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Tribute to an
Unknown Saint-soldier
Jagmohan Singh
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On the occasion of Remembrance Day of Saka Akal Takht, the
author, in an Open Letter to an Unknown warrior, vents his
feelings for those who have died unsung. He recounts the tales
of heroism of Sikh martyrs and avows to contest the attempts to
erase memory. |
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 Dear Bahadur
Singh
Waheguru Ji Ka
Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
Tears rolled
down my cheeks when I heard and read the news about the attack on
Darbar Sahib in June 1984. I was in far away
Bombay
at that time. My only contact with Punjab was through radio and
newspapers.
I actively
participated in the wave of protests that were held in the city. I
distinctly remember how the leaders of the Sikh community there were
engaged in smothering the anger of the youth, in full collaboration
with the state security agencies and political leaders with whom
they had constant contact. Later on in life I learnt that this was
the case in most parts of
India and the
world. Like me, there were many who were seething with anger.
During the
protest demonstration, everyone was full of admiration for all the
Sikh fighters who had protected their rights till their last
breath. Your bravery was well respected. Even those who opposed
the forces led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Nihang and
Kar Sewa Dals, the Sikh Students Federation and the Babbar Khalsa,
held you in awe for taking on the might of the Indian state.
Twenty four
years down the line, I recollect your courage and gallantry. Just
two hundred odd people, with basic armoury and ammunition, with very
little or no training in warfare, held the second largest armed
forces in the world –the Indian armed forces, at bay for more than
100 hours.
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Reliving the times that you spent during that sweltering June
summer of 1984, facing bullets and cannon fire, I cannot hold
back myself but say, “I wish I too was there.” |
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Most of you died
in the fight, which was the last battle of Indira Gandhi, but while
doing so, you added an indelible and incredible chapter in the
annals of Sikh history and Sikh-Indian relationship. The battle of
Amritsar
was not about “flushing out militants or terrorists” as the Indian
state would want us to believe, it was a battle to “bring the Sikhs
down on their knees” so that the desire to dissent, the
characteristic rebellion of the Sikhs and the yearning for freedom
is crushed forever. After the last bullet had been fired, there was
a blast on the Sikh Reference Library in violation of all Geneva
conventions. You fought in style and vindicated the martial
tradition of the Sikhs.
Very few
pictures of fighters like you were shown to the world. Even your
bodies were not given to your heirs for last rites. The photographs
and video taken and shown by the then only official television
channel -Doordarshan is part of the archives (hopefully it is still
there) and it would be interesting to ask the government to put it
into public domain. I doubt whether one can use the Right to
Information or any other provision of any other law to do that as
hard evidence is very difficult to obtain in
India.
India’s
propaganda machinery is so well oiled that it is well-nigh
impossible to penetrate it.
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Jangir Singh |
Dula Singh |
Upkar Kaur |
Thara Singh |
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Hardev Singh
Bholi Pandit |
Subeg Singh |
Sujan Singh |
Paramjit Kaur |
B
There are many
people who have described the events, but the last word is still to
be written. Sikh leaders ensconced in the
Golden Temple
premises, who escaped unscathed while you were all dying, did not
tell us the truth before they passed away. Almost all of them
either resorted to lies or handed over the task of replying to the
government’s propaganda, including the official White Paper, to
footloose intellectuals who had no courage nor diligence nor the
skill to respond appropriately. They could not match your courage
even in their words. Today, there are some leaders around but they
do not have the courage of conviction to speak the truth. Sketchy
eye-witness accounts have surfaced but they are insufficient.
I have only
three images embedded in my mind of Saka Akal Takht. One is
that of the nearly-demolished Akal Takht Sahib with gaping holes
caused by tanks, the other is that of the body of Sant Jarnail Singh
(published by Surya magazine) and the third is that of a Sikh
fighter like you, body soaked in blood, published by Time magazine.
