legitimate means, all such attempts to devalue and liquidate the Sikh people in a free India, and consequently, DEMAND that the following steps should be taken forthwith by the rulers of India to assure and enable the Sikh to live as respectable and equal citizens of the Union of India, namely, First, the Sikhs deliberately and internationally cut off and not included in the new Punjab to be set up, namely, the area
of Gurdaspur District including Dalhousie, Ambala District including Chandigarh, Pinjore, Kalka and Ambala Saddar, the entire Una Tehsil of Hoshiarpur District, the areas of Nalagarh, called Desh, the Tehsil of Sirsa, the sub-Tehsils of Tobana and Guhla, and Rattia Block, of District Hissar, Shahabad block of district Karnal, and the contiguous portions of the Ganganagar District of Rajasthan must now be immediately included in the new proposed Punjab so as to bring contiguous Sikh areas into administrative unit, to be the Sikh Homeland, wherein the Union of India. And SECOND, such a new Punjab should be granted an autonomous constitutional status on the analogy of the status of Jammu and Kashmir as was envisaged in the Constitution Act of India in the year 1950. I am coming to a close. Madam, on behalf of the Sikh people represented by the Shromani Akali Dal, I reject the entire schemata of this Bill, and oppose it. I call upon the Government to take necessary legislative measures to solve the problem of Punjab in the light of Resolution of the Shiromani Akali Dal just referred to (Betrayal of Sikhs, Appendix, “E”, September 6th, 1965. In Saachi Saakhi means True Story by Sirdar Kapur Singh; Singh G 2008 Constitution of India 1 & 2 www.khalistannews.com Unfulfilled and broken promises of the Brahmins-Hindu leaders, as promised in the Pre- and Post-August 15th, 1947 to the Sikhs of the Sikh Homeland. After declaring the Sikhs as a law-less community, a menace to the law-abiding Hindus on October 10th, 1947, by an official circular, the Sikhs were made second class citizen in their own ‘robbed’ Sikh Nation, Punjab. Consequently, Sirdar Kapur Singh, ICS, a district commissioner was suspended by the Governor of Punjab, Chandu Lal Trivedi, a Brahmin. This was the first gift of the predominant Hindu India to the Sikh Nation, just 7-week following the independence of the predominantly Hindu India. J L Nehru administration had asked the intelligence to submit a report on the Sikh Homeland, Punjab, as he wanted to teach ‘a
lesson’ to the Sikhs. His plan included a military operation in early 1950s in Punjab, especially on the Darbar Sahib Complex. The intelligence reportedly reminded him that Indian army’s seven out of 10 Generals were Sikhs and more than one-third strength (personnel) of armed forces was of Sikhs. If he wants to undertake a military operation in Punjab and at the Darbar Sahib Complex, it would amount for him no less than committing a ‘suicide’. Consequently, he had to abandon his plans, with great disappointment, of attacking the Sikhs militarily. However, his anti-Sikh activities were intensified in the civil as well as in armed forces. JL Nehru [the son of Thussu alias Swaroop Rani and Mobark Ali (Motilal’s Boss), Jl Nehru was circumcised; http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com <http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com/> June 8th, 2009] became the chief architect of the anti-Sikh polices in India, with the departure of the British. Anti-Sikh policies in the predominantly Hindu India were added to the broken and unfulfilled promises, injustices, and to ignore the Sikhs, as much as possible, in the Hindu-Brahmins’ states, called a secular state to demonstrate and give a message to the Sikhs for reminding them over and over of the ‘sovereign’ state in the north, where the Sikhs could feel the ‘glow of freedom’ under the Brahmins-Hindu masters. A draft of the Constitution was presented to the Sikhs’ representatives, as well as to other classes ruled under the Hindus’ caste system. They all were lumped together under one common term, the Hindus, leaving the Christians and Muslims aside. The first martyrdom of a Sikh youth, Inderjit Singh, was the result of severe beating and cruelty by police and threw him alive in a well in 1960. On November 10, 1955 the Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhim Sen Sachar, went to the Darbar Sahib and offered his government’s apology to the Sikhs for the desecration of Darbar Sahib premises by the state police. The law-enforcing personnel of Punjab police entered the sacred premises with their shoes on. In his time the reorganization of the armed forces began mainly to draw up plans to harass the Sikhs in the armed forces. It was the Nehru administration in which Punjabi language suffered the most. Nehru’s Aryasamajist colleague, Gulzari Lal Nanda, Minister of Home Affairs, a Punjabi, issued orders that the ‘Hindus of Punjab’ should declare their mother tongue Hindi to replace Punjabi. For example, when the census conducting personnel went house to house in Punjab, and asking about the language spoken at home (mother tongue), the voice of a old lady, for example, was heard in Punjabi as “Ja ve Mundia Kah de saadi jaban Hindi hai.” The old lady speaking in Punjabi was telling the boy that ‘our language is Hindi’. Since this day of census in 1960s, the Punjabi Hindu disowned their ‘mother’, the mother tongue Punjabi. Since this census, the Punjabi, indeed, became the language of the Sikhs with utmost pride. The following quotes are sufficient to give an amply clear picture for the understanding of the readership relating to the warning of an English historian of the Sikhism, and the Associate Director of the British Intelligence, D Petri, who warned his administration in England, on the (Brahmins-Hindus) designs and virtually impossible survival of the Sikhs without the State support, following independence: "It (Hinduism) is like the boa constrictor of the Indian forests. When a petty enemy appears to worry it, it winds round its opponent, crushes it in its folds, and finally causes it to disappear in its capacious interior....Hinduism has embraced Sikhism in its folds; the still comparatively young religion is making a vigorous struggle for life, but its ultimate destruction is, it is apprehended, inevitable without State support."-Max Arthur Macauliffe (1903) Hinduism has always been hostile to Sikhism whose Gurus powerfully and successfully attacked the principle of caste, which is the foundation on which the whole fabric of Brahminism has been reared. The activities of Hindus have, therefore, been constantly directed to undermining of Sikhism both by preventing the children of Sikh father from taking Pahul and reducing professed Sikhs from their allegiance to their faith. Hinduism has strangled Buddhism, once a formidable rival to it and it has already made serious inroads into the domain of Sikhism. -D. Petrie, Assistant Director, Criminal Intelligence, Government of British India (Intelligence Report of August 11th, 1911). Below are the hollow, broken and unfulfilled promises of the ‘unelected’ Brahmins- Hindus leadership, made to the Sikhs that they should become the part of the predominantly Hindu India in post-independent Hindu India: "... in future, the Congress shall accept no constitution which does not meet with the satisfaction of the Sikhs" - The Lahore session of the Congress Party. December 31, 1929.
"...the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special considerations. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the North of India wherein, the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom." -Jawahar Lal Nehru [alias son of Mobarak Ali], Lahore Bulletin, January 9, 1930.
"I ask you to accept my word and the Resolution of the Congress that it will not betray a single individual much less a community. Let God be the witness of the bond that binds me and the Congress with you (the Sikhs). When pressed further Gandhi said that Sikhs would be justified in drawing their swords out of the scabbards as Guru Gobind Singh had asked them to, if Congress would renege on its commitment." -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Young India, March 19, 1931)
The Sikhs, the rulers of the Sikh Nation, The Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to March 14th, 1849 the citizens of the first ‘Sovereign and Secular’ nation of South Asia, have been declared just 7-week after independence of Hindu India, as the lawless people and a menace to the law-abiding Brahmins and Hindus. "Kya main taqat dushman (the enemy -the Sikhs) ke haath main de dun (How can I entrust power into the hands of the enemies?)." -Jawahar Lal Nehru (alias son of Mobark Ali) (1961). "Mrs Gandhi (daughter of Kamala Kaul and Manzur Ali son of Mobark Ali, http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com <http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com/> , June 8th, 2009) has admitted that she was opposed to demands for Punjabi home province, for fear of losing Hindu votes. She was prepared to block the creation of a Punjabi-speaking province, in 1966 or ever" -Indira Gandhi alias Maimuna Begum (My India; daughter of JL Nehru; alias Mobark Ali). "Kill the language, kill the culture and kill the literature, ultimately one succeeds in destroying a community" -Pritam Singh Gill, M. A., 1975, Principal, Doaba College, Jalandhar.
"...the individual known to common Indian masses as chacha (uncle) Nehru (son of Mobark Ali, see above), the so-called messiah of peace and secularism, was, in fact, the main architect of anti-Sikh policies and practices, in India and abroad" -Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer In 1940, Dr Vir Singh Bhatti demanded the formation of Khalistan." -Dr Vir Singh Bhatti "In 1942, Master Tara Singh (a traitor of Sikhs, anti-Sikh, etc., according to Sardar Joginder Singh Mann in Betrayal of Sikh Nation with British Documents of Transfer of Power 1947 by Ram Singh 2009 Second Edition ISBN 978-9811360-6-6) demanded the Azad (Sovereign and Independent) Punjab." "You have seen the Hindus as co-slaves and you will know when they will be your masters and you (the Sikhs), their slaves" -Janab Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Quid-e-Azam,
The Father of Pakistan.
"...Master Tara Singh saw me on his return from Delhi, and seemed really concerned at the approaching departure of the British. He demanded Khalistan, with transfer of population, or a new state from Jumna to Chenab, in which the Sikhs would not be oppressed" -Sir E. Jenkins (Governor of the Punjab), April 15th, 1946. According to Mr Campbell Johnson, on June 3rd, 1947, “Weakness lay in structure of Sikh leadership, there was lack of high command leadership. Sikh leaders were not realistic. They were not in Delhi at such a time when the fate if the Sikh-nation was going to be decided. There were hardly two or three Sikh leaders present in Delhi for the whole Sikh nation. Sikh High command did not arrive in Delhi at all (Betrayal of Sikh Nation with British Documents of Transfer of Power 1947 by Ram Singh 2009 Second Edition ISBN 978-0- 9811360-6-6).
"Mulak Hindu ka, Raj Tikri ka (trio, Jawaharlal Nehru alias Mobark Ali, V. B. Patel and Chandu Lal Trivedi), Guru (the Lord) Rakha Bhai Sikhre ka" -Sirdar Kapur Singh, Indian Civil Service, National Professor of Sikhism.
"Sikhs are the finest soldiers in the world because they have the best combination of mental and physical endurance" -General Atiqu-ur-Rehman, Pakistan Army.
"Indira Gandhi (daughter of Kamala Kaul and Manzur Ali, initial name Indira Priyadarshni. Indira convered to Islam before her Nikah/wedding to Feroze Khan. Her (Indira) new name was Maimuna Begum, see http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com<http://krishnajnehru.blogspot.com/> , 8th June, 2009) rewarded the Pandey brothers with Congress (I) tickets for U. P. legislative assembly elections, when they highjacked an Indian Airlines1 plane to secure her (Gandhi) release from jail in 1977." -S. Jalandhari, 1983 "Physical death I do not fear, death of conscience is a sure death" -Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale).
"I don’t give a damn if the Golden Temple and whole of Amritsar are destroyed, I want Bhindranwale dead" -Indira Gandhi (alias Maimuna Begum) communicating with Gen. Vaidya during "Operation Blue Star" "We have broken the back of the Sikhs and we will get them elsewhere."-M. M. K. Wali,
Indian Foreign Secretary, June 7, 1984 (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 740, As It Happens).
"Let us teach these bastards (the Sikhs) a lesson."-Rajiv Gandhi (circumcised according to Islamic rites; later changed his name to Roberto and married the Italian Catholic Christian, now Sonia Gandhi), October 31, 1984. "The Sikh nation declared independence on April 29th, 1986" -Sarbat Khalsa held at the
Darbar Sahib Complex
"the Sikh nation declared independence on October 7, 1987 forming the sovereign country of Khalistan." -The Council of Khalistan, Washington, D. C.
