Reconclination Efforts Between Hindus And Sikhs In Punjab And Rest Of India

chatanga1 · February 21, 2014

You appear not to understand that demand for a state based on language were happening all over India.

It was nehru who said the states would be formed according to the languages they spoke, but even then it took 16 years amidst mass agitation to get Panjab its due share. The only reason for this was because the Sikhs were in favour of it.

GtLoc · February 21, 2014

I am not "pro-Hindu"... I am pro- LOGIC.... and reality. I dont think we can or should use religion to classify people... this goes against the whole gist of Gurbani... I am dumbfounded by everyones bigotry. Why cant anyone just look at people in terms of their character instead of trying to label them? Wake up Singho... your all bad examples of Gurbani. Worse than me... and I drink and eat meat. But I dont go around judging people baselessly, especially whole communities.

Sikhs can eat meat. Also Punjabi Hindu boy I won't call you lion how is Punjab civilized?

What is civilized about mass murder and rape by police? Any man would call for retaliation, let alone that it is a core part of Sikhi.

But you know nothing of either, neither does your quom right?

JungChamkaur · February 22, 2014

1. We didnt betray Baba Banda Singh Bahadurji....

2. Patiala's royal family is not a good representative of Sikhs....

3. Patiala and its so called "sikh" soldiers fought against 1857 revolutionaries... the Dal Khalsa troops of Sher E Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh joined the revolution..

4. Sikhs avenged Jallianwala Bagh: Soorma Udham Singh...

Sher... I really do not know why your here... the only thing you do is argue and say BS. Your not always right, and neither are others but your the outsider coming here making idiotic claims and fighting. No one is going to your house and lighting fires. Dont light fires here. If you have questions or ideas, then talk properly. I dont know why other Sikhs fight with you using your tactics but their mistakes dont make yours right. Stop talking shit and talk properly.

chatanga1 · February 22, 2014

You guys cannot look outside khalsa khalistan narrative. The demand for punjabi suba was raised by SIKHS FROM AKAL TAKHT which makes it a highly communal demand. why 'Hindu leadership' was not taken into confidence? why they did not think of launching a joint Punjabi campaign, why Hindus were excluded?

The HIndu leadership, turd, had already made their views clear before the morcha had actually started. The morcha was a last ditch attempt to rightfully have Panjab as the state language of Panjab.

And enough hindus supported it, to have Panjab divided into 3 parts as well, so don't bleat that many hindus never listened tothe bigoted mahashas. they lapped it up.

Shall Hindus start saying Sikhs are traitors from the Gurus days

If you want to talk about traitors, then its best to start with the hindu panjabi's who sided with the invaders against their own hindu panjabi brothers 1000 years ago. And look at the shit they brought down upon the whole of india, these damned panjabi hindus! We can see that this traitorous streak has not left these panjabi hindus even after 950 years.

If there is a logic in punishing me for the act of few hindus in 1950-60s,

is there a logic in continuing to support the feeble minded punjabi hindus who voted against their mother tongue in their hundreds of thousands? No. you're a fine one to talk about logic.

JungChamkaur · February 22, 2014

Chatanga Pah, in all honesty, do not call the Arya Samaj or RSS etc. the "Hindu" leadership. This is where we always make mistakes. Normal day to day Hindus in Punjab, or India in general, are totally apolitical. They dont care about anything except their day to day roti. We cant blame Hindus as a whole for the actions of certain parties and their perceived and real supporters. I wouldnt be surprised if the Hindus of Punjab had said their language was Punjabi and the Cent. Govt. made up the lies... they are known liars. It would make perfect sense for them to divide the communities and rule. Congress party is inherently Western and against all communities of India. They are against all tribal, ethnic, religious identities in India. The only thing is that when they tried to take us out, Guru Maharaj nay kirpa keetee and we had several people jump up to show that we still have Ghehrat in our Khoon:

In Dhulla di Vaar, Kuldip Manak Ji says: "Jehree Kom day Khoon chon Gayee Ghehrat, Oho Ajj ve Nahin tay Kal ve Nahin".

To Sher, you are right about Sikhs being traitors as well. Theres nothing to hide or lie about it. Every kom has bad people. Yes we do come from Hindu Punjabis. All of our ancestors were once Hindu. Theres nothing to lie about that either. I am proud of our ancestors. Punjab, the original non-persian name being Panchnaad, has a rich history going back thousands of years. Guru Sahib took us back to our original glory which we were losing during the Mughal Era. We had forgotten who we were and our duties.

Edited February 22, 2014 by JungChamkaur

chatanga1 · February 22, 2014

You are so biased against a community which give you all ten Gurus (who never left their forefathers' faith),

i would not make a claim unless i can back it with evidence, how about you

yet the turd makes the same claim over and over, with no evidence.

JungChamkaur · February 23, 2014

Sikhs can eat meat. Also Punjabi Hindu boy I won't call you lion how is Punjab civilized?
What is civilized about mass murder and rape by police? Any man would call for retaliation, let alone that it is a core part of Sikhi.
But you know nothing of either, neither does your quom right?

