'All armed prophets have conquered, and all unarmed prophets have come to grief.' - Machiavelli (The Prince)
'So, tell me. What do you think? Which is better? To take action and perhaps make a fatal mistake - or to take no action and die slowly anyway?' - Ahdaf Soueif (The Map of Love)
'The more a minority is repressed, the more conscious it becomes of its separate identity and culture and this process also ultimately leads to secessionism.' - Gopal Singh
Pandit Nehru at a press conference on the eve of the All India Congress Committee meeting at Calcutta, in July 1946 stated that "the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special consideration. I see nothing wrong in an area and a set up of in the North, where in the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom".
Following the siege and battle at Sri Darbar Sahib (or the Golden Temple Complex) in the land of the Guru - Shaheeds (or Sri Amritsar, Panjab) in June 1984, Sikhs around the world affirmed their commitment to an idea that an independent Sikh Homeland was the only option for the Sikh Nation to be able to feel ‘the glow of freedom’. Following June 1984, it came apparent that the Sikh population was now the ‘enemy’ within the artificial nation’s hallowed borders.
The Panjab has continually faced political turmoil throughout what we call the life of independent 'India' which was born in 1947, and the frequency of agitations seems as though they are never ending as can be seen in the modern day with the Kisaan Morcha (or Farmers Protest). East Panjab, in common with other nations, has long been concerned with the question of identity, language and belonging. It's problematic relationship with the Indian state has led to an emphasis of differentiating itself from its 'occupier'.
The Sikh community in India since 1947 has faced four types of discrimination: constitutional, economic, religious and cultural.
Such a storm comes but rarely in human affairs, but it's force can blind everyone, it can blind the ignorant and also blind those who pretend not to be aware.
'A fear psychosis has gripped the state...' - Sardar Jagjit Singh Aurora 'The Liberator of Bangladesh' (19/12/1990)
This fear has also gripped the expatriate community at wide but there were/are some who stuck to their guns and acted...
The Doctor & The Prime Minister
'When they asked him about goals, Sant Bhindranwale used to say 'What are you willing to give? We put no demands. We are not beggars. We have been giving our blood and our lives for India. Now we are giving it bread. And what have we been given on lieu? There is a different set of laws for us. Our water is being stolen. Our capital city has been taken away...' And Sant Ji used to ask 'Will you allow us to live with dignity or not? And if your answer is no, then why ask is what we want in the first place.' - Martyr Harminder Singh Sandhu (Former Secretary All India Sikh Students Federation) - Joyce Pettigrew (Sikhs of the Panjab)
In November 1948, on the occasion of Diwali, a message was sent from Sri Akaal Takht Sahib (or the Parliament of the Sikhs) stating that ‘our bharat has become free from foreign domination after many sacrifices made by the Sikhs in the cause of freedom.’
Following a conference held on May 5th, 1984 at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Smethwick, Birmingham, two revolutionary resolutions were passed.
Resolution 1 - ‘A demand for the establishment of Khalistan’ - an independent sovereign Sikh State.
Resolution 2 - ‘A total boycott of the use of Air - India Airlines by Sikhs’.
In June 1984 on the occasion of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, the Indian Army launched an attack on its own citizens whilst it laid siege upon Sri Darbar Sahib & 60+ other Sikh Gurdwaras in what was taken as a declaration of war against the Sikh Nation.
On June 3rd, 1984, in light of news reaching the world that Sri Darbar Sahib (or the Golden Temple) was under attack, Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, a former Finance Minister of the Panjab State Government & The President of the Republic of Khalistan on the BBC stated that ‘Anybody who has done any sacrilege, to this holy place (Sri Darbar Sahib) of the Sikhs, he was never allowed to live’ and in short forecasted the death of Mrs Gandhi.
Mrs Gandhi referred to the threat to her life by Dr Chohan as ‘wishful thinking’. She further added, she had no objection to the threat made to her life but in her opinion the most objectionable thing in the interview was that it was being given by a person who belonged to ‘our most gallant and courageous community.’ Times of India (03/08/1984)
On October 15th, 1984, the control of the Golden Temple was officially returned to the Sikh ‘priests’ from the control of the Indian Army. Kirpal Singh, Jathedar of the Akaal Takht (Parliament of the Sikhs) made a statement in Zail Singh’s presence saying: “If the Government continues its anti-Sikh attitude and treats us like second class citizens, it will not only endanger the unity of the country, but also cause communal disharmony.”
On October 31st, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated, the Government of India responds by launching a Genocidal Campaign against the Sikhs.
On October 31st, 1984, the interview with Dr Jagjit Singh was re-broadcasted by the BBC within hours of the reported shooting of Mrs. Gandhi by braveheart Satwant Singh & Beant Singh. The BBC issued an apology and Mr. A.D.G. Milne (Director General of the BBC) sent a letter to the Indian High Commission in London mourning the death of Mrs Gandhi.