"Freedom of Khalistan was the only proper solution of the Sikh nation’s future." -Brig. Gen. Ben Blaz, Member of the Congress of the United States, October 7, 1989. "Nowhere in the world has any government pursued the kind of genocidal policies against a religious minority as in India since the Second World War." -Lt. Col. Pratap Singh, President, Khalsa Raj Party (1991) “…a threat to the villagers that all males would be killed and their women taken to army camps to breed a new race if there was any militant activity in their village." -Brig. R. P. Sinha, (Saffaronized) Indian Army, March 8, 1991 "You do not know the might of our armed forces. We will eliminate 10,000 Sikh youths and the world will know nothing about it." -Chander Shekhar, One of the former Prime Ministers of India (CK, October 21st, 1991) "...that the Sikhs are Sikhs just like East is East and West is West and twin shall never meet. We have no choice but to seek our independence in a sovereign state, the Republic of Khalistan." -Sardar Simranjit Singh Mann, President, Shromani Akali Dal, in his letter of July 12th, 1991 to the Governor of Punjab, O. P. Malhotra "to preserve the unity of India, if we have to eradicate 2-kror (20-million) Sikhs, we will do so" -Balram Jakhar, a former Indian Cabinet Minister and colleague of the former Indian Prime Minister, P. V. Narsimhanrao
"the world's largest democracy is really a tyranny willing to commit any act of brutality or terrorism to maintain its corrupt occupation of Khalistan. ...showing the American public that India’s claim of being a democracy is just more disinformation." -Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President, Council of Khalistan (The Washington Post, April 25, 1994) Indian democracy led by AB Vajpayee has carried out the 21st Century’s genocide of innocent Muslims in Gujarat State (February-, 2002-). The genocide in which more than 700 Muslims (unofficially more than 15,000) were killed. The excerpts of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Sinh (Singh) made at the United Nations session on Human Rights in Vienna, AUSTRIA, on June 24th, 1993 appear in inverted commas below: Many belonging to the Sikh faith as well as the propaganda of Brahmins autocracy have propagated the thought that Manmohan Singh, the only choice to his master, Madam Sonia Gandhi, and his non-Sikh, anti-Sikh party, Congress-I, is Mr Clean. Now a Sikh is a prime minister of Brahmins autocracy, or devious, discriminatory and apartheid
practicing India, so what? Has any Sikh, who calls Manmohan Singh an honest and clean person examined his state-delivered address before the Human Rights Commission in Vienna, Austria, on June 24th (June 14th to 25th), 1993? The same Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister of the PV Rao administration, said that “…he being Sikh finds no abuses of Human Rights of Sikhs much less any minorities in India.” And another person, Manmohan Singh’s colleague of Islamic faith, Shahabuddin, said the same for Muslims of India as did Manmohan Sinh for the Sikhs’ regarding abuses of Human Rights in the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland, Punjab, Khalistan (under the Indian alias the Brahmins (elite) autocracy’s occupation, since August 15th, 1947). Manmohan Sinh’s statement was ‘refuted’ in the strongest possible words by the human rights and peace loving citizens (delegates) of North America and elsewhere. Additionally and most
importantly, the NDA (JL Nehru alias Mobark Ali to LB Shashtry) remained unsuccessful and highly disappointed to accomplish the Brahmin-Hindu administrations’ agenda to ‘wipe out’ the Sikhs of the Sikh Homeland, Punjab. Even after acquiring the Sikh Homeland, by ‘robbing’ the heirs of Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh, in a day light on the day of their independence on August 15th, 1947. They had contemplated that the Hindus-Brahmins will accomplish their task to wipe out the Sikh religion, its followers, the Sikh culture, Sikhs’ Holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ language, Punjabi script Gurmukhi, by making appropriate changes, to their advantage and satisfaction, in the Indian Constitution to be instituted following their being coming political masters of the predominantly Hindu India, i. e., the post August 15th, 1947. The predominantly Hindu-Brahmins state failed very badly to accomplish their ‘ulterior’ motives through the Constitutional process, by using the democratic procedures in the Indian Constitution 1950. The administrations met defeat as far as the wiping out the Sikhs was concerned. With these failures, there was no alternative left for them but to wage an ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikhs of the Sikh Homeland. Indira Gandhi (alias Maimuna Begum), who was the President of the Congress Party during her father’s administration, Information minister in the successive regime headed LB Shashtry, the successor of her father, and became India’s third prime minister chosen by the ‘illiterate’ three top notch stalwarts of the Congress party. This was done that being a woman, she would not go against the wishes of three ‘king makers’. As such, the male chauvinist of the Congress party agreed to her nomination for the prime minister’s post. She was obliged with their favour granted her the post of prime minister. Shortly thereafter, her eldest son ‘Sanjoy (alias Sanjiv Gandhi)’ benefited the most. His mother had to face the political problems domestically and the impact of the 20-point programme to win the forthcoming election. The programme appeared highly unpopular and diminishing Indira Gandhi’s popularity. With a drop in popularity, Indira Gandhi had to face a bombshell dropped by the verdict of the Allahabad High Court, which declared her election void. She had no choice but to interfere in the judiciary of India. She used the summer recession judge of the Supreme Court to set aside the ‘verdict’ of the junior court. Right after the declaration of the Supreme Court verdict in her favour, which resulted in enormous opposition from every sphere of life, she assumed the extra-ordinary constitutional powers. She imposed ‘Emergency in the Indian state’, or which according to the democracy of western nations could be termed as the ‘autocratic rule’ and ‘suspension of civil liberties’ in India, with special powers to the law-enforcing agencies and the army, to handle any situation to control any unrest of the Indian masses (K Nayar 1978 In Jail ISBN 0 7069 0647 0). The Sikhs, however, through their Akali Dal and the SGPC institutions, gave her an ultimatum to lift her ban on the ‘Civil liberties’ immediately. Discussing with the Chiefs of the SGPC and Akali Dal, she agreed to suspend the ‘Emergency imposition’ in Punjab only, the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland only. The Sikh leaders’ rejected her offer out rightly. They asked her to remove her draconian laws and autocratic rule not only in Punjab, but throughout the nation also. The Sikhs’ proposal was unacceptable to her. In return, the Sikh representatives told her that a peaceful demonstration of the Sikhs, 5 in number, will start courting arrest until she ‘suspends’ her unconstitutional powers and declares general elections, to seek a fresh mandate to rule. Pending her announcement on
the suspension of the civil liberties and the date of general elections, the number of the Sikhs courted arrests and went to jail was more than 50,000 (from the day the Sikhs began courting arrests until the day the ‘Emergency rule lifted’). It must be noted that only the Sikhs told Indira Gandhi in no uncertain terms for the ‘suspension of the civil liberties and court arrest’. There was no such non-Sikh organization to tell her categorically that her autocratic rule is undemocratic and unacceptable (Nayar K 1977 The Judgement ISBN 0 7069 0557 1). International news media gave her the title of the ‘Iron lady’ for her autocratic rule. Later, Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom earned the same title. The Sikhs’ firm stand against her autocratic rule gave plenty of ammunition to Indira Gandhi to fulfill the dream of her father and her colleagues, the Brahmins-Baniya clique, to teach the Sikhs ‘a lesson’. In a meeting held at her residence in early 1984, MS Iyer (Mani Shankar Iyer), to the hearing of all, mentioned that at the instance of Indira Gandhi, “he was given an unpleasant job of portraying Sikhs as
terrorists.” A few days later, Iyer stated that, “against his wishes he had done that job.” This was before “Operation Bluestar, the orders for which had been delivered in January 1984” -The Sikh Bulletin, October-November 2005, p. 11. The Indian administration, before the execution of “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, flooded the Sikh Nation with intelligence agencies, e. g., the Researcg and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau, Central Intelligence Department, Central Intelligence Agency, foreign intelligence advisors of the USSR, a defunct’ state (Sekhon AS 1987 Sikh Messenger ISSN 0266-9153), not only for the cover up (Kashmeri and McAndrew’ Soft Target 1989 ISBN 1-55028-221-2) of the forthcoming “Operation Bluestar”, but also to disrupt the educational, political, religious, rural and urban life of the Sikh Nation (Sekhon AS 1988 Sikh Messenger ISSN 0266-9153), along with the ‘subversive and international criminal activities’ of the Indian intelligence and its foreign missions. Saint- soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa, his advisors and supporters of the Sikh Nation, knew
perfectly well what the Indira Gandhi’s NDA was up to, relating to anti-Sikh and anti- Guru Khalsa Panth motives. They was, precisely, nothing but to destroy the Sikh Nation and to teach ‘a lesson’ to the Sikhs. Indira Gandhi (alias Maimuna Begum) and her administration had no intention to resolve the Sikhs’ problems as far as the disruption of the ‘law and order’ situation was concerned. Besides the Akalis, the executives of the SAD, SGPC, their membership at large, including the dishonest Akali Dal leaders Prakash Singh Badal, his colleagues, traitors of the Sikh Nation had become the “joe boys” of Indira Gandhi and her NDA’S RAW. Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa, his team of advisors and supporters knew it very well that the time is being bought by the deceitful politicians not only for the destruction of the Sikh Nation, its Darbar Sahib Complex, the Supreme Seat of the Sikh Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib, and all Gurdwaras, but to destroy the Sikh Nation, Punjab also. Later, after the execution of “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984, made everything crystal clear, The calculation of Saint-soldier
Jarnail Singh Khalsa and his supporters (Sekhon AS 2009 www.khalistannews.com <http://www.khalistannews.com/> ) proved right. Well before ”Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, the Indian administration sent its intelligence personnel to foreign countries, the countries of North America, Central and South America, the Europe, Far East continents, for the ‘cover up’ of the ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Nation (Kashmeri and McAndrew 1989 ISBN 1-55028-221-2). Besides, the prime aim of the Indian intelligence has been to disrupt the lives of the Sikh Diaspora, their Gurdwaras (Sikhs’ Houses of Worship) in foreign countries. The Indian government paid the Sikhs (weak-hearted and more who behave like the Hindus, or the Brahmins in ‘The Sikh Identity’), bribed them, for giving their consulates and/or intelligence agents information about the Sikhs and the Sikh psyche. “Operation Bluestar” and its Anatomy – the Undeclared War on the Sikh Nation, Punjab. Using the Sikh generals (80%) for the forthcoming ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Homeland, Punjab, to teach ‘a lesson’ to the Sikhs because the Brahmins-Baniya administration did not like the Sikhs walking with their head high. Now, the next action or plan B was to make the Sikhs ‘terrorists’. Their plan C was to get the Sikhs anywhere, outside Punjab, as explained in an interview, by MMK Wali, Foreign Secretary of India, on June 7th, 1984 with Mrs Barbara Frum of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, when she asked him clearly what next? The preparation of “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984 took more than two years prior to its execution (Sekhon AS Int J Sikh Affairs 10(1), 11, 2000). Its blueprints, as the author believes, had been prepared on a foreign soil, formerly known as the USSR (now a defunct and disintegrated state), and was carried out during I K Gujral’s tenure as India’s envoy to the USSR. Indian armed forces carried out their preparations in Ambala cantonment, Amber (near Jaipur, Rajasthan), Chakrata Hills in U P, and Sarsawan, Saharanpur, U P (Sikh Shahadat, June 2005, p. 13, in Punjabi). Commandos were trained, special armed forces units were employed, using the armoured corps divisions, heavy artillery units, infantry battalions, Indian Air Force’s heavy transport planes, gun- boat helicopters acquired from India’s major supplier of the military hardware, the USSR, and frogmen of the Indian Navy Services, to reach to the Darbar Sahib building after crossing the ‘sarover/the nectar tank’ in the Darbar Sahib Complex. Initially, the plan was to wage an ‘Undeclared’ war against the Sikh Nation, its Darbar Sahib Complex, including The Akal Takht Sahib (the Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity), and all gurdwarars or Houses of God, on 2nd June, 1984. The plan could not be executed as Major-General JS Jamwal refused to follow the orders of the Brahmins autocracy alias the alleged Indian democracy. A substitute had to be found. It was a stooge, Lt-Gen Kuldip Brar, a patit Sikh, and his troops. It began in the morning of June 3rd, 1984 and ended in the morning hours of June 7th, 1984. Before “Operation Bluestar” what Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale) had issued a stern warning to the NDA that “an attack on Darbar Sahib Complex (aka the Golden Temple Complex) will lay the foundation of
