The news soon leaked out and Sikhs started a protest march from Gurdwara Gobindpuri Sahib Ji, which is three kilometres away from the Nirankari Bhawan in Kanpur. Women and children were also amongst the protesters. The Nirankari chief had again made full preparations for the Sikhs.

When the Sikh protesters reached the Nirankari Bhawan, the Nirankaris attacked them with brickbats and shotguns. An armed volunteer of the Nirankaris attacked Jathedar Kishan Singh with a spear, piercing his stomach. A fight ensued, and it was then that the police officers started to shoot at the Sikh protesters. As a result, thirteen Sikhs were martyred while a further seventy-four were injured.

This incident further increased Sikh resentment against Nirankaris and the Indian government. On 28th September, the bodies of those killed at Kanpur were carried in huge procession. The day before, the Sikhs of Amritsar, Delhi, Bombay, Lucknow, Kanpur and many other places observed a one-day protest strike.

The names of some of these Shaheeds are: Bibi Darshan Kaur, Bhai Jagjit Singh, Bhai Harcharan Singh, Jathedar Karam Singh, Jathedar Kishan Singh, Baba Kashmira Singh, Bhai Manmohan Singh, Bhai Gurbir Singh, Bhai Balwant Singh and Bhai Gurjit Singh.

As tempers ran high, the Punjab Government decided to ban the Nirankari Chief from entering Punjab for six months. Gurbachan Singh challenged this in the Supreme Court and the ban was lifted.

On the 30th September 1978, the Sikhs of Delhi organised a protest march and presented a memorandum to the Government of India, which demanded that all Nirankari ‘Smagams’ be banned. On 4th November 1978, the Nirankaris sent out a procession in Delhi to mark their annual conference. The Sikhs retaliated with a counter protest march that ended in bloodshed. The President of the Delhi Akali Dal, Avtar Singh Kohli, was hit on the head by a police-fired tear gas shell and was killed. Aside from him, Bhai Darshan Singh and thirteen-year old Maninder Singh were also Shaheed. Nine other Sikhs received injuries.

During the 5th and 6th November 1978, disturbances broke out in parts of Delhi and a curfew was imposed. Jan Sangh (BJP) workers provided a protection force, enabling the Nirankaris to continue their functions despite disturbances throughout the city. Many Arya Samaj leaders, including Lala Jagat Narain, gave speeches supporting the Nirankaris. This gave a new direction to the anti-Nirankari agitation. The Sikhs now strongly felt that the majority Hindu community in India was in support of the Nirankaris and their activities.

The Sikhs decided to take matters into their own hands following the failure of peaceful means.This time they were to obey Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s instruction:

“When all means of redressing a wrong have failed, it is both just and righteous to unsheath the sword”.

Bhai Ranjit Singh, a member of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha along with two other Gursikhs assassinated the Nirankari chief at his home on April 24th 1980. Bhai Ranjit Singh had managed to find employment at the Nirankari headquarters in Delhi, posing as a carpenter. Later that evening, he waited with an automatic rifle in a room within their guesthouse. One of the windows gave a clear view of the driveway.At about 11pm, he shot Gurbachan Singh from his position just as he returned home from a public function. Bhai Ranjit Singh managed to escape by jumping down onto a compound wall.

Bhai Sukhdev Singh Babbar, Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa, was a very close friend of Bhai Fauja Singh. He heard the news of Bhai Fauja Singh’s martyrdom while his Anand Karaj ceremony was being performed. He left his newly wed wife and rushed directly to Amritsar. He played a major part in eliminating the Nirankaris, including the assassination of the Nirankaris ‘Sat Sitaare’. Later he went underground from where he led the Khalistan movement for fourteen years, before attaining martyrdom on 9th August 1992.

Baba Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala emerged after the Amritsar Massacre as the pivotal figure spearheading the Sikh response to the Indian government of Indira Gandhi. The situation deteriorated as the government continued its policy of undermining the Sikh nation. This included the extensive murder, rape and humiliation of Sikhs, particularly Sikh youth. Baba Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala educated the Sikh masses about the central government’s anti-Sikh policies and discriminations and brought many onto the path of Sikhi through his teachings.

Frustration grew amongst the Sikh masses against the government and the Hindu media barons, such as Lala Jagat Narain, who deliberately and consistently depicted Sikhs as ‘terrorists’. Baba Jarnail Singh’s popularity became a threat to the government that had by then began to plan Operation Bluestar to bring the Sikh Panth to heel by attacking their temporal and spiritual sovereignty.

1978 Massacre Shaheeds

On 13th April 1978, the Akhand Kirtani Jatha gathered together from all over India at Amritsar to hold their yearly Vaisakhi Smagam. Kirtan had started from Amrit Vela and at about ten o’clock an important message was received. The message said that the followers of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh were holding a procession in Amritsar and were shouting insulting slogans directed at Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the Sikh religion.

The Sangat knew very well that the Nirankaris had been doing such things for several years. The Nirankaris had even gone so far as to give degrading names to prominent Gursikhs including Mata Tripta, Bhai Gurdas, Bibi Nanaki, Baba Buddha, Bhai Lalo and Bhagat Kabir. They scornfully referred to Guru Granth Sahib Ji as “a bundle of papers”, and they called Kar Sewa “Bikar Sewa”. The Nirankari leader is on record as saying that Guru Gobind Singh had made only Panj Pyare (Five Beloved) and that he would make ‘Sat Sitaare’ (seven stars). He had even dared to place his foot upon Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Since 1943 the Nirankaris have annoyed the Sikhs by distorting Gurbani to promote their warped ideals; just as many Sant-led movements do today. However it was during the 1970′s that the then Nirankari ‘Satguru’ Gurbachan ‘Singh’, went even further. He published articles stating that, Gurdwara Sarovars are pools which serve no purpose and they should be filled-up; Guru Gobind Singh Ji was either fighting battles or hunting and that he knew nothing about meditation; that no sensible person can call the writings in the ‘bulky miscellany’ (referring to Guru Granth Sahib Ji) a divine revelation.

Bhai Fauja Singh Ji heard the news from the loudspeaker when he was kneading the dough for the langar. He washed his hands and rushed to the congregation. He delivered a short speech, explaining the dire situation and drew a line, asking for those who are willing to accept martyrdom to cross it. Bhai Joginder Singh Talwara asked children and women not to go. However, many Bibian still insisted on going. After performing Ardas, the Gursikhs bowed before Guru Granth Sahib Ji and went off to Ramdas Niwas.

Upon reaching Ramdas Niwas they found that the procession had finished. The Gursikhs then decided that they should go to the place where the Nirankaris had gathered to hold a peaceful but resolute protest against the blasphemous insults directed at Guru Sahib. It is known that Sikhs of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Bhindra Jatha reached the Reego Bridge near Gobind Gar. Here, the Police stopped them. The Gursikhs demonstrated to the police about the insults being shouted at the gathering. These insults could be heard clearly from where they were standing. They told the police that they wanted to protest against the organisers of the gathering and the hurtful insults. A police officer told the Gursikhs that he would go and stop the Nirankaris and for them to remain there. The police officer went to where the Nirankaris had gathered and the Sikhs waited patiently for thirty minutes for him to return.

On his return there were more policemen accompanying him. D.S.P Joshi told the assembled jatha to go back and that the procession had ended a long time ago. But provoking speeches could still be heard on the loudspeakers. Then about five to six thousand uniformed Nirankaris rushed towards the group of about two to three hundred Gursikhs. Within seconds the massive force of Nirankaris mercilessly attacked them with pistols, rifles, spears, swords, bow and arrows, sticks, stones, acid bottles and home made bombs. The Gursikhs that were hit with bullets fell to the ground and were brutally butchered with swords, spears and axes. As the ground became covered with the bodies of the dead and wounded the police fired tear gas and bullets, but even that was directed towards the jatha, causing further injuries and death. In this way, the Nirankaris received greater assistance and were emboldened.

Shaheed Bhai Fauja Singh

Bhai Fauja Singh Ji was fired upon by the Superintendent of Police, who emptied the bullets from his pistol into Bhai Fauja Singh’s chest. These were not the only bullets he was to receive that day, but he kept on standing, uttering only “Waheguru”. Two Sikhs attempted to carry the still breathing and chanting Bhai Fauja Singh to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment, but were quickly arrested by the Police. Bhai Fauja Singh’s body was taken by the Police and put into the “dead wagon”. Again, another Sikh came upon Bhai Fauja Singh and found him breathing and still uttering “Waheguru”. He attempted to help, but half an hour later, when Bibi Amarjit Kaur arrived, Bhai Fauja Singh had attained martyrdom.

Bibi Amarjit Kaur with Shaheedi saroop of Bhai Fauja Singh

D.S.P Joshi was responsible for shooting Bhai Fauja Singh. He did not allow anyone to provide medical attention to Bhai Fauja Singh. Eventually the police took the bodies of the Shaheeds to the morgue. The wounded were taken to hospital.

The astonishing thing is that the gathering of the Nirankaris continued for three-and-a-half hours after this bloody massacre had occurred. It has also become known that the D.C of Gurdaspur, Naranjan Singh I.A.S, and other senior officers were present in the gathering during the massacre. It is clear that the authorities of the Amritsar district allowed the Nirankaris to hold their procession in the Sikhs main city of Amritsar during Vaisakhi. The Police authorities are guilty of colluding with and allowing the Nirankaris complete freedom to kill at will, and not dealing with them properly at the right time.

Dalbir Singh produced a telling eyewitness account. Dalbir was a former communist who had devoted himself to trade union activities for more than a decade and is one of many who believe that the Nirankaris had fought the Sikhs with a pre-conceived plan. At the time of the clash he was a correspondent at The Tribune based in Amritsar. His report states:

“It was the afternoon of 13th April 1978. I had returned home from a routine walk around Amritsar. I was taking a nap after lunch when the telephone rang. Someone who refused to identify himself told me that several people had been killed during a shooting incident at the Nirankari convention. I rushed out to the stadium at the railway colony.