Dr Jagjit Singh in this occasion said ‘at that time my statement was not seriously taken. But you have seen the result, I told you it was a natural consequence.’ Dr Chohan later said, that ‘they (the Sikhs) should thank the lord and pray at home and think seriously about the next move for the creation of Khalistan. Times of India (09/11/1984)
On the occasion of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s death (31st October 1984) the Express & Star reported that ‘leaders of the Sikh Guru Nanak Temple, in West Bromwich Street, Walsall, declared a day of celebration. Sweets were being handed out to children and prayers offered to the Sikh martyrs of the siege at the Golden Temple, of Amritsar.’
On this occasion Sardar Bhajan Singh stated that ‘we are very happy about today’s events. Mrs Gandhi perpetrated atrocities and tortured our people and our only wish is that she had died sooner.’ Bhajan Singh. (Express & Star, October 31,1984)
On November 2rd, 1984, Mrs Thatcher stated that she was shocked by a recent broadcast in Britain by the separatist leader Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan calling for the death of Mrs Indira Gandhi.
On November 4th, 1984, Dr Jagjit Singh was under ‘heavy police guard following threats to his life in the wake of Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s assassination.’
Leon Brittan, who was the Home Secretary (11/06/1983 - 02/09/1985) stated ‘I am well aware of the difficulties the police face in bringing persecution’s in this kind of case. I fear we shall continue to be accused by India of providing a haven for Sikh terrorists, unless one way or another, steps are taken to remove what looks like favoured treatment for Chohan and his supporters.’
On November 5th 1984, ‘the Indian Government strongly urged the British Government to prosecute Dr Jagjit Singh’ for what they regarded as ‘highly inflammatory statements’. Unfortunately as there was no sufficient ground to take action against Dr Chohan for his statement, there was nothing the British Government could do.
As a consequence of this, the Indian Government cancelled the purchasing of helicopters from the U.K. (New Life 19th July 1985)
Genocide
Whilst a genocidal massacre was taking place in Delhi and other parts of the Indian Union, not a single mention was made in the parliament of the United Kingdom of the thousands of innocent Sikhs who were murdered.
Having spent the last few days, trying to understand the term 'genocide' and pogroms of the past, it led me to the conclusion that the trauma experienced is quite largely incomprehensible for those sitting thousands of miles away in relative comfort and as such we may never feel the connection with the events of the past. Having spent the last two hours watching a film titled 'Amu' released in 2005, it touched upon a concept which is seen in the present.
Whilst the main protagonist named 'Amu' was searching the area of Trilokhpuri, Delhi, an area worst hit in Delhi, she engaged in discussion with a worker at a local restaurant. She enquired whether those involved in the Pogroms were dealt with by the law. The answer she received was, 'those in the police services, politicians' were all directly involved' in the kilings and the events of 1984 can only be coined as 'state terrorism' against a gallant community.
After spending my Friday afternoon analysing the Panjabi Newspaper, It was quite upsetting upon reading that a witness testifying against Sajjan Kumar, had breathed his last. Unfortunately, it seems as though the events of November 1984 are truly becoming lost in history.
However this story is not only of the Sikhs in Delhi, it is the story of the Tutsi's in Rwanda, the Armenians, the Cambodians during the Khymer Rogue Regime, and the Polish killed during the Katyn Massacre of 1940. There must be an equality of law, but when this fails to materialize, birth is given to revolution and revolutionaries.
This edition of 'Oppression in Panjab' was published by the Republic of Khalistan - Government in Exile. This book was immediately banned on release and members of the Citizens for Democracy were incarcerated in India.
For Sikhs living outside of the Panjab, it was difficult to ascertain how much damage was done to the Sri Darbar Sahib Complex and how many were killed in June 1984 and as such, this book was a lifeline for many and was shared widely with many members of ones own family taking to read this. It is also important to mention that the Indian Army has only started withdrawing from Sri Darbar Sahib on September 26th, 1984, four months post the siege & battle at Sri Darbar Sahib.
Under a constitutional government, when the administration does not respond to the wishes of the people, the administrative system is changed or the administrators are removed. But when the government is irresponsible the only course left for the people, when they have exhausted all lawful means to influence the government, is to start a revolution; they take the law in their own hands. In former times revolution was almost always accompanied by bloodshed, who knows what the future will hold.
Following on from the Sikh Pogroms, the Sikhs declared the sole goal of the Panth as 'Independence' from the shackles of slavery, though this has not yet materialised, the end is nigh.
The Panjab Crisis
Vandana Shiva in her book 'The Violence of the Green Revolution' details three different types of conflicts which seemed to have converged in creating what was called the 'Panjab Crisis'.
