Apnae app nu apa punjabi dasdae o ada banya c punjabi sooba-> nahi ta ajj apa nu  kisae  puchna nai c .....

 
 
 
Sikh Struggle  1947 Massacre
 
  Punjabi Sooba
 
  
  Punjabi Sooba Struggle

Bijla Singh

Background

In 1947, India was partitioned which caused largest migration of population and the worst riots in the history. More than half of Punjab was given to Pakistan and rest remained in India. Sikhs had no choice but to leave Pakistan and migrate to India. More than 2 million Sikhs were killed, property worth millions was burnt and destroyed and about 175 Gurdwaras were left behind. All of this had a great impact on the Sikh nation majority of which had been left homeless in new India where the new government did little to nothing to help them settle down. Although Sikhs had made a great sacrifice and lost major portion of their religious places and history, they were full of hope and were looking forward to finally live free way of life and exercise the right to self-determination. Unfortunately, this hope did not last long and Sikhs had to get ready for yet another long struggle with the new regime.

Unfulfilled Promises and Sikhs in New India

Prior to independence, Indian leaders had made numerous promises to the Sikhs such as setting up a state in the north part of the country where Sikhs would enjoy freedom. Three major promises were made to the Sikh nation, which were systematically broken.

1) First promise was that Congress will not pass any resolution that did not please the Sikhs.

"...in future, the Congress shall accept no constitution which does not meet with the satisfaction of the Sikhs" (The Lahore session of the Congress Party. December 31, 1929 cited in Sikh Politics, K.L. Tuteja, Pg. 168)
 
"I ask you to accept my word and the Resolution of the Congress that it will not betray a single individual much less a community. If it ever thinks of doing so, it would only hasten to its own doom. I pray you to unbosom yourself of all doubts and apprehensions. Let God be the witness of the bond that binds me and the Congress with you (the Sikhs). I venture to suggest that the non-violence creed of the congress is the surest guarantee of good faith, and our Sikh friends have no reason to fear that it would betray them. For the moment it does so, the congress would not only thereby seal its own doom but that of the country too. (M. K. Gandhi, Communal Unity, pg. 165-167)
The congress assures Sikhs that no solution in any future constitution will be acceptable to the congress that does not give them full satisfaction. (Indian constitution documents, Vol. 11, By A. C. Banerjee)

After 1947, this promise was not kept. On October 10, 1947 Sikhs were branded as “lawless people”, called upon to forget about their distinct appearance and submit themselves under Hindu laws.

“The Sikhs are a lawless people and a menace to the law abiding Hindus ... The [Government] should take strict measures against them." (Pandit Nehru, Indian Prime Minister)

Furthermore, Article 25 was added in the constitution specifically stating that Sikhism was a sect of Hinduism. No Sikh approved the constitution but regardless it was adopted by the Indian government.

2) Second promise was made to setup a state in the north where Sikhs would have the right to self-determination.

The main purpose of creating linguistic states is that the culture, language and script of minority of the linguistic area shall be protected. (Resolution passed by Congress in Calcultta, 1937)

Redistribution of provincial boundaries is essential and inevitable. I stand for same autonomous unit as well. If Sikh desire to function as such a unit, I should like them to have a same autonomous in the province so that they may have a sense of freedom. (Jawaharlal Nehru, 1945)

"...the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special considerations. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the North of India wherein, the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom." (Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lahore Bulletin, January 9, 1930)
Indian leaders not only backed out on this promise but regarded this demand as a threat to the unity of the country.

The congress found itself in a dilemma, to concede to Akali demand would mean abandoning a position to which it was firmly committed and letting down its Hindu supporters in the Punjabi Suba. The merits were no consideration, as the policy of the Congress, as enunciated in 1949 by Jawahar Lal, Vallabh Bhai and Patta Bhai Sitaramayyia had been not to concede reorganization of North India whatever the merit of such a proposal might be. (My Truth, Indira Gandhi, 117)

I can afford civil war in the country but not Punjabi State. (Jawaharlal Nehru)

We are aware that Sikhs have suffered greatly before and after 1947 but we have come to the conclusion that granting them any special rights such as an autonomous area is not reasonable. (Sikh Politics of 20th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 144)

Creating a Punjabi linguistic state meant prospering of the Sikh nation which no Indian leader let alone a Hindu approved of.

3) The third promise was made to provide security and safeguarding minorities.

Adequate safeguards would be provided for monitories ---- it was a declaration, a pledge and an understanding before the world, a contract with millions of Indians, and therefore, in the nature of an oath, which we must keep. (Framing of Indian Constitution, B. Shiva Rao, Pg 181)

In the divided Indian Punjab, special constitutional measures are imperative to meet the aspirations and rights of the Sikhs. (Legislative Assembly, 1947)

This promise was forgotten just like the above two. Instead, statements were released to make India a Hindu country where minorities will have to either live as second class citizens or merge themselves in the Hindu majority.

According to Mahaveer Tyagi, “We do not believe in kicking the minority groups out of the country. Instead, our desire is to change their religion and convert them all to Hinduism.” (Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 249)

I do not like the word “minority” (Aeengar)

When Pakistan was created at the time of partition it became crystal clear that there remained only one community (Hindus) in India. (Vallabh Bhai Patel)

When the British left, no promise was kept by the Indian leaders.

The Sikhs felt that since they had made more sacrifices for independence than other communities and had suffered a great deal during partition, the Congress would consider their demands sincerely and grant them special rights as promised by the Indian leaders. But, the Congress acted the opposite, ignored all the promises and turned against the Sikhs……Sikhs were insulted by the media and opposed by the Hindu community. Hindus started discriminating against Sikhs and abandoned Punjabi. (Tale of Blue Turban, Giani Laal Singh, 100)

The so-called democracy only existed in papers and was never put into practice. The Sikh nation felt agitated, uncomfortable and trapped in the chains of new slavery. This further solidified their doubts when they started to face discrimination at the hands of the government and Hindu public. From 72% to 96% high government jobs were occupied by the Hindu majority in Punjab. The army enlistment became dependent upon population instead of merit. This decreased Sikh enlistment from 40% to 1.2%. The situation of Sikhs in Punjab is very well described by Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer:

Hindus had started to make insulting jokes on Sikhs, discriminate against them in every profession and attack innocent Sikhs on numerous occasions. Especially in the cities of Punjab, it had become extremely difficult for Sikhs to live a peaceful life. (Punjabi Suba Morcha, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Pg. 6)

Violence of Hindus had increased significantly in Punjab so much so that they attacked Sikh procession held in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Stones and home made acid bombs were thrown at the procession causing injury to several Sikhs. Seeing all of this, the police took no action and let the perpetrators run free. This further enraged the Sikh community.

The Indian government had also reorganized the states on languages basis in the south. Kerala, Tamil and other states had been created on language basis but nothing was done in the north. Sikhs felt betrayed and raised their demand for setting up a Punjabi State in which Punjabi language would serve as the primary language of the state and Sikhs would have an autonomous area. This demand led to the struggle for Punjabi State.

Struggle Begins

In 1955, the government not only refused to setup a linguistic state for Sikhs but also declared it unlawful to raise any slogan in the name of Punjabi state. This was not only unconstitutional move but in direct violation of freedom of speech act. Sikhs resorted to oppose this act of the government in a manner of peaceful protests. On the first day, Master Tara Singh started his speech by saying “We Sikhs demand freedom but the government wants to keep us as slaves. Now, we have been restricted to not even utter a word on Punjabi Suba. This is all being done to destroy our dignity…We will raise slogans in the support of Punjabi Suba and then present ourselves to the police for arrest. This should be done in a peaceful manner.”