While talking of photographs and video recordings, I often wonder
whether there exist some satellite pictures taken by a foreign power
or by NASA of the conflict. If Google Earth can map remote military
installations in secluded places around the world including
India, surely
the possibility of the existence of such material cannot be ruled
out.
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Sikh leaders ensconced in the Golden Temple premises, who
escaped unscathed while you were all dying, did not tell us the
truth before they passed away. They resorted to lies or handed
over the task of replying to the government’s propaganda to
footloose intellectuals who had no courage nor diligence nor
skill to respond appropriately. |
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I have yet to
come across a vivid description of the tale of combatants like you,
though some interesting facts have trickled down the years from
eyewitness accounts and some empirical research. Significantly and
not known to many people, there were two Hindu young men, namely
Bhai Hardev Singh (Bholi Pandat) and Bhai Dula Singh amongst your
ranks who fought the Indian army. Their parents are proud of their
sons. There were many who were less than 25 years of age, with their
beards sprouting out, but who had “mastered” the art of defence
under training from Bhai Subeg Singh --a former decorated soldier of
the Indian army.
Not to be left
behind, the Budha Dal -that is the elderly too were there.
Baba Thara Singh was 60 years old and was a close confidante of Sant
Jarnail Singh. Bhai Jangir Singh, the elder brother of Sant Jarnail
Singh was 64 years old. As you know, both were towering
personalities and lived up to the commitment made to the Guru.
It should make
Sikh women proud that amongst the valiant warriors were two young
women, Upkar Kaur and Paramjit Kaur, who too attained martyrdom
during the Operation Bluestar.
Members of the
SGPC are known for their cowardice and insincerity to the cause of
propagation of Sikh ideals. It is a tribute to Bhai Sujan Singh who
was an SGPC member from Sarbala constituency that he lived true to
the oath of protecting and preserving the holiest of the holy
shrines of the Sikh faith.
A few years
back, during the course of a political conference I met a
middle-aged Jaswant Singh at Fatehgarh Sahib. Introducing himself,
he told me that like me, he too had lived in
Bombay.
He further said that when Damdami Taksal chief, Sant Jarnail Singh
had visited
Bombay,
his family had “gifted” their ten-year old son to the Jatha. That
ten-year old, Surjit Singh was 18 years when he attained martyrdom
fighting in the precincts of Darbar Sahib. Whenever I have met
Jaswant Singh, he has never regretted his decision. It should be of
worthwhile to learn and understand, “how does one gift a son?”
It would not be
fair to compartmentalize or compare martyrdom of one with the
other. The tale of each one of you is a legend still to be fully
told. During the last decade, some Punjabi magazines have chronicled
stories of young martyrs and they deserve compliments for doing so.
While I salute
you for your deed and role, I am conscious of the life led by your
family members. While some have had recognition from the Sikh
nation, there are many whose contribution has been left on the
wayside, not deliberately but because of negligence and an
inconsiderate sense of history.
Like every year,
this year too, a small segment of the Sikh nation would recount and
retell the tales of your heroism –in
Punjab and
elsewhere. To every Sikh, a martyr is a hero beyond doubt. The
established leaders of the community have done everything possible
to assassinate memory –from empty promises of putting up a memorial
to white-washing all tell-tale signs of the massacre from Harmandar
Sahib. The Akali political leaders, members of the SGPC, the SGPC
bureaucracy and the religious leadership are guilty of this crime,
carried out under covert directions of the Indian state.
Nevertheless,
next year, we would be observing 25 years of your martyrdom. No
book on the life of Indira Gandhi can be complete without reference
to June 1984 and Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. No history book of
our times can be considered comprehensive without mention of the
events of June 1984 and what went before that and what happened
after that.
Reliving the
times that you spent during that sweltering June summer of 1984,
facing bullets and cannon fire, I cannot hold back myself but say,
“I wish I too was there.”
May you enjoy
the privilege of “being with the Guru”.
Yours in-faith
Jagmohan Singh
Jagmohan
Singh is an activist-commentator living in Ludhiana. He may be
contacted at jsbigideas@gmail.com
4
June,
2008
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