For most of the young Sikhs, June is the month in which the Indian army launched its infamous Operation Bluestar, an armed assault of the Harimandir Sahib and 36 other Gurdwaras in 1984. While this is certainly the most traumatic period in our recent history, it is one of those historical coincidences that the ‘anniversary of the Chota Ghalughara, or the minor holocaust also falls in this month.
Sikhs have been the victims of many ghalugharas and It is our destiny that we face odds which would seem daunting to many, but with Akal Purkh’’s blessings, ‘we have always emerged stronger from such incidents, We have to if we are the true followers of our Gurus Guru Arjan Dey ji Gunt Arjan Dey fi, the fifth Gunn, (born 1563) was the younger son of Guru Ram Das ji. He was the first of the Gurus to have been born in a Sikh home.
Under Gunt Arjan Dev ji, Sikhism became more firmly established. Its religious and social ideals received telling affirmation in practice. It added to its ‘orbit more concrete and permanent symbols and its administration became more cohesive.
By encouraging agriculture and trade and by the introduction of a system of tithe collection for the common use of the community, a stubble economic base was secured.
Guru Granth. Sahib Erich was Compiled Under his direction. It was he who ordered the Sikhs to keep the Granth at Harimandir Sahib.
Guru Arjan Dev ji taught by example, humility and sacrifice. He was the first martyr of the Sikh faith. The Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, alarmed at the increasing popularity of the Sikh faith among the Hindus and the Muslims, felt threatened by the growing influence of this new faith.
“As he wrote in his Tuzuk “So many simple minded Hindus, nay, many foolish Muslims too have been fascinated the Guru’s ways and teachings…For ‘many years the thought had been presenting itself to my mind that either 1 should put an end to this false traffic, of that he be brought into the fold of Islam.”
He ordered that Guru Arjan Dev ji be brought to him, his property confiscated and that he be put to death with torture. Influential Muslim friends like Main Mir, the Sufi saint who laid the foundation of Harimandir Sahib, offered to intercede on the Guru’s behalf, but the Guru for bade hint and entombed him to find peace: in God’s Will, Guru Arjan Dev ji was tortured for several days, He passed away on May 30, 1606. Operation Bluestar Hither is one place of worship in the world which welcomes people of all faiths and enshrines within it a scripture containing hymns of Hindus and Muslims of all castes, which is word shipped as God incarnate, it is the Harimandir of Amritsar.
Jews deny Gentiles access to their ‘Waiting Wall; Zoroastrians forbid non Zoroastrians’ entrance to their Aviaries, Catholics forbid non Catholics from approaching their sacred relics, Hindus bar the gates of their temples to Muslim’s and the so-called lower Muslims deny non-Muslims add to Mecca and Medina Only the doors of Harimandir are open to everyone, no matter what race or religion he or she belongs to, Everyone ‘can participate in the worship that goes ‘on almost round the clock and every foreguts a free meal at the Guru Ka Langar the Guru’s Kitchen.
To be this wonderful oasis, this spiritual sanctuary, that was the target of the Indian army on June 6, 1994, It was a battle. Guns, mortars tanks helicopters and other deadly paraphernalia of war were freely used as thousands of soldiers of the Indian army attacked the Golden Temple, and 36 other Gird wares ta India: To the army it was a day of battle. The soldiers were briefed about ways of tackling the “enemy” and so on, For the Sikhs in the Golden Temple, it was a holy day, the day following the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, who had built Harimandir Sahib. There ‘were thousands of pilgrims who had ‘come there to pay obeisance on the ‘occasion and had stayed the night, listening to the Kirtan of divine hymns.
These were tiring times. Police and paramilitary forces searched all the pilgrims before they were allowed to enter the premises. There had been a number of incidents of firing by the government forces. The firing had been intense during the last few days put people still braved bullets to pray to their Gunu.
The army attacked, The Sikhs defended themselves with all their might. There were countless casualties, including Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Bhai Amrik Singh and General Subegh Singh, a much decorated former soldier of the Indian army who had masterminded the defense plan of the Golden Temple.
A large number of women and children were among the thousands of devotees who were killed in this action, in which tanks and artillery guns were really used to kill civilians, The Akal Takht, that majestic seat of the Sikh temporal and spiritual power, was blasted by tank can as were numerous other historicists within the Golden Temple complex. The Harimandir itself was also heavily damaged.
Sikhs were killed, their most sacred buildings were destroyed, and even their historic artifacts were not spared. In one of the worst instances of its kind, the army ‘also destroyed the Sikh Reference Library, the Sikh museum and the Toshakhana, or the room in which many priceless Sikh artifacts were stored.
Thousands of manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib were destroyed in a fire which was started a day after the Operation Bluestar was officially over. Many of three manuscripts had been given for safekeeping by Muslims in Pakistan after the partition of India. It is really unfortunate that all date, no ‘one has been able to bring out an official list of the people who died in this infamous incident. Such things have to be recorded. Even the Nazis recorded the details of the Jews they killed during the ‘Second World War. The Indian government has not made any such effort. Nor has the SGPC published a list of its own.
If the authorities thought that they had destroyed the will of the Sikhs, they were sadly mistaken. Sikhs the world over organized themselves to protest this desecration of their holiest shrine. When the news of this incident was heard, there were protest gatherings all over the world.
New Sikh organizations were formed to counter this new threat to the Sikhs. A newspaper, The World Sikhs News, was launched to acquaint people with the truth and to counter the misinformation which was being disseminated by the government of India and its agents. Contrary to the expectations of the Indian government, Operation Bluestar gave fillip to the movement for a free and independent Sikh state.
The Akali daily newspaper in Punjabi was started in 1920 by the leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Like other newspapers established by the community earlier, including the Punjabi Akal Prakash (1876), the Khalsa Advocate (1903), and the Khalsa in English (1899), and those established later like The ‘Spokesman, the Sikh Review, and the World Sikh News (1984), it was started by the community as a reaction to circumstances and the need of the time, The paper forcefully conveyed the feelings ‘of the community on various issues which needed to be addressed at the time.
Chhota Ghalughara the year was 1746, Lakhpat Rai was a Minister of the Governor of Lahore. He had personal malevolence towards the Sikhs as his brother had been killed in one of the battles with the Sikh forces. He launched an all-out campaign to annihilate the Sikhs and set forth with a large army, which fell upon a body of Sikhs at Khan wan in Gurdaspur district, of Punjab. The Sikhs put up a brave fight, but were overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the enemy forces and more than 7,000 of them died in battle, a thousand were captured, taken to Lahore and were beheaded there.
It is this incident which is known as the Chhota Ghalughara in Sikh history. It is a Chhota Ghalughara, because another such massacre was to take place later. ‘That is known as the Wada Ghalughara, Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The man of destiny who, by his superior military genius and political acumen, integrated the Sikh confederacies into the sovereign State of the Khalsa was Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
He was born in Gujranwala, Pakistan on November 13, 1780, and made a name for himself with his daring episodes, before Lahore, which was to be the capital of the Sikh Empire, Ranjit Singh’s death on June 27, 1839, left a deep hiatus. The Khalsa lost a leader who had, by his commanding personality, foresight and skill, become their beaut ideal and secured them the status of a sovereign people. The British had by then taken practically the whole of India, except Punjab and Sindh, and their empire bordered on the southern confines of the Sikh state, which was so weakened by the death of the Maharaja, that it could not last long after the extraordinary man who had built it was no longer there.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 2, 1995