I completely missed this when I was messaging... I never said we shouldnt avenge mass murder and rape by police.... but I dont think we should take revenge from a country, especially a country that is our own. The govt is composed of individuals, and it doesnt always represent the interests of the whole. We should especially be aware of the government when its lying to its own people and pitting sections against other sections, like the 80s. The idea that we should hate Punjabi Hindus because the Cent. Govt. (which is good to no one in India except themselves) acted heinously, is just as ludicrous as hating our Punjabi Muslim brothers because of the actions of the Mughal Hukumat. And as far as your meat thing goes.. you do know that some Hindus have been eating meat for centuries right..... I have even seen on this forum that Brahmins ate BEEF!? And everyone knows Rajputs ate meat and so did Ram Chandji Maharaj.. I dont know why you say such stupid things sometimes. I make mistakes but you just spew complete nonsense sometimes. Wake up. Also, your not a "Sardar" just because you have Kes and a Pagri.. Sardars are those who were retainers of Rajas and provided soldiers at the time of crises. I hope you know that normal farmers are not Sardars. Sardar is a title that very few people had. Bhagat Singh came form such a Sardar family and so does Yograj Singh. The Misl descendants are Sardars and so are Sarpanchs (although they are not actually Sardars of Maharaja Ranjit Singh).

amar_jkp · February 23, 2014

Punjabi Hindus have laways created problem where ever they have gone look at Haryana Jaats hate them like hell and regarding Punjab divisions for your kind info even Haryanvi Jaats wanted this read this book you will see the role your Hindu lalas

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=XknkYGpKtDkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=haryana+politics&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BcEJU9OlCdCmrAessoCIAQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=haryana%20politics&f=false

mrsingh · February 23, 2014

Totally agree and as i said before, there should be a Truth Commission and EVERYONE should come clean. Don't restrict yourself just to the justice for 1984 riots victims. Those innocents (majority of them being Sikhs) killed by terrorists would also expect an apology from the militant Sikh organisations

Terrorism targetting innocents has no place in Sikhi and no connection to it. Those that commit terrorist act specifically against innocents cannot be Sikh. You are correct that the majority of Government Terror victims (Black Cats) who often falsely claimed terrorism in the name of pseudo-Sikh organisations were overwhelmigly Sikh. Each and every Sikh condemns the murder of innocent Hindu victims killed by the GOI in order to malign Sikhs as a people (simply for daring to ask for justice and equality for all).

Neo when Sikhs would start accepting that Ranjit Singh's empire collapse because of their own follies? Sandhanwalias, who killed M Ranjit singh's son was not a dogra

You are correct that 1849 did occur, in part, due to anti-Gurmat practices sadly increasing amongst leaders of the Sikhi nation in the latter years of the 1840's particularly. That does not mean that British or Dogra's were not central to the events of 1849.

As long as their are DERAS and Hindus migrating to Punjab killing if sikhi it's a great thing

Sikhi will never die, it's an ideology of Truth that can never be defeated. If we can get our act together then we can use the Dera's in order to bring more and more so-called Hindu's to the truth of Sikhi and similarly so with the so-called Hindu migrants in Punjab. It will be our stupidity if we cannot communicate the greatness of Bihar's greatest son - Dhan Dhan Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj. The more Hindu and Muslim trolls like you hate us the better as it only soldifies our Unity and determination to revitalise the Panth and work for the welfare of all (Sikh and non-Sikh alike).

Both Hindus and Sikhs numbers would go down in Punjab in the coming decade. Hindus numbers going down from the times immemorial (after the Muslim invasions started). If you look at the 19th century census reports, the trend can be noticed clearly. the british recruitment policy post 1857 only accelerated the process as they recruited only Khalsa sikhs as they had proved to be loyal cannon fodder to their gora masters. Many Hindus became Khalsas to get recruited in the British fauz. the assertion that the british saved Sikhism makes lots of sense.

Sikhs number would dwindle in Punjab as Ravidassiyas have broken away (they have their own 'religion' now) and the extremist Khalsa intolerance against the dera followers (such as Dera Sacha sauda, Noormehlias, etc) would only accelerate the process.

Ravidassiya factor would work against Hindus too as Hindu 'low-castes' have stopped calling themselves Hindus. Sikhism would survive in some forms but Khalsa would definitely go "dodo".

Khalsa Sikhs did not fight for the British. Kesdhari Sikhs may have fought for the British alongside the bulk of British forces that were Hindu and Muslim but the pristine Khalsa Panth will never fight for money or the wordly gain of evil empires. The Khalsa Panth will only ever fight for defense of the poor and weak and to ensure the welfare of entire humanity. True Khalsa's do not become so in order to get a job as you mention the way many Hindu's allegedly did so.

You are correct that the Congress and RSS and Arya Samaj jointly supported plan is to splinter the second biggest demographic component of the Panth away from the Panth. However, honest Sikhs are wise to this and the endemic corruption within Dera Ballan mean that if we as a Panth can kill off biraderi issues present within the Panth this issue can be addressed. If enough so-called Sikhs are not vehemently anti-caste then our numbers deserve to go down. I am hopeful that this issue designed to splinter the Qaum can result in greater Unity as a consequence of following Gurmat and an obliteration of tribal identities as the Khalsa Panth exemplifies.