Subsequently, it was decided to form small groups that would openly raise slogans in favor of Punjabi State and then present themselves for arrests. Thus began the long struggle for Punjabi State which lasted more than a decade. As soon as the struggle had begun, the Hindus started to speak against it by calling it a conspiracy of Pakistan.

Violence and Opposition by Hindus

Hindu leaders and media greatly opposed the Sikh struggle and started labeling them as “traitors”. Several Hindu organizations and leaders such as RSS, Arya Samaj, Lala Jagat Narayan, Khushal Chand, Lal Chand and many others openly spoke against Sikhs and started threatening the Sikhs to stop their agitation.

The entire Hindu media started to spread false information about Sikhs and their motives behind the struggle. They were labeled as “terrorists”, “traitors” and “agents of Pakistan”. Their patriotism was questioned by the media. The government used its puppets in Congress and the police to increase its brutality against the Sikhs. On one hand, Congressman Partap Kairon and the likes were threatening to crush the movement and on the other hand the police were arresting many of the Sikh leaders and throwing them in jails without any charge or trial. This was all being done on the orders of the central government to destabilize the Sikh movement. The police had become so ruthless that peaceful protestors were beaten with sticks and fired upon by the police. Women and children were not spared. The police had greatly been influenced by the media. In Karnal, some Sikhs had gathered peacefully in support of the Sikh cause when they were fired upon by the police. Inderjit Singh, a ten year old Sikh boy, was beaten, thrown in irrigation well and killed. In other states, fate of the Sikhs was not any different. Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib in Delhi was surrounded by the police and about 2000 Sikhs were arrested. By 1960, 25 thousand Sikhs had been arrested and jailed. This was done to inform Sikhs that they were second class citizens in India.

Hindu residents of Punjab were not any different. They held large processions in the opposition of Sikhs. Sikh properties were targeted, destroyed and burnt in Punjab. Sikhs resident places were attacked. Police was ordered not to intervene or stop the Hindu hoodlums. Seeing the inability of the police, the Hindus attacked many Sikh policemen causing injuries to several of them and death of one Sikh inspector. Toleration of the Hindu violence by the police and the government gave rise to attack on Sikh religious places. Many Gurdwaras were attacked and cigarettes were thrown in the sarowars (holy nectar). Guru Granth Sahib was ripped, burnt and disrespected in highly immoral manner. This was in direct contrast to the Hindu belief that Sikhism was a sect of Hinduism. Had there been any truth to it, Hindus would never have attacked one of their own and disrespected their own holy scriptures. In 1964, the police attacked Gurdwara Paonta Sahib in Himachal and killed many Sikhs.

Out of all the India leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India, despised Sikhs the most. Sikh leaders met him on many occasions but every time he refused to listen to Sikhs and consider their demands. During the three primary meetings between the Sikh leaders and Nehru it was alleged that the demand for Punjabi State was neither beneficial to the country nor to the Hindus of Punjab.

According to Nehru, “Creating a Punjabi State is against the prosperity of the Hindus and would put Sikhs in other states in a grave danger.” (Sikh Politics of 20th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 177). In the last meeting he stated, “Granting the demand for Punjabi State is out of the question.” (Punjabi Suba – The Story of Struggle, Ajit Singh Sarhaddi, Pg. 389). During the meeting in 1961 with Master Tara Singh Nehru lost his sense and threatened Sikhs by saying “Enough is enough. If you do not stop your protests, I will teach you a hard lesson that you will not forget for many generations to come.” (Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 306)

After all the polemics of Nehru were answered he closed the case by saying, “How can I entrust power to the enemy?” (Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 308)

This truly showed the real face of the Hindu leadership. The threat to the safety of Sikhs living in other Indian states was clearly given by the Indian leaders and Sikhs were called enemy of the country. Why is it that no violence or riots took place when states were reorganized in the south? Sikh demand was solely for a Punjabi speaking state not for the greater autonomy for the Sikhs. Then why only Sikhs were being threatened instead of Punjabis that included Hindus and Muslims? This was all because the government had ill intentions against the Sikhs and anything that remotely benefitted the Sikhs directly or indirectly was opposed by the government to the highest degree. On one hand, Hindus were asking for their safety in Punjab where they were never in danger in the first place but on the other hand the same Hindus were threatening Sikhs to kick them out of other states and providing no safeguards to them.

Truth or Misconception

Hindu media and opposition parties had spread many misconceptions about the Sikhs. Although their main motive was to destroy Sikhism and its roots but they were hesitant to openly admit it. Also, large Hindu population could not be won over for this reason. So they resorted to making excuses and blaming Sikhs for trying to further divide India. Hindus were given the impression that Sikhs were demanding a separate Sikh State in which Hindus will be oppressed. But this misconception was uneducated, without any concrete evidence and far from the truth. There has never been  a single incident of Sikhs oppressing or being hostile to Hindus in 500 years of Sikh history. In fact, Hindus have always been on the opposing side of the Sikhs. The fact that 62% of the people in Punjab were Hindus was greatly ignored by the Hindu leaders. It was highly irrational to believe that a tiny population of less than 2% in the country could ever oppress Hindus who were majority in India as well as in Punjab. Further, they ruled the country, controlled the military, formed majority in rest of the states, government was theirs and Congress was the ruling party in Punjab. The only way Sikhs could gain political power in Punjab was if they won the majority vote which was not possible due to Hindu supporting Congress. Therefore, Sikhs could never have oppressed Hindus even if they wanted to. It is evident that such misconception was spread to cause hatred and division between Hindus and the Sikh nation. The initial demand of the Sikhs was to setup a State in which Punjabi would be the primary language irrespective of the population in it.

During an interview, Fateh Singh made it clear that “We do not want a Sikh majority State. We do not care about percentage of the Sikh population. We just want a state where Punjabi would be spoken as the primary language. All areas speaking Punjabi should be included. Whether Sikhs are in majority or minority should not serve as a factor in this matter.” (Punjabi Suba – The Story of Struggle, Ajit Singh Sarhaddi, Pg. 346)

During one of the speeches, Master Tara Singh openly said, “I do not demand a separate Sikh state nor have I ever been in its favor. I simply want equality and freedom of the Sikh nation in India.” (Ibid, Pg. 319)

According to historian Ajmer Singh:

“For Hindu leaders the main factor was not whether the demand of Punjabi State was just or unjust or whether it benefits the Sikhs or not but how to destroy and eradicate the distinct identity of the Sikhs.” (Sikh Politics in 20th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 119)

The demand for a Punjabi speaking state was constitutional and valid from every aspect. It was based on the same rules that created Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. But Hindus feared that they will not be a dominant force in the new state since Sikhs would make up 42% and will not be a minority anymore. Thus, making it more difficult for the Hindus to dominate and slowly eradicate the Sikh religion. (Tale of Blue Turban, Giani Laal Singh, 102)

Sikhs leaders and some educated Hindus had very well realized that raising misconceptions against Punjabi State was only an excuse of the fascist Hindus and Hindu media when the real fact was that they did not favor any area which would benefit Sikhs, their language (Punjabi) and safeguard their distinct identity. Indian leaders and Nehru started questioning the loyalty of the Sikhs by stating that the sole purpose of creating a Punjabi State was to divide the country and that later Sikhs would join Pakistan and endanger the unity of India. Many educated people and some journalists tried to persuade Hindu leaders to accept the demand of the Sikhs. According to them not accepting the demand would be the real threat to the unity of the country.

