Sikh Sangat News Celebrating Sikh culture and sharing Sikh voices
To,
The President of India,
Rashtrpati Bhavan,
Delhi.
Subject: Return of the award of Padam Shree against the in-human army action at Sri Darbar Sahib Sri Amritsar.
Shriman ji,
Sending the armed forces into Sri Darbar Sahib for military action has already produced countless painful results. As a result of this army action the Sikh world has been deeply hurt. You have seen how painful has been the effect of this army action on the Darshani Deodhi and the building of Sri Akal Takhat. Army has perpetrated acts, which you could not have known. Up to September 9, 1984, I have been investigating what I have heard from the people. I have exercised much restraint and have not rushed to conclusions. I will relate some of the happenings (that I have investigated).
1. Army-men arrested a scripture reader of Sri Darbar Sahib along with his family. The entire family was not given either food or water for the whole day. Rifle butts were administered on the scripture reader’s hands the whole day. Another scripture reader of the shrine was given the same treatment until his hands were swollen.
2. The sangat in Darbar Sahib complex consisting of women, men and children has been fired upon (and killed) as the mosquitoes are wiped out with poisonous spray.
3. The pilgrims who had been arrested in Sri Darbar Sahib and Teja Singh Samundari Hall around 12 noon on Tuesday were given water by the Sikh army-men after thirty hours on Wednesday. The children’s eyes were popping out with thirst and their mothers tried to moist their lips with sweat. When some women asked for water for the children the army-men told them that the children would grow up and kill the army-men so why should they be given water? On Tuesday the small quantity of water that was given to the children had cigarettes thrown into it. They were told that this is the prasad of their Guru. Army-men smoked cigarettes in Teja Singh Samundari Hall and kept on blowing the smoke at the Sikhs. The treatment meted out to the Sikhs in the name of army action has deeply hurt the feelings of the Sikh world. Hands of the young pilgrims, arrested from Darbar Sahib, were tied with their turbans, their hair were untied and used to cover their eyes with. They were forced to kneel down on the hot marble floor and to walk around on their knees. Hands of the boys were tied behind them and they were shot through their foreheads.
On the first of June 1984 the CRPF had commenced firing on Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar. On the first of June before the arrival of the army, the CRPF had killed a scripture reader in attendance upon Guru Granth Sahib and the volume itself was shot at. After it was all over, the Sikh Reference Library and the Sikh Museum were set on fire out of enmity and in pursuance of predetermined action. On June 3, 1984, two Sikhs wearing yellow turbans and kirpans got off at Batala bus stand. They were asked by the army-men to take off their turbans. On their refusal to do so they were both shot dead. Another Nihang was shot at and killed near Gumtala jail because he had refused to surrender his kirpan. One Sikh in proper Sikh dress was standing on the roof of his house in an area of Amritsar called Kittas. Army-men killed him because he was wearing a yellow turban.
On the third of July a black turbaned and kirpan-wearing young Sikh of about 25 years of age was walking past the Kitchlew traffic island. The army arrived, handcuffed and arrested him although nothing incriminating was found on his person. When army-men went to arrest the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Sardar Gurcharan Singh Tohra from Teja Singh Samundari Hall, one of them was smoking a cigarette. When Sardar Tohra asked him not to smoke (in the holy precincts), his reply was, “shut up old-man or I will shoot you dead. Tohra said ‘I am the President of this place’ upon which the army-men became quiet.
Temple servants of Sri Darbar Sahib Mukatsar, were made to lie face downwards in the circumambulatory path around the sacred tank and beaten mercilessly. As a result of this one of them died. All those boys who had taken amrit were pulled out of their homes in the villages and were beaten severely.
I am compelled to observe that the army has displayed bankruptcy of character and has acted with hearts full of enmity and in a manner indicating that it wanted to wipe out the Sikhs. Young-men from villages have been troubled much after the army action. Apart from the truth depicted above, I have received information about such shameful incidents, to mention which is to violate the cultural norms.
After hearing of and seeing such happenings, I reject and return to you the award of Padam Shree conferred upon me.
Puran Singh Bhagat
Mr Kulvanth ji, I think Mr ND is absolutely right.The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. And if we accept our people were innocent still and the way you present the hate in not the solution. I know psychological it wa very difficult to forget but as a true sikh has to forget the violence scenes and love to humanity.
We should never forget those times nor the numerous tortures & sacrifices Guru ke Sikhs have given throughout history. We are Singh ki fauj, however with times our courage has been suppressed politically & culturally. Our true Sikh History has been dismantled to the likes of extremists, so that we loose our faith in Guru Sahib’s ideology of true Sikh or Khalsa.
It is time to have immense faith in Waheguruji Guru Sahib ji, as no true Sikh is alone.
If it wasnt for a famous Sikh named Tegh Bahadur you would not be living as a Hindu at all.
You are an extremely arrogant young man. And your words have absolutely no value. Good luck in life, you will seriously need it my friend.
Obviously your mother was not raped in these incidents, your father was not tortured in these incidents, your brother wasnot hung or shot, and you are totally unaffected. It can only be a past when all people relating to those incidents are absolutely gone from the earth. At present there are 1000’s of witnesses, and those who suffered torture, bombings, violations from army, and govt. officials. I am therefore interested in knowing how you propose those people forget. Children are orphaned because of what happened, tell them to their faces to forget they had parents. You have obviously never suffered a loss nor a violent offence against you.