There were many dead bodies that were strewn outside the venue of the convention. I didn’t yet know what had happened. I wandered around and met Govind Singh, the son-in-law of the Nirankari chief, on the stage. Govind Singh first led me to a tent in which there were many armed persons. After entering it, he suddenly turned around to lead me to another tent in which some Nirankaris were chatting with the Deputy Superintendent of Police.

I approached him and explained that I had seen some armed men who might have been the killers. The officer completely ignored this information. The next day, the police searched the Nirankari centre in Amritsar for the killers and their weapons. They had let the killers scatter, when they could still have been nearby, only to catch scapegoats one day after the actual incident.” Dalbir Singh maintains that the local administration had allowed the main culprits to escape.

The government produced a panel of doctors for the post mortem of the dead bodies. It has become known that Mr Janjooha D.C ordered the post mortems to be done only by one doctor and the government orders were not correctly carried out.The D.C was also involved with the Nirankaris.

The press also printed the news details of the incident incorrectly. The Gursikhs of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Bhindra Jatha were called ‘fanatics’. Harbhajan Singh Yogi responded stated:

“Today I read the newspaper report in which it was said, ‘a body of fanatic Sikhs’. If doing Kirtan and defending the good name of our father Guru Gobind Singh Ji makes us fanatics, then we welcome this allegation. Remember, those who do not defend the honour of their father are never worthy of respect on earth. These martyrs of Amritsar have shown us that we shall live in dignity; if it is not possible, we choose to die with honour.”

The killing of the Gursikhs by the Nirankari leader Gurbachan Singh was a heinous crime. We ask from where and from who did the arsenal of weapons come from? By giving the order to kill the leader of the Nirankaris was the main guilty party of the bloody massacre and should have been punished according to the full weight of the law. However, the Indian government administration, it police and judiciary, were exposed as partners to the Nirankaris and guilty of failing to deliver justice.

The Amritsar Massacre set alight the flames of justice in the Panth by the martyrdom of thirteen Gursikhs and seventy wounded. Ten Gursikhs were members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and two from the Bhindra Jatha. Many of them left wives and children. The Khalsa Panth will always remember the thirteen Shaheeds, as will their great Kurbani.

Funeral of 1978 Shaheeds

The funeral took place on Saturday 15th April 1978 outside Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib, in front of a congregation of about twenty-five to thirty thousand people. The thirteen martyrs were united on a single funeral pyre, to be cremated together.

Last week’s announcement by the VHP of putting portraits of Guru Gobind Singh and Sree Guru Granth Sahib in Hindu Mandirs has shocked Sikhs worldwide. The fact is that attacks on the Sikh faith and history have been ongoing for years in order to show Sikhs to be a part of Hinduism.

How Did This Begin?

Brahminism has always feared the Sikh faith. The Sikh Gurus proclaimed the equality of all humanity and rejected practices like caste, holy threads and worship of the cow. The exploitation of simple people by the Brahmin was eliminated. Although Hindu fundamentalists have taken a keen interest in destroying Sikhism for centuries, this latest cycle of Hindu attacks on Sikhism can be traced to 1993. The Sikh Liberation Movement had been brutally crushed in Punjab and was on its final breaths. Sikh villagers were afraid of being identified as being practicing Sikhs and roves of young Sikh men were cutting their hair so that they would not be harassed or killed by the police.

It was at this point that a new “Sikh” organization, the Rashtri Sikh Sangat began to enter Sikh villages. This organization began to distribute literature about the Sikh faith and hold meetings. Many villagers thought that it was an attempt to revive Sikh pride, but in fact, the literature was written to show Sikhs to be a part of Hinduism.

Akali Dal/BJP/RSS Alliance

Parkash Badal & RSS Leaders

The “Akali” party of Punjab, while claiming to represent Sikhs, is lead by the same old men who allowed the 1978 Amritsar massacre and the martyrdom of Bhai Fauja Singh and 12 other fellow Singhs. They are the same ones who let Gurbachana Narakdhari go unpunished.

The Akali party, in an alliance with the Hindu BJP began to rule Punjab. The RSS activity in Punjab also increased. Sangh programs were held in places like Guru Nanak Dev Stadium (Ludhiana) with the presence of Parkash Badal and other Akali/BJP leaders. On November 16, 1997, Badal while introducing the new RSS chief sad, “I can say with confidence that the Sangh, under the leadership of Raju Bhaiya is working towards removing all its shortcomings. Whenever this country has faced either internal or external danger, the Sangh and it’s workers have been on the front lines. Today, I am feeling very lucky to be a part of this gathering.”

Raju Bhaiya in his speech that day, in the presence of Badal, declared, “All Hindus are Sikhs and Sikhs Hindus. We are all one. Some grow hair and some don’t. I say that All Hindus are Sikhs and all Sikh are Hindus. Our principles are the same. With the help of unity, we become very powerful”¦People are right when they say that Hindus have the power to make Hindustan a leader in the world!”

RSS poster for Punjab

Under the watchful guidance of this unholy alliance, the RSS increased its parchar amongst the Sikhs. It was a perfect time to move in for the kill. The Sikhs had been beaten very badly by the Indian government and their confidence had been shaken. The RSS would give the Sikhs sweet poison. They shouted loudly that the RSS and all Hindus LOVED Sikhs. They would preach that Sikhs were after all no different than Hindus. The Sikh Gurus were true Hindus and Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu blessed the Sikh faith. The Sikhs, they claimed, should feel proud as the sword-arm of Hinduism.

In this way, the RSS has tried to make the Sikh masses try to take pride in establishing a link between Sikhism and Hinduism. Once this link becomes solid, the RSS has already devised a plan to decay the foundations of the Sikh faith and history.

India's "Heros": Guru Nanak an equal of Indira Gandhi?

Who is the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat?

The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat (RSS) was officially formed on November 23, 1986 in Amritsar. The founder was one “Shamsher Sinh”

The express goals of the RSS are:

1) To strengthen the bonds between Sikhs and Hindus to promote National unity, awareness and patriotism.

2) To make Guru Nanak’s “Hindustan Smaalsee Bola” a reality and maintain national patriotism and unity.

3) To promote Sri Guru Bani fro Sri Guru Granth Sahib

4) To perform seva with “Sarbat Da Bhala” in mind.

The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat has 500 branches across India and publishes the magazine “Sangat Sandesh”.

Other goals of this organization are the creation of a Mandar at Ayodhya’s “Ram Janam Bhoomi” and also a Gurdwara to commemorate visits by Guru Nanak, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.

Every month, the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat has a function in which occasionally Sri Guru Granth Sahib is parkash and sometimes not. Usually the function takes place with paintings of Guru Nanak, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh at the front. These paintings are accompanied by paintings of Ram and Krishna. The paintings are garlanded with flowers.

The meeting begins with 5 readings of the Mool Mantar and then 20 minutes of keertan. After this, Sukhmani Sahib or Ram Avtar or Krishan Avtar are read. This is followed by a singing of “Vanday Matram”.

The meeting concludes with a 20 minute lecture on the history the original RSS founder Golvarkar and discussion of the role of Sanskrit in Sri Guru Granth Sahib or some other similar topic.

Some Quotes

* “Instead of sacrificing humans, Guru ji sacrificed goats and started the tradition of Punj Pyaaray. All five Pyaaras were followers of the Hindu faith” {Dr. Himmat Sinh in Rashtra Dharam)

* “The Sikh Gurus showed faith in the Hindu faith and visited Hindu pilgrimage sites to show this” (Rashtra Dharam, p. 31)

* “When Guru Arjan was doing the Kar Seva of Harimandeir, Vishnu reflected and said, “Lakshmi, the Guru is my own form. There is no difference between us. He is making my temple. Let us go and see the building of our new temple”¦” (Rashtra Dharam, 90)

* “The difference between Hindus and Sikhs was the creation of the English mind.” (Rashtra Dharam, 98)

* “If today someone were to make a portrait of Guru Nanak without a beard and turban, his life would be in danger but in fact, the practice of keeping long hair and beards began only in the 20th Century. (Madhu Kishvara, Hindustan Times Aug 21, 1999)

* “Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur used to pay obeisance to the feet of the Devi” (Surindar Kumar, Jag Bani)

* “Guru Gobind Singh with the blessings of the Avtars (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) created the Khalsa Panth.” (Sangat Sandesh, Sept 1998)

* “Maharana Partap, the Rani of Jhansi and Guru Gobind Singh were all great patriots” (Rashtra Dharam)

* “The Sangh [RSS] is the Khalsa” (Ravani, Dec 1997)

“Guru Mati Das Sharma”???

"Guru Mati Das Sharma"???

Bhai Mati Das jee is a famous Shahid of the Sikhs who happily faced death by being sawn alive but did not forsake his faith. Bhatt Vehis record the history of this Shahid and it is known that Bhai Mati Das’s grandfather, Bhai Paraga jee was a Sikh of Guru Hargobind and also became a Shaheed in the battle of Ruhila.

Bhai Mati Das jee was of course then born into a Sikh family. The family had been Sikh since the time of Guru Ram Das. Bhai Sati Das was Bhai Sahib’s brother. Bhai Mati Das accompanied Guru Tegh Bahadur in his travels to Assam, Bengal and Bihar. When Guru Sahib was arrested and brought to Delhi, Bhai Mati Das was also brought with him. When offered the choice to forsake the Sikh faith and become a Muslim or to face death, Bhai Mati Das happily accepted the latter and only asked that he die while facing the Guru. Even when Bhai Sahib’s body had been cut in two, Japji Sahib could be heard from both halves.

Bhai Sati Das was also offered the choice to forsake Sikhi or death, and accepted death. He was wrapped in cotton and burnt alive.

Hindu fundamentalist organizations, in an effort to demean Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Shaheedee, have appropriated Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Sati Das as Hindu heros. Yearly events are held to commemorate their martyrdoms but they are presented as Hindus who died for their faith.

Bhai Hakeekat Singh jee was a young Sikh who is recorded in Bhatt Vehis as “Hakeekat Singh” but later was appropriated by Hindus as their own. Just like Bhai Hakeekat Singh is now referred to as Hakeekat Rai even by Sikhs, these groups hope Sikhs will also give up these two Sikh Shaheeds.