Especially in Punjab, Congress and its supporters have always looked upon Sikhs as their enemy. No Indian leader has ever tried to understand the Sikh problems. Sikhs have no choice but to demand a Punjabi State. They wish to safeguard their distinct identity, language and religion. Setting up a Punjabi State is the solution to the Sikh problem. (Times of India, 15 August 1951)

It has become crystal clear that the demand for Punjabi State is being looked upon as unconstitutional and conspiracy of Pakistan by the large Hindu population. Many Indian leaders have openly admitted that establishing Punjabi State means empowering Sikhs which will endanger the unity of the country. Nehru further supported this ludicrously by saying that Sikhs may join Pakistan and pose threat to India. From these statements it means only one thing that the majority wants to keep minority as a slave. What do we learn from the Sikh history? That not a single Sikh joined the Mughals against Hindus but at many occasions Hindus joined the Mughals in exterminating the Sikhs. The fact is that we should resolve these matters with peace and harmony otherwise falsely accusing Sikhs would alienate the Sikh community which would lead to another division of the country.  (Spokesman, 22 April 1951)

In my personal opinion, instead of opposing the Sikh demand, Hindus should be encouraged to adopt the Punjabi language and support the demand for Punjabi State. This would not only be the largest State in the north but also strongest and richest in India. This would solidify India’s borders and protect it from its foreign enemies. Economically, this state would largely benefit the entire country. Hindus shouldn’t oppose the Sikhs but support them otherwise they will be directly responsible for dividing the country and making a way for a separate Sikh State which can be stopped right now very easily. (Professor Om Parkash Kohal, 17 October 1951)

Despite all the efforts, Indian leaders and Hindus did not change their mentality and kept opposing the Sikhs. Seeing the opposition of the Hindus, Sikh leaders became aware that Sikh identity would not be safe unless an area consisting of Sikh majority was established. They started to raise their demand for an autonomous area for the Sikhs which was promised by the Indian leaders prior to independence. Gurcharan Singh Tohra stated, “We are separate from Hindus…We demand a State where we can safeguard our heritage and culture.” This was further supported by Master Tara Singh. He said, “Our main motive is to free Sikhs from the slavery of Hindus…We demand a state where Sikhs will have the right to self-determination.” (Sikh Politics in 20th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 120).

Therefore, the demand from establishing a linguistic state was changed to establishing a Sikh state within the Indian Union where Sikhs would be the majority population.

Attack on Darbar Sahib

Sikh protestors continued to grow in numbers. All the jails in Punjab had been filled and it had become increasingly difficult to contain the Sikh movement. Since the movement was started at Darbar Sahib, it was considered “headquarter” of all the operations and the government took strict measures to prevent Sikhs from going to Darbar Sahib. The police surrounded Darbar Sahib. No one was allowed to enter the premises without permission and having been searched by the police. Many Sikhs were arrested just on the basis that they were going to Darbar Sahib. It was naturally assumed that they were going to join the protestors. Even tourists were insulted and arrested. This brutal action of the police was more than enough to awaken the Sikh nation. They marched towards Darbar Sahib in large numbers and forced police to retreat and leave the vicinity of Darbar Sahib.

Finally, it was decided to crush the movement by all means necessary. Ashwani Kumar, DIG of Jalandhar police, asked for permission to practice unlimited privileges and promised to destroy the movement within 5 days. Upon getting the permission, he ordered the police to confiscate handguns, rifles and all other firearms kept by SGPC, Sikh leaders and members of Akali Dal. Censorship was put on Sikh newspapers disallowing them to highlight the truth and educating the public of the real situation. The police stopped printing of the newspapers and closed down the main buildings. Many Sikh journalists and news reporters were arrested. Printing press was stopped, confiscated and all of the printed material was burnt by the police. It was all part of the plan so that no one would know the extent of the police operation and the mass public will stay uninformed.

After disarming the Sikh leadership, the police started its operation. First, Darbar Sahib was surrounded by thousands of policemen and the public was stopped from going in and out of the complex. Then all the rest houses were searched and everyone found was arrested. All of the political members and leaders within the vicinity of Darbar Sahib were arrested and taken to jail. Everything was searched in the SGPC office. Then the police moved to Manji Sahib. When the Sikhs protested they were met with heavy sticks and tear gas.

By this time the police had fortified every building standing outside of the main complex and started to throw tear and poisonous gas at the Sikhs. Then the police entered the main complex with shoes on and fired upon the Sikhs that had gathered there to protest peacefully. Many bullets were fired at the main building and Akal Takhat Sahib. All the religious activities such as Kirtan and Akhand Paath were stopped and every Sikh including women was insulted, beaten and then arrested. This was all done to immobilize the Sikh movement. The police kept full control of Darbar Sahib for four days. More than 3000 Sikhs were arrested including many of the leaders and employees of SGPC. Several hundred including women and children were injured.

Sikh Spirit on the Rise

Attack on Darbar Sahib touched the soul of every Sikh. Initially, only Sikhs from Punjab were participating but after the attack Sikhs from all over India started to come and present themselves for arrests. The number of Sikhs coming from outer states was in several hundreds. Many came with their entire families. Several leaders of Sikh organizations came forward and joined the Sikh movement. Sikh women showed a great interest in the movement and formed their own groups to support their fellow Sikh brothers. Bibi Joginder Kaur, a radio singer, paid her visits to Darbar Sahib and inspired the Sikhs by singing songs of the bravery of Sikhs. She reminded Sikhs to remember the martyrdom of many shaheeds of the past who had given up their lives for the cause of freedom. The government became increasingly intolerant against her and released a warrant to arrest her. She along with many women presented herself for arrests. Consequently, several groups consisting of dozens of women also gave arrests and went to jails. Some women went to jails with their children. It was clear that attack on Darbar Sahib had a great impact on the Sikh mind and infused the spirit of sacrifice within the Sikh nation.

War of 1965

While the Sikh movement was in high spirits, the country faced a great turmoil when Pakistan suddenly started to secure its borders and send troops across the border to India. It was decided by the Sikh leaders and masses that the enemy should be dealt with first and postpone the struggle for Punjabi State until the war was over. For Sikhs protecting the country became the ultimate cause and they supported the Indian military in everyway possible. Writer D. R. Manekar in his book “Twenty-two Fateful Days” narrates attitudes of ordinary Sikhs. According to him one Sikh said, “If our crops are destroyed then let that be the fate. We can get crops next year but if we lose our country we will not get freedom easily. Freedom at the price of crops cannot be jeopardized.” Another Sikh said, “We have left our homes once but now we will never leave and no one has the power to kick us out.”

In the areas of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, Sikhs took up spears, swords and sticks and joined the army men in search and destroy mission. They destroyed their crops to make the way for the army. They served the military with food, water and other necessary supplies.  Sikh support served as an inspiration to the Indian military and motivated them to continue the fight. Many ordinary Sikhs were assigned duties by the military. One Sikh named Sajjan Singh was well acquainted with the bordering area and worked as a spy. He identified many bunkers and hidden places of the Pakistani army. One religious Sikh man named Sohan Singh traveled ten miles everyday to provide food, and milk to the army. With the help of the Sikhs in the military and Sikh public, India won the war and Pakistan was defeated. It was admitted by many military officers that the support and participation of the Sikh masses was truly inspiring for them and the government should consider their demands with new perspective.