Khalistan.” Before “Operation Bluestar” what Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa and his staunch supporters and followers had been demanding a ‘full stop on the human rights violations, abuse of civil liberties, economic, social, religious violations, desecration of the Sikhs’ religious places, for which the Government of Punjab in the mid 1950’s had given its apology to the Sikhs, killing in police custody, looting by the law-enforcing agencies, restoration of justice, law and order in Punjab, etc., to which the federal administration (NDA) and Punjab’s Akalis headed by Prakash Singh (Sinh) Badal, his colleagues and bed fellows of the Akali Dal like Gurcharan Tohra (now deceased), President, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPS), SGPC’s executive, membership, Harchand Longowal, President of Akali Dal, Akali Dal’s executive, membership at large, Balwant Ramoowalia, etc., and those who had been the members of Indira Gandhi’s Congress and anti-Sikh parties, had turned blind eyes and deaf ears. Well before the execution of “Operation Bluestar”, the Akali Dal, SGPCs president, the RAW, its director K N Kao, RK Dhawan, personal assistant to Indira Gandhi, had been in close contact, exchange of information for the ‘wheeling and dealing’, from the official residence of the prime minister. The Prime Minister’s residence was also the office of the RAW’S operations (Chakravyuh Web of Indian Secularism 2000 Singh G ISBN 81- 85815-14-3). The operations against the Sikh Nation, Punjab and to eliminate Saint- soldier and his supporters, the peace-loving citizens of the Sikh nation, Punjab, in the author’s views can be described as the “Web of the Indian Secularism.” The unexpected popularity of Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale) since the late 1970’s, became an incurable headache for the dishonest establishments of the Akalis and the
NDA. The Sikhs’ religious and political leader, Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa became the most popular, charismatic personality of Punjab of the 20th century, as reflected by the writings of Bibi Manju Qureshi of Punjab ( Shaheed-Bilas Sant Jarnail Singh 2001 Satsandhi Publishers, Singh G and Singh; Sekhon AS 2009 www.khalistannews.com ). Saint-soldier’s reminders of the broken and unfulfilled promises made by the ‘unelected’ Brahmin-Baniya clique of the Hindus leadership in the pre August 15th, 1947 era, caused indigestion and irritation to the dishonest, power hungry and deceitful Hindus and Akalis, who wanted to maintain status quo in the Sikh Nation, Punjab, ever since a division in the British India Empire took place. The Brahmin-Hindu clique wanted to ‘swallow’ the Sikhs, like the followers of Buddhism, but the Saint-soldier left them with no option but to come for the resolution of the deteriorating ‘law and order’ problem of the Sikh Nation. Details of the unbroken promises, step-motherly treatment of the elite Hindu-Brahmin leadership of the post August 15th, 1947 i. e., the independent Hindu India are presented below for the information of the readership, ungratefulness of the Hindus-Brahmins, including their leaders, devoid of the ‘gentleman-like’ manner. The fundamentalist and militant Hindus belonging to the Hindu Maha Sabha, the mother of all evil, and its offshoots like the Jansangh, Shiv Sena, Aryasamajists, including JL Nehru (the main architect of the anti- Sikh policies in the post August 15th, 1947 period), AB Vajpayee et al. had been putting pressure on their predominantly Hindu administration to teach the Sikhs a lesson ever since the day of their freedom from slavery and being ‘subservient’ for more than 3,500 years. What lesson and in what context, have the Hindus/Brahmins been planning to teach the Sikhs, ‘a lesson’? This is, indeed, a good question, as they knew perfectly well that they deliberately robbed the Sikhs in broad day light, on the day the British India’s masters divided their colony of more than 500 princely kingdoms, amalgamated them and gave the name of the ‘British India’, in which the Sikh Raj, of monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to March 14th, 1849 was not the part of the British India Empire. The British Empire “annexed” the Sikhs’ Punjab to the British Empire on March 29th, 1849. The announcement of the Sikh nation’s “annexation”, for administration purposes only, was made by the British agent, Lord Dalhousie from Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). Right after receiving political power from their British masters, it appeared highly important for the ‘unelected’ Brahmin-Baniya clique that, if they have to rule, as an occupied colonial land of the Sikh Nation, the only ‘secular and sovereign’ nation of South Asia until March 14th, 1849 they have to teach ‘a lesson’ to the Sikhs and/or completely wipe them out, including every means of harassment at every step of their life, including the humiliation and/or by adopting undemocratic procedures. With this policy of the one time ‘subservient’, the clique of Hindu-Brahmin started making the Sikhs come to the realization that they are the enemy of the Brahmins-Hindus. Sikhs have to be ‘assimilated’ into the Hindus. This realization of the Brahmins has been well defined in the teachings of the founder of the Sikh religion. The predominantly Hindu India did not hesitate, whatsoever, to adopt the unwritten, well discussed policy (behind closed doors), to make the Sikhs integral part of the Hindu-Brahmins’ establishment and their constitution to be made. The Constitution, which was going to define the ‘predominantly Hindu India’ as a republic and secular state of South Asia.
The Personnel of the General Staff of Armed Forces: Besides Major-Gen JS Jamal and Lt-Gen K Brar, other Sikh Generals cleverly chosen for the execution of an ‘undeclared’ war against the Sikhs holy and historic Homeland, now called Punjab, under the occupied Punjab by the predominantly Hindu India. By and large, the Sikhs: Lt-Gen Ranjit Singh Dayal (most likely belonging to the Nirankari sect of the Sikh religion), as in-charge in general of the whole operation, Maj-Gen Shamsher Singh to look after operations in Taran Taran, Patti, Ludhiana, Ferozepore and Zeera areas, Maj-Gen Gurdial Singh to control the districts and areas of Patiala, Sangrur, Bhatinda, Ropar, Faridkot and to lead the attack on the Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib in Patiala. The Hindu generals were Lt- Gen A Vaidhya and Lt-Gen K Sunderji. Another Sikh general was TS Oberai. The total number of the general armed staff was nine. Of these 9 generals, 8 were Sikh generals
(nearly80%). It is clear, the Brahminical administration cleverly used the Sikh generals against the Sikhs of Punjab, Selection of the armed personnel for the ‘undeclared’ war: The Border Security Forces (BSF), Central Police Reserve Police (CRPF), Punjab Armed Constabulary (PAC), ITBP, 1st Para Brigade (1st Battalion), Commandos (usually called CATS) of the 10th Guards, Selected armed units from Hyderabad and Ranchi cantonments, Indian Navy Services
personnel from Bombay, Indian army’s special dog squad from Jorhat, Artillery units from the Meerut cantonment, Bihar Regiment, Kumaon regiment, Madras regiment, Garhwal regiment, special Frontier Force, 16th Cavalierly, 5th Mechanical, etc. Post- “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, other brutal military operations which followed, to wipe out the Sikhs of the Sikh Nation, had been Operations Mund, Clean, Black Thunder I, II, & III, man-made floods, Woodrose, Research, Final Assault and many more like the ‘genocide of Sikh students of the Engineering College in Karnatka in the post-“Operation Bluestar of June 1984 era. “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984 alias the ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Nation, Punjab: The ‘undeclared’ war against the Sikhs, Sikhs’ religious
institutions, the Darbar Sahib Complex, including The Akal Takht Sahib, Sikh Gurdwaras and the Sikh Homeland began in the early hours of June 4th to 6th, 1984. The war against the Sikhs made use of the armoured, infantry, artillery units, the cream of the commando force (CATS), frog men of the Indian Navy Service, gunboat helicopters and heavy transport planes. A detailed account of the operation, although covered by every newspaper, magazine and by other transmissions in Punjab and outside India, have been presented in details elsewhere (Sikh Shahadat, June 2005). A couple of hours later, when the fire had ceased, about 13 Sikh youth, their hands tied with their turbans (Dastaars) taken into custody, asked by the their captives (army soldiers), where is your ‘Bhindriwala’, referred to Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa, and questioned them do you want your ‘Khalistan’? The Sikh youth replied with the slogan “Bole So Nihal, Satshriakal”, and the soldiers killed them point blank. In burning heat of the summer month of June, many pilgrims asked for water, but they were given ‘bullets’ to silent them.Further, the Sikh male, female, youth and elderly were locked up in a room, like a ‘herd of sheep’. According to reliable information, the female folks kept their infant, toddlers and children alive on their sweat, urine, etc. This is the part of the Sikhs’ history under the ‘enslavement of the Brahmins-Hindus in the post August 15th, 1947’ period, in the largest democracy of the world, so to speak.
Toll of “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984”: The Movement Against State Repression (MASR) in Punjab provided highly conservative figure of the Sikhs’ genocide since “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984 to the Council of Khalistan, Washington DC. There had been more than 250,000 killed by the armed forces of the predominantly Hindu India administrations headed by Indira Gandhi (alias Maimuna Begum), Rajiv Gandhi (circumcised in accordance with the Islamic rites) and thereafter. At the same time, Dr.Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President, Council of Khalistan was told that, “Dr. Aulakh it is you and the Sikh Diaspora who have been exposing the Indian administration for its genocide. Otherwise, had you people kept quite on the Sikh Nation’s killings, Indian armed forces would have killed at least twice the Sikhs what you, the Sikh Diaspora, have been reporting. According to a recent publication by a former foreign service employee of the
External Affairs of India, Dr Sangat Singh, a graduate of Punjab University and Sinologist, cites that the Sikhs were killed brutally and indiscriminately by Indian
administrations. The number killed has been 1 to 1.2 million from 1981 to 1994. The extermination of the Sikhs in India is equivalent to ‘genocide’. The murder of Sikhs, in addition to other ethnic minorities like Christians, Dalits, Jains and Buddhists, in staged encounters, is for financial gains, to achieve promotions at ranks by armed, intelligence, paramilitary and police forces and are officially endorses, especially in Punjab where the so-called democratically government is in place with less than 7% of the total electoral votes. Dr. Singh writes that more than 200,000 had been killed in Punjab from 1978 to 1990. Dr. Singh’s recent compilation exposes the Indian government’s policy of the Sikhs’ annihilation and violations of their civil rights (1995 The Sikhs in History ISBN 0- 9647555-0-5; Singh Itihas’ch Sikh 2002 ISBN 81-7205-283-9; Sekhon AS and Dilgeer HS 2006 ISBN 0-9695964-8-0). Celebrations by the Brahmins-Hindus Following the Fire ceased: Hindus offered sweets and cheers when they offered sweets to the armed personnel near the Darbar Sahib Complex and in the City of Amritsar.
Removal of Dead Bodies: The dead bodies of the Indian armed personnel were carried out in the military and other means of transportation to the Amritsar Airport where the heavy Air Force transport planes were parked. Dead armed personnel bodies were airlifted to Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer and other places in Rajasthan for their last, according to the personnel who made the blue prints of “Operation Bluestar’. The frog men of the Indian Navy Services were used to recover the bodies of the soldiers which had been floating in the ‘sarovar or the tank or nectar’. However, the losses of the Indian personnel exceed far
beyond the calculations of the blue prints makers. According to the reliable sources, the Indian army’s casualties were more than 26,000 (Sekhon 2000 Int J Sikh Affairs Vol 10 ISSN 1481-5435). Sekhon states that to know the exact figure of the army’s casualties, one has to go through the ‘discharge and/or missing’ records of the Ministry of Defence of India, for the months of June to October 1984). As far as the dead bodies of the Sikh pilgrims and other Sikhs are concerned, it is learned that before the governmental administration could make arrangements for their removal from the premises of the Darbar Sahib Complex only, it took more than three days. Dead bodies had starting decaying; blood and flesh could be seen all around the Darbar Sahib Complex. The Dalits whom the Brahmins-Hindus call them untouchables, carry the human waste/excreta on their heads, were bribed and made agreeable to the terms that whatever belongings the
dead bodies had been carrying, they will be taken by these untouchables. Most of them will be supplied with free armed forces liquors. The Amritsar City Corporations’ waste carrying trolleys had been arranged, dead bodies were thrown in these trolleys, limbs were seen hanging outside from them, and they were taken to unknown places, where kerosene was used to burn the bodies of the Sikhs. This state of removing the dead bodies from the Darbar Sahib Complex continued for days. While the dead bodies were thrown into the trolleys, an infant was seen sucking the breast of the dead mother. Some armed personnel held the infant from the leg and threw against the wall. This reflects what sort of love these Hindus’ armed personnel had for the Sikhs. Later (see below), Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra found out from a few attendants/chowkidars’ records that in six districts of Punjab only, the records revealed that more than 50,000 bodies were burned, using fire logs and kerosene by the Punjab police and other armed personnel of India, without informing their next of kin.
