The forgettable massacre?

There is nothing intelligent so say about a massacre
Kurt Vonnegut, Novelist

On a Summer evening, 35 Sikh men and children were ordered out my armed camouflaged personnel and were lined up near to a gurudwara. The armed men opened a volley fire with their automatic rifles, while chanting religious slogans. The firing continued for ten minutes stopping only to reload their rifles. The date was March 20, 2000 and location was Chittisinghpura in Anantnag District of Kashmir. The murders of the 35 innocent Sikhs were member of Lashkar e- Toiba, (LeT) a Pakistan sponsored group which has often been mentioned as the veritable arm of ISI. Some of those involved in the attack was identified as Rasool Wani, Zamrood, Abu Maaz, Shahid, Babar, Tipu Khan and Maqsood all members of Pakistan sponsored Jihad Groups.

The massacre was an assault on the Sikh psyche worldwide as many Sikh mourners attended the funeral of the massacred men. The murderous rampage resulted in the suspicion of our Islamic brethren by the miniscule Sikh population in the region.

While many so called ‘’righteous” Sikhs have now been seen talking with the leadership of Pakistani Army, ISI and LeT, attempting to revive a dead and impractical idea called ‘’Khalistan” no one of them, who claim to speak for the ‘’oppressed” Sikhs (despite having lived in Canada and USA and seldom visiting their Pind) has called for the prosecution of the group leaders who were responsible for the massacre. They have been so subservient to their circus masters that they have not even asked for an public apology from Islamabad. Moreover, the when those supporting the ludicruous idea joins hand with the same people who had ordered the killing of innocent Sikhs, the hypocrisy and the bankrupt morality of those are laid bare in the open.  

Is the deafening silence because not enough of Sikh blood was spilt on that faithful day to denounce it or demand answers from those who fund these groups ( the same circus masters to whom the leaders procrastinate). 

Is the massacre of our brethren not being talked about because it carries no potential for political capitalisation, or is it not being mentioned because it is an inconvenient truth which will annoy the masters resulting in stoppage of  pittance funding to Sikh groups based in Pakistan and nurtures the delusional ‘’Khalistan dream”. 

Or is not being spoken about because the blood of our brethren is a hinderance for those who want to fill up their coffers, underwritten by our suffering

Our community which has seen enough trials and tribulations since the partition of Punjab in 1947 and need no rerun of bloody episodes. Those who are trying to hijack my religion and bring back violence in the name of religion needs to know that such degenerate beings will find no mercy from the panth anymore. We want peace to relish our dreams and aspirations not another round of bloodshed. If the Khalistan dreamers want scape goats who can validate a reason for getting blood money from their masters, they can import the goats from their own back yards (Canada and England), instead of looking for cheap labour in South Asia like a bourgeoise regime which they are.  

Gopal Singh Chawla with LeT leader Hafiz Muhammad saeed

Darkest of Times Elucidates the Bravest of Sikhs

Young man of steel this warrior brave
Steadfast and sober dressed in blue
Rises at dawn and drains his cup
And girds up for the coming day
Prayers are said in early morn
Proud turban does his head adorn

--Rattan Singh Bahngu ,Chaupai

On the faithful day of June 6, 1984, the Army was given a Pyrrhic mission of entering the Golden temple and sanitize the temple which was being occupied by armed terrorists. The mission was a sensitive one as the Golden temple was the holiest shrine for the adherents of Sikh faith. Given the sensitivity, Commanding Officers gave the option for soldiers to sit out of the operation if they found the mission contradicting their religious principles. However, in true ethos of a volunteer Army, none of the soldiers backed out of the mission and stayed diligently committed to the mission assigned to them.  

A Sikh officer of the 10 Guards, exemplified this adherence to his warrior ethos typical of Sikhs.

Raising his hand, Lieutenant Jasbir Singh stated that he wanted to be the first soldier in the temple to flush out the terrorists who had set up grenade factories and camped inside the temple with weapons. He said he wanted to be the first to flush out the militants who had brought shame to the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.

As the young Lieutenant led his troopers into the temple, he was shot and wounded by the terrorists camped inside the temple. Although bullets shattered both his legs, he initially refused to be evacuated from the premises and continued to command his troops to complete the mission objective. He was later evacuated, after receiving direct orders from CO of the Operation.
Raina choose to be in the operation to force out the armed brigands who masqueraded as true adherent of the Guru’s teachings but in reality violated his teachings both in text and spirit. The Officer was later awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his valour.

On that faithful day, Jasbir Singh Raina exhibited the highest order of courage and chose to fight for his faith and beliefs against those Khalistani’s who desecrated the Akal Takth, and committing heinous acts against humanity within the vicinity of the most sacred premise for the Sikhs.
For every terrorist who committed heinous crimes against humanity, there were many other righteous men who stood up against such heinous acts.

It is time we honour the valour of men like Jasbir Singh Raina who bled for the Sikh faith even at the peril of their lives, and give them their rightful place in Sikh history.