Punjabi State Established

After the war, death of Nehru, and arrests of thousands of Sikhs opposition against the Sikhs had decreased and the government found it extremely difficult to postpone establishment of the Punjabi State. Sikhs had showed a great amount of loyalty towards the country and protected it from the enemy. No one could raise a finger on Sikhs and brand them as “terrorist”. At last, in 1966 the government established a Commission to identify and establish the borders of Punjabi State and propose its recommendations in a report. After the report was submitted it was decided to divide Punjab into three parts: Punjab, Haryana and Himachal. The most preposterous action of the commission was that it chose 1961 census as its basis to identify Punjabi speaking areas. During 1961 census Hindus had abandoned Punjabi language and chose Hindi as their primary language. Although they spoke Punjabi on day to day basis but since they had registered Hindi as their primary language, their areas were identified as non-Punjabi speaking areas. All of these Punjabi speaking areas were given to Haryana. Chandigarh, the capitol, was taken away from Punjab. Punjab was forced to share many of its resources with Haryana. Resources of electricity such as Bhakhra and Byas dams were taken under the control by the government. Water and electricity were given to Haryana for free.

Punjabi became the primary language of the State. In schools, parents were given the right to choose the first language of their kids. This was again an injustice to the Sikhs. In other states such option was not granted to anyone. Every kid was required to study in the language of the State but only in Punjab this requirement was not implied. This was done to appease the Hindus and separate them from the Sikhs on language basis. Hindus started enrolling their kids in Hindi and Sikhs chose Punjabi. The division between the two communities was further increased.

Aftermath

Establishment of Punjabi State was announced which caused uproar in the Hindu community. Curfew was imposed in Punjab and Haryana and Hindus were given five days to get their anger out on Sikhs. For entire five days, Sikhs became the target of Hindu violence. Large processions were organized that marched through the streets raising anti-Sikhi slogans.

ਸੂਬੀ ਕਾ ਮਜਾ ਚਖਾਏਂਗੇ, ਵਾਹਗਾ ਪਾਰ ਪੁਚਾਏਂਗੇ ।

ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਜਲਾਏਂਗੇ । ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸੂਬਾ ਮੁਰਦਾਬਾਦ ।

“Sikhs will be taught a lesson. We will burn their Gurdwaras and kick them out of the country. Death to Punjabi State.”

In other states, violence was not any less. Some Sikhs were burnt alive in Delhi. In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena released a statement threatening Sikhs to leave.

“Maharastra is a state for Marathas only. Others are not allowed to live here. We are informing everyone especially Sikhs to leave the state and go back to Punjab within six months. After that we will not be held responsible for their fate.” (Indian Terrorism on the Land of Punjab, Baljit Singh, Pg. 26)

In areas of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana the violence was uncontrollable. Property worth more than 2 million was burnt. It was bizarre that the police was not only siding with the Hindus but arresting every Sikh who was attacked by the violent mobs. More than 2500 Sikhs were arrested. Although violent took place in other parts of India especially in Delhi but its extent was much less than that of Punjab.

Whereas Sikhs were being forcibly kicked out of other states, Hindus from outer states were being relocated to Punjab for the purpose of turning Sikhs into a minority. In Chandigarh alone, one hundred thousand Hindus were brought in and settled by the government. It must be noted that after the creation of Punjabi State, no Hindu was oppressed let alone kicked out of state by Sikhs but on the contrary it was Hindus who had done everything they falsely accused Sikhs of. Though Punjabi State had been established and recognized but it was not what Sikhs demanded and hoped for. For them they had been betrayed once again. Loss of Punjabi speaking areas, capitol and control over electricity and water left them disturbed. They had no choice but to start another struggle to gain what had been forcibly taken away from them.

Bibliography

Dr. Dilgeer, Harjinder Singh: Punjabi Suba Morcha. SGPC, Amritsar. 1999

Singh, Ajmer: Sikh Politics in 20th Century. Singh Brothers, Amritsar. 2004

Khalsa, Baljit Singh: Indian Terrorism on the land of Punjab. Azad Khalsa, Amritsar. 2004

Zakhami, Karam Singh: History of Punjabi Suba Agitation. SGPC, Amritsar. 1999

Sarhaddi, Ajit Singh: Punjabi Suba – The Story of Struggle. B.D. Printer, Jalandhar. 1992