By the way, all Sikhs are Ravidassia by virtue of Dhan Dhan Baba Ravidas Ji Maharaj's words that we bow down before in humility every day. The great Giani Ditt Singh of Lahore Singh Sabha gets the greatest credit for revitalising Sikhi in the latter half of the 19th century. Interestingly enough, he was what you would term a Ravidassia - but to us he was a Gurmukh of the highest - just like Shaheed Baba Sangat Singh from a similar background who led the Khalsa Fauj. Once the Dera Ballan lies against great Amritdhari Sikhs such as these are countered it should be a short consequence for our Jatav and Chamar brothers and sisters throughout other non-Punjabi speaking Indian states to reconnect themselves as beloved and integral members of the Sikh Panth.

Are you serious? Do you have any idea how erroneous your stats are?

Sikh population in Punjab in 1961 was 33.3%!! Akalis NEVER agitated to bring back the Punjabi speaking areas into Punjab.

Tony Singh was referring to the current day geographical Punjab's population being 54% Sikh in 1961. Had all Hindu's who actually spoke Punjabi in 1961 correctly returned their language honestly then inevitably Sikhs would have been a minority in the newly created Punjab state. The fact that Sikhs wished for their Hindu brothers and sisters to be a majority in 1960's Punjab proves that Sikhs were not communal but their opponents who lied about their mother tongue were.

I dont believe how bigoted some of these forum posters are.

Now they blaming the communal division of Punjab on Hindus!!

If Sikhs campaigned to get a Hindu majority Punjabi-speaking state so that they speak their mother tongue as other states were permitted to do, then how can you blame the communal division of Punjabi-speaking areas of Punjab on anybody else other than those misguided individuals who under Arya Samaj influence pretended to have a different mother tongue to the one that they actually spoke?

if Punjab is a small state today the blame lies squarely with Sikh politicians. Those Punjabi-speaking Hindus who declared Hindi as their MT (not that they were justified) did so to avoid the division of the state. Yes, their move backfired as areas like kangra, Hamirpur, Ambala, karnal, et al were taken out of Punjabi subee (can't call it a suba or province). But those who opted out of this quasi-Khalsa theocracy have also benefited as their current and future generations would not have to suffer the highly sectarian, hegemonic Sikh leadership. whether they are trusted by SHPs or not, that's a debatable (at least 2 Himachal CMs (Dhumal and Shanta Kumar) and one haryana (Bhajan Lal) have been from this community). shame indeed as even after more than half a century of misguided deed of some Punjabi Hindus, most of the bigoted Sikh intelligentsia (inc 'quack' historians), politicians, petty katha vachaks and everyday self-appointed chaudharis continue to discriminate against Hindus (and other non-Sikhs/Khalsas in Punjab) citing that highly-charged census of 1961.

So Sikh politicians were wrong to campaign for their constituents both Hindu and Sikh alike being able to speak their mother tongue as an official language. Presumably by your logic, if the British Empire were to ban use of Hindi then that would also be justified with Hindi speakers being communal for wishing to be educated in their own mother tongue? Why do you oppose such basic human rights? Do you think the world will be a better place when Hindi dies out in India to be replaced by English?

Why do you call a secular state a so-called quasi-Khalsa theocratic state? How are Hindu's discriminated in Punjab currently? Hindu's are wealthier in Punjab and numerically over-represented in government positions. Migrants constantly state that there is less discrimination in Punjab than other Hindu majority states. Sikhs do not hate Hindu's. What we do fail at realising is that most so-called Hindu's would turn to Sikhi if only we were more open-minded and explained the ideology of Sikhi with pyaar rather than judgementally.

No Sikh can openly state that innocent Hindu's be killed and either retain any credibility within the Sikh masses or be seriously considered a man of God. Terrorism is the antithesis of Sikhi. Sikhi condemns terrorism in a way that Islam, Christianity and Hinduism cannot by virtue of the fact that they built their populations off the back of terrorism and ensalvement. If one states that the Indian state's media will accuse him of wanting to murder innocents (despite his condemantion of the same) that does not make the man in question a terrorist. If Taksal were terrorists then why did they campaign for Indira Gandhi in the 1980 elections?

Not a single true Sikh will ever justify attacks on Punjab's minorities - the proof of this is that in June 1984 and November 1984 innocent Hindu's were not killed in revenge attacks as Sikhi is crystal clear that innocents should not be held accountable for the actions of supposed co-religionists. The reality is that 30years after 1984 more and more so-called Hindu's (as defined by the RSS) are re-attending Gurdwara's in ever greater numbers which makes them our brother and sister Sikhs within the Panth (if only we stop adhering unwittingly to RSS-influenced definitions of what constitutes a Sikh vis a vis Hindu in order to constrain the population of Sikhs to as small a number as possible in order to constrain our greater strength in Unity). Shashi Kant is an excellent example of such a sehajdhari Sikh.