Cost of the ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Homeland (“Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984): The Indira Gandhi’s administration spent more than US $1.5 billion or Rupees 4,500 crors to brand the Sikhs ‘terrorists’ in Punjab and outside Punjab, i. e., the international communities of Europe, Far East, Europe, North America, South America, etc. This was the tab Sikhs paid for their annihilation during “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984 (Sekhon AS. 2000 J Sikh Affairs 10, No. 1, ISSN 1481-5435); whereas, to bring peace in Punjab, to satisfy the Indian master of the NDA, Rupees 8,700 crors or the US $ 3.7 billion were spent under the imposed administrations of Surjit Barnala, Congress and other Akali administrations, whose strings were pulled by the Brahmins autocracy alias the alleged Indian democracy.The total cost of the ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Nation, Punjab, was imposed on the Sikhs, the citizens of the Sikh Nation, Punjab. In the author’s opinion, the total tab of the ‘undeclared’ war may be equated to the ‘jazia’ tax per head during the Mughal Empire. The first interview of the Foreign Secretary of India, a right hand man of Indira Gandhi, to a Canadian interviewer: “We have broken the back of the Sikhs in Punjab and now, in the next few phases, we will get
them (the Sikhs) elsewhere, that is, the Sikhs living outside India” –MMK Wali, India’s Foreign Secretary, June 7th, 1984 interview with Mrs Barbara Frum (now deceased), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, AS IT HAPPENS 18:30 – 1900 Hrs Radio 740 According to Inderjit Singh (1984 Sikh Messenger ISBN 0266-9153) “The massacre of the Golden Temple has totally changed the Sikh attitude. Most Sikhs now believe that there is no future for them in the Indian Union of today. Indira Gandhi’s tanks and machine guns have destroyed far more than a major historic shrine of the Sikhs’, they have also destroyed the humbug of ‘the nonviolent creed of the Congress’, which Mahatama Gandhi, in a remarkable speech on March 19th, 1931 said, ‘was the best guarantee of the Sikhs’ security in a free but Hindu dominated India’. Today’s Indian Constitution, supposedly framed on democratic and secular lines, has been shown to be hollow sham, a license for persecution and repression in the name of Indian unity; a unity based on total coercion.” Sardar Inderjit Singh, following his comments (above), questioned “what hope then for the future?” The answer to his question may be given by the ‘genocide of Muslims, Assamese and other non-Brahmins and non-Hindus by the armed forces of the Brahmins autocracy alias the alleged Indian democracy in the post- “Operation Bluestar” era; including rape, humiliation and dehumanization of the female folks. It would be sufficeint to sate that the raping of even pregnant Muslim women following slashing their stomachs and mutilation of the sexual parts in Gujarat State in 2002, when more than 15,000 Muslims (unofficial figure) were killed in the NDA- blessed and Narender Modi’s administration blessed pogroms in the State of Gujarat. More recently, the Indian armed personnel tortured the Muslims of Hyderabad, according to the Human Rights Watch agency, www.wichaar.com <http://www.wichaar.com/> ). It should be mentioned regarding a group of ‘naked women’ who demonstrated before the Indian Army Headquarters in Assam, the case discussed at the U N Sub-commission’s Briefing Session under the auspices of the International Interfaith and at the Briefing Session of the 9th Session of the U N Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland. Sardar Inderjit Singh’s question will be answered partially here that like the Sikhs of the Sikh Nation, Punjab, Assam and 7-sister of Punjab, and the people of the Internationally Disputed Areas of Jammu and Kashmir, there have been at least 15 more ‘Liberation movements’ have been going on, in India since the British Empire’s agent handed over the political power to the ‘unelected’ Brahmin-Baniya clique, on the platter. As such, all the non-Brahmin and non-Hindu people have no future whatsoever under the ‘Brahminical Slavery’. In fact, these people, on August 15th, 1947 traded as slaves from the British Empire to the ruthless and devoid of humanity and human ethics people, the
Brahmins-Baniya clique. The question here, further to the question of Sardar Inderjit Singh, is why these non-Brahmin and non-Hindu nationalities have to the ‘Slaves of the Brahmin-Baniya clique? These non-Brahmin and non-Hindu nationalities must have every right to be ‘Sovereign and independent’, to ‘Break Chains of the Slavery’ since August 15th, 1947.
Toll of “Operation Bluestar” 1984 and thereafter, Bhai Gurbhej Singh: Bhai Gurbhej Singh aka Bhai ‘Bheja’ of the Jalandhar dictrict of the Sikh Nation, Punjab, a young man in his mid 20s, loved by his village folks, was captured, tortured by the ‘peace doves’ alias the armed personnel of Punjab, and then thrown in the deep pan of boiling water, where he attained martyrdom. His martyrdom may be equated with the Sikhs of the 16th century. It should be worth writing that until he was capture by the police personnel, his village folks and those of the nearby villages were highly secure from the police activities.
Era of Fake encounter killings 1980s: This was the time when the armed personnel under the directions of SD Sharma, SS Ray (the agent of the NDA in Punjab), the Directors- General of police (DGP), like Reibero, KPS Gill, Assistant DGP SharmaSarbjit Virk and their sub-ordinates like Sumedh Saini, Ajit Sandhu (supposedly committed suicide, but living in Canada under some other identity, www.rozanaspokesman.com 2008) following the killing of the human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra of the Badal Akali Dal, to cite only a few.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has called the situation in Punjab “disturbing” and “completely unacceptable.” Asia Watch, in its 138-page report, “Punjab in Crisis”, states” “Security forces have engaged in widespread torture and summary execution of Sikhs.” Asia Watch charges that human rights abuse by the security forces are part of a deliberate government policy of repression. Nowhere in the world since the Second World War has any government pursued the kind of genocidal policies against a religious minority as being followed in India (Sekhon AS and Dillgeer HS 2006 ISBN 0- 9695964-8-0).
What made the predominantly Hindu India government to resort to an ‘undeclared’ war, in the form of a brutal military “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, on the Sikhs of Punjab, their Holy and historic Homeland Punjab? The prime aim was to ‘eliminate the Sikhs’ from the world map, especially from their historic and holy land of Punjab. As long as a single Sikh is alive, he will be regarded a threat to the Hindu-Brahmin administration. A threat to the Hindus-Brahmin people (only 15% of the total population of more than 1.2 billion hungry mouths) will prevail to the largest democracy of the world. The country in which no one is safe and would be safe as the Brahmin is the prime enemy of not only the Sikhs but also of the other non-Hindu people. The Hindus, merely 10-12 % of the total population are blind followers of the Brahmins. Continuing the same policy of his predecessor, Shastri appointed a Parliamentary Committee in October 1965 under the chair of Sardar Hukam Singh, to address the issue of Sikhs, the Punjabi Suba, writes Sardar Hukam Singh. According to him, the intention of the government was to
use him against his own people, the Sikhs, to secure an adverse report and then reject the demand, even after 18 long years of deliberate, frustrating delays. When Sardar Hukam Singh’s report was nearly ready, Mrs. Gandhi, a member of Shastri’s cabinet, went to Mr. Y B Chavan and said she had heard that Sardar Hukam Singh was going to give a report in favour of Punjabi Suba, and that he should be stopped…L B Shastri continued the policy of JL Nehru, and dead against the demand of Punjabi Suba, as was Nehru. Sardar Hukam Singh writes further that Mrs. Gandhi, GL Nanda and Shastri wanted to stop me from making my report signed Sardar Pratap Singh in the ‘Biography of Sardar Hukam Singh (Singh 1991). Singh writes further that the Indian politics is the “Politics of Violence and State Repression.” Operations “Bluestar” and “Woodrose” were massive acts of state terrorism, with the sole purpose of ‘reducing the Sikhs to servility, on the pretext of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, following “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984, was an even bigger exercise in state brutality (Singh 1981). In the period before “Operation Bluestar” commenced, the Indian administration and its law-enforcing, intelligence agencies and the propaganda mechanics tried their best to defame an honest, selfless, loyal and committed person, Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale), the political and religious leader of Punjab. The propaganda mechanics called him a man planted by the Congress to distract the millions of Sikhs and non-Sikh followers of Punjab, and an illiterate person, to distract the citizens of Punjab, from the ‘Justice and Law disintegrating’ situation of Punjab. The problem created deliberately by the men of Indira Gandhi and the ‘Hindu-Brahmin’ clique. The citizens were badly tired from the breakdown of ‘Law and Order’ and the administration. On the other hand, the country
where the constitutional rights have not only been denied, but taken away deliberately from the Sikhs, because of the intolerance by the Hindu-Baniya clique. Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his staunch advisors’ leadership posed a never ending problem for the Punjab and Indian administration. All the above qualities of sincerity and others made him the tallest leader of the Sikhs. His selfless pursuit brought hundreds of thousands of youth from Punjab into his fold, wholly committed to the cause Saint- soldier so convincingly espoused. They would sacrifice their all, life and liberty, without question. A remarkable feature was, although he was brutally murdered on June 5th or 6th, 1984 during “Operation Bluestar”, tens of thousands of the Sikh youth are even now carrying out his mission. The Indian administration and its armed personnel killed hundreds of thousands of them. Many more have been incarcerated for years without
trial. There seems to be unending stream of dedicated young Sikhs enthusiastically joining the freedom struggle and movement even under the ‘Tight Control’ of the Punjab by the Punjab and the New Delhi administrations. The legacy of Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale) is forever for the Sikhs. The Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwale) often said, “I do not ask for Khalistan but if the government throws it in my lap, I shall take it without hesitation.” The foundation of Khalistan will be laid the day Indian Army attacks the Golden Temple (the Darbar Sahib Complex).”