Singh, Sangat: Sikhs in History. Radiant Printer, New Delhi. 1999

Singh, Giani Laal: Tale of Blue Turban. Singh Brothers, Amritsar. 1994
 
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halistan movement - History Admin 09/01/2010 21:52:00 The goal of the Khalistan movement is to
create a Sikh homeland, often called Khālistān (Punjabi: ਖ਼ਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ "The Land of the Pure"), in the Punjab region of India. Harking back to the
18th century Sikh Empire, the envisioned Sikh
state would include all Punjabi-speaking
areas, viz. Indian Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh and some other Punjabi speaking
parts of states like Gujarat and Rajasthan. The movement reached its zenith in 1970s and
1980s. In 2009, it is widely seen as a smaller
scale movement. There are claims of funding
from other nations to attract young people into
militant groups, who are looking to get an
independent Sikh homeland through donations from foreign Sikh supporters.[1] In 1971, Khalistan proponent Jagjit Singh
Chauhan, traveled to the United States. He
placed an advertisement in The New York
Times proclaiming the formation of Khalistan
and was able to collect millions of dollars.[2] On April 12, 1980, he held a meeting with
Indira Gandhi before declaring the formation of
"National Council of Khalistan", at Anandpur
Sahib.[3] He declared himself to be the
President and Balbir Singh Sandhu as its
Secretary General. In May 1980, Jagjit Singh Chauhan travelled to London and announced
the formation of Khalistan. A similar
announcement was made by Balbir Singh
Sandhu, in Amritsar, who released stamps and
currency of Khalistan. The inaction of the
authorities in Amritsar and elsewhere was decried by Akali Dal headed by Longowal as a
political stunt by the Congress(I) party.[4] In the 1980s, some Khalistan proponents
turned to militancy, resulting in Indian Army's
counter-militancy operations. In one such
operation, Operation Blue Star, the Indian
Army forcibly entered and badly damaged the
Harmandir Sahib (often called the Golden Temple). The handling of the operation,
damage to the temple and loss of life on both
sides, led to widespread criticism of the Indian
Government. Many Sikhs strongly maintain
that the attack resulted in the desecration of
the holiest Sikh shrine. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two
Sikh bodyguards, and many thousands of
Sikhs were massacred in the following riots. In
January 1986, the Golden Temple was
occupied by militants belonging to All India
Sikh Students Federation and Damdami Taksal.[5] On January 26, 1986, the gathering
passed a resolution (gurmattā) favouring the creation of Khalistan. Khalistan was envisaged
by its proponents as a Sikh-majority state,
which opponents argued would become a
theocracy. Under the Constitution of India, secessionism
is forbidden, and various rebel groups in favour
of Khalistan fought an insurgency against the
government of India. Indian security forces
suppressed the secessionist insurgency in
Punjab in the early 1990s,[6] and since then there has been little further pro-Khalistan
agitation within Punjab, although international
pro-Khalistan organizations such as Dal
Khalsa (International) are still active outside
India.[7] Partition of India India was partitioned on a religious basis in
1947 on its independence. Punjab was split
between Pakistan and India. Before
independence the Sikhs were not in majority in
any of the pre-partition Punjab districts. Among
the three religions (Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism), the Sikhs formed the largest group (41.6%)
only in the Ludhiana district.[8] For the purpose
of partition, the Hindus and the Sikhs were
grouped together. The Sikhs were staunchly
opposed to the concept of a separate Pakistan.
[9] The Sikh population that was as high as 19.8% in 1941 some districts that went to
Pakistan, dropped to 0.1% in all of them, and it
rose sharply in the districts assigned to India. With the possibility of an end to British
colonialism in sight, the Sikh leadership
appointed Gurjeet Johal from village Pandwa
as their new leader. She became concerned
about the future of the Sikhs. The Sikhs and
the Muslims had unsuccessfully claimed separate representation for their communities
in the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909. With the
Muslims proposing the creation of Pakistan,
some Sikhs put forth the idea of likewise
carving out a Sikh state, Khalistan. In the
1940s, a prolonged negotiation transpired between the British and the three Indian
groups seeking political power, namely, the
Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs. During this
period Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stated
that the resolution was adopted by the
Congress to satisfy the Sikh community.[10] Jawaharlal Nehru reiterated Gandhi's
assurance to the Sikhs at the All India
Congress Committee meeting in Calcutta in
1946.[11] Nehru assured the Sikhs that they
would be allowed to function as a semi-
autonomous unit so that they may have a sense of freedom.”[12] This was formalized through a resolution passed by the Indian
Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1946. Controversies During a press conference on 10 July 1946 in
Bombay, Nehru made a controversial
statement to the effect that the Congress may
“change or modify” the federal arrangement agreed upon for independent India for the
betterment towards a united India; this claim
outraged many. Some Sikhs felt that they had
been "tricked" into joining the Indian union. On
21 November 1949, during the review of the
draft of the Indian Constitution, Hukam Singh, a Sikh representative, declared to the
Constituent Assembly:     Naturally, under these circumstances, as I
have stated, the Sikhs feel utterly disappointed
and frustrated. They feel that they have been
discriminated against. Let it not be
misunderstood that the Sikh community has
agreed to this [Indian] Constitution. I wish to record an emphatic protest here. My
community cannot subscribe its assent to this
historic document.[13] Allegations of discrimination against Sikhs
(1947-1966) Punjab in India was a Hindu majority state
(63.7%) until 1966, when it was partitioned to
remove the Hindu majority districts, as a result
of demands made by Sikh leaders for a
Punjabi Suba[14]. The state now has a slight
(59.9% in 2001) Sikh majority.[15] Kapur Singh, a Deputy Commissioner (senior
government official in the Indian bureaucracy)
and a member of the Indian Civil Service, had
been dismissed from service on charges of
corruption.[16] After he was dismissed, he
published a pamphlet, in which he alleged that Prime Minister Nehru, through Governor
Chandu Lal Trivedi, had issued a directive in
1947 to all the Commissioners in Punjab to the
effect that the Sikhs in general must be treated
as a criminal tribe.
“ In 1947, the governor of Punjab, Mr. C.M. Trevedi, in deference to the wishes of the
Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar
Patel, the Deputy Prime Minister, issued
certain instructions to all the Deputy
Commissioners of Indian Punjab...These were
to the effect that, without reference to the law of the land, the Sikhs in general and Sikh
migrants in particular must be treated as a
"criminal tribe". Harsh treatment must be
meted out to them...to the extent of shooting
them dead so that they wake up to the political
realities and recognise "who are the rulers and who the subjects".[17] ” Pritam Singh Gill, a retired Principal of
Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, also made
allegations of "the Hindu conspiracy to destroy
Sikhs; kill the language, kill the culture, kill the
community." Sikh writer Khushwant Singh writes, however,
that there was no truth whatsoever in Nehru
ever having sent out such a directive, nor was
Kapur Singh a victim of any conspiracy against
him.[16] This pamphlet is thus largely regarded
as a hoax. Nevertheless, Kapur Singh won the favour of Akali leader Tara Singh who assisted
him in winning the election into the Punjab
Legislature and then to the Lok Sabha. Language issues In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in
India caused civil disorder when the central
government declared Hindi as the national
language of India. The nationwide movement
of linguistic groups seeking statehood resulted
in a massive reorganisation of states according to linguistic boundaries in 1956. At that time,
Indian Punjab had its capital in Shimla, and
though the vast majority of the Sikhs lived in
Punjab, they still did not form a majority. The
Akali Dal, a Sikh dominated political party
active mainly in Punjab, sought to create a Punjabi Suba, or a Punjabi-speaking state.
This case was presented to the States
Reorganisation Commission established in
1953. It is generally believed that many
Punjabi-speaking Hindus declared Hindi as
their mother tongue in the censuses of 1951 and 1961, and therefore the census figures did
not support the case for a Punjabi speaking
state. The demand for adoption of Punjabi for
Punjabi-speaking areas first created and later
intensified the rift between Hindus and Sikhs
of Punjab. The States Reorganization Commission, not
recognizing Punjabi as a language that was
distinct grammatically from Hindi, rejected the
demand for a Punjabi suba or state. Another
reason that the Commission gave in its report
was that the movement lacked general support of the people inhabiting the region.[18] Many
Sikhs felt discriminated against by the
commission. Punjabi Suba movement The Akal Takht played a vital role in
organizing Sikhs to campaign for the Punjabi
suba. During the course of the campaign,
twelve thousand Sikhs were arrested for their
peaceful demonstrations in 1955 and twenty-
six thousand in 1960-61.[19] Finally, in September 1966, the Punjabi suba demand
was accepted by the central government and
Punjab was trifurcated under the Punjab State
Reorganisation Bill. Areas in the south of
Punjab that spoke a language that is a
derivative of Braj formed a new state of Haryana and the Pahari- and Kangri-speaking
districts north of Punjab were merged with
Himachal Pradesh, while the remaining areas
formed the new Punjabi speaking state, which
retained the name of Punjab. As a result, the
Sikhs became a majority in the newly created state with a population of a little over sixty
percent.
[edit] River waters dispute Before the creation of the Punjabi suba,
Punjab was the master of its river waters (The
North Indian rivers — Sutlej, Beas, Ravi did not flow through any other state for any length).
The trifurcation of the state led to three
competing demands for these river waters, and
the central government decided to step in. The
central government—against the provisions of the Indian constitution[20]—introduced sections 78 to 80 in the Punjab Reorganisation
Act, 1966, under which the central government
“assumed the powers of control, maintenance, distribution and development of the waters and
the hydel power of the Punjab rivers.”.[21] Many Sikhs perceived this division as unfair
and as an anti Sikh measure, since the vast
majority of the people of Punjab are dependent
on agriculture.
[edit] Akali Dal's demands The Akali Dal led a series of peaceful mass
demonstrations to present its grievances to the
central government. The demands of the Akali
Dal were based on the Anandpur Sahib
Resolution,[22] which was adopted by the
party in October 1973 to raise specific political, economic and social issues. The major
motivation behind the resolution was the
safeguarding of the Sikh identity by securing a
state structure that was decentralised, with
non-interference from the central government.
The Resolution outlines seven objectives.[23]    1. The transfer of the federally administered
city of Chandigarh to Punjab.