The demand for punjabi suba was raised by SIKHS FROM AKAL TAKHT which makes it a highly communal demand. why 'Hindu leadership' was not taken into confidence? why they did not think of launching a joint Punjabi campaign, why Hindus were excluded?

The sole aim of the sikh leadership was to capture power and some Hindu bigots (Mahasha press of jalandhar) led a vociferous campaign against this clearly 'communal' demand.

How many Hindus mentioned Hindi as their mother tongue, we would never know but even after 50 years of that campaign Hindus are still being targeted by some extremist or narrow-minded sikhs whose every word, every action stinks of bigotry.how much Punjabi Hindu was communal, bigoted can be seen from the performance of 'Hindu' political parties in Punjab both before and after 1947. jansangh was never a big player in Punjab politics in spite of Hindus being majority post 1947.

Shall Hindus start saying Sikhs are traitors from the Gurus days (i would not like to mention what Gurus or their sahibzadas did for Mughal emperors) Sikhs betrayed banda bahadur, Sikhs were Abdali's chelas (Ala Singh was made his reprsentative in Punjab), sikhs sided with british masters from 1857 onwards? Sikhs committed Jallianwala Bag massacre (Dyer was honoured by Sikhs in harmandar sahib after JWB) Sikhs are terrorists, Sikhs killed 330 innocent Air India passangers? Sikhs butchered 1000s of innocents for their disgusting khalistan and their bigotry? where it would end? when Sikhs would forgive Hindus for the act of some bigoted newspaper barons? You have absolutely nothing else against Punjabi Hindus? How small-minded you are, continuing your tirade against a sister community with whom you still have roti-beti di sanjh. When Sikhs would seek apology for the dishnourable acts mentioned above?

So the human right to be able to speak one's mother tongue is a communal demand according to you?

If the aim of Sikhs was to capture power, how exactly would they have done so in a Hindu-majority Punjab-speaking state?

Nobody hates all so-called Hindu Punjabi's - the vast majority of whom are in fact simply sehajdhari Sikhs (if only all parties realised). Those Hindu Punjabi's that are disliked are the small minority of our vocal enemies such as the Shiv Sena, Arya Samaj and RSS types.

Sikhs do not kill innocents. The Khalsa Panth and more generally the Sikh Panth vehently oppose terrorism. Air India 182 was a RAW false flag operation. Dozens of innocent Sikhs were killed and every Sikh mourns the loss of all innocent victims of that flight. Bring forth any so-called Sikh who had delberately targetted any innocent and Sikhs themselves will be the first to eliminate such false and evil individuals.

The problem with your other analogies is that the 99.99% majority of Sikhs opposed their oppressors in the form of the Mughal Empire, Abdali, Dyer, British Empire, Indira Gandhi, RAW terrorists in their attacks against their Sikh victims whereas those whom we oppose (the Hindutva and Arya Samaj types) fully applauded state terrorism. You are absolutely correct to highlight that 90% plus of ordinary so-called Hindu's have no connection to the same (any more than we Sikhs are connected to KPS Gill) and I believe your point in that respect will be helpful to us understanding that most so-called Hindu's are in fact sehajdhari Sikhs if only we can make them realize that via pyaar and open-mindedness rather than copying pro-Hindutva definitions which seek to limit the population of those classed as Sikhs.

mrsingh · February 23, 2014

You did not get my point for mentioning all these treacheries. My argument is, Sikhs go on humiliating Hindus for just ONE issue - pro-Hindi campaign by Jalandhar's Mahasha press (two of their editor owners and around 70 staff was killed by terrorists in the black days). Why i am being made accountable for something those media barons did more than 50 years ago? If there is a logic in punishing me for the act of few hindus in 1950-60s, then i (and other Hindus) should also make you (and other Sikhs) accountable for the above-listed disgraceful acts. would such Sikhs apologise for betraying BB, for honouring Dyer, for Ala Singh's treachery, for killing lakhs of Indian freedom fighters for two rupees salaries their British masters paid them?

If I am not justifying in asking for apologies from everyday Sikhs in this age, why they cannot stop blaming me and other Hindus for the acts of few media barons?

You are correct that current so-called HP's should not be held accountable for the actions of their ancestors. However, you will be held accountable for acting as an open propaganda apologist for the injustices and Genocide meted out to the Sikhs in the 1980's and 1990's and associating Sikhs with terrorism when you know full well that Sikhi vehemently opposes terrorism targetting innocents.

You are so biased against a community which give you all ten Gurus (who never left their forefathers' faith), almost all of the Granth sahib contributors, also gave you the all important theology. Hindu punjabi siding with invaders...i have given you specific names (Ala Singh, PEPSU Sikh royals, singh sabha, harmandar sahib clergy. some members of Guru ghar also participated in this shameful. "shit they..." Hindu punjabis (and Sindhis) fought so well that the arab invaders.

