Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale declared a martyr during Ghallughara Divas functions held in Darbar Sahib
Sikhs attending June 06 Ghallughara Divas pass unanimous Resolution calling for Nuclear-free South Asia
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - The sudden flare up of fratricidal violence between the Sikh-Jat and Sikh-Dalit communities in Talhan village of Jalandhar, Punjab, (which tragic event has the 'finger prints' of Indian Intelligence agencies all over it) was obviously synchronnized to happen at about the same time when the first ever SGPC-organized Ghallughara Divas functions, were being held, on June 06, 2003, in the Darbar Sahib complex commemorating the ninteenth anniversay of the June 1984 attack by the despicable Indra Gandhi's army in which Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, died fighting while defending the Akal Takht in the true Sikh tradition. It is obvious the jingoistic, fundamentalist, Brahmin-caste-dominated Indian rulers are still practicing their 'Divide and Rule' Chanakiyan policy in the Punjab to disrupt Sikh unity and the Talhan violence is an example of their morally repugnant methods.Despite the state-sponsored fratricidal mischief in Talhan village of Jalandhar, Sikhs, of all shades, and every opinion, gathered on June 06, 2003 (the ninteenth anniversary of the Indian Army attack on the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar) at the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee) and Dal Khalsa organized functions in the Akal Takht (and later on in the Manji Sahib Gurdawara) in the Darbar Sahib complex. Almost all the Akali Dals, ('Badal,' Tohra and Mann), Sikh student's federations, Sikh human rights groups, and Khalistani organizations were represented at the Darbar Sahib functions and they all condemned the horrific June 1984 Indian army assault on Darbar Sahib and 37 other Suikh shrines.
According to a PTI report, Sirdar Simranjit Singh Mann, President of the Akali Dal (Amritsar) declared that, "there was an urgent need to stand guard for principles for which the martyrs laid down their lives. The last message of Bhindranwale, who predicted a separate Sikh state if the Army entered the shrine, would not go waste." Talking to the press, Prof. Badungar, President of the SGPC, sought to underplay the event saying "it was within the rights of the community to pay tributes to its martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice to bravely fight the repression".
The Akal Takht Jathadar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, while addressing the congregation declared that, "Shaheed Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, (who was declared the greatest Sikh of the 20th Century a few years ago) was a martyr of the entire Sikh panth who sacrificed his life for the cause of Sikh religion in June 1984. The Akal Takht Jathedar said that Sant Bhindrawale's martyrdom day would be observed every year along with the others who sacrificed their lives while defending the sanctity of the Darbar Sahib during the Army aggression in 1984."
The Akal Takht Jathedar bestowed `Siropa' (religious robe of honour) on Isher Singh, son of Sant Bhindranwale. He also honored Bhai Manjit Singh, brother of the president of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), Bhai Amrik Singh, with a robe of honour. Bhai Amrik Singh was also martyred during the fierce gunbattles that took place with the Indian Army inside the Darbar Sahib, in June 1984. The Akal Takht Jathedar after paying a tribute to all the Sikh martyrs who died defending the Akal Takht in June 1984 also honored forty Sikh families of the martyrs.
Sirdar Kanwar Pal Singh of Dal Khalsa, (which body had organized the congregation at Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the presence of representatives of various Sikh bodies) read out the following resolutions, in the presence of Jathedar Akal Takht which were passed unanimously by the congregation:-
1) The Indian army attack on Darbar Sahib, in June 1984, reduced the Akal Takht to rubble and killed thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children. Hundreds of Sikh warriors, under the able leadership of Sant Jarnail Singh, tasted martyrdom while defending the sanctity of the shrines. The Sikh nation will never forget and forgive the Indian state that planned the dastardly attack. Sikhs are proud of the June 84 martyrs who in a rare show of courage fought against aggression.
2) Last year in February, the executive committee of the SGPC took a historic decision to raise a memorial in memory of those who were killed during army attack. A year has passed and nothing has been done in this regard. Delay on the part of the SGPC has irked the Sikhs. This gathering urges Jathedar Akal Takht and the SGPC to act immediately.
3) Sant Jarnail Singh was a true defender of the faith. He was an upholder of the Sikh rights. He was a true Saint-Soldier who never compromised on principles. It is the rightful wish of the Sikhs that the SGPC should build a memorial in the name of the Sant Jarnail Singh.
