June ~ The Warriors' Month
Tajinder Singh
June, signifies scorching heat, rising temperatures, summer vacations and mangoes especially in
India. It holds a very special significance for Sikhs around the world. In worldly terms this month
has not been very kind to Sikhs. Back in 16th century 5th Sikh Guru, Arjun Dev Ji attained martyrdom at the behest of Mughal Rulers and some of their Hindu sycophants. Then in recent times Government of India attacked the holiest shrine of Sikhs (Harmandir Sahib) and did a cold blooded genocide of Sikhs. This all happened in modern world right in 1984. Ironically it's the same
year as George Orwell’s novel. His fiction had the real life plot being played, and demonstrated how a government created a propaganda against its own citizens and genocide them. Not only this, they also projected themselves as the saviour of the country and proclaimed nationalists.
Joyce Pettigrew, summarized succinctly as
““The Army went into Darbar Sahib not to eliminate a political figure or a political movement but to
suppress the culture of people, to attack their heart and to strike a blow at their spirit and self
confidence”
Having grew up a minority in India, I often thought with in myself why did 1984 happened to Sikhs?
Why did Army stormed Harmandir Sahib? Why did they need 15-20K strong army with Tanks and artillery to take out 250 people? Why did we have a bloody past in Punjab for 30 years? These are some tough questions and I will just summarize in what I think the issue is.
Sikhs have a very glorious past. The Guru’s imbibed confidence in people and always professed for an egalitarian society. Connect with one God, and do good deeds. (Sarab Dharam Mein Shreshth Dharam, Har Ka Naam Jap Nirmal Karam "Of all religions, the best religion is to chant the Name of the Lord and maintain pure conduct.). Now, with those principles and doctrine Sikhs have been very, very successful. They were not just able to strengthen the ouster of Mughal from India, but also established a rule in Punjab whose boundaries transcended from borders of China, to the parts of Afghanistan. It include all the current East, West Punjab, Haryana, Himachal. When British conquered their last Indian conquest, Punjabis and Sikhs in general outnumbered the sacrifices made for achieving the Indian independence. An idea can be gauged from a simple stat Of 121 people hanged by British 93 were Sikhs, again of 2646 sent for life imprisonment by British 2147 were Sikhs.
- Source History of Indian National Congress”
Post independence of India also, Sikhs played major contribution in both the wars with Pakistan in 1971 and 1978. They helped usher the Green Revolution that made India self reliant on Food. Punjab was called Bread Basket of India.
Now coming directly to the point, if Sikhs are so good, then why did all this happen to Punjab.
But then like any shining knight becomes the center of attraction, the political heads took notice.
Punjab was one of the few states which was so heavily dominated by a minority. Ironically that itself was handiwork of the government which probably for the first time split the state of Punjab based on language and religion. It was not easy to win power in a minority dominated state and hence the political minds sitting miles away in Delhi started pulling political strings.
India also been a country that has not been very kind to minorities and even the lower castes of Hindu majority. The Sikhs message of equality would have transcended regions and led to people believe in the similar values, and would have lead to the spread of Sikhism. It is important to quote Sikhs never preach their religion for conversion. Any Hindu, Muslim, Christian brethren can be a Sikh. They don't need to convert or do anything. There are no rituals. Now with such strengthening of people in a nationhood especially where all the oppressed masses doesn’t mingle well the policies of state and the majority religion. So they created a system where basic values of freedom were not guaranteed to Sikhs and it led to what we see as a dark period in recent history of Punjab. The framework in which these basic values were not guaranteed is a very wide topic and several books have been written. It is a much wider scope and would require another detailed post at some future time.
This June will pass, but let's brethren not forget the sacrifices of all who laid down their lives.
#Chardikala (Buoyant under the name of one God)