None of the Guru Sahiban were Hindu. Na koi Hindu nai koiee Mussalman from Gurbani is pretty unequivocal. None of the Bhagats were Hindu or Muslim. Hindu anna, Turk (Mussalmaan) kaana by Dhan Dhan Bhagat Namdev Ji Maharaj is pretty instructive in that respect. Dhan Dhan Baba Kabir Ji Maharaj lambasted the falsehood of Islam's support for slavery, rape and various sexual philia. True souls that connect solely with God cannot be insulted by bracketing them as Hindu's or Muslims given the discriminatory, anti-human, anti-equality and anti-justice ideologies that those two large faiths Hinduism and Islam both stand for in their sacred texts.

amar_jkp · February 23, 2014

Why dont we talk about anti sikh violence after creation punjabi suba movement why every time Sikh have to give answers

http://centralsikhmu...subha-movement/

Violence and Opposition by Hindus

Hindu leaders and media greatly opposed the Sikh struggle and started labeling them as “traitors”. Several Hindu organizations and leaders such as RSS, Arya Samaj, Lala Jagat Narayan, Khushal Chand, Lal Chand and many others openly spoke against Sikhs and started threatening the Sikhs to stop their agitation.

The entire Hindu media started to spread false information about Sikhs and their motives behind the struggle. They were labeled as “terrorists”, “traitors” and “agents of Pakistan”. Their patriotism was questioned by the media. The government used its puppets in Congress and the police to increase its brutality against the Sikhs. On one hand, Congressman Partap Kairon and the likes were threatening to crush the movement and on the other hand the police were arresting many of the Sikh leaders and throwing them in jails without any charge or trial. This was all being done on the orders of the central government to destabilize the Sikh movement. The police had become so ruthless that peaceful protestors were beaten with sticks and fired upon by the police. Women and children were not spared. The police had greatly been influenced by the media. In Karnal, some Sikhs had gathered peacefully in support of the Sikh cause when they were fired upon by the police. Inderjit Singh, a ten year old Sikh boy, was beaten, thrown in irrigation well and killed. In other states, fate of the Sikhs was not any different. Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib in Delhi was surrounded by the police and about 2000 Sikhs were arrested. By 1960, 25 thousand Sikhs had been arrested and jailed. This was done to inform Sikhs that they were second class citizens in India.

- See more at: http://centralsikhmu...h.qZJnM7Gv.dpuf

Violence and Opposition by Hindus

Hindu leaders and media greatly opposed the Sikh struggle and started labeling them as “traitors”. Several Hindu organizations and leaders such as RSS, Arya Samaj, Lala Jagat Narayan, Khushal Chand, Lal Chand and many others openly spoke against Sikhs and started threatening the Sikhs to stop their agitation.

The entire Hindu media started to spread false information about Sikhs and their motives behind the struggle. They were labeled as “terrorists”, “traitors” and “agents of Pakistan”. Their patriotism was questioned by the media. The government used its puppets in Congress and the police to increase its brutality against the Sikhs. On one hand, Congressman Partap Kairon and the likes were threatening to crush the movement and on the other hand the police were arresting many of the Sikh leaders and throwing them in jails without any charge or trial. This was all being done on the orders of the central government to destabilize the Sikh movement. The police had become so ruthless that peaceful protestors were beaten with sticks and fired upon by the police. Women and children were not spared. The police had greatly been influenced by the media. In Karnal, some Sikhs had gathered peacefully in support of the Sikh cause when they were fired upon by the police. Inderjit Singh, a ten year old Sikh boy, was beaten, thrown in irrigation well and killed. In other states, fate of the Sikhs was not any different. Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib in Delhi was surrounded by the police and about 2000 Sikhs were arrested. By 1960, 25 thousand Sikhs had been arrested and jailed. This was done to inform Sikhs that they were second class citizens in India.

- See more at: http://centralsikhmu...h.qZJnM7Gv.dpuf

Violence and Opposition by Hindus

Hindu leaders and media greatly opposed the Sikh struggle and started labeling them as “traitors”. Several Hindu organizations and leaders such as RSS, Arya Samaj, Lala Jagat Narayan, Khushal Chand, Lal Chand and many others openly spoke against Sikhs and started threatening the Sikhs to stop their agitation.

The entire Hindu media started to spread false information about Sikhs and their motives behind the struggle. They were labeled as “terrorists”, “traitors” and “agents of Pakistan”. Their patriotism was questioned by the media. The government used its puppets in Congress and the police to increase its brutality against the Sikhs. On one hand, Congressman Partap Kairon and the likes were threatening to crush the movement and on the other hand the police were arresting many of the Sikh leaders and throwing them in jails without any charge or trial. This was all being done on the orders of the central government to destabilize the Sikh movement. The police had become so ruthless that peaceful protestors were beaten with sticks and fired upon by the police. Women and children were not spared. The police had greatly been influenced by the media. In Karnal, some Sikhs had gathered peacefully in support of the Sikh cause when they were fired upon by the police. Inderjit Singh, a ten year old Sikh boy, was beaten, thrown in irrigation well and killed. In other states, fate of the Sikhs was not any different. Gurdwara Sees Ganj Sahib in Delhi was surrounded by the police and about 2000 Sikhs were arrested. By 1960, 25 thousand Sikhs had been arrested and jailed. This was done to inform Sikhs that they were second class citizens in India.

Hindu residents of Punjab were not any different. They held large processions in the opposition of Sikhs. Sikh properties were targeted, destroyed and burnt in Punjab. Sikhs resident places were attacked. Police was ordered not to intervene or stop the Hindu hoodlums. Seeing the inability of the police, the Hindus attacked many Sikh policemen causing injuries to several of them and death of one Sikh inspector. Toleration of the Hindu violence by the police and the government gave rise to attack on Sikh religious places. Many Gurdwaras were attacked and cigarettes were thrown in the sarowars (holy nectar). Guru Granth Sahib was ripped, burnt and disrespected in highly immoral manner. This was in direct contrast to the Hindu belief that Sikhism was a sect of Hinduism. Had there been any truth to it, Hindus would never have attacked one of their own and disrespected their own holy scriptures. In 1964, the police attacked Gurdwara Paonta Sahib in Himachal and killed many Sikhs.

Out of all the India leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India, despised Sikhs the most. Sikh leaders met him on many occasions but every time he refused to listen to Sikhs and consider their demands. During the three primary meetings between the Sikh leaders and Nehru it was alleged that the demand for Punjabi State was neither beneficial to the country nor to the Hindus of Punjab.

According to Nehru, “Creating a Punjabi State is against the prosperity of the Hindus and would put Sikhs in other states in a grave danger.” (Sikh Politics of 20^th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 177). In the last meeting he stated,“Granting the demand for Punjabi State is out of the question.” (Punjabi Suba – The Story of Struggle, Ajit Singh Sarhaddi, Pg. 389). During the meeting in 1961 with Master Tara Singh Nehru lost his sense and threatened Sikhs by saying “Enough is enough. If you do not stop your protests, I will teach you a hard lesson that you will not forget for many generations to come.” (Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 306)

After all the polemics of Nehru were answered he closed the case by saying, “How can I entrust power to the enemy?”(Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 308)

This truly showed the real face of the Hindu leadership. The threat to the safety of Sikhs living in other Indian states was clearly given by the Indian leaders and Sikhs were called enemy of the country. Why is it that no violence or riots took place when states were reorganized in the south? Sikh demand was solely for a Punjabi speaking state not for the greater autonomy for the Sikhs. Then why only Sikhs were being threatened instead of Punjabis that included Hindus and Muslims? This was all because the government had ill intentions against the Sikhs and anything that remotely benefitted the Sikhs directly or indirectly was opposed by the government to the highest degree. On one hand, Hindus were asking for their safety in Punjab where they were never in danger in the first place but on the other hand the same Hindus were threatening Sikhs to kick them out of other states and providing no safeguards to them.

Truth or Misconception

Hindu media and opposition parties had spread many misconceptions about the Sikhs. Although their main motive was to destroy Sikhism and its roots but they were hesitant to openly admit it. Also, large Hindu population could not be won over for this reason. So they resorted to making excuses and blaming Sikhs for trying to further divide India. Hindus were given the impression that Sikhs were demanding a separate Sikh State in which Hindus will be oppressed. But this misconception was uneducated, without any concrete evidence and far from the truth. There has never been a single incident of Sikhs oppressing or being hostile to Hindus in 500 years of Sikh history. In fact, Hindus have always been on the opposing side of the Sikhs. The fact that 62% of the people in Punjab were Hindus was greatly ignored by the Hindu leaders. It was highly irrational to believe that a tiny population of less than 2% in the country could ever oppress Hindus who were majority in India as well as in Punjab. Further, they ruled the country, controlled the military, formed majority in rest of the states, government was theirs and Congress was the ruling party in Punjab. The only way Sikhs could gain political power in Punjab was if they won the majority vote which was not possible due to Hindu supporting Congress. Therefore, Sikhs could never have oppressed Hindus even if they wanted to. It is evident that such misconception was spread to cause hatred and division between Hindus and the Sikh nation. The initial demand of the Sikhs was to setup a State in which Punjabi would be the primary language irrespective of the population in it

During an interview, Fateh Singh made it clear that “We do not want a Sikh majority State. We do not care about percentage of the Sikh population. We just want a state where Punjabi would be spoken as the primary language. All areas speaking Punjabi should be included. Whether Sikhs are in majority or minority should not serve as a factor in this matter.” (Punjabi Suba – The Story of Struggle, Ajit Singh Sarhaddi, Pg. 346)

During one of the speeches, Master Tara Singh openly said, “I do not demand a separate Sikh state nor have I ever been in its favor. I simply want equality and freedom of the Sikh nation in India.” (Ibid, Pg. 319)

According to historian Ajmer Singh:

“For Hindu leaders the main factor was not whether the demand of Punjabi State was just or unjust or whether it benefits the Sikhs or not but how to destroy and eradicate the distinct identity of the Sikhs.” (Sikh Politics in 20^thCentury, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 119)

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The demand for a Punjabi speaking state was constitutional and valid from every aspect. It was based on the same rules that created Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. But Hindus feared that they will not be a dominant force in the new state since Sikhs would make up 42% and will not be a minority anymore. Thus, making it more difficult for the Hindus to dominate and slowly eradicate the Sikh religion. (Tale of Blue Turban, Giani Laal Singh, 102)

Sikhs leaders and some educated Hindus had very well realized that raising misconceptions against Punjabi State was only an excuse of the fascist Hindus and Hindu media when the real fact was that they did not favor any area which would benefit Sikhs, their language (Punjabi) and safeguard their distinct identity. Indian leaders and Nehru started questioning the loyalty of the Sikhs by stating that the sole purpose of creating a Punjabi State was to divide the country and that later Sikhs would join Pakistan and endanger the unity of India. Many educated people and some journalists tried to persuade Hindu leaders to accept the demand of the Sikhs. According to them not accepting the demand would be the real threat to the unity of the country.

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Especially in Punjab, Congress and its supporters have always looked upon Sikhs as their enemy. No Indian leader has ever tried to understand the Sikh problems. Sikhs have no choice but to demand a Punjabi State. They wish to safeguard their distinct identity, language and religion. Setting up a Punjabi State is the solution to the Sikh problem. (Times of India, 15 August 1951)

It has become crystal clear that the demand for Punjabi State is being looked upon as unconstitutional and conspiracy of Pakistan by the large Hindu population. Many Indian leaders have openly admitted that establishing Punjabi State means empowering Sikhs which will endanger the unity of the country. Nehru further supported this ludicrously by saying that Sikhs may join Pakistan and pose threat to India. From these statements it means only one thing that the majority wants to keep minority as a slave. What do we learn from the Sikh history? That not a single Sikh joined the Mughals against Hindus but at many occasions Hindus joined the Mughals in exterminating the Sikhs. The fact is that we should resolve these matters with peace and harmony otherwise falsely accusing Sikhs would alienate the Sikh community which would lead to another division of the country. (Spokesman, 22 April 1951)

In my personal opinion, instead of opposing the Sikh demand, Hindus should be encouraged to adopt the Punjabi language and support the demand for Punjabi State. This would not only be the largest State in the north but also strongest and richest in India. This would solidify India’s borders and protect it from its foreign enemies. Economically, this state would largely benefit the entire country. Hindus shouldn’t oppose the Sikhs but support them otherwise they will be directly responsible for dividing the country and making a way for a separate Sikh State which can be stopped right now very easily. (Professor Om Parkash Kohal, 17 October 1951)

Despite all the efforts, Indian leaders and Hindus did not change their mentality and kept opposing the Sikhs. Seeing the opposition of the Hindus, Sikh leaders became aware that Sikh identity would not be safe unless an area consisting of Sikh majority was established. They started to raise their demand for an autonomous area for the Sikhs which was promised by the Indian leaders prior to independence. Gurcharan Singh Tohra stated, “We are separate from Hindus…We demand a State where we can safeguard our heritage and culture.” This was further supported by Master Tara Singh. He said, “Our main motive is to free Sikhs from the slavery of Hindus…We demand a state where Sikhs will have the right to self-determination.” (Sikh Politics in 20^th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 120).

Therefore, the demand from establishing a linguistic state was changed to establishing a Sikh state within the Indian Union where Sikhs would be the majority population.

In 1947, India was partitioned which caused largest migration of population and the worst riots in the history. More than half of Punjab was given to Pakistan and rest remained in India. Sikhs had no choice but to leave Pakistan and migrate to India. More than 2 million Sikhs were killed, property worth millions was burnt and destroyed and about 175 Gurdwaras were left behind. All of this had a great impact on the Sikh nation majority of which had been left homeless in new India where the new government did little to nothing to help them settle down. Although Sikhs had made a great sacrifice and lost major portion of their religious places and history, they were full of hope and were looking forward to finally live free way of life and exercise the right to self-determination. Unfortunately, this hope did not last long and Sikhs had to get ready for yet another long struggle with the new regime.

Unfulfilled Promises and Sikhs in New India

Prior to independence, Indian leaders had made numerous promises to the Sikhs such as setting up a state in the north part of the country where Sikhs would enjoy freedom. Three major promises were made to the Sikh nation, which were systematically broken.

1) First promise was that Congress will not pass any resolution that did not please the Sikhs.

“…in future, the Congress shall accept no constitution which does not meet with the satisfaction of the Sikhs” (The Lahore session of the Congress Party. December 31, 1929 cited in Sikh Politics, K.L. Tuteja, Pg. 168) “I ask you to accept my word and the Resolution of the Congress that it will not betray a single individual much less a community. If it ever thinks of doing so, it would only hasten to its own doom. I pray you to unbosom yourself of all doubts and apprehensions. Let God be the witness of the bond that binds me and the Congress with you (the Sikhs). I venture to suggest that the non-violence creed of the congress is the surest guarantee of good faith, and our Sikh friends have no reason to fear that it would betray them. For the moment it does so, the congress would not only thereby seal its own doom but that of the country too. (M. K. Gandhi, Communal Unity, pg. 165-167)

The congress assures Sikhs that no solution in any future constitution will be acceptable to the congress that does not give them full satisfaction. (Indian constitution documents, Vol. 11, By A. C. Banerjee)

After 1947, this promise was not kept. On October 10, 1947 Sikhs were branded as “lawless people”, called upon to forget about their distinct appearance and submit themselves under Hindu laws.

“The Sikhs are a lawless people and a menace to the law abiding Hindus … The [Government] should take strict measures against them.” (Pandit Nehru, Indian Prime Minister)

Furthermore, Article 25 was added in the constitution specifically stating that Sikhism was a sect of Hinduism. No Sikh approved the constitution but regardless it was adopted by the Indian government.

2) Second promise was made to setup a state in the north where Sikhs would have the right to self-determination.

The main purpose of creating linguistic states is that the culture, language and script of minority of the linguistic area shall be protected. (Resolution passed by Congress in Calcultta, 1937)

Redistribution of provincial boundaries is essential and inevitable. I stand for same autonomous unit as well. If Sikh desire to function as such a unit, I should like them to have a same autonomous in the province so that they may have a sense of freedom. (Jawaharlal Nehru, 1945)

“…the brave Sikhs of Punjab are entitled to special considerations. I see nothing wrong in an area set up in the North of India wherein, the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom.” (Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lahore Bulletin, January 9, 1930)

Indian leaders not only backed out on this promise but regarded this demand as a threat to the unity of the country.

The congress found itself in a dilemma, to concede to Akali demand would mean abandoning a position to which it was firmly committed and letting down its Hindu supporters in the Punjabi Suba. The merits were no consideration, as the policy of the Congress, as enunciated in 1949 by Jawahar Lal, Vallabh Bhai and Patta Bhai Sitaramayyia had been not to concede reorganization of North India whatever the merit of such a proposal might be. (My Truth, Indira Gandhi, 117)

I can afford civil war in the country but not Punjabi State. (Jawaharlal Nehru)

We are aware that Sikhs have suffered greatly before and after 1947 but we have come to the conclusion that granting them any special rights such as an autonomous area is not reasonable. (Sikh Politics of 20^th Century, Ajmer Singh, Pg. 144)

Creating a Punjabi linguistic state meant prospering of the Sikh nation which no Indian leader let alone a Hindu approved of.

3) The third promise was made to provide security and safeguarding minorities.

Adequate safeguards would be provided for monitories —- it was a declaration, a pledge and an understanding before the world, a contract with millions of Indians, and therefore, in the nature of an oath, which we must keep. (Framing of Indian Constitution, B. Shiva Rao, Pg 181)

In the divided Indian Punjab, special constitutional measures are imperative to meet the aspirations and rights of the Sikhs. (Legislative Assembly, 1947)

This promise was forgotten just like the above two. Instead, statements were released to make India a Hindu country where minorities will have to either live as second class citizens or merge themselves in the Hindu majority.

According to Mahaveer Tyagi, “We do not believe in kicking the minority groups out of the country. Instead, our desire is to change their religion and convert them all to Hinduism.” (Sikhs in History, Sangat Singh, Pg. 249)

I do not like the word “minority” (Aeengar)

When Pakistan was created at the time of partition it became crystal clear that there remained only one community (Hindus) in India. (Vallabh Bhai Patel)

When the British left, no promise was kept by the Indian leaders.

The Sikhs felt that since they had made more sacrifices for independence than other communities and had suffered a great deal during partition, the Congress would consider their demands sincerely and grant them special rights as promised by the Indian leaders. But, the Congress acted the opposite, ignored all the promises and turned against the Sikhs……Sikhs were insulted by the media and opposed by the Hindu community. Hindus started discriminating against Sikhs and abandoned Punjabi. (Tale of Blue Turban, Giani Laal Singh, 100)

The so-called democracy only existed in papers and was never put into practice. The Sikh nation felt agitated, uncomfortable and trapped in the chains of new slavery. This further solidified their doubts when they started to face discrimination at the hands of the government and Hindu public. From 72% to 96% high government jobs were occupied by the Hindu majority in Punjab. The army enlistment became dependent upon population instead of merit. This decreased Sikh enlistment from 40% to 1.2%. The situation of Sikhs in Punjab is very well described by Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer:

Hindus had started to make insulting jokes on Sikhs, discriminate against them in every profession and attack innocent Sikhs on numerous occasions. Especially in the cities of Punjab, it had become extremely difficult for Sikhs to live a peaceful life. (Punjabi Suba Morcha, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Pg. 6)

Violence of Hindus had increased significantly in Punjab so much so that they attacked Sikh procession held in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Stones and home made acid bombs were thrown at the procession causing injury to several Sikhs. Seeing all of this, the police took no action and let the perpetrators run free. This further enraged the Sikh community.

The Indian government had also reorganized the states on languages basis in the south. Kerala, Tamil and other states had been created on language basis but nothing was done in the north. Sikhs felt betrayed and raised their demand for setting up a Punjabi State in which Punjabi language would serve as the primary language of the state and Sikhs would have an autonomous area. This demand led to the struggle for Punjabi State.

Struggle Begins