Daughters of the Khalsa

Saturday, April 21, 2007

In the mindst of our celebrations this month for 308 years of Khalsa, take some time out to remember the outrageous acts that took place in 1978, when no fewer than 13 Singhs were slaughtered, for peacefully protesting.

Baisakhi Day, 1978

The Martyrs of Amritsar

It was out of this spirit of devotion, this sense ' of duty towards the Guru and towards the essence of the spirit of `Khalsa' that these beloved ones felt the call on Baisakhi Day, the 13th of April, 1978. It was in the city of Amritsar, and official permission had been given to the-,'Sant Nirankaris to hold a procession through Amritsar, carrying the man they call their 'guru', Gurbachan Singh around the city on a palki, waving a chouri over his head. It would not take much wisdom to imagine that in the very city of Amritsar, the holiest of holy places for Sikhs.

A renegade sect of Nirankaris being allowed to demonstrate their exaltation of a human being over and above the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, that such an action might cause some reaction among the Khalsa.

However, nothing was done on an official level to prevent the procession or the subsequent meeting which was to take place. Watching this insult, a group of Sikhs met to discuss a way of dealing with the situation. They determined to send a group of 100 peaceful protesters to do kirtan outside of the Nirankari meeting. They requested that the leadership and officials of Amritsar give them their support and assistance but this was denied. Nonetheless, the 100 protesters set out, unarmed except with their required Kirpans.

Approaching the meeting place, the police stopped the protesters, under the guise of granting them official and safe passage. During this half-hour stop, an ambush was set in motion. Trucks filled with acid-soaked bricks and acid-filled bottles pulled in behind the peacefully protesting Sikhs. Armed units of Nirankaris surrounded the area, and when the 100 protesters were allowed to pass through the police lines, they were barraged on every side, first with bricks and bottles of acid, then with shot guns, rifles and pistols, even machine gun fire and an automatic arrow shooter were used.

There was none there to defend these courageous Sikhs, except their God and Guru, and each one who fell uttered 'Wahe Guru' and surely was received into the arms of the Guru as he died this martyr's death...

Bhai Fauja Singh himself was fired upon by the District Superintendent of Police, who accused him of being responsible for all of this trouble, and emptied his 32-calibre pistol into Bhai Fauja Singh's chest. These were not the only bullets he was to receive that day, but he kept standing, uttering only `Wahe Guru'. Two Sikhs attempted to carry the still breathing and chanting Bhai Fauja Singh to the hospital for treatment, but those two men were arrested by Police, and 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 Wahe Guru'. He called for someone to help, but half an hour later, Sardarni Amarjit Kaur, his wife, found Bhai Fauja Singh dead.

He was just one out of the 13 known dead on that day, and even today there are some people who are missing, who never returned from that peaceful protest in Amritsar. The Sikhs of the Punjab are outraged. The Sikhs of the world watch in horror: Right in the Punjab, right in the Sikh stronghold, with our own leadership in power, this atrocity could happen.

In reality, this is the greatest massacre of Sikhs, perhaps ever, because they were shot in cold blood, they were unarmed, and they were singing the Guru's Bani. They had come to request that the ‘Sant Nirankaris' stop their abuse and public slander of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib and of Guru Gobind Singh, and they had come to ask them to stop calling themselves Sikhs. They had come to defend the honor and the spirit of the Khalsa. They were met with treachery and they were butchered.

http://www.mrsikhnet.com/BhaiFaujaSingh/
Poem "Remeber" By Balmeet Kaur, Guru Gobind
Singh Ji Children's Foundation

Remember

Brave are the martyrs,

That fought for the Sikhs

Courageous are the Shaheeds

That stood up for what they believed

They died and gave up their lives,

They believed and trusted Guru Ji.

They didn’t give in to their country and nation;

They protected their beliefs for future generations.

Strong were those who stood up to evil;

Stood beside their Guru, through thick and think.

Remember them always, for they fought for us.