On 31st October 1984, Bhai Beant Singh jee and Bhai Satwant Singh jee delivered justice to Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, for the destruction of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, and desecration of Sri Harmandir Sahib, the holy Sarowar, and for burning rare records and buildings of the complex. This was followed by an anti-Sikh genocide from 31st October through till 7th November. Thousands of Sikhs throughout Delhi and other parts of India were pulled out of trains, buses and cars and burnt alive, homes and Gurdwaras were attacked and any Sikh with a Dastaar (turban) was a target for blood thirsty mobs. The story below is from an incident that occured in that dark month of November 1984.
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The Power of Five
True story:
ਸਵਾ ਲਾਖ ਸੇ ਏਕ ਲੜਾਊਂ ॥
savaa laakh se eik laRaaoo.
When one (Sikh) fights against 125,000,
ਤਬੈ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਨਾਮ ਕਹਾਊਂ ॥
tabai gobind singh naam kahaaoo.
then can I call myself Gobind Singh.
(Guru Gobind Singh jee)
Such is the power of the Khalsa
Account by Bhai S. Singh jee, a sevadaar from Gurdwara Nanaksar:
"It was during the anti-Sikh genocide. I was at that time living in Gurdwara Nanaksar in Haryana. There were 7 other sewadaars in the Gurdwara. Trouble started brewing early in the morning. We noticed about 50 young men gathering outside a few hundred metres away from the Gurdwara sahib. We didn't really pay too much attention to them.
By noon, the group had turned into a rowdy crowd of about 300. We became quite concerned at that point. Our telephone wires had been cut, so there really was not much we could do. But we were still in Chardi Kalaa.
At about 3 pm, a truck driven by a Singh was driving by the crowd when the crowd attacked it. The Singh gave up the truck and ran to the Gurdwara. Some goondas (thugs) overtook him and injured him but he, being a strong man, managed to escape. Still, he was quite bloody when he came in. That increased our number to 9. The number outside had increased to about 500 by evening. They were very loud and obnoxious by now. We tried to ignore them and began our evening diwaan at 6 pm. But as the darkness approached, the rabble become more and more bold. In fact, soon they started stoning the Gurdwara. We stopped the evening programme and placed all the Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's Saroops in the safest place possible.
At 7.30pm it was very dark and the rabble became so bold that they put fire to the Gurdwara's gate. It hit us then how serious the situation was. We soon would be killed! Our Jathedaar (leader) gathered us and said, "Khalsa jee, the Khalsa has faced worse situations then this. The Khalsa has gone through two holocausts but the Khalsa lives and will live in freedom forever! Khalsa jee, the Khalsa has never given up and will never give up. The enemy stands outside. There are 500 hundred, we are 9 but remember Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee has made each of us equivalent to savaa-lakh (125,000)! Khalsa jee, get prepared to fight!"
He said this with so much josh (energy) and bir ras (warrior spirit) that our body hair stood on their ends. Even though I had been seriously ill for the past 3 months, I too was ready to fight. The Jathedaar then told us that we must make two groups. The first group of five will go out first and fight the enemy. The the rest (4 Singhs) can go later. Everybody agreed. Jathedaar Sahib then chose 4 other pyaare. I was not chosen, most probably due to my illness. The five put on the uniform of the Khalsa. Then the Jathedaar sahib did Ardaas to Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee saying, "Pita jee, dear father, we are coming to your land. Please prepare for us!"
Then five then took out their Kirpaans and with "BOLE SO NIHAAL!... SAT SIREE AKAAL! BOLE SO NIHAAL!... SAT SIREE AKAAL!!" filling the air, came out the face the enemy. You will not believe what happened then. Seeing 5 Khalsa in the uniform of Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee, the rabble of 500 ran away It was as if 5 lions were chasing 500 hyenas away! One of the Singhs managed to cut off a running man’s ear. The Khalsa's victory was sweet."
waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru...
Just as an epilogue, some police officers had the gall to come a few days later to investigate the ear injury!!!! But this was so ridiculous and the Singhs were in such high spirits that the police had to leave without even a bribe.
A wonderful quote by by Giani Jarnail Singh (Malaysia) that I came across on a forum :
"It is a misconception that we the Khalsa today are weak. We still have the same basic ingredients that our predecessors had - the GURBANI in the Shabad guru, Guru Granth Sahib jee, and our Khande Batte Da Amrit. What we lack are the Simran and Rehat."
Guru Kirpaa Karan.
By noon, the group had turned into a rowdy crowd of about 300. We became quite concerned at that point. Our telephone wires had been cut, so there really was not much we could do. But we were still in Chardi Kalaa.
At about 3 pm, a truck driven by a Singh was driving by the crowd when the crowd attacked it. The Singh gave up the truck and ran to the Gurdwara. Some goondas (thugs) overtook him and injured him but he, being a strong man, managed to escape. Still, he was quite bloody when he came in. That increased our number to 9. The number outside had increased to about 500 by evening. They were very loud and obnoxious by now. We tried to ignore them and began our evening diwaan at 6 pm. But as the darkness approached, the rabble become more and more bold. In fact, soon they started stoning the Gurdwara. We stopped the evening programme and placed all the Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's Saroops in the safest place possible.At 7.30pm it was very dark and the rabble became so bold that they put fire to the Gurdwara's gate. It hit us then how serious the situation was. We soon would be killed! Our Jathedaar (leader) gathered us and said, "Khalsa jee, the Khalsa has faced worse situations then this. The Khalsa has gone through two holocausts but the Khalsa lives and will live in freedom forever! Khalsa jee, the Khalsa has never given up and will never give up. The enemy stands outside. There are 500 hundred, we are 9 but remember Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee has made each of us equivalent to savaa-lakh (125,000)! Khalsa jee, get prepared to fight!"
He said this with so much josh (energy) and bir ras (warrior spirit) that our body hair stood on their ends. Even though I had been seriously ill for the past 3 months, I too was ready to fight. The Jathedaar then told us that we must make two groups. The first group of five will go out first and fight the enemy. The the rest (4 Singhs) can go later. Everybody agreed. Jathedaar Sahib then chose 4 other pyaare. I was not chosen, most probably due to my illness. The five put on the uniform of the Khalsa. Then the Jathedaar sahib did Ardaas to Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee saying, "Pita jee, dear father, we are coming to your land. Please prepare for us!"
Then five then took out their Kirpaans and with "BOLE SO NIHAAL!... SAT SIREE AKAAL! BOLE SO NIHAAL!... SAT SIREE AKAAL!!" filling the air, came out the face the enemy. You will not believe what happened then. Seeing 5 Khalsa in the uniform of Satguru Guru Gobind Singh jee, the rabble of 500 ran away It was as if 5 lions were chasing 500 hyenas away! One of the Singhs managed to cut off a running man’s ear. The Khalsa's victory was sweet."
waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru...
Just as an epilogue, some police officers had the gall to come a few days later to investigate the ear injury!!!! But this was so ridiculous and the Singhs were in such high spirits that the police had to leave without even a bribe.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A wonderful quote by by Giani Jarnail Singh (Malaysia) that I came across on a forum :
"It is a misconception that we the Khalsa today are weak. We still have the same basic ingredients that our predecessors had - the GURBANI in the Shabad guru, Guru Granth Sahib jee, and our Khande Batte Da Amrit. What we lack are the Simran and Rehat."
Guru Kirpaa Karan.
2 comments:
thanks for sharing these wonderful stories virjio
keep up the good work
dhan satguru dhe sheraa!!
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