   2. The transfer of Punjabi speaking and
contiguous areas to Punjab.
   3. Decentralisation of states under the
existing constitution, limiting the central government’s role. 4. The call for land reforms and industrialisation of Punjab, along with
safeguarding the rights of the weaker sections
of the population.
   5. The enactment of an all-India gurdwara
(Sikh house of worship) act.
   6. Protection for minorities residing outside Punjab, but within India.
   7. Revision of government’s recruitment quota restricting the number of Sikhs in armed
forces. The Wall Street Journal noted:     "The Akali Dal is in the hands of moderate
and sensible leadership...but giving anyone a
fair share of power is unthinkable politics of
Mrs. Gandhi [the then Prime Minister of
India]...Many Hindus in Punjab privately
concede that there isn't much wrong with these demands. But every time the ball goes to the
Congress court, it is kicked out one way or
another because Mrs. Gandhi considers it a
good electoral calculation."[24] [edit] The assassination of Lala Jagat Narain In a politically charged environment, Lala
Jagat Narain, the owner of the Hind Samachar
group of newspapers and member of Indian
National Congress, was assassinated by Sikh
militants in September 1981. In September
1981, Bhindranwale was arrested for his alleged role in the assassination but was later
released by the Punjab State Government, as
no evidence was found against him. The Khalistani movement can be considered to
have effectively started from this point. Though
there were a number of leaders vying for
leadership role, most were based in United
Kingdom and Canada, and had limited
influence. In Punjab, Bhindranwale was the unchallenged leader of the movement and
made his residence in the Golden Temple in
Amritsar. By convention, the Indian Army and
the Punjab Police would not enter this
religious building.
[edit] Dharam Yudh Morcha In August 1982, the Akali Dal under the
leadership of Harcharan Singh Longowal
launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha, or the
“battle for righteousness.” Bhindranwale and the Akali Dal united; their goal was the
fulfillment of demands based upon the
Anandpur Sahib Resolution. In two and a half
months, security forces arrested thirty thousand
Sikhs.[25] In November 1982, Akali Dal announced the
organisation of protests in Delhi during the
Asian Games. The police were instructed to
stop all buses, trains and vehicles that were
headed for Delhi and interrogate Sikh
passengers. The Sikhs as a community felt discriminated against by the Indian state.
Later, the Akali Dal organised a convention at
the Darbar Sahib attended by 5,000 Sikh ex-
servicemen, 170 of whom were above the rank
of colonel. These Sikhs claimed that there was
discrimination against them in government service.[25]
[edit] Religious confusion During this turmoil, the Akali Dal began
another agitation in February 1984 protesting
against clause (2)(b) of Article 25 of the Indian
constitution, which ambiguously states "the
reference to Hindus shall be construed as
including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion", though it also
implicitly recognizes Sikhism as a separate
religion with the words "the wearing and
carrying of kirpans shall be deemed to be
included in the profession of the Sikh
religion.".[26] The Akali Dal members demanded that the
constitution should remove any ambiguous
statements that uses the word Hindu to refer to
the Sikhs. For instance, a Sikh couple who
marry in accordance to the rites of the Sikh
religion must register their marriage either under the Special Marriages Act (1954) or the
Hindu Marriage Act – the Akalis demanded replacement of such rules with Sikhism-
specific laws. However, their demands were
not taken seriously, and several Akali leaders
were arrested for burning the Indian
constitution in protest.[27] Thus, the Indian
Government's implicit defining of its Sikh citizens as being part of the Hindu community
created discontent among Sikhs, who feared a
loss of identity.
[edit] Operation Bluestar
Main article: Operation Blue Star The Harimandir Sahib is the holiest of Sikh
temples. In 1984, Bhindranwale and Shabeg
Singh placed ammunitions and militants in the
temple. The Indian military attacked during a
curfew and at night.Though the operation was
militarily successful,it was a huge political embarssement,as the attack coincided with
sikh religious festival and a large number of
pilgrims were staying inside the complex.The
death toll of civilians was put at around 430 but
may have been higher. There were allegations of civilians being
targeted for attack by the Indian army. A
statement made by the army Lt. General K.
Sundarji’s viz.—“We went inside [the Darbar Sahib] with humility in our hearts and prayers
on our lips”[28] "Apparently, the government had no other recourse. The events in Punjab had reached a
complete breakdown. The Sikh militants were
in total control of the state machinery. There
was a strong feeling that Khalistan was going
to be established at any time. [Jarnail Singh]
Bhindranwale was being seen as a prophet; he was making very strong speeches against (the
then Prime Minister of India) Indira Gandhi and
non-Sikhs; and trying to send a message
across to the rural areas that the Sikhs are
being given second-grade treatment and that it
is high time we formed our own independent state of Khalistan. There was a strong
possibility of Pakistan helping them and I think
there was the possibility of a Bangladesh
being repeated." – Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh Brar[29], then Major General who commanded Indian
Army soldiers to enter the Golden Temple,
defending the attack The pro-Khalistan activists have alleged that
the Indira Gandhi government had been
preparing for an attack on the Darbar Sahib for
over a year. According to Subramaniam
Swami, then a member of the Indian
Parliament, the central government had allegedly launched a disinformation campaign
in order to legitimise the attack. In his words,
the state sought to "make out that the Golden
Temple was the haven of criminals, a store of
armory and a citadel of the nation's
dismemberment conspiracy.”[30] The assassination of Indira Gandhi and
subsequent anti-Sikh riots On the morning of 31 October 1984, Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi was shot-dead by two
Sikh security guards (Satwant Singh and
Beant Singh) in New Delhi. The assassination
triggered fulminant violence against Sikhs
across north India. While the ruling party, Congress (I),
maintained that the violence was due to
spontaneous riots, its critics have alleged that
the Congress members had planned a pogrom
against the Sikhs[citation needed]. Its critics
alleged that State-operated national television was used by the state to incite violence against
the Sikhs, in violation of the Article 20.2 of the
ICCPR and the Article 7 of the UDHR[citation
needed]. Sixteen politicians were named as
organisers of the riots. Many senior Congress
leader were also indicted.[citation needed] Other political parties, such as the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) strongly condemned the
riots.[31]. The Sikh author Khushwant Singh
stated:     "It was the Congress leaders who instigated
mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people
killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the
BJP for showing courage and protecting
helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No
less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help
poor taxi drivers."[32] Two major civil-liberties organisations issued
a joint report on the anti-Sikh riots naming
sixteen important politicians, thirteen police
officers and one hundred and ninety-eight
others, accused by survivors and eye-
witnesses.[33] In January 1985, journalist Rahul Bedi of the Indian Express and Smitu
Kothari of the People's Union for Civil
Liberties “moved the High Court of Delhi to demand a judicial inquiry into the pogrom on
the strength of the documentation carried out
by human rights organizations.
[edit] Declaration of Khalistan and the rise of
militancy
Main article: Punjab insurgency On 29 April 1986, an assembly of separatist
Sikhs at the Akal Takht made a declaration of
an independent state of Khalistan. These
events were followed by a decade of violence
and conflict in Punjab before a return to
normality in the region. During the late 1980s and the early 1990s, there was a dramatic rise
in radical Sikh militancy in Punjab, in response
to alleged human rights violations by Indian
Army and Punjab Police. On October 7, 1987,
Khalistan was declared an independent state
[by whom?], and Council of Khalistan, headed by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, was formed
[citation needed]. The period of insurgency saw clashes of the
Sikh militants with the police, as well as with
the Hindu-Nirankari groups. In 1987, 32
Hindus were pulled out of the bus and shot,
near Lalru in Punjab.[34] According to Human
Rights Watch "In the beginning on the 1980s, Sikh separatists in Punjab committed serious
human rights abuses, including the massacre
of civilians, attacks upon non-Sikhs in the
state, and indiscriminate bomb attacks in
crowded places.[35] While the militants
enjoyed some support within the Sikh separatists in the earlier period, the support for
Sikh militants gradually disappeared.[36] The
insurgency weakened the Punjab economy and
led to an increase in the violence in the state.
With dwindling support and an increasingly
effective Indian security troops eliminating the terrorists, the Sikh militancy was effectively
over by early 1990s.[37] There were serious charges leveled by human
rights activists against Indian Security forces
(Headed by KPS Gill - himself a Sikh) that
thousands of suspects were killed in staged
shootouts and thousands of bodies were
cremated/disposed without proper identification or post-mortem.[38][39][40][41]
[42] The pro-Khalistan organization International
Human Rights Organization claims that
several Sikh women were reportedly gang-
raped and molested by the Punjab Police and
the Indian security forces during house to
house searches. It also claims that looting of the villagers' property and ransacking of the
entire villages happened during his reign.[43]
Amnesty International has also alleged several
cases of appearances, torture, rape and
unlawful detentions by the police during
Punjab insurgency, for which 75-100 police officers had been convicted by December
2002.[44] In reference to research Reduced to Ashes
Book by a human rights group[45][46]
Khushwant Singh remarked "It is spine-
chilling.... Well, Mr Gill, it is not rubbish; you
and the Punjab police have quite a few
awkward questions to answer".[45] "Human Rights Watch" reported that since
1984, government forces in Punjab, including
the Punjab Police, Border Security Force,
Central Reserve Police Force and the Indian
Army, have resorted to widespread human
rights violations to fight the militants, including arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without
trial, torture, disappearance and summary
killing of civilians and suspected militants.
Family members were frequently detained and
tortured to reveal the whereabouts of relatives
sought by the police [47] [edit] Air India Flight 182 The main suspects in the bombing were the
members of a Sikh separatist group called the
Babbar Khalsa and other related groups who
were at the time agitating for a separate Sikh
state called Khalistan in Punjab, India. In
September 2007, the Canadian commission investigated reports, initially disclosed in the
Indian investigative news magazine Tehelka
[48] that an hitherto unnamed person, Lakhbir
Singh Brar Rode had masterminded the
explosions. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Khalistan_movement