4) The attack on Darbar Sahib and genocide of Sikhs carried out by Hindu extremists in Delhi, in November 1984, alienated Sikhs from the Indian state. In the aftermath of 1984 holocaust, Sikhs resolved to achieve the goal for right to self-determination granted under the United Nation's charter. The struggle for that goal is still alive and kicking.
5) The Sikh homeland is caught between two nuclear giants. Sikhs are sandwiched between India and Pakistan. Of late, both the countries have retreated from the brink of war. Nearly 10 million Sikhs live near the international Indo/Pakistan border. Similarly, Sikhs have more than 250 historical shrines in Pakistan. We know that war between both the nuclear powers will wipe out Punjab. Sikhs, therefore want a nuclear-free South Asia. We urge the international community to press both India and Pakistan to sign NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty) and roill back their nuclear programmes.
6) Sikhs are of the view that the state should not be at war with its own people. India should take a leaf from Middle-East peace process and start a dialogue with all those ethnic and religious minorities including Kashmiris, Nagas and Sikhs who had been agitating against New Delhi s hegemony since long.
7) Sikh polity is getting increasingly dirty. The party having monopoly in the Sikh polity has compromised the supremacy and sovereignty of the Akal Takht for its political reasons. The seat of the head of the Akal Takht has been subdued. The working and the recent decisions from the highest seat are an eye opener for all the Sikhs concerned.
Following the above-described June 06, 2003, Ghallughara Divas functions in the Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, the Indian print media is all nervous as to what the Sikhs will do now? India's most prestigious English language newspaper THE HINDU, no particular friend of the Sikhs, has published in its June 08, 2003 issue a Chandigarh-datelined story, by Sarabjit Pandher, headlined, "Martyrdom for Bhindranwale will have major political impact". Pandher writes that, "The decision of the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in conferring martyrdom on the firebrand militant leader, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, will have a major impact on today's politics."(To read full story in The Hindu please click at:- www.thehindu.com/2003/06/08/stories/2003060805231000.htm
Pandher in his story in The Hindu correctly mentions that the decision of granting martyrdom to Sant Bhindranwale has to be seen as part of a string of events, which began with the release of the separate Sikh almanac, the Nanakshahi Calendar by the SGPC, at a political congregation organised by the Akali faction led by the former Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. The calendar was released on Baisakhi Day in April this year at Talwandi Sabo. The chain of events is being viewed as a major input for the Akali Dal, which feels alienated from its cadre due to the weakening of its ideology.
What is bothering the jingoistic BJP leadeship most is paragraph 05 of the Dal Khalsa resolution, mentioned above, which was passed on June 06, Ghallughara Divas day, which calls for a Nuclear-Free South Asia and demands that India sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty as Punjab is in grave danger of being wiped out in any Indo/Pakistan Nuclear war. The BJP government's 'Storm-Troopers' the Hindu-fundamentalist, Neo-Nazi Shiv Sena did not wait long to show their displeasure. They showed up in Phagwara, according to the PTI, where they burnt posters of Sant Bhindranwale in protest against the declaration which declared him a martyr. The Shiv Sena protesters disrupted traffic briefly and raised provocative slogans. They also raised `murdabad' slogans against Sant Bhindranwale Shaheed and against the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, for what they called violation of maryada of the Akal Takht by declaring Bhindranwale a martyr.
The Hindu newspaper's comments and the rantings of the Hindu-fundamentalist Shiv Sena thugs not withstanding, the June 06, 2003, Ghallughara Divas functions will have a profound effect on the Sikh nation - 21 million captive in India and three million FREE in the diaspora. The exclusive and separate identity of the Sikhs, (as a reaction to the orchestrated rantings and conspiracies of the Hindu-fundamentalist crowd who have been trying to cast the Sikhs as Hindus) should come to the centre-stage of Punjab politics soon. Statements like the one made by Badal's former BJP minister of Food and Supplies, Madan Mohan Mittal, that, "no Sikh was a true Sikh if he did not follow the Gita," or that Sikhs and Hindus are two sides of the same coin or holding provocative Shakhas in Punjab villages or the formation of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat with the same acronym as the main fascist RSS will cease to amuse the Sikhs. No Sikh wants to be a Hindu, or called one, as he is immensly proud of his separate identity, his monotheistic religion and generous egalitarian culture. RSS, Shiv Sena, their cohorts and others of that ilk better make a note of this development!