Interestingly, the government did exactly that (Singh 1991). Additionally, the government’s persistance, 1981-84, against the Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa was that he advocated disintegration of the country by demanding an independent State Homeland. This lie of the government and its agencies need to be nailed once and for all by quoting the Saint-soldier in his own words (given above) and said, “he wants to live in India as part of India, but wants equal rights as citizens of India. We do not want to be treated as second class citizens whose movements can be stopped from Punjab to Delhi by any Bhajan Lal on the way and who could be humiliated and harassed by the Hindus- Brahmins, on the way to Delhi as it happened during the Asiad in 1982. If we can be killed at the sweet will of Hindus-Brahmins, as it happened in Churu, Rajasthan; if our Holy Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, can be burnt by the miscreants Hindus-Brahmins, as it happened in Haryana in February 1984; if our hair could be cut, property looted and our women insulted as it happened in February and March 1984 in Haryana, then we
would not like to be with you. If you treat us as your equal brothers and give us equal rights and opportunities then we would like to stay with you. We do not want Khalistan but it is for you to decide whether you want us in India. If you want to treat us as second class citizens, harass, humiliate and discriminate against us, then we would have an independent state of our own where we can exist with dignity and honour as we had been the first ‘Sovereign and Secular state of South Asia’, under a Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to March 14th, 1849’ (Singh 1981). The “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984. After effective psychological military build up in Punjab which took over a year, after the preparation of infrastructure and preparation for the military movement, Indira Gandhi was ready for an all out ‘undeclared’ war, in the name of “Operation Bluestar”, a code named brutal invasion of Punjab, the Sikhs’ Holy and historic Homeland, early 1984:” “In early 1984, MS Iyer (Mani Shankar Iyer), to the hearing of all, mentioned that at the instance of Indira Gandhi, “he was given an unpleasant job of portraying Sikhs as terrorists.” A few days later, Iyer stated that, “against his wishes he had done that job.” This was before “Operation Bluestar”, the orders for which had been delivered in January 1984” -The Sikh Bulletin, October-November 2005, p. 11.” On May 27th, 1984 she directed the Chief of Army Staff to ‘execute’ “Bluestar” which had been planned and rehearsed many months preceding the D-Day (First day of launching the attack (Singh 1981). A balanced force of some 20,000 personnel moved from Meerut, U P. According to Singh (1981), after sealing the border with Pakistan, just in case; in fact, the propaganda thrust was that if offensive was not launched during the first week of June, Saint-soldier Bhindranwale would have declared “Khalistan” and Pakistan Army would have attacked and conquered Amritsar and most of Punjab! In all 10 divisions plus were deployed in the Punjab – a force larger than that used during the three Indo-Pak wars (Singh 1981). According to Singh (!981), after due research, this was to be true. Saint- soldier’s recorded interview, his only objective was to defend the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib Complex) as best as he could against such heavy odds that no defender ever had to face in the annals of military history. One of the officers said, ‘Boy what a fight they gave us. If I had three Divisions like that I would fuck the hell out of Zia (the President of Pakistan) any day’. Another…., ‘I have seen a lot of action, but I can tell you I have never seen anything like this. Those extremists were pretty committed. They took a lot of
beating from us. They should have realized that they could not win against the army. If one weapon failed we brought another. When that failed we brought another.’ A third put it more succinctly. The bloody fellows would not let us in’ (Singh 1984). Of the 13 tanks used by the Army inside Golden Tank, Complex on the night June 5th & 6th seven tanks moved into Parikarama from the Eastern gate and were deployed for attack on the Akal Takht. One of them was destroyed by a young boy of 16 years who tied explosives around his body and jumped under the moving tank. A balanced force of some 20,000 personnel moved from Meerut, U P. According to Singh (1981), after sealing the border with Pakistan, just in case; in fact, the propaganda thrust was that if offensive was not launched during the first week of June, Saint-soldier Bhindranwale would have declared “Khalistan” and Pakistan Army would have attacked and conquered Amritsar and most of Punjab! In all 10 divisions plus were deployed in the Punjab – a force larger than that used during the three Indo-Pak wars (Singh 1981). According to Singh (1981), after due research, this to be true. Saint-soldier’s recorded interview, his only objective was to defend the Golden Temple as best as he could against such heavy odds that no defender ever had to face in the annals of military history. One of the officers said, ‘Boy what a fight they gave us. If I had three Divisions like that I would fuck the hell out of Zia (the President of Pakistan) any day’. Another…., ‘I have seen a lot of action, but I can tell you I have never seen anything like this. Those extremists were pretty committed. They took a lot of beating from us. They should have realized that they could not win against the
army. If one weapon failed we brought another. What that failed we brought another.’ A third put it more succinctly. The bloody fellows would not let us in’ (Singh 1984). Of the 13 tanks used by the Army inside Golden Temple Complex on the night June 5th and 6th, seven tanks moved into Parikarama from the Eastern gate and were deployed for attack on the Akal Takht. One of them was destroyed by a young boy of 16 years who tied explosive around his body and jumped under the moving tank. Singh Pratap 1981. Khalistan The only solution The Bleeding Punjab US Edition (please see page 57). Brigadier RP Sinha said on March 8th, 1991 that “… a threat to the villagers that all males would be killed and their women taken to army camps to breed to a new race if there was
any militant activity in their village” in Khalistan.
Bibi Manjit Kaur Dakha (1992): Manjit Kaur Dakha’s husband sought political asylum in the United States after being tortured by the Indian armed personnel. Mrs. Dakha, her father, and her 6-mo-old daughter (Bhaghel Kaur) were tortured mercilessly, given repeated death threats, and her child was made to sit on a colony of ants by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The daughter (Mrs. Dakha) and her father were made to beat each other with clubs. Bhai Sukhvinder Singh ‘Gora’ Pappu, Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, Bhai Daljit Singh, Tarsem Singh Sidhwan, Bhai Navroop Singh (politics…) and many more have been rotting in Indian jails, because they have been fighting against the ‘Brahminical enslavement’ (Laklaar 2008).
False Cases Since the Deliberated Breakdown of Law and Order in Punjab: The role of the ‘Dastaardhari/turbaned Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’. On June 8th, 1993, Dr Sekhon wrote to P. V. Rao, Chairman, Council of Ministers, the NDA and asked to explain his role in “Operation Bluestar” of June 4th, 1984 and other Sikh matters. The Sikhs throughout the world have just commemorated the 11th anniversary of “Operation Bluestar” and there remain unanswered questions on the Indian government’s brutal and undeclared war on the Darbar Sahib Complex, almost every Gurdwara in Punjab, Khalistan (under the illegal occupation of the Indian armed and intelligence agencies). Please provide answers as to your own role in the undeclared war on the Sikh nation in particular and in the destruction of Air India flight 182, which originated from our Canadian airport. Your responses are sought as you were the Home minister or Minister of the Interior in the Indira Gandhi cabinet. The questions are as follows: As a responsible minister why did you become part of the decision making team to destroy the
Sikhs in June 1984 and subsequently participate in slandering the Sikhs in foreign countries? Did you oppose Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandershekhar, V. P. Sinh and other sycophants of the Indian cabinet to prevent the brutal attack on the Sikhs? Did you not have the information that Indian armed forces’ commando units have been rehearsing the attack on the Sikh nation and its sacred Darbar Sahib Complex in Chakrata, Amber (Amer), and Ambala cities of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana provinces? 4. Did you find Saint-soldier (Sant) Jarnail Singh Khalsa (Bhindranwala), Bhai Subheg Singh, Bhai Amrik Singh and his followers coming out of the Darbar Sahib Complex, subsequently crossing the boundaries of Sri Amritsar, Punjab, entering Haryana and Delhi, and launching an attack on the Indian parliament or nation? Who mobilized, Mr Narsimhanrao, the Indian army, navy, air force units, para-military, and intelligence agencies including Russian KGB advisors to Punjab, thus encapsulating the Sikh nation and suspending all means of transportation and communication? Was it not the Government of India and specifically the Home Minister, who are responsible for the holocaust of Sikhs in 1984 and later? Did the Indian armed forces not attack the Darbar Sahib Complex and Punjab, using tanks, gun-boat helicopters, heavy artillery batteries, and infantry? A saint-soldier will always defend the honour of women, his nation, heritage and the sanctity of his nation’s holy shrines. This was the role of Saint-soldier Jarnail Singh Khalsa, Bhai Subheg Singh, Bhai Amrik Singh Khalsa and their followers before they were martyred in June 1984. Did the Indian armed forces not kill more than 30,000 Sikh infants, children, youths and elderly male and female folks, who had come to Darbar Sahib Complex and other gurdwaras to celebrate the martyrdom of the fifth Nanak, Guru Arjan Sahib ji? Did the Indian armed forces not kill helpless, unarmed Sikh youths at point-blank range on or shortly after June 6th, 1984? Was the Indian government not party to the murder of Air India flight 182 on June 23, 1985? Did the Indian army not burn the Sikh Reference Library housing the hand-written scripts of the Sikh Gurus? Did the Indian army not burn and disrespect Guru Granth Sahib throughout the Sikh nation in Punjab, Khalistan? Did the Indian army not burn the supplies of Langar or community kitchen, which feeds all people irrespective of their creed, colour, race and religion? Did the Indian government not participate in a hotel in Italy (Kilgour D 1994 Betrayal The Spy Canada Abandoned ISBN 0-13-325697-9, Prentice Hall Canada, Inc., Scarborough), the birthplace of Mrs Rajiv Gandhi along with several other people and a KGB trained intelligence agent? After becoming Chairman of the Council of Ministers, please explain why many Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Dalits have been killed in fake encounters, and in Brahmin terrorism against minorities. How many intelligence personnel have you sent, belonging to the Research and Analysis Wing and other agencies to foreign countries where Sikhs reside? Mr. Narsimharao, the rulers of the Sikh Raj did not surrender power to any Brahmin nor any Hindu traitor. As such, Hindu India’s rule merely implies the forcible occupation and division of the Sikhs’ homeland
(Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) by the mindless Hindu politicians who believe in the Chankya doctrine. Remember that no Sikh leader has given consent to the Indian constitution. Therefore, the Indian invaders must vacate Khalistan. What is the accountability of Rupees 4,500 cror or US $1.5 billion which Punjab’s administrators like Reibero, S. S. Ray (Butcher of Bengal and Punjab; presently the Chief of Indian Embassy in the United States), Surender Nath, K. P. Gill and Beant Singh (merely elected by 8% of total electoral votes) have spent with your blessing to terrorize the citizens of Punjab, Khalistan? If you are a conscious leader of your predominantly Hindu India, respond to the questions raised above and explain your role in the Sikhs’ holocaust. NOTE: No reply was received. The author again wrote on June 17th, 1993 to PV Rao, Chief, Council of Minsters, the NAD, to get answers from him, which included mainly ‘Air India Flight 182, June 1985 and other pertinent matters, the ‘undeclared’ war on the Sikh Nation in June, 1984. It is highly regrettable that Rao did not care to acknowledge the letter, leaving a systematic relating to the Air India Flight 182, mid air explosion and other questions: Mr Narsimhanrao, RE: AIR INDIA FLIGHT 182 - 22nd JUNE, 1985 Once again, the time has come when your morally and ethically devoid foreign diplomatic machinery, and alleged ambassadors of India and your administration, will be stepping up their hate campaign against the Sikhs under the disguise of the 8th anniversary of the illfated Air India flight 182 that took off from the pious land of Canada. Although the politically dominated Indian judiciary system has been serving its New Delhi masters well, delivering the judgement in New Delhi’s favour by holding the Sikhs responsible for AI 182, no other court has yet concluded that the Sikhs have been responsible for the mishap that happened off the western coast of Ireland. You, as home minister in mid 1980s, along with the Indian administration, have been engaged in using your propaganda machinery (newspapers, Indian television or doordarshan, sending cultural and sports teams and journalists like Jagjit Singh Anand abroad, academics who speaks the language of Brahmins, or high class bigots, slander Sikh gurus and their teachings) to slander, persecute, terrorize and torture the Sikhs since “Operation Blue Star” of June, 1984. However, Indian administrations including your own, have shed no light on the state run airline system. In foreign news media, Indian Airlines flights are aptly referred to as “flying coffins”, especially when one considers what has happened during the airline’s operation in the first six months of 1993. I was wondering if you or your board of enquiries have as yet decided which group you wish to link these unfortunate events with,