What kind of government will there be in Khalistan?

No country in the world drafted its constitution and setup the government structure before independence. Economic policies, laws and regulations change over time. Only time will tell what kind of government will be setup but one thing for sure is that there will be democracy rather than dictatorship. Living in western countries we know that privatization works better. We can follow the example of USA that controls post office, military etc and rest is privatized. Only the government will have the right to print currency. Sikh nation collectively has the right to decide what kind of government system they want to setup. They may want to have only Akal Takhat Sahib as the ruling power or setup two parallel government bodies: one for Miri and other for Piri. Both will have their own functions and jobs. Piri can handle religious affairs and Miri can deal with other non-religious politics. Both will keep each other in check and balance. But no one can be certain. However, what is certain is that religious freedom without the interference of the government, and freedom of speech and press must exist as well as policies against caste system, reservation system and religious discrimination.

Who will be the leader of Khalistan? Can a non-Sikh become the leader? Will Hindus have the right to vote? What would happen to them? What about minority rights?

Panj Pyare will be the leaders of Khalistan. Elections can be held every four years and people will choose Panj Pyare. These Panj Pyare will rule under the authority of Akaal Takhat Sahib. Every city will have Panj Pyare as its leader. Since Panj Pyare must be Amritdhari and following the path of Gurmat, non-Sikhs will not have the right to become Panj Pyare and opportunity to lead the Sikh country. In the past, Sikhs lost their empire because non-Sikhs held the leadership positions.

Foundation of Sikh religion is laid upon equality for all mankind. Everyone will have equal rights in Khalistan. In Baba Banda Singh’s kingdom everyone had equal rights. When Punjab was ruled by Sikhs from 1765 to 1839 no one faced discrimination. Not a single person was given death sentence. Sikh rule have always been welcomed by other communities. Everyone will have equal rights to practice their religion. Everyone will have freedom of speech and other rights. Everyone will have equal opportunities in education and employment. Sikhs will not have any special rights or reservations.

However, equality does not qualify anyone to run for presidency. In the past only Sikhs were appointed as government officials in the Sikh kingdom. Khalistan will be ruled by Akal Takhat Sahib and only Panj Pyare (Sikhs) will be appointed as the leaders. A Sikh country must be run by Sikhs. Hindus have India and Muslims have Pakistan and other countries. In order for a Sikh to take part in elections and become one of the Panj Pyare he must be qualified. He not only has to be a Sikh but must also possess the knowledge of business, trade, economy, law and politics. He must be well educated. He must know what it takes to run a country. These criteria also limit many Sikhs from running in elections. This is not discrimination.

Take the example of USA. A person has to be a natural born citizen in order for him to become the president. Furthermore, he must have an appropriate education. If a president dies then vice president takes over. If vice president also dies then Speaker of the House is next in line. This is where it gets complicated. There is no requirement for Speaker of the House to be a natural born citizen. If the time comes for him to be appointed for the presidency and he is not a natural born citizen he will be bypassed and the person next in line will be chosen. Is this discrimination? It all depends on how you look at it. As of now it is the law and must be obeyed by the people of USA. The situation in Khalistan will be similar which will require a person to be a Sikh and acquire required education before he takes charge.

In many Muslim countries only a Muslim can become president. Other religions do not have equal rights. Muslims are given more rights and benefits than non-Muslims. The most important thing is that all of these countries are surviving. Khalistan ensures the survival and safety of the Sikh religion and future generations. One cannot expect a country to be perfect. It is up to Hindus and Muslims to decide if they want to live in Khalistan under the protection of Sikhs who are protector of humanity and justice.

Will having Khalistan erase all the problems when we can not even have an honest SGPC committee?

Khalistan would put us in a much better situation than we are now. No country exists without a problem. Khalistan, in my opinion, will have its problems but those will not be related to Sikhi. We need a Sikh government that represents Sikhs. There will be a central government that will setup structural committees to manage Gurdwaras in and outside of Khalistan. Every committee will have to submit monthly report to Akal Takhat Sahib. SGPC is highly infiltrated by the government and directly controlled by Badal who is a puppet of BJP.

There is no constitution?

Constitution of the USA was written ten years after thirteen colonies gained independence. Constitution of India was written three years after it gained independence. If these countries can write their constitutions after independence then why can't we? Just mere excuses.

What will the borders of Khalistan be?

A country’s borders cannot be specifically predetermined until both parties sit down and negotiate a truce. The major consensus is that Khalistan will be the Punjab as it was in India in 1947. It includes today's Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and some Punjabi speaking areas of Rajasthan. Borders of India, USA, Pakistan and many other countries were determined after their independence was announced. India did not know its border on the day of its independence. USA and Canada still have conflict over borders. No doubt Khalistan will survive.

We should free it peacefully?

A common saying in Sikhi is "Koi Kisi Ko Raaj Na Dehain, Jo Lehain Nij Bal Se Lehain" which means "no one gives one freedom and sovereignty, the only way to gain independence is through power." Thousands Sikhs were killed because they did not have arms and weapons to defend themselves from mobs. Had they had weapons they would have protected themselves just like couple of Sikhs protected Sees Ganj Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi from four thousand Hindus by taking up arms. Power is not just war with weapons but also war with the pen, intellect, diplomacy and justice. Every effective method can be used. There is limit as to how peaceful and for how long we should be. The way Indian government has treated Sikhs for the last 60 years winning through peaceful means is not possible.

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Once there was a little boy who wanted his dad to teach him how to play catch. One sunny day the little boy's father was sitting on the couch, drinking a beer, while watching a baseball game. The boy rushed into the house exclaiming

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, show me how to play catch!" The father, blankly starring at the television screen, replied " In a little while son, let me finish watching this inning, come back in five minutes."