Please be considerate, this matter of human rights violations is still very real. Why pretend. India has been corrupt since it was created. The ordinary non influential Indian citizen has no human rights, that is a fact we witness every day, and your advice is Forget IT. Irresponsible and not thought out.
Thats right shivam , sikhs are just illegal immigrants, because there is no place in India for a people who want to live in equality with their hindu brothers, with justice and liberty. India is a terrorist state. All human rights reports confirm this fact. It is totally corrupt all Business tranparency reports confirm that. I’m suprised everyone has not migrated, oh sorry shivam you claim to live in chelsea .LOL.The genocide of 1984 was not spontaneous as all the attacks were carried out in similar fashion with similar means, they were orchestrated by the state . The same was done in Gujarat against Muslims this time by the BJP government of the state. The same methods the state used to murder 25,000 sikh youth from 1984 to 2000 with forced disappearance and fake encounters are used in Kashmir and other disaffected states. The state is the terrorist oppressing hindu dalits, sikhs,muslims,schedule caste’s and hill tribes. The oppressed of India are not the minority they are the majority. Enjoy sucking their blood for it’s only a matter of time before the lies catch up with you brother.
1984 was bad,you shouldn’t forget. Also,I want all Sikhs not forget their past enmity with the Muslims and the Britishers as well.Go take your Khalistan from the Muslim Punjabis from Pakistan.lol. Also stop illegally immigrating to Great Britain and enjoying freedom there,go take your revenge against them first. Weirdos.
With all due respect to your above witless rants,let me clarify that the riots that happened after the assasination of our PRIME MINISTER Indira Gandhi,who was murdered by her Sikh bodyguards resulted in this immediate outburst of communal violence. You have had Muslims participating in these massacres as well. The massacres at Ranchi was led by a Muslim leader,same was the case in Beria which has a history of Sikh-Muslim history. Violence in any forms are condemned. BUT look at you Sikhs!! You guys are just over-reacting. This same Congress led Govt. kill lakhs of Hindus/other Indians yearly. How? By giving its citizens poor security. Bomb blasts sponsored by ISI and IM kill hundreds of us monthly,do we start then,as hindus,an open war against Muslims? NO. We believe in fighting the wrong guys,not the wronged guys. 1984 is a deep shame for us too. And so was the 1987 Air India highjack in Canada by Khalistani forces,so was killing of Hindus by the Sikhs in 1970’s and so was the terrorism of Punjab by khalsa groups. As for the Sikh diaspora,their threats are great things to laugh at. You all are just plain illegal immigrants for God’s sake.Lol. Khalistan is in Pakistani Punjab,go ask the Muslims for your land. Indian Punjab isn’t going anywhere.
Wow!! Mr ND…with all due respect to your stupidity and ignorance, there is a saying.. those who forget their past are bound to repeat it again. 1984 Operation Bluestar and November Sikh Genocide is a dark chapter in Sikh History that cannot be forgotten.
I can understand your insecurity now that Sikh Diaspora across the world has started raising awareness all over the world about human rights violations in India. That bursts your so call democracy bubble and exposes the true bloody face of Indian State Sponsored terrorism.
forget? are you stupid? if you forget your history the thing is bound to repeat itself. many sikhs in india simply do not know about what india did to sikhs. “what is in the past is in the past” orly? we remember our history but still progress. stop trying to brush it all under the carpet.
hello, with all due respect, these incidents took place in 1984, almost 30 years ago. I am from India and I do not know any Sikhs or Hindus that discuss the riots or hate each other because of them, not at least in the big cities. However, I have seen a flurry of similar articles from Sikhs in the UK and Canada. Honestly people, what is in the past, is in the past. I am sure hindus lost lives in those riots too, but it is all history now. If we all clung on to the past like this, there will be no progression. The west opressed Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims equally, if people were to cling to the past, then ideally they shouldn’t be immigrating to any of the western countries now, should they. It cannot be changed, no point in forstering hatred over it, as a matter of fact everyone should be working actively on letting go of painful instances like this and making the world a better place to live, so that our future generations do not have to go thtrough this again!
I will return my citizenship of india. I decline to be citizen of such country where their is no justice for sikhs. Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ke fateh. He sache patsha oh din laya jad Khalsa apni bezaati da badla eh hindustaneya toh lavee
I am so shattered after reading this letter. I feel so sorry guilt shame and anger all at same time. Now i dont know if i should hat india, hindu, or goverment. But hun dil nahi karda india varge gande desh vich par rakhan da bahoot udaas hega mind eh pad ke
This government is bullshit…do you have guts to give same type of treatment to muslims or other minorities..indian army can do only such kind of shameful acts..
Dhan Guru Nanak Dhan Guru Nanak
There a lot of hidden facts .I really feel very sadden by the 1984 incident , which has let a scar in my heart as how our Sikh community there was been treated .
It was not the just thing the government did . There could be other means to settle the political differences . And should have respected the holy shrine which is the most sacred place of the Sikhs .
A BIG Salute to Puran SINGH Bhagat for his stand for the RIGHT decision .
May Wahe Guru always be with you .
A true hero’s worth known through his words.