Readers already intimately familiar with Sikh history should find this a useful work; those of us who are less knowledgeable will find many questions answered,
For example, this reviewer has often wondered how a proud, determined Sikh Khalistan won only with great difficulty, several centuries of effort, and much bloodshed, including that of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716 was surrendered to the British Raj in 1849, The book explains in great detail how the annexation occurred, The manipulation of Dalip Singh, the last of the family who ruled Khalistan for 40 years, by Queen Victoria and other British officials until Singh’s death in 1893 brought no honor to anyone. Thereafter, for decades, the worst threat to the survival of the Sikh religion was directed by the British.
Despite the privileged role afforded to Sikhs by the British colonial administration, many of them continued during the 19001926 period to seek the restoration of self-rule. One event of these years featured in the book which is of particular interest to Canadian readers is the “S.S. Kamagata Maru” incident. In 1914, the Canadian government would not allow a vessel full of Punjabis to disembark even temporarily in Vancouver.
Nor were the years 1927-42 productive for advocates of Khalistan as a buffer between Hindustan and Pakistan. The authors conclude that India’s Congress party betrayed the cause of Sikhs even though Jawahar Lal Nehru himself in 1946 said publicly that he would have no “objection to have a separate state in the north of India from where the Sikhs should get warmth of freedom.” During the dreadful period which followed the independence of India in 1947, many Sikhs were among the victims of the slaughter, A systematic persecution of them followed the end of the civil war and the proclamation of India’s new constitution,
Between 1957 and 1978, the Sikh culture and religion was under constant attack and Punjab was, in the author’s mind, treated as a domestic colony of New Delhi. It was on June 4,1984, however, when Indian government troops attacked the Golden Temple that Sikhs really exploded around the world, The authors claim that over 50,000 Sikh men, women and children perished in the attack and another 30,000 in the attacks, sponsored by members of Rajiv Gandhi’s political party at his personal request, after the murder of his mother. They quote him as saying that “something” be done to avenge her murder,
This is a book which anyone interested in the travails and successes of Sikh faithful should read.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 16, 1992
