A visit to Bhai Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa by a Sikh of the Diaspora
Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Ji Ke Fateh
I had initially shared with my sangat on an open forum in a short paragraph about my visit to see Bhai Sahib. Upon a few requests from some members of my sangat I have undertaken the task of sharing more details of the entire experience, not a summary. All conversations were in Punjabi and I have translated them here. I will do my complete best to share all I can with, hopefully, Guru’s Kirpa and I ask for forgiveness for any forgetfulness I have to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Sri Guru Panth Sahib Ji.
I took the trip to visit on day 39 of Bhai Sahib’s hunger strike. This was a little while before the massive activity we see now began. Before I left for Punjab I made an open request to my friends for suggestions on what to ask of Bhai Sahib for our sangat in the United States. I was asked to get a message recorded for us specifically on how to help.
I began to see signs of Bhai Sahib a couple of miles out from Gurduara Lakhnaur Sahib. I really didn’t know what to expect on the way there but it seemed like a normal day. For some reason I was maybe expecting something a little different. The road to Guruduara Lakhnaur Sahib and the area around it was mostly farmland. The gate over the road to the Guruduara came up and we pulled up through the bumpy dirt road. As the entrance to the actual Guruduara complex came the first thing I saw was a Haryana Police jeep with three police officers, of which only one was in uniform, sitting in the jeep right next to a little dirt volleyball area. The police seemed very relaxed and maybe borderline bored. After taking off my shoes I entered the complex parkarma area and immediately saw several brother Singh’s armed with 3 foot shastars patrolling about. They saluted me with Guru’s Fateh as I continued toward where Guru Maharaj was.
To the left of the Guruduara Sahib, where Maharaj’s thakt was located, was an open Manji Hall style area (like at Darbar Sahib). Bhai Sahib was sitting in this area with several Singh’s and Kaur’s sitting around him on mats and blankets. Around Bhai Sahib, at the time I came, were several members of some sort of camera crew from some Sikh news group. Bhai Sahib was answering several questions and acquisitions about party affiliations that I don’t exactly remember. I do remember his response was along the lines of my only party affiliation is that of Guru Granth Sahib Maharaj and Guru’s Sangat.
There were also a few other folks with cameras which I found out later where from other news groups who had already interviewed Bhai Sahib. I had a camera around my neck and one patrolling Singh came up to me and asked what newspaper I was from. I replied by asking for forgiveness for being deceptive and iterated that I was from America and I came to visit Bhai Sahib as a member of a Sangat from that place to meet with Bhai Sahib. He replied it’s no problem and said just wait around a bit and you will get to talk to Bhai Sahib. A few other sangat members asked me a few questions and I in turn asked them about protocol etc. There was really no protocol just wait and introduce yourself. It seemed the Singh was doing a routine check on me to make sure I was not a threat to Bhai Sahib or the Morcha (movement).
While waiting in silence I noticed that Bhai Sahib’s voice had changed and he looked visibly drained. The hunger strike was taking a toll that isn’t very self-evident in photos or videos than in person. Seeing this, a hunger strike took on a new shape in my senses.
When the camera crew left I was asked to go sit and introduce myself. I sat about three feet from Bhai Sahib and waited for one conversation to finish. It then became silent and the sangat, including Bhai Sahib, looked in my direction but with their heads down (mostly). I then saluted Bhai Sahib and the Sangat with Guru’s Fateh and they replied. I said Bhai Sahib I am from America and before I could finish he quickly said Je Aiya Nu, which is the most welcoming welcome statement in Punjabi. No one was doing small talk earlier so I went straight to the point and asked Bhai Sahib if he would record a message for the American Sangat. He replied that he had recorded several messages that day and he was too tired. He also added that as he gets tired he sometimes mumbles or makes a mistake in what he was saying that can be used by detractors as an excuse to accuse of inconsistency in his talks. I understood and want to relay that but before I could he grabbed my feet and asked for forgiveness. I quickly grabbed his hands and held them away from my feet. I was astonished and humbled by Bhai Sahib’s humility immediately. This brother is on the path of a Shaheed, a martyr, and he grabbed my feet? I was at a loss for words but it didn’t matter because he started talking.
In that moment I felt as though I got thrown back to the times of Nawab Kapur Singh, Bhai Mani, and others when the Khalsa was split into two branches the Budha Dal (elder army) and the Turana Dal (young army). I felt as though Bhai Sahib was a member of the Budha Dal and I the Turana Dal. He was talking to me as a dear older sibling does to the younger one.
He said brother I am a servant of Panth and you and I are the Panth together. We are in sangat in front of our Master, Guru Granth Sahib Ji. He continued by saying that we have to do this together no other Bhindranwalai is coming to lead us. He then asked do the American Sangat think that another Bhindranwalai is coming to lead us? I replied that many have placed their hopes in this by exclaiming that one will rise and some even sing songs about it in a new age styled dhadhe. He then said tell them to stop, that is not how the Khalsa Panth works. He said it repeatedly making it clear that I really need to understand that we are not supposed to sit dormant and wait for a leader. He was pushing basic Sikhi across to me that is almost out of the Sikh psyche: Guru Sahib granted sovereignty to all his beloved children willing to give their heads.
We are all leaders.
He continued to say look I am unpar (uneducated), it is up to you educated Khalsai to figure out what the Panth is to do. He relayed this point in a couple different ways that summated to pointing out that the educated Khalsai have the tools, knowledge of the world, and knowledge of history to figure this out. He was not limiting the scope to only the matter of the Sikh political prisoners but instead the state of the entire Panth. He also drove home the point that learning is the key. You must learn and figure this out.
He then uttered softly that the best seva he can do for the Panth is the hunger strike which, I felt, is because he deems himself “uneducated” and at the same time, almost clearly, he eluded to the fact that he expects the “educated” Khalsa to do much more.
He continued to mention the haalat (state) of the Panth and also mention all the horrible things we have gone through that has led to this dormant stage. He used many metaphors in Punjabi that would not really make sense when translated into English but the jest of it was that we were defeated and subjected to horrible things due to Panth’s methodology up to this time. His statements basically stressed learning and understanding how we got to this point. All the while he constantly expressed an opinion of himself being a very low level servant of the Panth. He is humble. His humility stays true to the character of a Khalsa.
After that he talked a little about how he made a mistake by leaving Punjab because the Punjab Police will not let him back into the State (Guruduara Lakhnaur Sahib is in the outskirts of Ambala which is in Haryana). He also mentioned a CBI agent is always outside the Guruduara as well.
He then asked to be lifted and another Singh and myself lifted him and held him up for a while because he gets very dizzy when he stands. He then put his hand on my back and I stepped away as he turned to everyone else while being held by the other Singh and told us all to go eat in Guru Ka Langar. We all saluted Bhai Sahib with Guru’s Fateh and separated. The last thing I remember is a small grin when he looked at me and walked away with the Singh helping him. Bhai Sahib is still Chardi Kala.
Now Khalsa Ji I direct my words toward you from me. I have tried my best to iterate all that I have remembered Bhul Chuk Maaf Karna Ji (please forgive my forgetfulness).
There are important things this grand Singh has relayed to me in my brief encounter with him. Ultimately we need to understand how we got to this point.
Why are there Sikh Political Prisoners? These Singh’s are in jail from a war or rebellion long ago that was a loss. These Singh’s in jail are from a time where the government narrative is simply that terrorists and militant activity was occurring in Punjab not that there was a rebellion and a movement, interconnected, that started long before the TADA act, before the black laws, before the 1986 declaration at the site of Sri Akal Thakt Sahib, before the 1984 election boycott when Congress was given victory, before the attack on several Guruduara’s and the Battle of Amritsar, before the start of 1982 Dharam Yudh Morcha (civil disobedience agitation), before Sardar Kapur Singh I.C.S wrote Sachi Sahki (The True Story), before July 4th 1966 General Hari Singh Nalwa Conference, before Anandpur Sahib Resolution was written, before Punjabi Suba Movement, before Partition, before the Ghadar Party, Babar Akali’s, and the Singh Sabha Movement, before Sikh aristocracy took over, before Misl period, before Nanakshahi Sika was stamped at Logarh, all the way to 1699 at those mountains in Anandpur where the Nanak’s gave their final form of Sri Guru Granth and Sri Guru Panth as a culmination of the witness account stated in Mul Mantar.
What is this Mul Mantar? What is the guidance Sri Guru Granth Sahib gives? What is this Sri Guru Panth Sahib’s mission?
The answers are for us to find Khalsa Ji. We must remember that in all that is mentioned above there were several hunger strikes by Khalsai that started important events. We need to learn what happened in the past and understand what we are to do for the future together so we stop the misinformation, help those in need, stay true to who we are and who we were meant to be, and stop history from repeating itself.
Learning, understanding, and working together is exactly what the revered Nanak’s mandated. There is a lot of work ahead of us Khalsa Ji.
Bhul Chuk Maaf Karna Ji
Chardi Kala,
-Charanpreet Singh Baltimore