the Sikhs or Muslims? I am particularly interested to know, assuming you would care to answer this letter, whether the incident that took place in the late 1970s at the Bombay airport for a scheduled Air India flight to a middle east country, in which then prime minister Indira Gandhi was travelling, was also caused by the Sikhs or by some disgruntled Air India employee(s). According to the findings of a one man commission, conducted by a judge of Maharashtra High Court, the first aircraft (upon which boarding had taken place and Indira Gandhi and her entourage were on board) did not start despite an Air India maintenance crew’s 3 hours struggle to fix the problem. After this struggle, a second aircraft was towed in, passengers, baggage and cargo was reloaded, but the second aircraft did not start. A third aircraft was brought in and the scheduled flight took off to its destination after the delay of several hours. The findings, as I recall, of the
commission were that in the first craft electrical wires were found cut and the second aircraft had more water [in] the aviation fuel. Did the enquiry commission conclude that the Sikhs were responsible, under Indian norms, for the electrical wires and high water ratio in the aviation fuel, or did some disgruntled maintenance employee(s) want to play with the lives of innocent but non-political passengers or was it because Indira (a corrupt, morally and ethically bankrupt person) happened to be one of the politicians on board, who had no regard for the Indian masses. Since the late 1970s and particularly since June 1984, what argument or explanation can you advance for the Air India 182 disaster not being a creation of Rajiv Gandhi, his administration (of which you were a member) and Indian Research and Analysis Wing, the latter which is believed to be responsible to only the prime minister. Indicators clearly point out that it was done to slander the Sikhs, destroy their integrity in the eyes of their fellow countrymen, and make them a criminal tribe as done before by bigots like Nehru, Patel, Trivedi, Govalkar, Pant, Charan Singh, V. P. Sinh, Chandrashekhar, and Balram Jhakhar, who said that, “to preserve the unity of India, if we have to eradicate 2-kror or 20 millions Sikhs, we will do so”, according to Sardar Amarjit Singh Khalsa, Spokesperson, Panthic Committee. Such defamation is aided by the Sikh quislings Pratap Singh Kairon, Giani Kartar Singh, Kuldip Brar, K. P. Gill, Beant (Singh) Sinh, Surjit Barnala, Harchand Singh Longowal, Darshan Singh Ragi, Umrao Singh, Rajinder Singh Sparrow (Grewal), Zail Sinh, Giani Kirpal Singh, Inspector-General (Prisons) Katoch, Khushwant Singh, Patwant Singh, Jagjit Singh Arora
(who justified the Operation Black Thunder) and many non-Sikhs like J. F. Reibero, Gen. Vaidhya, H. K. L. Bhagat, and army officer Ishrar Khan, to name a few. Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke, the former Mukh-Sewadar, Akal Takht Sahib, was abducted by the Hindu India’s police personnel on December 20th, 1993 from his village in Punjab. Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode, also one of the former Mukh-Sewadar of Akal Takht Sahib, Advocate Balbir Singh Sooch and former police officer Darshan Singh, along with several other witnesses, testified in the enquiry of Bhai Kaunke’s abduction. Police officer Darshan Singh said that Senior Superintendent of Police Swarn Ghotna, Deputy Superintendent of Police Harbhagwan Singh Sodhi and an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Chanan Singh
tortured Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke, at a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) centre and other places, before dumping his body in a canal on January 3rd, 1994. Academic analyses of the books on “Operation Bluestar” were made by Sekhon and Sandhar. The titles analyzed were the Indian government’s White Paper, Oppression in Punjab, Who Are the Guilty? The Siege of the Punjab, Tragedy of Punjab, The Punjab Story, Amritsar: The last battle of Indira Gandhi, Punjab: The Fatal Miscalculation, Internal and External Threats to Sikhism, Unholy Terror, Blue Star Operation, Punjab Under Siege, India Commits Suicide, India: Million Mutinies, India: The Siege Within, Diary De Panne (Punjabi), Khalistan Di Twarikh (Punjabi), Ki Khalistan Banega (Punjabi)?, Dooja Jafarnaama, Dahishatgardi Dian Jarhan Kithe (Punjabi), Khalistan Maazi Ka Khawab Mustakil Ki Haqiqatby Tarriq Ismail Sagar, and Bharat Wich Qaumi Tahriq by Mohammed Jahangir Tamimi. Unholy Terror is the most un-academic work regarding Sikhs and Blue Star Operation by K. Brar. The reviewers perceive that the book has been
written under the directions of the Research and Analysis Wing’s assigned writer(s), for K. Brar (The Sikhs: Past and Present 4, 22-26, 1994). Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi July 21, 1994, SECRET IMMEDIATE, No. 110109-FS/94, Dr L. M. Singhvi, High Commissioner of India, India House, ALDWYCH, LONDON WC2 4NA. My Dear Mr Singhvi, Govt. of India has sent Prof. Manjit Singh Acting Jathedar of Shri Akal Takhat Sahib Amritsar; the highest Sanct Place of Sikhs, with a special Mission to USA, UK, Canada. We have completed all the official formalities for his departure. As you are already aware that UK has a maximum number of supporters of Sikh Militants who have been spreading disturbances in Northern India for a long time. Prof Manjit Singh has a special place in the hearts of Sikh Militants. And he has agreed to help us in carrying out this mission. Research and analysis wing (RAW)’s senior officials
had a detailed meeting with jathedar Manjit Singh of Kes garh. Those who arranged the meeting settled to pay Rs 1.5 crore which has been paid to him in Foreign currency. Our Mission is only to maintain integrity and unity of the country to save it from Divisive Elements. Manjit Singh is an eminent scholar of Sikhism. He can take out future plans of the militants as well as influence them to come back in the main stream. You kindly help us by providing top secret security on Prof. Manjit Singh kindly maintain the secrecy. Also watch Prof. Manjit Singh’s movement and convey the needful information everyday to New Delhi Control Room. I hope you will carry out this Mission in a top secret manner. With best wishes, Yours sincerely, Signed (K. Srinivasan). [Source: The Sikhs: Past and Present 1994, 4(2), 40]. According to an Indian newspaper, The Hitavada, the Union Government made available Rupees 4,500 crore (US $1.5 billion) to the Punjab Governor, Surendra Nath (killed in a helicopter crash), to prop up terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir (1984-1994). Under this state-sponsored terrorism, the Hindu Indian democracy committed terrorist acts against innocent people, family members of Punjab police, teachers, doctors, engineers, news media personnel and public personalities, in an effort to label Sikhs as terrorists and justify its occupation of Punjab, Khalistan (Dr Aulakh’s letter of Feb 3rd, 1995 to the Indian Prime Minister).
1995 – April 1st: The New Delhi administration sent 11 Sikh Regiments of the Indian Army to oppress and persecute the Kashmiri Musalmaans. This is in accordance with the Brahmin, Manu, Chankya and Shankracharya doctrines to use one minority against another to keep their administration secure. On April 22nd Dr. H. S. Sandhar, the then President, World Sikh Organization (Edmonton Chapter), wrote to the Indian Prime Minister, P. V. Narsimhan Rao. On the 9th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Khalisthan, Dr. Sandhar asked Rao since the Constitution of India enshrines India as a secular state, why has the supremacy of Brahminical rule been maintained for the last 45 years? If the Constitution guarantees freedom to practice one's religion, why are Christians, Muslims and Sikhs miss-treated by your government, Para military forces, armed forces and Hindu fanatics? On April 8th Prof M. Singh wrote to the publisher and Editor in Chief of the Sikhs: Past and Present, “Punjab continues to suffer as a colony of Indian state. After the annihilation of a large number of Sikh youth, the
state is indulging in mass transfer of Indian populations into Punjab, large-scale land- grab and exploitation of groundwater and other resources of Punjab.” Simranjit Singh Mann, the detained Sikh leader is steadfast in his mission and approach. A fact-sheet on his detention is enclosed. We are concerned about the proposed Indo-Canadian Treaty of Extradition. Please post us with the latest developments in this regard, so that we can mount pressure on the Canadian embassy here. Simranjit Singh Mann, who is in prison, joins me in sending good wishes to you and your family [The Sikhs: Past and Present 5(1), 52, 1995]. The Sikh politicians of Akali Dal and non-Akalis (of the non- Sikh parties, e. g., Congress and other parties) became visionless, politically impotent and the slaves of the Brahmins autocracy alias the devious and discriminatory alleged Indian democracy. Their lips are ‘sealed’ because of intimidation by the Brahminical
slavery. Just to put it rather briefly, the Sikh politicians when talking to the news media, they are so afraid of their Brahminical masters of the Hindus’ fundamentalist and militant party(ies), the Bhartiya Janta Party, or any other non-Sikh party, they always will speak in the language of the ‘subservient’, the Hindi and do not speak in their own language, the language of the Sikhs is Punjabi, script Gurmukhi; whereas, the news media’s Hindus reporters/commentators asks their questions in Punjabi. Prakash 9Darkness/Hanera) Singh (Sinh) Badal and his cabinet colleagues are the perfect example of the Hindus- Brahmins’ intimidation (ATN, Asian Televison Network’s Punjabi news segment, monitored in Canada). This reflects how the ‘Dastaardhari/turbaned Hindus in ‘The Sikh
Identity’ have become ‘cowards’ or toothless tigers. These ‘Dastaardhari/turbaned Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’ are no less than the parasites of the Sikh Nation. They are the parasites of the Guru Khalsa Panth as well as the parasites on the Sikh Nation’s coffer. The jathedars or band leaders, Hymn singers/Keertanyes,
Granthis, Kathakaars alias orators and pseudo-holy men like the Sadhs, Derewalas, etc.: These jathedars or band leaders, especially Puran Sinh of Luv and Kush, who under the pressure of the NDA and his Akali Dal master, Prakash Sinh (Singh) Badal, said that the “Sikhs are Hindus” and are from the lineage of the Luv and Kush. The latter are the sons of Rama, the chief character of the mythological epic, ‘Ramayana’. It is amply clear that Puran Sinh of Luv and Kush does not know his own history, the history of the Sikhs from the Sikhs’ point of view.” He is contempt of the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ Holy Scripture. He has done a major disservice to the Guru Khalsa Panth. Puran Sinh of Luv and Kush is the member of the Saffaronized Party of the Dastaardhari Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’, called the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat alias the wing of the Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh and the Sang family. In fact, a vast majority of the Dastaardhari/ turbaned Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’ have been members of the saffaronized Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. They are used to conspire against the Sikh Diaspora
while visiting foreign countries. They are sent to foreign countries to disrupt the lives and peace in the Gurdwaras abroad. Prakash Sinh Badal himself is due to pay his visit to the United States of America (www.khalistannews.com October 16th 2009, on October 26th. Dr. Sekhon wrote an open letter to Prakash Sinh Badal with his queries and asked him certain questions. “Hanera (Prakash/Darkness) Sinh Badal is well known to the Sikh world, in the Sikhs’ Holy and Historic Homeland Punjab, the Sikh Nation, Khalistan (presently under the occupation and enslavement of the devious, discriminatory and apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy alias the Brahmins autocracy/Zamhooriat/Zulamhooriat. Hanera Sinh Badal is the ‘person’, a Brahmin in ‘The Sikh Identity’, who has left no stone unturned to demonize the Sikh Nation, Punjab, ever since he became an Akali for his ulterior political motives. Being the Chief of the Akalis-Badal Private Limited Incorporation, he has proved to be a disgrace to the Guru Khalsa Panth. He has made the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland an ‘illiterate’ state. He has proven to be the biggest obstacle in providing an ‘international airport’ in the Sikh Homeland. When elected following an undeclared war on the Sikh Homeland in the form of a brutal military “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, he made a promise that after getting elected he will punish the ‘guilty’, who were in contempt with basic human rights. However, there has been not a single one who has been punished. The fact, on the other hand, is he has spent more than US $20 million to protect the ‘Butchers of the Sikh Homeland’, like KP Gill and numerous of his colleagues.
Dr Sekhon questions the imprisonment of more than 7000 prisoners (Sikhs), some of them born in jails, named Jail Singh or Jail Kaur depending on their sex, kept in the high security and other jails of the Sikh Homeland and in the jails outside Punjab. Why are they kept in jails without trials and crimes, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal alias Hanera (Darkness) Sinh Badal? In fact, Badal, his clan and cabinet colleagues ‘must be’ behind bars and the Sikh prisoners be released and enjoy their ‘freedom’. Why Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu and his associates have been put in jails when they claim that they have not committed any crime, the Chief Minister of Punjab?