The first related to conflicts emerging from the very nature of the Green Revolution; conflicts over river waters, class conflict, the pauperisation of the lower peasantry, the use of labour-displacing mechanization, the decline in the profitability of modern agriculture etc, all leading to a disaffected peasantry.
Secondly, there were conflicts relating to the religion-cultural factors and revolving around the Sikh identity. These conflicts were rooted in the cultural erosion of the Green Revolution which commercialized all relations, and created an ethnic vacuum where nothing was sacred and everything had a price. Religious revivalism which emerged to correct the moral and social crisis crystallized finally in the emergence of a separatist Sikh identity.
It must be stated that after an early experience of prosperity, Panjab farmers were rapidly disillusioned. In 1971-72, the returns of wheat cultivation were 27% on investment. By 1977-78 cultivators complained that their return had fallen to less than two percent of their investment.
The third set of conflicts related to the sharing of economic and political power between the centre and the state.
Beginning in the late 19th century, with the emergence of the Singh Sabha Movement and the writing of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha - 'Hum Hindu Nahi', this led to a resurgence in the separate Sikh identity. The construction of the Sikh identity relies on a binary opposition - to be Panjabi/Sikh is not to be Indian.
With the siege & battle at Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar (June 1984), the Indian State waged war on the Sikh Nation in what was simply an unprovoked and ‘purely, a demolishing and diversionary measure by the Government to destroy the moral and religious source of Sikhism.’
The 'fight' for nationhood/autonomy can be seen as a series of battles in a war of attrition between the people and what is undoubtedly a powerful establishment (the union of India.) The first 'battle' in independent India as I see it, was the Panjabi Suba Movement and the second, a Sikh insurgency movement in the 80s/90s, in which the Sikh Nation aimed to establish an independent sovereign Sikh State - Khalistan. The Indian establishment deployed fear, threats and annihilated a whole generation of young Sikh in this time period.
In 1960, 136/140 seats in the SGPC were won by the Shiromani Akali Dal under Master Tara Singh. This statistic showed Sikh support for the Panjabi Suba - a Panjabi speaking State or an autonomous region in the Union of India. Similarly in November 1989, the United Akali Dal headed by Simranjit Singh Mann won six seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The late Bimal Kaur Khalsa, Attinderpal Singh, Jathedar Dhyan Singh Mand (acting Jathedar of Sri Akaal Takht Sahib (or parliament of the Sikhs)) and the late Jagdev Singh Khudian were all elected at this time.
The Dal appealed to Sikhs in general that... power did not necessarily flow from the barrel of the gun alone but to achieve sovereignty and freedom, a sustained political movement, backed by moral strength was imperative. 'The glorious tradition of the Khalsa must be relived if we wish to attain our Panthic goal.' (Hindustan Times) February 13, 1992
The Sikhs of the Panjab & The Indian State
The relationship between the Sikh Diaspora & the Indian State is like that of a far away inhabitable island filled with simply volcanos and mountains. One volcano erupts, sending other volcanoes into action, but over time the larger, stronger volcanoes become dormant but the more compact volcanoes do not - they continue with their outflow of lava.
If all volcanoes erupt in resonance for a large period of time, then the lava itself will engulf the mountains and the land shall become flat once more, ready for excavations to be dug, to allow seeds to grow and to allow flowers to blossom...
'The Kurdish leaders all tell you that their goal is not a nation state. Such a goal is too large for us, Muheyddin said that night on the veranda, too impractical, too unrealistic. It is a longing which will only render us mad, or fanatical. We must be content with autonomy within the existing states. We must swallow our longings and make our peace with the nation state order which was dropped over our land like a net over Versailles.
But after seeing Halabja, you realise one thing very clearly: autonomy will never do. It is a stopping point on a destination. But it cannot ever be the end of the road. For Halabja happened, and for a people who have known Genocide, there is only one thing that will do: a nation state of their own.' - Micheal Ignatieff (Blood & Belonging)
The struggles faced by the Sikhs following the annexation of the Panjab (1849) can never be forgotten, for they are ingrained in us all. Though a climate of fear is now upon us, revolution is still ingrained in the minds of a few and for those select few, a purpose is found...
People in the earlier days actually believed in something, they cared, how true is that today?
Has a strong dose of realism, brought with it a sense of being out just for oneself and ones future, one wonders...
Put away the evil of your deeds, away out of my sight. Cease to do evil and learn to do right, pursue justice and champion the oppressed; give the orphan his rights, plead the widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:16-17)
Simranjeet S. Rahi
27/03/2021
Article published on the 104th Martyrdom Anniversary of Sardar Mathra Singh Doctor, a martyr of the Gadar Party who kissed the gallows of Shahadat on March 27th, 1917.
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