Sikhs and Raam

Another fallacy being promoted by the RSS is that the Sikh Gurus were from the family of Raam. That throughout history, Vishnu has supported the Sikhs. No Hindu text gives the family tree of Raam, and so there is no foundation for this claim. Giani Puran Singh gave this lie credence by repeating it publicly when he was Jathedar of the Akal Takhat. The only support this lie has is in a work by Kesar Singh Chhiber that has been corrupted. It claims the link between Raam and the Gurus but it also claims that Guru Gobind Singh worshipped Durga and took permission to keep his kesh from her. It also claims that the Sikh Gurus accepted Sanatan Hindu rites.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur or Veer Banda Bairagi?

"Veer Bandai Bairagi"

One of the RSS’s early targets has been Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. Baba Banda Singh is a Sikh hero who first created a Sikh Rule in Punjab and struck a Sikh coin. Baba Banda Singh is also a great Sikh martyr who sacrificed his life but did not compromise his faith.

The RSS has attempted to turn this great Sikh hero, into a Hindu Patriot. In the book “Veer Banda Bairagi” by Bhai Parmanand, Guru Gobind Singh was a defeated man who went to Nander in sadness. There he met the Hindu, Banda Bairagi who agreed to help Guru Sahib take revenge for the death of his sons. Banda Baigragi had with him Rajput warriors and a he gathered a Hindu army to punish the evil Wazir Khan.

Guru Gobind Singh giving "Veer Bairagi" arms

The new Hindu history claims that Banda Bairagi never became a Sikh and was an example of a pious Hindu helping his Sikh friend.

This story is of course utterly false. There was never any character named “Banda Bairagi”. Baba Banda Singh was known as Madho Das. He became a Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh by receiving Khanday Kee Pahul. This fact is confirmed by the oldest sources including Tavarikh-Iradat Khan (1714) and Panj Sau Sakhi (1734). The Bhatt Vehis mention how Guru Gobind Singh himself gave Baba Banda Singh the five kakaars and tied a keski on his head.

Baba Banda Singh’s own hukumnamas all make clear that he was a Sikh of the Guru and call upon “ਸਰਬਤ੍ਰ ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ ਜੀਓ ਦਾ ਖਾਲਸਾ”.

The question arises, if “Banda Bairagi” had an army of Hindu warriors, why wouldn’t he have taken revenge for the Mughal excesses at Kanshi and Mathura? Why are none of the famous Hindus in his army recorded in history? Why were the Faujdars of conquered areas always Sikhs? Why do even his own family accounts (Bansavalinama) refer to him and his sons with the name “Singh”?

It is a blatant lie by the RSS to appropriate a Sikh hero and make him into a Hindu.

A 25-Point of Attack

The RSS has 25 points with which it hopes to attack the Sikh faith and lead to its eventual assimilation. All 25 points are very easily refuted but lack of education and knowledge coupled with the RSS’s organized attack make this a serious danger.

These points are already being incorporated into school text books and taught as real history. This skewed history is already taught in many areas.

1) Sikhs are an inseparable part of Hindu society.

2) If Hinduism is a tree, Sikhism is a fruit on that tree.

3) Gurbani is like the Ganga, it emerges from the Gangotri of the Vedas

4) The Khalsa was crated to protect Hinduism and Hindustan

5) Japji Sahib is a summary of the Gita

6) The Failure of the 1857 “War of Independence” [in reality an unorganized uprising by Poorbiya soldiers who 8 years earlier helped the British conquer Punjab] was defeated only by the Sikhs

7) Banda Singh Bahadur was really Veer Banda Bairagi

8) The Sikh Gurus worshipped the cow

9) Condemning Bhai Kanh Singh Nabha and Bhai Veer Singh

10) Use examples from Trumpp and other anti-Sikh western scholars

11) The Sikh Gurus used Vedic ceremonies

12) Guru Gobind Singh worshipped the Goddess Durga

13) Guru Sahib was from the family or Ram and his devotee

14) Sikhs are from Lav-Kush

15) Baba Ram Singh was the legitimate Guru of the Sikhs

16) Create posters which challenge Sikh principles but appear to be pro-Sikh

17) Insist on using the Bikrami calendar and share Hindu festivals

18) Call Bhai Hakeekat Singh, Hakeekat Rai and illustrate him as a clean- shaven Hindu

19) Claim [with no historical basis] that Guru Gobind Singh sent his army to liberate Ram Janam Bhumi in Ayodhya from the Mughals

20) To create the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh seeked blessing from the gods and goddesses and used Hindu mantras. The Kakaars were also blessings from the gods.

21) Equate ੴ with “OM”

22) Call Bhai Mati Das “Guru Mati Das Sharma”

23) To do parkash of Sree Guru Granth Sahib in Mandirs and put pictures of Hindu Gods in Sikh Gurdwaras

24) Project Guru Gobind Singh as having taken a different ideology from Guru Nanak and to make him into a Patriotic Hero of India

Guru Gobind Singh with Rana Partap and other Hindu "Heros"

25) Make all of Sikh history take a Hindu tint.

Small Steps to Oblivion

The RSS recognizes that Hinduism is many hundreds of years old and it can slowly assimilate the Sikhs with time. By establishing links between Vishnu/Raam and the Gurus, they hope that Sikhs will see these Hindu gods as their own. With time, perhaps pictures of Raam and Vishnu will find their way into Gurdwaras. The RSS has commissioned paintings and posters that mix Hinduism and Sikhism and present Sikh figures receiving blessings from Hindu gods.

Idol worship, which is taboo in Sikhism is also being slowly introduced. Idols of Guru Gobind Singh and Guru Nanak can now be purchased from many stores. Some Nanaksar Thaats have also installed these idols. If idols of Sikh Gurus are acceptable, then perhaps with time Hindu idols can be accepted. Gurdwara Manikaran is a good example of what the RSS would like to see more common.

By putting Guru Granth Sahib in Hindu mandirs, simple Sikh villagers will begin to go to pay obeisance regularly. With Sikhs attending Hindu Mandirs, they will also offer worship to the Hindu gods and goddesses there. Sikh marriages may also begin to take place in Mandirs. Eventually, Hinduism in Punjab will be a mish/mash of Sikhism and Hinduism and the Sikhs will lose their distinct identity. Given a few generations, Guru Nanak will be an Avtar of Vishnu just like the Buddha has become and the Sikhs will be eliminated.

Today, Hindu Mandirs and idols again surround Sree Darbaar Sahib in Amritsar. In total, nine mandirs surround the Darbar Sahib complex, with some even in the galleria. When will these small mandirs be turned into massive buildings? When they are, what will the Sikhs have to say?

The Sikhs today are facing dark days. The Sikh Liberation Movement has been destroyed along with Sikh self-confidence. Hindu Fundamentalist organizations are making deep inroads into the community and still there is no reaction. We will be remembered as the first generation of Sikhs to have accepted defeat and subjugation from an adversary.

Will we wake up when it is too late?

Sant Jarnail Singh giving speech during the Dharam Yudh Morcha

Sant Bhindranwale was accused of terrorism and various other crimes by the Government and the national media. On the 20th of September 1981, Sant Ji offered himself for arrest. Sant Ji was released after the Central Home Minister, declared in Parliament on 14 October 1981 that there was no evidence against him.

In 1982 Sant Ji launched the “Dharam Yudh Morcha”. These were peaceful protests to support the implementation of The Anandpur Sahib Resolution. During these “Morchay” thousands of Sikhs courted arrest. Despite the governments attempts to malign Sant Ji, he stirred a consciousness amongst the Sikhs of the noble teachings of the Guru tha neither must Sikhs oppress and neither should they live under oppression.

“…For the Sikh faith I am ready to sacrifice everything I have… For the safeguard and protection of the Sikh religion we must all be united… I can die but cannot see the desecration of my religion.”

Due to the rise of Congress, State sponsored terrorism against the Sikhs commenced. Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in fake encounters by the Indian security forces. The Sikhs feeling helpless turned to the message of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, endorsed by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – “When all other means fail, it is right and just to raise the sword”.

Indira Gandhi undertook a campaign to undermine the Sikh faith and persecute the Sikh people with a view to win over the Hindu vote in India. The Hindu psyche was poisoned against the Sikhs by manipulative use of state media and mischevious use of political fiscal resources. This resulted in the Indian masses wanting the Delhi government to deal more forcefully with the Sikh civil rights campaign.

1984 Delhi Massacre

After Operation Bluestar in June 1984 another anti-Sikh massacre was deployed this time in Delhi in which about 4,000 Sikhs were massacred in three days in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

October 31, 1984
9.20 am: Indira Gandhi was shot by two of her security guards at her residence No. 1, Safdarjung Road, and rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

11 am: Announcement on All India Radio specifying that the guards who shot Indira Gandhi were Sikhs. A big crowd was collecting near AIIMS.

2 pm: Though her death was yet to be confirmed officially, it became common knowledge because of BBC bulletins and special afternoon editions of newspapers.

4 pm: Rajiv Gandhi returned from West Bengal and reached AIIMS. Numerous incidents of attacks on Sikhs in and around that area took place.

5.30 pm: The cavalcade of President Zail Singh, who returned from a foreign visit, was stoned as it approached AIIMS.

Late evening and night: Mobs fanned out in different directions from AIIMS. The violence against Sikhs spread, starting in the neighbouring constituency of Congress councillor Arjun Dass. The violence included the burning of vehicles and other properties of Sikhs. That happened even in VIP areas like the crossroads near Prithviraj Road where cars and scooters belonging to Sikhs were burnt.

Shortly after Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister, senior advocate and Opposition leader Ram Jethmalani met home minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and urged him to act fast and save Sikhs from further attacks. Governor P.G. Gavai and police commissioner S.C. Tandon visited some of the violence-affected areas. Despite all these developments, no measures were taken to control the violence or prevent further attacks on Sikhs throughout the night between October 31 and November 1.

November 1, 1984
Several Congress leaders held meetings on the night of October 31 and morning of November 1, mobilising their followers to attack Sikhs on a mass scale. The first killing of a Sikh reported from east Delhi in the early hours of November 1. About 9 am, armed mobs took over the streets of Delhi and launched a massacre. Everywhere the first targets were Gurdwaras – to prevent Sikhs from collecting there and putting up a combined defence.

Mobs were armed with iron rods of a uniform size. Activist editor Madhu Kishwar saw some of the rods being distributed among the miscreants. Mobs also had an abundant supply of petrol and kerosene. Victims traced the source of kerosene to dealers belonging to the Congress party. For instance, a Congress worker called Brahmanand Gupta, a kerosene dealer, figures prominently in affidavits filed from Sultanpuri.

Every police station had strength of about 100 men and 50-60 weapons. Yet, no action was taken against miscreants in most places. The few places where the local police station took prompt measures against mobs, hardly any killings took place there. Farsh Bazar and Karol Bagh are two such examples. But in other localities, the priority of the police, as it emerges from the statement of the then police commissioner S.C. Tandon before the Nanavati Commission, was to take action against Sikhs who dared to offer resistance. All the Sikhs who fired in self-defence were disarmed by the police and even arrested on trumped up charges.

Mobs generally included teams attending to specific tasks. When shops were to be looted, the first team that gets into action would kill and remove all obstacles. The second team specialises in breaking locks. The third team would engage in looting. And the fourth team would set the place on fire.

Most of the mobs were led by Congress members, including those from affluent families. For instance, a Youth Congress leader called Satsangi led a mob in the posh Maharani Bagh. The worst affected areas were however far flung, low income colonies like Trilokpuri, Mongolpuri, Sultanpuri and Palam Colony.

The Congress leaders identified by the victims as organisers of the carnage include three MPs H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri and 10 councillors Arjan Dass, Ashok Kumar, Deep Chand, Sukhan Lal Sood, Ram Narayan Verma, D.R. Chhabbra, Bharat Singh, Vasudev, Dharam Singh and Mela Ram.

November 2, 1984
Curfew was in force throughout Delhi – but only on paper. The Army was also deployed throughout Delhi but nowhere was it effective because the police did not co-operate with the soldiers who were not empowered to open fire without the consent of senior police officers or executive magistrates. Meanwhile, mobs continued to rampage with the same ferocity.

November 3, 1984
It was only towards the evening of November 3 that the police and the Army acted in unison and the violence subsided immediately after that. Whatever violence took place the next two or three days was on a much smaller scale and rather sporadic.

Akal Takhat building after Operation Bluestar

Chronology of Events

A situation which could have been resolved without a shot being fired was allowed to deteriorate to the point where the sacred sanctity of a place of worship was desecrated in the most brutal way with death and destruction. In addition to the followers of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, thousands of innocent pilgrims who had gathered to celebrate a religious festival also lost their lives in the attack.

The Akal Takht, the symbolic seat of supreme Sikh temporal authority was reduced to rubble. Gurdwara Darbar Sahib was damaged with over 300 bullets. The Sikh Reference Library with precious hand written manuscripts of the Gurus was burned to the ground. The Temple treasury Toshakhana with priceless historical artifacts of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also burned.

Tuesday May 25th
100,000 Indian Army troops are mobilized and deployed throughout Punjab surrounding all important Gurdwars including the Golden Temple complex.

Friday June 1st
Thousands of pilgrims start to gather at the Golden Temple complex to celebrate the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan on June 3rd.

As Sant Jarnail Singh Bindranwale sits on the roof of the Langer hall, police snipers open fire on him. They miss and Sikh militants fired back. A seven hour skirmish during the night lasting until the morning leaves 11 dead and 25 injured. There were bullet holes in the Langer building, in the marble pavement (parkarma) surrounding the Golden Temple and in the Golden Temple itself.

Sunday June 3rd
All communications including phone lines to and from Punjab are cut. Road blocks prevent anyone from entering or leaving Punjab and all journalists are expelled from Punjab. A total curfew is imposed and as many as 10,000 pilgrims are trapped inside the temple complex.

Milk vendors from the villages who supply milk to the city of Amritsar are shot dead for violating the curfew orders.

Monday June 4th
The army starts firing on the temple complex and there is a gun battle lasting 5 hours. Using machine guns and mortars the army fires at dissident positions atop the two 18th century towers called Ramgarhia Bunga’s, and the water tank behind Teja Singh Samundri Hall as well as surrounding buildings. At least 100 are killed on both sides.

Tuesday June 5th
At 7:00 p.m. Operation Blue Star, the invasion of The Golden Temple begins with tanks of the 16th Cavalry Regiment of the Indian Army moving to enclose the Golden Temple complex. Troops are briefed not to use their guns against the Golden Temple itself or the Akal Takht. Artillery is used to blast off the tops of the Ramgarhia Bungas and the water tank. Scores of buildings in and around the temple complex are blazing. One artillery shell lands more than 5 km away in the crowded city.

In the narrow alley behind the Akal Takht paramilitary commandos try to get into the temple. Some make it to the roof but are turned back due to the heavy gunfire. Meanwhile tanks move into the square in front of the northern entrance to the Golden Temple known as the clock tower entrance.

At 10:30 pm commandos from the 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment try to run down the steps under the clock tower onto the marble parkarma around the sacred pool. They face heavy gunfire, suffering casualties and are forced to retreat. A second wave of commandos manage to neutralize the machine gun posts on either side of the steps and get down to the parkarma.

The Akal Takht is heavily fortified with sandbags and brick gun emplacements in its windows and arches. From here and the surrounding buildings the dissidents are able to fire at any commandos who make their way in front of the Gurdwara.

Two companies of the 7th Garhwal Rifles enter the temple complex from the opposite side on the southern gate entrance and after a gun battle are able to establish a position on the roof of the Temple library. They are reinforced by two companies of the 15th Kumaons. Repeated unsuccessful attempts are made to storm the Akal Takht.

Wednesday June 6th
After midnight tanks are used to break down the steps leading to the parkarma from the hostel side and an 8-wheeled Polish-built armored personnel carrier makes it’s way towards the Akal Takht. It is destroyed by a Chinese-made rocket propelled grenade launcher.

Six or more Vijayanta tanks enter the temple complex crushing the delicate marble inlays of the parkarma and plow their way towards the Akal Takht. Orders arrive and the tanks start firing their large 105mm cannons equipped with high explosive squash-head shells into the Akal Takht. These shells are designed for hard targets like armour and fortifications. When the shells his a target, their heads spread or squash on the hard surface. Their fuses are arranged to allow a short delay between the impact and the shells igniting, so that a shock-wave passes through the target and a heavy slab of armour or masonry is forced away from the inside of the target armour or fortification.

The effect on the Akal Takht, the most sacred of the five Takhts, is devastating. Over 80 shells are pumped into the sacred Gurdwara. The entire front of the Takht is destroyed and fires break out in many of the different rooms blackening the marble walls and wrecking the delicate decorations dating back to the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Marble inlays, plaster and mirror work, filigree partitions and priceless old wall paintings are all destroyed.

The gold dome of the Akal Takht is also badly damaged by artillery fire. At one stage a 3.7 inch Howitzer gun is mounted on the roof of a building behind the shrine and fired a number of times at the beautiful dome.

At the other end of the Temple complex on the easternmost side a battalion of the Kumaon Regiment were invading the hostel complex where many of the innocent pilgrims were in hiding as well as the temple administration staff. There was no water because the water tower had been destroyed and it was very hot.

(Bhan Singh, Secretary of S.G.P.C.)
“They cut our electricity and water supplies. It was very hot in the rooms. There was no water. We had only two plastic buckets of water. Longowal had to place two people as guards over the buckets. Many people would squeeze their undershirts to drink their sweat to quench their thirst.”

Around 1:00 am the Army entered the hostel and administrative buildings and ordered everyone out and made them sit in the courtyard of the Guru Ram Das Hostel. There were about 250 people who came out.

Prithipal Singh (Sevadar, Akal Rest House)
” At 2 a.m. on June 6 the Army people came to the Rest House. They tore off all my clothes, stripped me naked, my kirpan was snatched, my head gear (patta) was untied to tie up my hands behind my back. They caught me by my hair and took me along with five others – who were all pilgrims – to the ruins of the water tank, there we were told, “don’t move or you’ll be shot.” They kept hitting us with the rifle butts. Then a Major came and ordered a soldier, shoot them, then shouted at us, “You must be Bhindranwale’s Chelas? You want Khalistan? I said “I am here to do my duty. I have nothing to do with all this.” “Six of us were in a line facing the Major, when a Pahari soldier started shooting from one end, killing four of us (with 3 bullets each). As my turn was coming, suddenly a Sikh Officer turned up and ordered, “Stop Shooting”. Thus I was saved.”

(Bhan Singh)
“Suddenly there was a big explosion. All hell broke loose. It was pitch dark. People started running back into the verandah and the rooms. I and Abhinashi Singh were sitting next to Gurcharan Singh, the former Secretary of the Akali Dal whom Bhindranwale accused of murdering Sodhi. Gurcharan was shot as he tried to run inside. We realized that soldiers were shooting at us. They thought someone from among the crowd had exploded the grenade. But it was probably thrown by extremists on the water tank overlooking the Guru Ram Das Serai (Hostel). We ran to Tohra’s room and told Longowal what was happening. Longowal came out and shouted at the Major. He said, ‘Don’t shoot these people. They are not extremists. They are employees of the S.G.P.C.’ The Major then ordered his men to stop shooting. Later in the morning we counted at least seventy dead bodies in the compound. There were women and children too.”

Among the dead were 35 women and 5 children. The survivors were made to sit in the courtyard of the Guru Ram Das Hostel until curfew was lifted the next evening. They were not given any food, water or medical aid. People drank whatever water was in puddles in the courtyard from the blown up water tank.

(Karnail Kaur, mother of 3 young children)
“When people begged for water some soldiers told them to drink the mixture of blood and urine on the ground.”

Many of the young men in the group of innocent unarmed civilians were then shot by the soldiers.

(Bhan Singh)
“I saw about 35 or 36 Sikhs lined up with their hands raised above their heads. And the major was about to order them to be shot. When I asked him for medical help, he got into a rage, tore my turban off my head, and ordered his men to shoot me. I turned back and fled, jumping over the bodies of the dead and injured, and saving my life crawling along the walls. I got to the room where Tohra and Sant Longowal were sitting and told them what I had seen. Sardar Karnail Singh Nag, who had followed me, also narrated what he had seen, as well as the killing of 35 to 36 young Sikhs by cannon fire. All of these young men were villagers.”

(Ranbir Kaur, School Teacher)
“Early on the sixth morning the army came into the Guru Ram Das Serai and ordered all of those in the rooms to come out. We were taken into the courtyard. The men were separated from the women. We were also divided into old and young women and I was separated from the children, but I managed to get back to the old women. When we were sitting there the army released 150 people from the basement. They were asked why they had not come out earlier. They said the door had been locked from the outside. They were asked to hold up their hands and then they were shot after 15 minutes. Other young men were told to untie their turbans. They were used to tie their hands behind their backs. The army hit them on the head with the butts of their rifles.”

(Sujjan Singh Margindpuri)
“The young men and some other pilgrims were staying in Room Number 61. The army searched all the rooms of the Serai. Nothing objectionable was found from their room. Nor did the army find anything objectionable on their persons. The army locked up 60 pilgrims in that room and shut not only the door but the window also. Electric supply was disconnected. The night between June 5th and June 6th was extremely hot. The locked-in young men felt very thirsty after some time, and loudly knocked on the door from inside to ask the army men on duty for water. They got abuses in return, but no water. The door was not opened. Feeling suffocated and extremely thirsty, the men inside began to faint and otherwise suffer untold misery. The door of the room was opened at 8 am on June 6th. By this time 55 out of the 60 had died. The remaining 5 were also semi-dead.”

By morning light, there is only sporadic sniper fire from the rubble of the Akal Takht. By late afternoon the army was firmly in control of the Temple complex and curfew was lifted for two hours to allow people who were still in hiding to come out.

(Giani Puran Singh)
“I went to the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) on 5th June around 7:30 in the evening because I had to ensure that religious ceremonies were performed. The moment I stepped on to the parkarma I stumbled across a body. Bullets were flying and I had to take shelter behind each and every pillar to reach the Darshani Deorhi. Another body was lying there. I ran a few yards and reached the Akal Takht. Night prayers start at Harmandir Sahib five minutes after they start at the Akal Takht. I wanted to find out if the path (recitation) had started there. I had a glimpse of Bhindranwale. We did not speak to each other. Around 7:45 I came out of the Akal Takht and ran into the Darshani Deorhi. I ran towards Harmandir Sahib, unmindful of the bullets flying past my ears. I began night prayers. Soon a colleague of mine, Giani Mohan Singh, joined me. Seeing the intensity of the fire we decided to close all the doors, barring the front door. Soon we completed all religious rites. We then took the Guru Granth Sahib to the top room to prevent any damage to the holy book. The Head Priest, Giani Sahib Singh, had given clear instructions that under no circumstances was the Guru Granth Sahib to be taken to the Akal Takht if the conditions were not right.

Looking through the window-pane from the first floor of the Harmandir Sahib, I saw a tank standing on the parkarma with its lights on. I thought for a moment that it was the fire brigade come to collect water from the srowar (holy pool) to put out the fire which was raging in almost every room. A few minutes later my belief was shattered when I saw the vehicle emitting fire instead of putting it out. By 10:30 or so around 13 tanks had collected on the parkarma. They had come after crushing the staircase from the eastern wing where Guru Ram Das Serai, the Langer and the Teja Singh Samundari Hall are situated. One after another the cannon fire lit the sky. When the first shell hit the bottom of the Darshani Deorhi, creating a hole in it, I saw the room with the historic chandni (canopy) presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh catching fire. One after another the big bombs hit the Darshani Deorhi in quick succession, and what was once a lovely building was now on fire. The Toshakhana (Treasury) was also on fire. Occasionally a bullet would hit the Harmandir Sahib. We were 27 people inside, mostly ragis (singers) and sevadars (temple servants).

In the early hours of the morning of 6th June we took the holy book down and performed the religious rites that are performed every day, like maharaj da prakash karna (unfolding the holy book) and reciting hymns from the scriptures. The two side-doors were closed and the front and back doors were open. Bullets kept hitting the wall both inside and outside, ripping off the gold surface at various places. Soon after we finished reciting prayers one of our colleagues, Ragi Avtar Singh was hit. We pulled him into a corner. Another bullet came and hit the holy Granth Sahib. We have preserved this book.

In the meanwhile the pounding of the Akal Takht was continuing. There was no let-up in the fire in other places either. We were thirsty and desperate for water. We crawled to the holy pool to get water for ourselves and for the wounded colleague.

Around 5pm they announced on loudspeakers that those hiding in the Harmandir Sahib should come out and that they would not be shot dead. While myself and Giani Mohan Singh remained inside, others walked out with the arms above their heads.”

Over 300 bullet holes were counted in the Golden Temple itself.

With the lifting of the curfew innocent Sikhs thought that by coming out from hiding they would now be safe. Sadly this was not the case.

(Narinderjit Singh Nada, Temple Public Relations Officer)
“On the fifth night, the night of the real assault, mortars started throwing up plaster. My wife and I and my two daughters decided to go down from our flat on the first floor to the office, which is on the ground floor. At this point I thought of surrendering but I was told by a Bhindranwale man, ‘One more step outside the complex and you are a dead man’. Faced with this threat to my entire family plus the insecurity of the office room, I decided to move down to a small basement where there was a fridge. An exhaust fan outlet in the basement proved a life saver. I could hear soldiers speaking outside and different instructions from their commanders. Next to the basement was another cubicle facing the Temple where a sewadar used to sleep. I heard the army drag out this man. He was shot. Since extremists had been using all possible openings as pill boxes and grenade launchers the soldiers decided to lob grenades into all such openings, including my fan outlet. The minute I heard the order we all moved under a staircase. Minutes later two grenades came in. The splinters took three inches away from most of the walls. But luckily we escaped. We spent the night under the staircase. Eventually at about 11 am on the 6th my wife noticed an officer standing outside. She called out to him to attract his attention and requested him to rescue us. She told him that she had two young daughters. The officer behaved decently and said, ‘Don’t worry I too have two daughters. Nothing will happen to you. Stay put.’ He organized chapattis, pickles and drinking water. He eventually let us out when curfew lifted.

We had to step over dead bodies strewn everywhere. We were taken to the square in front of the main clock tower entrance. The minute the soldiers saw me, a male member of the group, they positioned their rifles on their shoulders with the barrels pointing at me. I think they were about to shoot me when a brigadier who recognized me intervened. We were then led by soldiers across the parkarma to the library side. A lieutenant accompanied us. Upon reaching the other side he asked me to stand against the wall and lined up a firing squad. He asked me to say my prayers. I requested to say good-bye to my wife and the two daughters. At this point the brigadier showed up again and shouted at the young officer, ‘What the hell are you doing!’ The officer said, ‘Sir, I misunderstood your order. I thought this man was to be shot.’

Now we were made to sit on the ground. My hands were tied behind my back. We were about 70 in that lot. All of us were told to keep our heads down. A slight movement of the head resulted in a sharp rifle butt. We spent the whole night sitting there.”

Outside the Temple complex the army troops were on a rampage, killing and looting surrounding houses of Sikhs.

(Subhash Kirpekar, Journalist)
“On the way back to the hotel (afternoon of June 6th) I witnessed a scene at the Kotwali which is blood curdling. This is where some soldiers were kicking some of the 11 suspected terrorists as they knelt on their bare knees and crawled on the hot road surface.”

(Giani Chet Singh)
“The people were taken out of their houses. Men’s hands were tied with their turbans. Women’s necks were sought to be asphyxiated with their plaits. Then they were shot in the chests. No quarter was shown to women, aged or children; in the eyes of the troops every Sikh was a terrorist. Those who survived died of thirst. Their houses were ransacked, and then put on fire. The area surrounding Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) was full of debris. What happened is beyond description of sight, hearing or words.”

As night fell the Army troops were given the order to storm the remains of the Akal Takht and shoot on site anyone they found inside. The troops encounter little resistance and find dead bodies and the smell of death everywhere.

Thursday June 7th
In the early hours of the morning the troops discover the bodies of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his closest followers in the basement of the Akal Takht.

(Apar Singh Bajwa, SP of Punjab Police)
“The Army officers in-charge ordered me to go home and I remained there until the morning of June 6 when I was summoned early in the morning. When I reached the kotwali [police station] near the temple, I saw the dead bodies of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Gen. Shabeg Singh, Thiara Singh and Amrik Singh lying there…I was asked to identify the bodies because I was familiar with all the dead men having often interacted with them as part of my duties as a police officer. The Army then requested me to arrange the cremations. We performed these, according to Sikh rites, at the nearby Gurudwara Shaheedan…A large majority of those who died inside the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar were common devotees who had come to the shrine on June 3 on the occasion of the fifth Guru’s Martyrdom Day…Apart from Bhindranwale’s armed followers, I counted a little over 800 dead bodies inside the temple complex. My men and I were also tasked with clearing and cremating these bodies. Army and municipal officials helped transport them to the local cremation ground. While many innocents were killed in the crossfire between the Army and the militants, it is also true that the soldiers deliberately gunned down several devotees. You see they actually believed that anyone inside the temple was the ‘enemy.’ The soldiers had no notion of how they should tackle an unprecedented situation like the one that had developed inside the Golden Temple.”

The day was spent in clean up operations flushing out any remaining snipers and collecting the dead bodies. Soldiers were openly walking about the temple in their shoes, drinking alcohol as well as smoking. Blood and bodies were strewn all over the broken marble of the parkarma. With putrefying corpses floating in the sacred pool of nectar and the smell of death everywhere.

The Darshani Deori the entrance gate of the Golden Temple which houses many priceless treasures was destroyed and looted. Although fighting had now died down, the central library complex was mysteriously burned down. Many priceless manuscripts, some in the Gurus own handwriting were lost forever.

Aftermath

The number of people who lost their lives will never be known. The Army refused to let the Red Cross enter the complex and cremated the dead before the bodies could be identified or claimed by their families. The Amritsar municipal sweepers refused to clear the dead bodies away but were eventually persuaded by offers of rum and being allowed to strip the bodies of all valuables. They piled the dead into garbage trucks and unceremoniously cremated them. Family members were not allowed by the army to claim the remains or perform any traditional funeral rites. It is clear that thousands lost their lives in the Temple complex.

Total number of troops taking part in the attack is estimated at around 1,000 (Mark Tulley),

Child Prisoners

22 children between the ages of 2 and 16 years old were detained among the 1,592 terrorists apprehended by the army according to the government White Paper and on the  “most dangerous terrorists list”. They languished in jail suffering torture for over a year until social worker Kamala Devi petitioned the Supreme Court for their release from Ludihana jail.

Prisoner Mehrban Singh, Age 12
“We were repeatedly asked if we were Bhindranwale’s men. They hit us at Ludhiana jail, jabbing fingers into our necks, wanting us to confess that we had been filling magazines with bullets for Bhindranwale’s men.”

Prisoner Shamsher Singh, Age 11
“We were given very dirty food in the army camp. The food was better in the jail. We were regularly beaten in the jail. We were told we were Bhindranwale’s people and they wanted to know about Bhindranwale’s friends. They asked us where Bhindranwale kept his arms.”

Continuing Violence

Parallel to Operation Blue Star, another military operation called Operation Woodrose took place. Across Punjab the Indian Army attacked 42 to 74 Gurdwaras resulting in high casualties at Moga, Mukatsar, Faridkot, Patiala, Ropar and Chowk Mehta. The exact number of Sikhs killed are not know but 257 people were shot and killed during the storming of just a single Gurdwara in the operation, Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib in Patiala.

On October 31, 1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by two bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh as revenge for Operation Blue Star. Over the next four days, as many as 3100 Sikhs were killed in retaliatory attacks, mainly in Delhi by Hindu mobs said to be organized and coordinated by Indian government officials. As many as 50,000 Sikhs were left homeless as their houses were burned to the ground.

In the 10 years following 1984 over 70,000 people were detained under emergency terrorism legislation (TADA), yet only 1 percent of them were eventually convicted of a crime.

Case of Sukhwinder Singh, 23 years old
Report for the Committee on Disappearances in Punjab
On 13 December 1991, Sukhwinder Singh accompanied by Lakhwinder Singh went to Munda Pind village on a tractor trolly to do some shopping. While returning, they were apprehended by the police of Munda Pind police post and handed over to Goindwal Sahib police. SHO Tegh Bahadur of Goindwal Sahib Police station and head constable Rachhpal Singh personally supervised Sukhwinder’s interrogation under torture during the course of his illegal detention for five days. The family members regularly visited him in the police station and served him food. Gian Singh met his son at Goindwal police station for the last time on 16 December 1991. Gian Singh, along with several other village elders had been talking to SHO Tegh Bahadur Singh to get Sukhwinder released from his custody. The SHO demanded a bribe of Rs 200,000 for Sukhwinder’s release. Gian Singh, a small farmer, was unable to raise such a large amount and beseeched the SHO to release his son for Rs. 50,000 but the SHO turned down the offer. Gian Singh was still struggling to raise the amount, demanded by the SHO for his son’s release when on 19 December 1991, several Punjabi newspapers reported the killing of Sukhwinder Singh and another unidentified militant in a supposed armed encounter with the police force. The cremation was carried out without the family’s knowledge.

Rebuilding

Kar Seva is the ceremonial cleaning of the sacred pool is normally undertaken every 50 years. A special Kar Seva was undertaken in 1985 to replace some of the damage. Tens of thousands of Sikhs participated and the sacred pool of nectar was completely drained and cleaned. The Akal Takht has been entirely rebuilt. The marble of the parkarma has been replaced in sections with new marble. Repair work on Harmandir Sahib included reguilding the temple dome and walls with new gold. The Ramgharia Bungas have been repaired and Teja Singh Samundri Hall has been left, pockmarked with bullet holes as a reminder of the tragedy.

However, the management remained with the priests whom were mainly belonging to the Udasi sect. This sect began to consider the shrines and lands attached to them as their personal properties after the advent of the British in 1849, and began to use the Gurdwara incomes for their private use. Some of them even went as far as selling Gurdwara properties.

The mahants introduced rituals and ceremonies which were totally against the teachings of Sikhism. There had also been complaints of immorality against them. All these factors gave rise to what is known as the Gurdwara Reform Movement in which Sikhs had to face imprisoment, suffer atrocity and death.

The British government eventually gave in under popular pressure and passed, in the first instance, Sikh Gurdwaras and Shrines Act, 1922, in which a committee was nominated by the government to take over control of the Gurdwaras. This, however, was not accepted by the Akali leaders and remained for this reason a dead letter. The agitation/morcha continued and the government had another draft. worked out.

Akali counsel was required this time and the principal demand about the shrines being handed over or management to a representative body of the Sikhs was conceded. The bill was moved in the Punjab Legislative Council by Sardar Tara Singh of Moga on 7 May 1925 and piloted by another Sikh member, Bhai Jodh Singh. The bill was put into operation on 1 November 1925 known as The Sikh Gurdwaras Act. The mahants and there rituals and ceremonies were removed from all the Gurdwaras and Sikhi maryada had been restored.

Anandpur Sahib Resolution, a frequently invoked document of modern Sikhism pronouncing its religious rule as well as its political goal. After having enjoyed power under chief ministers, Gurnam Singh and Parkash Singh Badal in the Punjab, newly demarcated in 1966, Sikhs are represented by their premier political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, were able to capture only one seat at the elections to Indian parliament (1971) from among the 13 which were Punjab’s portion. In the Punjab Assembly elections which took place in March 1972 their tally was a mere 24 seats of a total of 117, and the Punjab Government passed in to the hands of the Congress Party, with Giani Zail Singh (later, President of India) as chief minister. This electoral debacle led to self introspection on the part of the Shiromani Akali Dal which appointed on 11 December, 1972, a sub-committee to reflect upon the situation and to proclaim afresh the programme and polices of the Dal. The 12 member committee consisted of Surjit Singh Barnala, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jiwan Singh Umranangal, Gurmeet Singh, Dr. Bhagat Singh, Balwant Singh, Gian Singh Rarewala, Amar Singh Ambalavi, Prem Singh Lalpura, Jaswinder Singh Brar, Bhag Singh, and Major General Gurbakhsh Singh of Badhani. The first meeting of the sub-committee took place at Amritsar. The venue then shifted to Chandigarh where the committee completed its task in ten successive meetings. Counsel was available to the sub-committee of the celebrated Sikh intellectual and thinker, Sirdar Kapur Singh, whose impress the draft emerging finally from its deliberations carried. The document was adopted unanimously by the working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal at a meeting held at Anandpur Sahib, town sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, also reverenced by Sikhs as the birth place of the Khalsa. Since it was adopted at Anandpur Sahib (October 16-17, 1973) the resolution came to be known as the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. It was endorsed in the form of a succession of resolutions at the 18th All India Akali Conference of the Shiromani Akali Dal at Ludhiana on 28-29 October, 1978. An English version of the resolution is quoted below :

Whereas, the Sikhs of India are a historically recognized political nation ever since the inauguration of the Khalsa, in AD 1699, and

Whereas, this status of the Sikh nation had been internationally recognized and accepted by the major powers of Europe and Asia, viz. France, England, Italy, Russia, China, Persia (now Iran), Afghanistan, Nepal, and the Company Bahadur, Fort William, Calcutta, till the middle of the 19th century, and again by the outgoing British as well as by the Hindu-dominated Congress and the Muslim League of India in the middle of the 20th century, and

Whereas, the brute majority in India, in 1950, imposed a constitutional arrangement in India which denied the Sikhs of their political identity and cultural popularity, thus liquidating the Sikhs politically and exposing them to spiritual death and cultural decay leading inevitable to their submergence and dissolution into the saltish sea waters of incoherent Hinduism, and

Whereas, the Sikhs have been thus shackled and enslaved in unethical and cynical repudiation of solemn and binding commitment and public promises earlier made to the Sikhs, while the Sikh representation in the Indian Constituent Assembly, in 1950, refused to affix their signatures to the official copy of the Indian Constitutional Act thus promulgated, the Shiromani Akali Dal in the name and on behalf of the Sikhs proclaims that the Sikhs are determined, by all legitimate means, to extricate and free themselves from this degrading and death dealing situation so as to ensure firmly their honorable survival and salvage their inherent dignity within India and their birthright to influence meaningfully the mainstream of world history. The Sikhs therefore demand, firstly, that an autonomous region in the north of India should be set up forthwith wherein the Sikh interests are constitutionally recognized as the fundamental State policy. Secondly, that this autonomous region includes the present Punjab, Karnal and Ambala districts of Haryana, inclusive of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Pinjore, Kalka, Dalhousie, Nalagarh Desh, Siraa, Guhla and Ratia areas and Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, thus bringing main contiguous Sikh population and Sikh habitats with this autonomous Sikh region as an integral part of the Union of India, and, thirdly, this Sikh autonomous region may be declared as entitled to frame its own internal constitutions on the basis of having all powers to and for itself except Foreign Relations, Defense, Currency and General Communications which will remain subjects within the jurisdiction of the Federal Indian Government.

“MAY THE RIDER OF THE BLUE HORSE HELP US.”

A. BASIC POSTULATES

1)  The Shiromani Akali Dal is the very embodiment of the hopes and aspirations of the Sikhs and as such is fully entitled to its representation. The basic postulates of this organization are human co-existence, human welfare and the ultimate unity of all human beings with the Lord.

2)  These postulates are based upon the three great principles of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, namely Nam Japo, Kirat Karo, and Vand Chhako, i.e. meditation on God’s Name, honest labor, and sharing the fruits of this labor with the needy.

B. PURPOSES

The Shiromani Akali Dal shall ever strive to achieve the following aims:

1) Propagation of Sikhism, its ethical values and code of conduct to combat atheism.

2) Preservation and keeping alive the concept of distinct and sovereign identity of the Panth and building up of appropriate condition in which the national sentiments and aspirations of the Sikh Panth will find full expression, satisfaction and facilities for growth.

3) Eradication of poverty and starvation through increased production and more equitable distribution of wealth as also the establishment of a just social order sans exploitation of any kind.

4) Vacation of discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or any other ground in keeping with basic principles of Sikhism.

5) Removal of disease and ill health, checking the use of intoxicants and provision of full facilities for the growth of physical well-being so as to prepare and enthuse the Sikh Nation for the national defense. For the achievement of the aforesaid purposes, the Shiromani Akali Dal owned it as its primary duty to inculcate among the Sikh religious fervour and a sense of pride in their great socio-spiritual heritage through the following measures:

1.  Reiteration of the concept of unity of God, meditation on His Name, recitation of gurbani, inculcation of faith in the holy Sikh Gurus as well as in Guru Granth Sahib and other appropriate measures for such a purpose.

2.  Grooming at the Sikh Missionary College the Sikh youth with inherent potential to become accomplished preachers, ragis, dhadis and poets so that the propagation of Sikhism, its tenets and traditions and its basic religious values could be taken up more effectively and vigorously.

3.  Baptizing the Sikhs on a mass scale with particular emphasis on schools and colleges wherein the teachers as well as the taught shall be enthused through regular study circles.

4. Revival of the religious institution of dasvandh among the Sikhs.

5. Generating a feeling of respect for Sikh intellectuals including writers and preachers, who also would be enthused to improve upon their accomplishments.

6. Streamlining the administration of the gurdwaras by giving better training to their workers. Appropriate steps would also be taken to maintain gurdwara building in proper condition. The representatives of the party in the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee would be directed to pull their weight towards these ends.

6. Making suitable arrangements for error free publications of gurbani, promoting research in the ancient and modern Sikh history, translating holy gurbani into other languages and producing first-rate literature on Sikhism.

7. Taking appropriate measures for the enactment of an All India Gurdwaras Act with a view to improving the administration of the gurdwaras throughout the country and to reintegrate the traditional preaching sects of Sikhism like Udasis and Nirmalas, without in any way encroaching upon the properties of their maths.

8. Taking necessary steps to bring the Sikh gurdwaras all over the world under a single system of administration with a view to running them according to the basic Sikh forms and to pool their resources for the propagation of Sikhism on a wider and more impressive scale.

9. Striving to free access to all those holy Sikh shrines, including Nanakana Sahib, form which the Sikh Panth has been separated, for their pilgrimage and proper upkeep.

POLITICAL GOAL

The political goal of the Panth, with any doubt, is enshrined in the Commandments of the Tenth Lord, in the pages of Sikh history and in the very hear of the Khalsa Panth, the ultimate aim of with is the pre-eminence of the Khalsa (KHALSA JI KE BOL BALE).

The fundamental policy of the Shiromani Akali Dal is to seek the realization of this birthright of the Khalsa through the creating of a geographical entity and a constitutional set-up of its own.

For the attainment of this aim:

1. The Shiromani Akali Dal is determined to strive by all possible means to:

(a) Have all those speaking areas, deliberately kept out of Punjab, such as Dalhousie in Gurdaspur district, Chandigarh, Pinjore, Kalka and Ambala Sada, etc. in Ambala district, the entire Ina tahsil of Hoshiarpur district, Shahabad and Guhia blocks of Karnal district, Tohana sub-tahsil, Ratia block and Sirsa tahsil of Hissar district and six tahsils of Ganganagar district in Rajasthan, merged with Punjab to constitute a single administrative unit wherein the interests of Sikhs and Sikhism are specifically protected.

(b) In this new Punjab (as in all other stated) the Center’s interference would be restricted to Defense, Foreign Relations, Currency and Communications, all other departments being in the jurisdiction of Punjab (and other states) which would be fully entitled to frame their own Constitution. For the aforesaid departments of the Center, Punjab (and other states) would contribute in proportion to their respective representation in Parliament.

(c) The Sikhs and other minorities living outside Punjab should be adequately protected against any kind of discrimination against them.

2. The Shiromani Akali Dal would also endeavor to have the Indian Constitution recast on real Federal principles with equal representation at the Centre for all the States.

3. The Shiromani Akali Dal strongly denounces the Foreign policy of India as framed by the Congress Party. It is worthless and highly detrimental to the interest of the country, its people and mankind at large. Shiromani Akali Dal shall extend its support only to such policies as are based upon the principles of peace and national interest. It strongly advocates a policy of peace with all neighboring countries, particularly those which have within their borders Sikh population and Sikh shrines. The Akali Dal is of the firm view that the foreign policy of India should in no case be one of playing second fiddle to any other country.

4. The Shiromani Akali Dal shall firmly resist and discrimination against any Sikh (or even other) employees of the Centre or State government [on the basis of his caste or creed]. It shall also endeavor to maintain the traditional position of the Sikhs in all the wings of the Defense services and needs of the Sikh army personnel shall be adequately taken care of by the Panth. The Shiromani Akali Dal shall also ensure that kirpan is accepted as an integral part of the uniform of the Sikhs in the Army.

5. It shall be the primary obligation of the Shiromani Akali Dal to help rehabilitate ex-servicemen of the Defense forces in the civil life, and for such a purpose it would extend them every help to enable them to organize themselves and raise their voice in an effective way to gain adequate safeguards and concessions for an honorable and dignified life.

6. The Shiromani Akali Dal is of the firm opinion that all those persons, including women, who have not been convicted of any criminal offence by a court of law should have the right to possess any type of small arm like revolvers, guns, pistols, rifles, carbines, etc., without any license, the only obligation being their registration.

7. The Shiromani Akali Dal seeks ban on the sale of liquor and all other kinds of intoxicants, and shall press for a ban on the consumption of intoxicants and smoking in public places.

Apart from defining the basic postulates and principles of policies and its ultimate goal, the open session of the General House of the Shiromani Akali Dal, held at Ludhiana, also traced the outlines of the long-term socio-economic and cultural aims and objectives of the Party, for the attainment of which it adopted twelve sub-resolutions. A closer analysis of these sub-resolutions shows that while the core of the basic resolutions passed by its working committee at Anandpur Sahib in 1973, namely attainment of special Constitutional state for the Sikhs to ensure their growth in accordance with their own socio-spiritual traditions and tenets was fully endorsed by the General House of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the scope of the greater autonomy to the state of Punjab for the aforesaid purpose was widened to include all the states. Thus, the shape and scope of the Anandpur Sahib resolution as tit finally emerged out of the Ludhiana meet of the Shiromani Akali Dal envisages:

1. The attainment of pre-eminence of the Khalsa through special constitutional safeguards and powers for the Sikhs.

2. Greater autonomy to all the states by recasting the Centre-State relations on the basis of limited powers for the Centre.

Resolutions adopted, in the light of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, at open session of the 18th All India Akali Conference held at Ludhiana on October 28-29, 1978, under the presidentship of Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi are as under:

Resolution No. 1

Moved by Sardar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and endorsed by Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab.

The Shiromani Akali Dal realizes that India is a federal and republican geographical entity of different languages, religions and cultures. To safeguard the fundamental rights of the religious and linguistic minorities, to fulfill the demands of the democratic traditions and to pave the way for economic progress, it has become imperative that the Indian constitutional infrastructure should be given a real federal shape by redefining the Central and State relation and rights on the lines of the aforesaid principles and objectives.
The concept of total revolution given by Lok Naik Jaya Parkash Narain is also based upon the progressive decentralization of powers. The climax of the process of centralization of powers of the states through repeated amendments of the Constitution during the Congress regime came before the countrymen in the form of the Emergency (1975), when all fundamental rights of all citizens was usurped. It was then that the programme of decentralization of powers ever advocated by Shiromani Akali Dal was openly accepted and adopted by other political parties including Janata Party, C.P.I. (M), D.M.K., etc.

Shiromani Akali Dal has ever stood firm on this principle and that is why after a very careful consideration it unanimously adopted a resolution to this effect first at the All India Akali Conference, Batala, then at Anandpur Sahib which has endorsed the principle of State autonomy in keeping with the concept of federalism.

As such, the Shiromani Akali Dal emphatically urges upon the Janata Government to take cognizance of the different linguistic and cultural sections, religious minorities as also the voice of millions of people and recast the constitutional structure of the country on real and meaningful federal principles to obviate the possibility of any danger to the unity and integrity of the country and, further, to enable the states to play a useful role for the progress and prosperity of the Indian people in their respective areas by a meaningful exercise of their powers.

Resolution No. 2

This momentous meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Government of India to examine carefully the long tale of the excesses, wrongs, illegal actions committed [against the Sikhs] by the previous Congress Government, more particularly during the Emergency, and try to find an early solution to the following problems:

(a) Chandigarh originally raised as a Capital for Punjab should be handed over to Punjab.

(b) The long-standing demand of the Shiromani Akali Dal for the merger in Punjab of the Punjabi-speaking areas, to be identified by linguistic experts with village as a unit, should be conceded.

(c) The control of headworks should continue to be vested in Punjab and, if need be, the Reorganization Act should be amended.

(d) The arbitrary and unjust Award given by Mrs. Indira Gandhi during the Emergency on the distributions of Ravi-Beas waters should be revised on the universally accepted norms and principles, and justice be done to Punjab.

(e) Keeping in view the special aptitude and martial qualities of the Sikhs, the present ratio of their strength in the Army should be maintained.

(f) The excesses being committed on the settlers in the Tarai region of the Uttar Pradesh in the name of Land Reforms should be vacated by making suitable amendments in the ceiling law on the Central guidelines.

Resolution No. 3
(Economic Policy Resolution)

The chief sources of inspiration of the economic policies and programme of the Shiromani Akali Dal are the secular, democratic and socialistic concepts of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. Our economic programme is based on three principles:

(a) Dignity of labor.

(b) An economic and social structure which provides for the uplift of the poor and depressed sections of society.