Are you not an agent of the RAW, Mr. Hanera Sinh Badal? Were you not one of the members of Akali Dal who had been involved in the ‘Undeclared war on the Sikh Nation’s holy and historic places like the Darbar Sahib Complex, Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib and making the Sikh Homeland a ‘concentration Camp’ during “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984? More than a million Sikhs were eliminated in the decade of 1980’s, for which you had been responsible, Mr. Hanera Sinh Badal. Will you deny the genocide of Sikhs? You, Hanera Sing Badal and colleagues, collaborated with the Sikhs’ enemies, the Bhartiya Janta Party, its chief, a criminal AB Vajpayee, LK Advani, and all other non-Sikh criminal politicians, to hang on to your ‘kursi’ or political office. Didn’t you, Hanera Sinh Badal? Why did you introduce ‘fee for service or another form of bribery’ in the Sikh Homeland? What Constitutional rights does the Indian Constitution 1950 provide to you and the Sikhs in the Sikh Homeland, Hanera Sinh Badal? Do you know, Hanera Sinh Badal, that none of the Sikhs elected Members of Parliament has signed/endorsed/accepted the Indian Constitution? Do you know, Hanera Sinh Badal, that Sardar Hukam Singh, Sardar Bhupinder Singh Mann and Sirdar Kapur Singh, ICS, MP, MLA and National Professor of Sikhism repeatedly ‘rejected’ the Indian Constitution, in the Indian parliament in 1948, November 26th, 1949, 1950 and more recently on September 6th, 1965? So what Constitutional rights do you have, Hanera Sinh Badal and colleagues, including the Sikhs of Punjab? Are you still an agent of the RAW, Hanera Sinh Badal? Would you care to tell that the coffer of the Sikh Nation, Punjab,
Khalistan, has been made bankrupt by the Hanera Sinh Badal’s administration? Would you tell why you suspended, fired and re-hired Dr. Harshynder Kaur of Patiala and her husband in June, 2009, after she returned from her assignment at the U N Human Rights Council (June 2009 Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland? You are the enemy of the Sikh Nation, Sikhs’ Homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, as I perceive it. How long you plan to hang on to your ‘kursi’? Let me tell you, Hanera Sinh Badal, the Destiny of the Sikhs and their Sikh Nation is the ‘Sovereignty, Independence and Political Power of the Sikhs’ and there is no one to stop them attaining to their goal. Hanera Sinh Badal let me tell you that the alleged Indian democracy has been committing ‘International Crimes’, like the destruction of Air India Flight 182, on June 26th, 1985 off the western coast of Ireland and another crime to destroy another Air
India flight in Europe in 1994. However, the latter plan did not or could not be materialized. Among the people who discussed the foiled plan in Hotel Canada, Rome, were two Brahmins/Hindus in ‘The Sikh Identity’ like the identity of Hanera Sinh Badal and/or your colleagues. Why are you giving and wasting Sikh Nation’s natural resources, like river waters, electricity, etc., to give ‘free’ to non-Sikhs, the Sikh nation’s enemies, the Hindus-Brahmins, etc., outside Punjab? Other states and the federal administration owe the Sikh Homeland more than Rupees 55,000 cror, for the Sikh Nation’s natural resources they have used. Have you recovered the money from the criminal politicians of the devious, discriminatory and apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy? Would you make the apex Sikh institutions, the Darbar Sahib Complex and Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib free from the ‘Tight Control’ of your administrative
machinery as well as the federal armed and intelligence personnel?
You are expected to answer the above questions, The Sikh Nation cannot expect anything as far as their role to the Guru Khalsa Panth is concerned. The army of jathedars do not realize that the Sikh Nation is under the ‘Slavery of the Brahmins-Hindu India. It does not matter to them as long as they have been doing their anti-Sikh services and their duties like a ‘Hindu Puzaris’ of a Hindu temple. They have become and made religiously and politically impotent by the chief, Akali Dal, and their employer. Similarly, the so- called corrupt saints or sadhs, Derewalas (maintaing their vast vote bank), folk singers, entertainers, hymn singers, granthis, Akali Dal-Badal Private Limited members are used to work against the Sikh Diaspora and spread rumours and distort the truth of the “Operation Bluestar”, as you have been conspiring against the Sikh nation, Prakash Sinh Badal.
The Sikhs and the Sikh women who sacrificed their lives for the Sikh Cause (the Sovereignty and Honour of the Sikh Nation): The Sikhs whose name will be remembered by the Sikh Nation, for their sacrifices are more than 1.1 million since the decade of 1980s and to date:
Sikhs Against British Imperialism under the British India Empire Courtesy: ‘The Telegraph’ June 18th, 1984 Beant Singh and Satwant Singh Beant Singh, son of Sucha Singh, a resident of Maloa (District Ropar), along with Satwant Singh assassinated Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister.
On June 1st, 1984 on the orders of Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army attacked the armed fortified Harmandar Sahib Complex, in an operation called ‘Operation Blue Star’. These events caused outrage amongst the Sikh community, which claimed that the attacks were pre-planned and that anti-Sikh violence which followed was government orchestrated. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh were Sikh bodyguards of Indira Gandhi, yet on October 31st, 1984 they assassinated her in her garden.
Beant Singh was killed by gunfire at the scene of the assassination. Satwant Singh was arrested and later sentenced to death by hanging, along with Kehar Singh.
As per ‘Hindustan Times’ Jan 07 2008, the highest Sikh temporal seat (Akal Takht, Amritsar) on Sunday (Jan 06 2008) declared all assassins of former prime minister Indira Gandhi as martyrs of Sikhism.
After Beant Singh's death, Beant Singh's wife Bimal Kaur Khalsa became a militant and later a member of India's Parliament.
Additionally, the Sikhs of the British India Army, along with Muslims, sacrificed their lives, to preserve world peace in Europe appears to be near the tens of
thousands. The president, Sikh Youth Federation, the Netherlands, who has had been seen with a criminal AB Vajpayee’s right hand person, L K Advani, of the
Bhartia Janta Party, had compiled information and published it a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, this friend of L K Advani left the statistics of the Muslim
brothers of Punjab of monarch Ranjit Singh under the British Empire. The author pointed out and expressed his disappointment for leaving the Muslims out from his compilation. The Government of Belgium and the Belgian Sikhs, along with their brothers from the Netherlands and other European countries, pay their tributes every year in the month of November when they pay their tributes to the fallen comrades on the Remberance Day. The author was taken to visit the graves of the Sikhs and the Canadian soldiers when he was invited to present a brief on “The Sikhs’ struggle for sovereignty, independence and political power, which has been continuing since March 14th, 1849 in the first week of October, 1999 (Int J Sikh Affairs 1999).
Historical Relationships of the Sikhs and the Muslims- Since founding the Sikh religion by Guru Baba Nanak Sahib in the 15th century, the relations between the
followers of the Guru Granth Sahib, in which the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, Muslims sufi saints, like Bhagat Kabir ji and Baba Fareed ji, the first Punjabi poet
of Punjab and many other non-idol worshipping Bhagats, have been inscribed, have been like two brothers of the same father. Here, the father of the Sikhs and
Muslims is the Khudawand Bakhshinda, also known by various names like Waheguru ji, Akalpurakh, Sacha Patshah, Allah, Allah Tallah, etc. This father of
these two brothers is formless, beyond birth and death, Omni present, and present in every living being. Baba Guru Nanak’s message is for the wellbeing of humanity, regardless if they go to the Gurdwaras or Masijds alias Masits or Mosques. Yes, these two brothers are called the Sikhs and Muslims. The former is
the 5th largest religion of our world. Muslims are the followers of the Islamic religion and one of the major religions of the world. The Sikhs and Muslims have
many, many commonalities among themselves. Both these brothers share the same language, Punjabi, although their script is different. The Sikhs’ script of Punjabi is Gurmukhi and the Muslims use the Urdu in their writing. The food habits are the same and they both have blood relationships. Despite the attempts of the
Brahmins, as the Guru Baba Nanak Sahib described the Brahmins as the ‘Butcher of the humanity’, as inscribed in the Sikhs’ Holy Scripture, to bring both the
martial communities head on and creating rifts with its enormous attempts and calling them traditional enemies, both brothers are still together and meet each
other with warmness and love for each other. The Brahmin-Hindu administration of the NDA of New Delhi waged at least three military wars since August 15th,
1947 the time when Punjab of monarch Ranjit Singh was divided into Pakistan and the Brahmin-Hindu India, because of the stupidity of the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh of the Akali Party (Betrayal of Sikh Nation by Master Tara Singh With Documents of Transfer of Political Power 1947 by Ram Singh ISBN 978-0-
9811360-6-6, August 2009, second edition) and he was one of the co-founders of the Hindus’ militant and terrorist part, Vishawa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu
rganization (see www.khalistan.net of Dr. Parmjit Singh Ajrawat). The author is of the staunch view that Master Tara Singh alias Nanak Chand Malhotra, a convert from Hindu to the ‘House of Guru Nanak Sahib’, was planted to destroy the Sikh Nation and make the Sikhs Hindus, in contempt of the teachings of the Sikhs’ Holy Scripture. Master Tara Singh, traitor of the Guru Khalsa Panth was bribed by the Brahmin-Baniya clique of the Hindus. His refusal to meet as the Sikhs’ leader in a meeting called by Lord Mountbatten is ample evidence that he was more Hindu than a Sikh in ‘The Sikh Identity’. His stupidity and friendship with JL Nehru alias Mobarak Ali caused irreparable damage to the Sikh Nation. He let the Sikh Nation be ‘robbed’ by the Hindus in broad day light on August 15th, 1947. Despite his betrayal, two brothers, the Sikhs and Muslims, are far more closer than the enemies of both the brothers could imagine. Master Tara Singh had no knowledge of the Sikhs’ relations with other citizens of Punjab, the Muslims. He was neither a religious leader nor a politician. He betrayed the Sikhs. He was an important religious leader. The Sikh history will not forget his betrayal to the Sikh nation, the Guru Khalsa Panth.
It should be remembered by all factions of the Akalis, especially by the Master Tara Singh Akal Dal, that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has not made even a
single attempt to destroy any Gurdwara Sahib in Pakistan. On the other hand, the devious, discriminatory and apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy’s
administrations have waged an ‘undeclared war on the Sikhs’ apex institutions, religious and political, in the form of the brutal military “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984, in which the extensive use of Indian army, air force and navy was made, to ‘exterminate the Sikhs from their ‘robbed’ Sikh Nation and their holy and
historic Homeland. There is no further evidence needed to discern that the Muslims of Pakistan have great regard for the Sikhs of Punjab; whereas, the alleged Indian democracy’s Brahmins-Hindus and pro-Brahmins-Hindus cliques are the enemies of the Sikhs and their Sikh Nation. So much so, an Akali of the Akali Dal-Badal Private Limited’s administration, Prakash Sinh Badal himself, desecrated the Darbar Sahib Complex in February 1998. These Akalis are only after the coffer of the Guru Khlsa Panth.
The granthis, hymn singers, orators or Katha-vaachaks, jathedars, etc., are under the ‘Tight grip’ of the Brahmin-Hindu administration of the alleged Indian
democracy.
As far as the Sikhs of the Brahmins-Hindus armed forces are concerned, they must not forget that the alleged Indian democracy has been using them for the jobs, which the Brahmins and Hindus cannot do or would not like to do. These Sikhs of the armed forces and the law-enforcing services have no future as far as their
advancement in the job is concerned. The era of Sikh generals and high-ranking commissioned officers is a story of the past. The past what had been seen by them in the British Indian armed forces.
For the brotherly relationships of the Sikhs and Muslims, please see above for the information presented in the first section of this write up. Gani Khan, Nabi Khan, Bibi Mumtaz, Pir Budhoo Shah, Faizu-ud-Din, the Foreign Minister of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time, Pir Budhoo Shah’s 500 mureeds, four Sahibzade, and many Muslims in Guru Gobind Singh’s army fought for the 10th Master. What the Brahmins-Hindus talk about the traditional animosity of Muslims and Sikhs is
nothing more than the Hindus’ propaganda against them. It is Brahmins-Hindus’ inspired propaganda that the Mughals were the enemies of the Sikhs, as they
fought against the Sikhs. Let the author makes it clear that it were the ‘rulers’ who carried out persecution and excesses against the Sikhs. Who instigated the Mughal rulers to go against the Sikhs? These were the spineless Brahmins who had no energy to stand before the tyrant. That’s why the Brahmins-Hindus had been ‘subservient’ to the Afghans, Mughals, Sikhs, British, Portuguese, etc., for more than 3,500 years. Had they been true to themselves, their sisters, mothers and daughters would not have been abducted and sold in the ‘bazaars’ of the middleeast countries. Yes, there are some hot heads in both countries, Pakistan and
Sikh nation, Punjab. They each have their genuine concerns. However, you the complainers should think who brought those situations in the ‘annexed’ Punjab
and the British India Empire? No one else, but ML Gandhi and JL Nehru and their followers. No one, even in a dream could put the blame on the Father of Pakistan, Janab M A Jinnah. He was all for the peace. He was not like Master Tara Singh, neither the leaders of the Brahmins-Hindus.
In summation on the relationship between the Sikhs and Muslims, the author would say, without any reservations, that their relationship is ever lasting. The
Sikhs and the people of Pakistan should start working to cement their ties and for the betterment of their future generations.