"Okay daddy" said the boy and ran out of the room. Five minutes later the boy returned screaming "Daddy, let's go, let's play some catch now!"

The father turned to the boy and said hold on son the inning is not quite over come back in five more minutes. "Okay, daddy" said the boy as he shuffled out the room. Five minutes later the boy returned ball and glove in hand eagerly awaiting for his father to play some catch.

"Daddy, lets go, I want to be Ken Griffey Jr.!" shouted the boy.

By this time, the father had cracked open another cold one and another inning was taking place. Frustrated by the boy's constant hindrances, the dad scanned the room. While scanning the room the father notice a magazine underneath the coffee table. On the cover of the magazine was a large picture of the world. The father, who was angered & annoyed, began tearing the magazine cover in to small pieces. After a few moments, of shredding up the magazine cover, the father placed the torn pieces on the magazine. Then, the father turned to his boy and said "Son, once you put this picture of the world back together we can play catch, but do not interrupt me again until you are done!"

Apprehensively, the boy took the magazine and sulked into his room. As he sobbed "Okay, daddy I won't".

A few moments later the boy returned and said, "I'm done daddy can we play catch now?"

Stunned, the father glanced towards his child, and there in his small hands laid the magazine with the world pieced perfectly together. Amazed, the dad asked his child how he put the world together so quickly.

"It was simple" stated the boy "On the back of the world was a picture of a person, and once I put the person together that's when their world came together."

Yamaha YZF R1 Attention young guys, Yamaha YZF R1 has
arrived in India to appease your excitement for
extreme passion with jaw dropping looks. This
1000 cc super bike sports superb power in its
every aspect- performance, looks, comfort and
safety as well. This muscle model supports ultra responsive Yamaha Chip Control Throttle
(YCC-T) system to deliver its maximum
whatever the terrain may be. This very powerful bike has been launched in
India which would definitely enthrall the young
guys, passionate for style and speed. Japanese
auto major Yamaha through its Indian
subsidiary has rolled out a big muscle model of
Yamaha YZF R1 in India. With this, Yamaha Motors India Pvt. Ltd. will be the first company to take advantage of the announcement by
Govt. of India to relax the norms for importing
the bikes in 800cc + segment. With Yamaha
YZF R1 motorcycle with the engine of 1000 cc
Yamaha company wants to capture the market
share under this niche segment. The 2006 edition of YZF R1 (See Technical
Specifications) was powered with 998 cc
DOHC, 20 valve, liquid cooled engine
generating a peak power of 175 bhp. Approved by the Automotive Research
Association of India (ARAI) the 2007 Yamaha
YZF R1 will be on sale with the import of first
lot from the parent company. The expected
price of YZF R1 would be between
Rs.11.00-11.50 Lacs.

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each looks like every other horse. But if one stops the car, or is walking by, one will notice something quite amazing.

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.

Listening, one will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, one will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.

As one stands and watches these two friends, one sees how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is trusting that she will not lead him astray.

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.

He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.

Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by God and those whom he places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see God.

sat sri akal ji sarya nu
mae ajj kalh froum vich bahut chat log pardae han... tae jinae b mae chat log pardae han ohna vich janta bahut disrespective boldi hae... bahut gallan kadh dae han....  manu nai pata k gallan kadan toa tusi kina cher layi ban karde... par jinnae nikliyan hon ous da sara din bara khraab janda... sari din andar grami pedha hundi rehndayi...
Tae mae khana chounda k jado koi chat vich kisae b  janae nu gallat galh kehnda odo onu ousae velae warning diti jave ... tae jae pher likh tae naal di naal onu 2sri warning diti jave... jae oh 3sri line ch gallan likh da tae onu ban kar dita jave.....ghato ghat ik din layi.....tae jerda banda chat ja mod dae hundaya tae ah sara kuch warning toa b badh gandhiya gandiya gallan kadh dae ohana nu ghato ghat 1 week layi ban kar dita jave... oh 1 week ous nu admin saab sudarn layi dita ohnu ik kisam dayi warning aa ji... tae jae oh badh ch b apna ayi kam kayim rakh da pher ta 1 month layi pakka ban kar ditya jave.... ada karn naal baki users nu sukh sakoon mil sakda da ji....es tra jado koi gallan kadh ta changa nai lagda ji..

mae haje thora chat room tae janda par manu ah auka changa nai lagda ji pardh k ...
Tusi b sare user apnae vichar samnhae layo k ous user naal ki kita jave jo kisae nu galat bolda tae ous mod naal ki kita jave jo chat ch apnae friends di jayda help karda ....

Bhul chuk maaf karna
THoda pyara mand :happy:

One day, Harbhajan Singh (writer - Bhajan Bandigi Daa Pratap) was standing in a shop in Jabalpur that an english couple walked in and said fateh to him loudly. Harbhajan Singh was surprised to hear fateh from the English couple. Harbhajan Singh started talking to them and asked them how come they know so much about Sikhism. Upon this the English gentleman told him his story as follows:

""""I was the police captain in 1924 when Akalis launched Bhai Pheru morcha. I got special orders from the Inspectar General of Police to crush the Sikhs. I told him that I can do so only if I am given police party of my choice. At this he agreed and I hand picked ruthless and strong young guys from backgrounds such as Lyalpuri Jaangli, Jhelami Jaat. I took my police party to Bhai Pheru and sorrounded the the disputed site with wire and had my police party stationed there.

The first Jatha started from Amritsar and slowly reached Bhai Pheru after doing prachaar (preaching) in several villages on their way. On the day of arrival of Jatha at Bhai Pheru I asked my most tough Thanedaar to get me the list of all the members of Jatha together with their father's name and address. That afternoon I got surprised when I saw the list because everyone had listed Guru Gobind Singh as their father. I got really mad when I saw the list and said bad words to the Thanedar for failing to get even the name of their father.

The thanedar replied that he tried his best but no one in the Jatha gave any other name for their father but Guru Gobind Singh. My wife who was sitting beside me mocked me by saying that if you can't even get their father's name how the hell are you going to crush them. At this I vowed that I will eat my breakfast tomorrow only after getting their father's name from them.

Next day I chose 50 Badmash type policemen and asked them to pick 25 old and weak members of the jatha and ordered that let two policemen hold one Sikh and use whatever mean to make them spit out their father's name. I further said that whoever does it first will get gold medal and special reward. Hearing this the policemen started beating the Jatha members very severly till they got unconcious. Then they would bring them back to senses and beat them again. But none of them told their worldly father's name. All they would say was Guru Gobind Singh and Vaheguru. When they failed to get any results I asked the police officers to remove their belts and get the hell out of here. By that time it was 10am and I was feeling really hungry.

I chose another 50 policemen and asked them to do the same thing. I asked them to use very severe measures to torture. I put their hands upside down under the Charpai (indian beds) and made the police guys jump on the beds. The Sikhs were in great pain but they did not yield. I even made my policemen to put nails in thier buttocks but still they were unyeilding.

By 6pm I was badly tired and was extremely hungry. I lost all my pride and ego and felt totally helpless in front of those non-violent lions. I picked up the phone and dialed to the IG of police and resigned. The next day I took train to Bombay and went to England. I wrote it down on the resignation letter that no one should take panga with Sikhs."""""

I think that the Akalis of early last century made the Sikhs very proud by achieving so much non-violently.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor, he used an old horse to plow his field.

One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.

Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see."

A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"

The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."

Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."

The farmer said, "We'll see."

Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for the poor boy."

The farmer said, "We'll see."

Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.

Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."

The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."

Moral of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from. 

As Fra Giovanni once said:

"Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me... the gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH