Shaheed Bhai Baghel Singh Dheriwal

Open letter written to Prime Minister Chandar Shekhar

 

Mr Chandar Shekhar,

We would like to bring this to your attention, being Sikh and on behalf of the five Jhujaru organisations, are here to tell you that our great Sikh Nation has always stood up against every tyrannical government that has come to pass. We have always lived by the uplifting spirit and standards of Sava Lakh (courage & spirit of 1 vs 100,000) and upheld the tradition to fight and defend against oppression.

 

Your predecessors and of those who remain alive today are fully aware of this. Unfortunately, for you the truth is hard to digest. Someone else who is better placed to confirm this truth, is your previous Governor to Punjab. If you are still in doubt, then why not reach out and ask the Punjab police, CRPF, BSF, lowest ranking to the highest-ranking officers; they can all provide you with information, even those from the intelligence department trained to interrogate can confirm the same. They will clearly tell you that the souls of Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das, Bhai Dyala Ji and Bhai Mani Singh are still present today, living amongst the Sikhs, the only difference being their names. This spiritual strength from our forefathers is instilled in us even today.

 

In today’s history you will witness our Sikh youth being sawn in half, bodies gauged with boiling hot metal spikes, skin peeling away whilst being boiled alive, nails being pulled out of finger tips with pliers, limbs cut joint by joint, being hung from the ceiling by their hair, but yet amidst all this torture they remain in high spirits. Our inspiration is Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheed, who continued fighting with his head held on the palm of his hands. This spirit runs through our veins. Each and every account of our bravery and miracles can be found and obtained from available documents by the Punjab police.

 

These are the priceless gems, who have endured the burden of their body being inflicted by so much but still stayed loyal and true to the ways of their ancestors, standing tall with pride. They continue to fight for freedom and are willing to lay down their lives for it.

 

Mr Chandar Shekhar Ji!

You should know very well by now that the Sikh nation thrives on its extraordinary and legendary heritage, teachings of our forefathers and Sikh traditions are upheld. Our childhood lullabies were not about bird vs crow or thief vs escape stories, but of great spiritual individuals full of courage, our brave warriors and inspirational stories from our Sikh history. This is how we are raised. We have sat in the lap of our tenth master Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj, listening to these lullabies and have grown into young men living in high spirits.

 

Listening to their history, we become avid lovers, of our forefathers and endeavour as much to implement their teachings into our own way of life. We are to showcase our history by living exactly the way our forefathers did and living up to that expectation.

 

The unfortunate state of your downtrodden, overpopulated country is now clear to see. Whereas we as Sikhs, the small populous that we are, have made a mark on the world stage. The global community knows who we are and we fly our flag with pride. We are noticed as those who stand up against injustice anywhere in the world and speak up for human rights. There is no such power which exists nor any methods of destruction that can eradicate such a mighty nation as the Sikhs. You may try to dwindle and bury our existence by your schemes and any the government that be based on a foundation of sand cannot stand against us for long. The world knows us for who we are and our staunch principles. This cannot be hidden or eradicated.

 

The aftermath of the attack on Sri Harmandir sahib by the Indian Government has cost us heavily. The most important challenge at this poignant time in history was to recognise and understand why this occurrence happened. Based upon Gurbani and the ultimate truth along with the forecasted future of the Khalsa, there is but one single answer to this.

 

The truth of the matter is that we have faced many struggles, be it living in the jungles of Machiwara, the walls of Sirhind where the younger two Sahibzade attained martyrdom or the battle of Mukhatsar. These struggles serve their purpose to awake the sleeping lions when the almighty sees there is a need for reawakening. It awakes them, rattles them and questions them again and again, one has to ask himself:

 

‘Go on figure it out, who am I? What is my purpose in the here and now, how am I serving the future? What is your relationship with Sri Harmandir Sahib? The turban you adorn on your head today, what meaning does it have for you, do you still understand the value of it (Sardari)? If this is the Sardari we have to live up to, then what is cost of the attacks on Sikhs in Delhi, Meerut, Lucknow and in other parts of India, where our Sikh mothers and sisters were raped and their dignity stripped away?’

 

The men who have the knowledge of their forefathers are able to answer these. There will always be a place for them in history and will forever be loved; showered with countless blessings with a clear path. But for those who cannot, history cannot forgive them and those nations will never be in a position to raise their heads in pride.