The alleged Indian democracy has carried out the political, social, educational and cultural genocide of the Sikhs of Punjab, as explained before the Commission,
Sub-Commission, Human Rights Council’s sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Geneva, Switzerland. The Sikhs of the Brahmins-Hindus’
armed forces should look at the history of the last six decades. They were used against the innocent citizens of the Jammu and Kashmir, who have been seeking
the right for their self-determination ever since the dispute started; against the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1962; against the sovereign people of Assam,
Manipur and Meghalaya since early 1960s, against the women of Manipur just about three years ago to humiliate by raping them by the sex hungry armed
personnel of the Brahmins-Hindus’ alleged Indian armed forces. Sikhs are reminded that they should never forget and forgive as to what happened to their
young boys, young girls, mothers, sisters and elderly folks well before, during and after “Operation Bluestar” of June 1984.
Conclusions: The first sovereign and secular nation of South Asia, of a Sikh monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to March 14th, 1849, has been “struggling to regain its
lost sovereignty, independence and political power by peaceful means (see the front page coverage of The Times on December 29th, 1929, published from
London, U K). Prior to that a Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadar established the first sovereign Khalistan or Khalsa Raj. Before that Guru Gobind Singh ji, the 10th Master of Sikhs, blessed the Sikhs with sovereignty by saying “Inn gareeb Sikhan ko deun Patshahi, ye yadd Karen Hamri Guryaaii (Gur-Bilas Patshahi Dasvin).” What it means is that (i) the sovereignty is the ornament of the Sikhs since their Guru Sahibaans’ time (Guru Baba Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh ji, and the present Guru of the Sikhs, the Holy scripture of Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib ji). The Sikhs will keep on struggling, by peaceful means, until they are sovereign. Since August 15th, 1947 the Sikhs are in the enslavement of the Brahmins-Hindus, the masters of the alleged Indian democracy, who robbed the Sikhs of Sikh Nation in broad day light. The Sikhs have to be sovereign.
Sikhs have no relations with the Hindus (mean Chors, dakkus, dacoits, scoundrels in Persians). How can the followers of the 5th largest religion of our world be the scoundrels, chor, dakku, dacoits, or oochakka, of the House of Baba Guru Nanak Sahib? The Brahmins-Hindus being ‘subservient’ for more than 3,500 years of the Afghans, Mughals, Sikhs, British, Portuguese, etc., according to the history, failed to save the honours of their female children, daughters, sisters, and mothers, who used to be abducted by the Mughal intruders like Ahmad Shah Abdali and others and taken as far away as Libiya and other middleeast countries. These Brahmins- Hindus had no spine to save their own lives. They tasted political power without being in politic power. They played the role of ‘raj purohits’ in the period of the Emperor Akbar. These Brahmins-Hindus offered their daughters to the intruders to enjoy the political power. The perfect example is Jodha Bai, the sister of Raja or King Maan Singh of Jaipur. Raja Maan Singh’s sister was one of the favorite wives of the Emperor Akbar. One of the well known qualities of the ‘Brahmins- Hindus’ was to bring head on the Hindu kings of the hilly areas. They turned the hilly kings against Guru Gobind Singh, when the Guru Sahib tried to unite these kings of small kingdoms for their own defence.
According to the teachings of the founder of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak Sahib, inscribed in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Hindus-Brahmins are the enemies of the
Sikh faith and they are the ‘butchers of mankind’. How can the peaceful minded Sikhs be related to the Brahmins-Hindus? As pointed out above, these Hindus-
Brahmins are deceitful people, cowards and they cannot commit any crime. What a self-glory to sing! Within 7-week period post August 15th, 1947 the Brahmin-
Hindu trio, J L Nehru alias Mobark Ali, V B Patel and Chandu Lal Trivedi declared the Sikhs as ‘lawless people, dangerous to the law abiding Hindus- Brahmins’. In post “Operation Bluestar” of June, 1984, the Indian Defense Journal, ‘Baat-Cheet’, warned the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ soldiers that the “Amritdhari (initiated Sikhs) appear as normal people, but in fact, they are dangerous people and should be put to death quickly”. What it interpreted is that the ‘Hindus-Brahmins’ are saints, they cannot commit any crime and the Sikhs are criminals. What a criminal mind of the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’!
The Sikhs’ and other non-Hindu-Brahmin minorities’ places are desecrated, Dalit women are raped, beaten and killed. That too is by the Indian police personnel.
The Sikhs’ Darbar Sahib Complex, Gurdwaras and the Supreme Seat of Sikh Polity are under the ‘tight control’ of the Hinduized and saffaronized provincial
and federal administrations of Prakash (Hanera/Darkness) Singh (Sinh) Badal and Manmohan Sinh (a prime minister selected by the Brahmins-Hindus; he is not an elected member of the Indian parliament), respectively. The Sikhs and other non- Sikhs minorities’ places of worships have to be vacated from the control of the police as well as the militant and saffaronized Hindus-Brahmins organizations of the alleged Indian democracy. To be saved from the blood shed in the times to come, Sikhs of the Sikhs’ holy and historic Homeland on August 15th, 1947 (including Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjabi speaking areas of Rajasthan, Delhi
where the Sikh General Bhagel Singh and his followers hoisted the Sikh Flag, the Nishaan Sahib, claiming the Sikhs’ victory over the Delhi Red Fort, including
Chandigarh) be vacated by the Brahmins-Hindus of India, and returned as the part of the Sikh Homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. The ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ might have
their animosity with the Muslims in India, Muslims of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Bangladesh, etc., but the author would like to make it crystal clear
that the Sikhs’ relationship with the Musalmaan dates back from the times of Guru Baba Nanak Sahib and more so since August 15th, 1947. The Sikhs and Muslims are brothers and have mutual respect for each other. As such, the ‘Brahmins- Hindus’ deserve only a place to be called the ‘Brahminstan’, where they (4% of the Brahmins and 10% Hindus, the total population of over 1.2 billion hungry mouths of India) could live peacefully by following the doctrines of Manu,
Shankracharya, Kautalya, Brahmins and the rules and regulations of the mythological epics of Ramayana and Mahabharat. The Sikhs, according to Guru
Baba Nanak Sahib’s teachings inscribed in the Holy Scripture, are Sikhs, none else but Sikhs. They are neither Hindus nor Musalmaans. How could the Sikhs be
‘Hindus’, who are ‘neither a religion nor a culture’; whereas, the Sikhs are both a religion and the Sikh culture. It cannot be forgotten and ignored, as the ‘Brahmins- Hindus’ politicians and non-politicians said just before “Operation Bluestar” of genocide of Sikhs in June, 1984: “Kachha Karrah Kirpan, Inko Bhejo Pakistan.” Indeed, these ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ have been very smart, because they ‘robbed’ the Sikh Nation, Punjab, on August 15th, 1947, took their historic land of the Sikhs and now they say that the ‘Sikhs should go to Pakistan’. Let it be made clear that (i) the Sikhs have nowhere to go but to their Sikh nation and the holy and historic Homeland, Punjab. The ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ cannot ‘rob’ the Sikhs and keep their Homeland in their occupation. They have to vacate the Sikh nation and they have to find their place in the Hindus’ land Hindustan and or the ‘Brahminstan’. These ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ cannot keep the Sikhs’ holy and historic land under their occupation. The period of 62 years, post-August 15th, 1947 is more than enough to find their way into the ‘Hindustan’ and/or the Brahminstan. Since August 15th, 1947 the Hindus-Brahmins have been parasites and trouble makers for the Sikh homeland, Punjab. There is no place for the trouble makers, parasites and ‘terrorist’ Hindus-Brahmins in the land of the Sikh Gurus, Punjab, the Sikh Nation, Khalistan.
All those Sikhs, who have been serving as ‘slaves or subservient’ to the ‘Hindu- Brahmins’ armed forces have to come back to serve their Sikh homeland with
dignity and pride. The Sikhs have to rebuild their Homeland Punjab for the prosperity of the citizens of the Sikh homeland. They have to liberate the Sikhs’
religious, political institutions and places from the ‘tight control’ of the ‘Hindus- Brahmins’ administration and the administration of pro-Hindus-Brahmins. The
Sikhs’ Punjab had been the fist Sovereign and Secular nation of South Asia. The Sikhs have to reintroduce their Sovereignty and Secular state for which they have
been struggling since March 14th, 1849. They have to rebuild their Sikh Identity, in accordance with the Sikh Way of Life, or the Sikh Rahit Maryanda (SRM), in
accordance with the Sikhs’ Seat of Polity, the Akal Takht Sahib. There is no place for corrupt and criminal politicians like Prakash (Hanera/Darkness) Sinh Badal and likewise people in the Sikhs’ sovereign and secular homeland, Punjab. All those law-endorsing and armed personnel will be prosecuted for their crimes to
commit fake encounters, genocide, humiliation, dehumanization, rape, persecution and terrorization in the Sikh Homeland, while under the occupation of the alleged Indian democracy of the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ since August 15th, 1947. There would be no place for the administrative machinery of the Akalis and non-Akalis who made the Sikhs’ Homeland bankrupt.
The Sikh leaders like Simaranjit Singh Mann and others who are truly the followers of the Sikhs’ holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Way of Life, are
requested to look sincerely for the progress and development of the Sikh Nation without wasting even a fraction of a second’s time. The non-Sikh parties of the
‘Brahmins-Hindus’ like Congress have no place in the Sikhs’ life and in their Sikh homeland. In Simaranjit Singh Mann’s own words: “The East is East and the west is west, twin shan’t meet.” This exactly, is the situation between the Sikhs of the Sikh Nation and the ‘Brahmins-Hindus’ of the apartheid practicing alleged Indian democracy.
It should be understood that the Sikh Guru Sahibaans introduced the concept of militarization in the Guru Khalsa Panth for self-defense and self-protection. With
the same token, the armed sources’ functions in the Sikhs’ liberated homeland will be to protect the ‘Sikhs’ sovereign and Secular nation. The civil administrations
would look after the Sikh nation’s national matters, to build a stronger Sikh nation and to build Sikh Nations friendly and cordial ties around the Sikh Nations’
international boundaries, along the lines of what the nation had been in Monarch Ranjit Singh’s era. The Sikh nation’s prime and most important relations will be
cultivated with the great people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Peoples’ Republic of China, people of the Jammu and Kashmir, who have been suffering
since August 15th, 1947, as well as the rest of the world.
It would be right to mention the figures of the genocide of Sikhs, Musalmaans in general, Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and other nationalities, since
August 15th, 1947 or otherwise mentioned. These figures are more than 3.2 million Sikhs, more than 500,000 Muslims in general since 15th August, 1947, 110,000
Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir since 1988, more than 312,500 Christians, tens of thousand of Dalits, more than 12,000 Assamese since 1990, and 15,000 Tamils
since 1990s, and hundreds of thousands of Adivaasis in numerous genocide, pogroms (Sekhon A S 2009 ISBN 0-9548929-4-1). The statistics of rape (an
international crime), prosecution, killings in the staged encounters, torture and terrorism are not included. All these figures reflect how the deceitful Brahmins-
Hindus, the Butchers of the world defined by the founder of the Sikh faith, abused the institution of democracy. It was not the abuse but the rape of the democratic principles. The author has no choice but to agree with the Hon Congressman Dana Rohrabacher that as far as the Sikhs and other non-Hindu minorities are
concerned,’India is not a democracy’. Whereas, one of the basic principles of the Sikh Nation is the ‘democracy’ or the institution of ‘panj piare or the Five beloved ones’, created by the 10th Master of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh ji, on 30th March, 1699. A sovereign Sikh nation will be a democratic and secular institution. However, India has never been a democracy. It has been using its armed forces to suppress the voice of the people, voice for the ‘Self- Determination’ in the nation of the Kashmiri citizens. After killing millions of people, since its inception on 15th August, 1947, who would say that India is a democratic country?
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Issued by
Parmjit Singh Sekhon (Dakha)
Advisor – Council of Khalistan
President – Dal Khalsa Alliance
President – International Sikh Shait Sabha
President – International Sikh Sabhiachar Society
510-774-5909
1700 Shattuck Ave, # 303
Berkeley, CA 94709
USA