(c) Unabated opposition to concentration of economic and political power in the hands of the capitalists.
While drafting its economic policies and programme, the Shiromani Akali Dal in its historic Anandpur Sahib Resolution has laid particular stress on the need to break the monopolistic hold of the capitalists foisted on the Indian economy by 30 years of Congress rule in India. This capitalist hold enabled the Central government to assume all powers in its hands after the manner of Mughal imperialism. This was bound to thwart the economic progress of the states and injure the social and economic interests of the people. The Shiromani Akali Dal once again reiterates the Sikh way of life by resolving to fulfil the holy words of Guru Nanak Dev:

“He alone realizes the true path who labors honestly and shares with others the fruits of that labor.”

This way of life is based upon three basic principles:
i. Doing honest labor,
ii. Sharing with others the fruits of this labor, and
iii. Meditation on the Lord’s Name.

The Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central and the State governments to eradicate unemployment during the next ten years. While pursuing this aim, special emphasis should be laid on amelioration the lot of the weaker sections, scheduled and depressed classes, workers, landless and poor farmers and urban poor farmers and urban poor. Minimum wages must be fixed for all of them.

The Shiromani Akali Dal urges Punjab government to draw up such an economic plan for the state as would turn it into the leading state during the next ten years by raising per capita income to Rs. 3,000 and by generating an economic growth rate of 7% per annum as against 4% at the national level.

The Shiromani Akali Dal gives first priority to the redrafting of the taxation structure in such a way that the burden of taxation is shifted from the poor to the richer classes and an equitable distribution of national income ensured.

The main plank of the economic programme of the Shiromani Akali Dal is to enable the economically weaker sections of the society to share the fruits of national income.

The Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central government to make an international airport at Amritsar which should also enjoy the facilities of a dry port. Similarly, a Stock Exchange should be opened at Ludhiana to accelerate the process of industrialization and economic growth in the State. The Shiromani Akali Dal also desires that suitable amendments should be made in the Foreign Exchange rules for free exchange of foreign currencies and thereby removing the difficulties being faced by the Indian emigrants.

The Shiromani Akali Dal emphatically urges upon the Indian government to bring about parity between the prices of the agricultural produce and that of the industrial raw materials so that the discrimination against such states that lack these materials may be removed.

The Shiromani Akali Dal demands that the exploitation of the produces of cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, oil seeds, etc., at the hand of traders should be stopped forthwith and for this purpose arrangements be made for purchase by government of these crops at remunerable prices. Besides, effective steps should be taken by government for the purchase of cotton through the Cotton Corporation.

The Shiromani Akali Dal strongly feels that the most pressing national problem is the need to ameliorate the lot of millions of exploited persons belonging to the scheduled classes. For such a purpose the Shiromani Akali Dal calls upon the Central and State governments to earmark special funds. Besides, the state governments should allot sufficient funds in their respective budgets for giving free residential plots both in the urban and rural areas to the Scheduled Castes.

The Shiromani Akali Dal also calls for the rapid diversification of farming. The shortcomings in the Land Reforms Laws should be removed, rapid industrialization of the State ensured, credit facilities for the medium industries expanded and unemployment allowance given to those who are unemployed. For remunerative farming, perceptible reduction should be made in the prices of farm machinery like tractors, tubewells, as also of the inputs.

Resolution No. 4

This huge gathering of the Shiromani Akali Dal regrets the discrimination to which the Punjabi language is being subjected in adjoining States of Himachal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, etc. It is its firm demand that in accordance with the Nehru Language Formula, the neighboring State of Punjab should give “second” language status to Punjabi because of fairly large sections of their respective populations are Punjabi-speaking.

Resolution No. 5

The meeting regrets that against the “claims” of the refugees who had migrated to Jammu and Kashmir as a result of the partition of the country, no compensation had been provided to them even after such a long time and these unfortunate refugees had been rotting in the camps ever since then.
This Akali Dal session, therefore, forcefully demands that their claims should be settled soon and immediate steps should be taken to rehabilitate them even if it involves an amendment to section 370 of the Constitution.

Resolution No. 6

The 18th session of the All India Akali Conference take strong exception to the discrimination to which the minorities in other states are being subjected and the way in which their interests are being ignored.
As such, it demands that injustice against the Sikhs in other states should be vacated and proper representation should be given them in government service, local bodies and state legislatures, through nominations, if need be.

Resolution No. 7

The 18th session of the All India Akali Conference notes with satisfaction that mechanization of farming in the country has led to increase in the farm yield and a as a result the country is heading toward self-sufficiency in foodgrain.

However, the session feels that poor farmers are unable to tale to mechanization because of the enormity of the cost involved.

As such, the Shiromani Akali Dal urges upon the Government of India to abolish the excise duty on tractors, sot that with the decrease in their prices, the smaller farmers may also be able to avail themselves of farm machinery and contribute to increase in agricultural produce of the country.

Resolution No. 8

This conference of the Shiromani Akali Dal appeals to the Central and State governments to pay particular attention to the poor and laboring classes and demands that besides making suitable amendments in the Minimum Wages Act, suitable legal steps be taken to improve the economic lot of the laboring class, to enable it to lead respectable life and play a useful role in the rapid industrialization of the country.

Resolution No. 9

This session seeks permission from the Government of India to install a broadcasting station at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, for the relay of Gurbani Kirtan for the spiritual satisfaction of those Sikh who are living in foreign lands.

The session wishes to make it clear that the entire cost of the proposed broadcasting project would be borne by the Khalsa Panth and its over all control shall vest with the Indian Government. It is hoped that the Government would have no hesitation in conceding this demand after due consideration.

Resolution No. 10

This mammoth gathering of the Shiromani Akali Dal strongly urges upon the Government of India to make necessary amendments in the following enactment for the benefit of the agricultural classes who have toiled hard for the sake of larger national interests:

1)  Hindu Succession Act be suitably amended to enable a woman to get rights of inheritance in the properties of her father-in-law instead of the father’s.

2)  The agricultural lands of the farmers should be completely exempted from the Wealth Tax and the Estate Tax.

Resolution No. 11

This vast gathering of the Shiromani Akali Dal strongly impresses upon the Government of India that keeping in vies that economic backwardness of the scheduled and non-scheduled castes, provisions proportionate to their population should be made in the budget for utilization for their welfare. A special ministry should be created at the Centre as a practical measure to render justice to them on the basis of reservations.

The session also calls upon the government that in keeping with the settlement already made, no discrimination should be made between the Sikh and Hindu Harijans in any part of the country.

Resolution No. 12

The Congress government is called upon to vacate the gross injustice, discrimination done to Punjab in the distribution of Ravi-Beas waters. The Central government must also give approval for the immediate establishment of six sugar and four textile mills in Punjab so that the State may be able to implement its agro-industrial policy.

(Figures below provided by Maulana Abul Azad, President of the Congress Party at the time of Indepedence.)

The Sikhs, who had thrown themselves, heart and soul, into the Indian independence struggle, were the third party with whom the British negotiated for the transfer of power. However, due to inadaquency of Sikh leadership, misplaced trust and false promises made by Gandhi and Nehru, the Sikhs lost their claim to power.

In 1929, following a huge peaceful Independence rally was held by Sikhs in Lahore; in the words of The Times, the 500,000 strong procession “put the Congress show into shame and shadow,” Gandhi and Nehru met the Sikh leaders and put forward the notion of Sikh-Hindu unity, a unified India where all Sikh sentiments (social, economical and religious) would be catered for.

The following solemn assurances were made:

The Sikh homeland Panjab was divided and the Sikhs suffered great loss. Sikh shrines such as Nankana Sahib, Panja Sahib and many more along with the capital city of Lahore was given to Pakistan, over 70% of the most fertile land owned by sikhs was taken by Pakistan and over 500,000 men, women and children lost their lives during the partition.

Panjab was a state utterly broken and totally ruined both economically and socially by the Partition with Pakistan. Instead of Government help, the Sikhs began facing economical, social and religious discrimination.

After Independence Sikhs began facing racial slurs from leaders and the media. When Nehru was reminded about the promises he and Gandhi made to the Sikhs before Independence and all the broken promises since, he stated simple, “the circumstances have now changed.”

“Kya main taqat dushman ke hath main de dun (How can I entrust powwer into the hands of the enemies).” (Jawaharlal Nehru, 1961)

“The Sikhs are lawless people and a menace to the law abiding Hindus… The Government should take strict measures against them.” (Jawaharlal Nehru)

In a circular sent to all Deputy Commisioners in Panjab by the Home Minister Vallabhi Patel, there were instructions that Sikhs should be treated like a “criminal tribe.” They were urged to be severe so that the Sikhs should wake up to the political realities and recognize “who are the masters and who are the slaves.”

In 1956 all states in India were recognized on linguistic and cultural basis, however Panjab was the only state in India left out of this. In addition huge anti-Sikh propoganda compelled virtually all Panjabi speaking Hindus to deny Panjabi as their language and claim allegiance to Hindi, however, their knowledge of Hindi was non-existent.

Furthermore, Sikhs felt the wrath of Hindu nationalism nurtured by M.K. Gandhi. After his death fundamentalist cults and organisations such as RSS and Ayra Smaaj began anti-Sikh propaganda. Sikhs were humiliated throughout national media and literature. Ayra Smaaj and other fundamentalist Hindu organisations published literature, held events and conferences which degraded and insulted the Sikh Gurus. A great effort was made to disolve Sikhism into Hinduism.

In 1966 the Panjabi Suba Movement began, during peaceful agitations throughout the 50′s and 60′s over 250,000 Sikhs demonstrated peacefully and courted arrest to get their linguistic rights (this is 5times the number of Indians arrested by the British in the whole “Quit India Movement”). Darshan Singh Peruman was martyred whilst on hunger strike in prison. He demanded that Sikhs should be given more rights and more autonomy for Panjab. His martyrdom and noble sacrifice was ignored by the Government.

Two majority Panjabi speaking districts were left out of the 1961 census. The now already shrunken Panjab was further halved to form a Hindi speaking state Haryana in 1966. Furthermore, the small remmant of Panjab was still denied the status of a Panjabi speaking state. Some of the prosperous Panjabi speaking areas including the capital Chandigarh were left out and given to Haryana. This was a direct violation of the Indian Constitution and pre-independence promises. Panjab remains the only state in India to have a shared capital and no control over its natural resources, water and electricity.