 

These are by no means simple questions. These milestones in history only come now and again, but once the answers become apparent and you understand the means to achieve it, then even sleep does not get in the way. If one has any ounce of humanity then he will surely surrender, even once, to the great almighty and in the fear of being a disappointment. At that moment in time, how true is his pain, or how deep is the wound of pain, that place only the person himself can answer. He who, during the nights of June July, spends them undercover amidst the fields and stacks of hay only knows the reason behind this. You will never be able to comprehend how deep the wound is nor imagine the amount of extreme pain we felt since the attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib.

 

But one thing became clear that our Sikh Panth was now having to envision a foresight of change for the Sikh nation, this was inevitable and beyond no return. The path was clear and evident when on 26th January 1986 at Sri Akaal Takht Sahib a Sarbat Khalsa was organised (Large Sikh Gathering). Here a collective call by the Sikhs, under the principles and guidance of Gurmat, that our own homeland, Khalistan, should be established. This was not something separately subjected by the freedom fighters (Jhujaru organisations), but rather a collective voice of the entire Sikh Nation coming together under one order and deciding its future. This was agreed amidst the masses. Therefore, it is our duty to abide by and work to achieve this. Only by following this path can we be graced by the blessings of our Gurus.

 

Your so called constructed Indian constitution defines a citizen to exist as just a number. One can aim to be above a number but this means to wait around aimlessly for any signs of change or betterment to occur. Your constitution is biased, different for Muslims, different for Sikhs, something else for the Brahmins. The Brahmins have the right to null the courts on cases you so wish to your own advantage. Such was the example case of the Babri Masjid and the Ram Janam birth place. But if we, Sikhs, do this and stand up and fight for our own rights then it becomes anti-national and you come at us with bullets, we get killed in fake encounters, dragged into interrogation centres where we are stripped of our clothes, our 5 Kakkars, bare naked and expected to endure your merciless torture.

 

When during slavery and oppression, a nation can still stand tall and hold their head up, then they have already taken that step against injustice and is experiencing what one calls freedom. It also becomes inevitable and justified to bear arms when you are a minority race sat amongst an 80 million Brahmin population of which you are not a part of. In such a situation, we can’t even reach out for support to organisations such as the UNO or gain support from other countries. Do you think we are just made to sit here and expected to take the continuous beatings? Shall we just leave our fallen turbans from our heads on the floor and what about the dignity lost? If we employ our very own rights and wish to reach out to our neighbouring countries to create allies and good relationships then why does the Indian government get agitated over it? Why should it concern or bother you?

 

For us freedom fighters, we are curious and yet to understand your version of the meaning behind the clenched fist used to symbolise the ‘solidarity and Unity’ by your government. Yet you happily kill the innocents, burn Sikh libraries, destroy our places of worship, threaten our culture and insult our faith. So, tell me, what exactly is your interpretation of the Fist of Unity which your folks endlessly publicise? Quite a contradiction I see.

 

In the past 12 years, thousands of our Singhs have become martyrs, thousands have been dragged into interrogation centres without any charged cases, thousands are unruly detained in jails and thousands are still present in the battleground of this movement fighting against your tyrannical oppression. And they are all supported by the tens of thousands, because clearly, they are not seen to be taking sanctuary or refuge anywhere else but within their own. If we are merely a hand full then why is our name hailed in pride within the walls of parliament in the United States of America? Why don’t the human rights organisations call us a handful of people? Continuously for the past ten years, all we’ve been hearing by the Indian prime ministers and presidents is a repeat of the same speech on behalf of your 80million Bhartiya Indian citizens calling out against the Khalistanis and to become united and remain as one. So, tell why haven’t India been able to eliminate these handful of Khalistanis?

 

Without dragging this matter any further, all we want you to know is this that since the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj to this day, our Sikh nation has faced the wrath of multiple oppressions and tyrannical rules and have fought against them with great courage and vigour. History speaks for itself, prime examples being the torturing grinder of Baabar, the hot plate of Jahangir, the plight by Aurangzeb, where Guru sahib (9th) took it upon himself to free another’s faith. Be it your government or any equivalent powers are merely a dot in comparison to these prominent rulers we have had to face off in the past and successfully. You can’t even begin to touch or reach the limit of our courage, dedication and bravery.

 

If I were you, I’d get smart and begin to make a conscious effort to understand the issues concerning us Sikhs today.

 

Printed in Khalsa Fatehnama – January 2007