Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha are two martyrs of 20th century Sikh history. They turned the tide of Indian History and exposed the modern Indian pseudo-democracy and caste based Brahmanical Indian constitution. (THE REAL SON OF SARDAARS):
Sukhdev Singh and Harjinder Singh stood for the truth and accepted the Sikh historical tradition of acting against enemies of the Sikh Nation.
They repeated history and
proved that the Sikh spirit of the past is alive and well in the
present. They are part of the new chapter of ongoing Sikh history. In
the 18th century Bhai Mehtab Singh and Bhai Sukha Singh killed Massa
Ranghar, who disregarded the sacredness of Darbar Sahib and used the
holy site for his personal recreation and entertainment. The actions of
these two men was a signal to those who disregard the sacredness of Sikh
shrines. The Khalsa of the past and of the future will always protect
itself from its hostile enemies.
In the 20th century, the Indian
State and underground inhumane Brahmanical forces attacked Darbar Sahib
and other Sikh Gurudwaras throughout India. The entire Indian political
apparatus embarked on a massive terrorist campaign against the Sikhs and
became responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Sikh men,
women and children.
At this point in Sikh history, Bhai Harjinder
Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha took action to insure that the
Sikhs who died, did not die in vain. They knew the Indian State, who
openly terrorized its own citizens, would never mete out justice to the
Sikhs. In today's modern world, the Indian State continues to justify
the massive planned killing of innocent Sikhs. Perhaps the modern world
is prepared to allow State sponsored terrorism, however, the Khalsa is
not.
In the spirit of the Sikhs of the 18th century, Harjinder Singh
and Sukhdev Singh stood and claimed justice in
a hostile environment; fully aware of the consequences of their actions. They assasinated General A.S. Vaidya in Pune. General Vaidya was the Commander of the Indian army in June 1984 and put into action the State's terrorist attack against the Darbar Sahib and other Sikh Gurudwaras.
a hostile environment; fully aware of the consequences of their actions. They assasinated General A.S. Vaidya in Pune. General Vaidya was the Commander of the Indian army in June 1984 and put into action the State's terrorist attack against the Darbar Sahib and other Sikh Gurudwaras.
Most
Hindu fundamentalist, anti-national and extremist organizations gave
full support to the army and distributed sweets to the army after it
pillaged and destroyed the Akal Takht and the Darbar Sahib complex. This
was a black day for the Sikh Community. On this day Hindu
fundamentalist organizations repeated history. The first time the
Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh (RSS) distributed sweets was after the killing
of Mahatma Gandhi by RSS activist Nathu Ram Godsey and then in June
1984 they shared sweets with the Indian army for their attack on the
Sikhs.
The Government's actions against the Sikh Nation compelled
many to pick up arms and defend their faith and lives. They now knew
that the State would never treat them as citizens but instead as
unwanted second class inhabitants, inhabitants who continue to resist
assimilation into the Hindu majority. The Khalsa takes inspiration from
Gurbani and Sikh history. Guru Gobind Singh wrote in the Zafarnama:
"When all peaceful means to resolve a crucial problem fail, it is
justified to wield the sword."
Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda took arms
in light of Gurbani. They died for the Sikh faith and Sikh homeland.
They are men of their word. Both of them had no fear of death. They had
won death. They shared sweets with each other and jail staff after the
Magistrate pronounced their death sentence. They fully respected the
Magistrate's decision and accepted the consequences of their actions.
These men were not fighting against any single person or religion. They
stood up against the Brahmanical forces that had created divisions
between the people, killed innocent people and encouraged injustice.
They revived the Sikh tradition of insuring justice. They were full of
faith in Guru Granth Sahib and declared that our Nation is Guru Granth
Sahib Ji Maharaj. We should establish Khalsa Raj on the basis of Guru
Granth Sahib.
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda's Childhood
Bhai
Harjinder Singh Ji's mother and father, Bhai Gulzar Singh and Bibi
Gurnam Kaur are hardworking and honest Gursikhs. Bhai Jinda had two
older brothers, Bhai Nirbhail Singh and Bhai Bhupinder Singh and one
sister, Bibi Balvinder Kaur. Bhai Sahib was born in 1961 and received
his early education in his village of Gadli in dist. Amritsar. After
completing his early education, he enrolled in Khalsa College Amritsar.
He was in BA part II when the 1984 attack occurred. Like every other
Sikh, Bhai Jinda's blood boiled at the news. He left his studies and
joined the Sikh movement. When the Darbar Sahib complex was under army
control, he along with other Sikhs from his village marched to free it,
but the armies attacks and abuse on the way forced them to return home.
Bhai Harjinder Singh then went to his maternal grandparent's home in
Baiee Chak, Sree Ganganagar Rajasthan. Along with his cousin, Baljinder
Singh Rajoo and his friend Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha, they decided to
take revenge for the disrespect shown to the Gurdwaras.
Bhai Rajoo
was arrested by the police and was horribly tortured. Hearing about
this, Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda were even more enraged.
Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha's Childhood
Bhai Sukhdev Singh was born in Rajasthan's Chak N: 11 in Ganganagar.
His parents, Bhai Mengha Singh and Bibi Surjeet Kaur were farmers and
amritdhari Gursikhs. Bhai Sukha received the gift of Sikh in his
heritage.
Along with his schooling he daily used to study GurbaaNee.
After doing his early schooling in village Manakpur, he received his BA
from Gian Joti College and was studying for an MA in English when the
1984 attack occurred. Bhai Sukha left his home and made plans to take
revenge. He joined with his friend Bhai Rajoo to avenge the disrespect
of the Sikhs. He then met with Bhai Jinda. All three had faith in baaNee
and Sikhee. Bhai Sukha's mother was so filled with love for the Panth,
that she did ardaas that Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda achieve their
mission. She gave her sons over to the Guru.
Bhai Jinda and Bhai
Sukha made Delhi the centre of their activities. Delhi was where the
1984 pogroms had taken place. The government began to broadcast the
pictures of these Singhs on TV and the killers who had taken part in the
November massacre were afraid to leave their houses.
Bhai Jinda
probably had similar terror in the minds of Indian Government officials
as that Bhai Hari Singh Nalwa had in the minds of the Pathaans. Bhai
Jinda was extremely brave and intelligent. It is very rare to find a
person who possesses both intelligence and bravery or courage. Bhai
Jinda was very street-smart and escaped the police custody several
times.
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda's escape from Ahmedabad Jail
When Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda was caught for the first time in Gujrat
side, he escaped the police when they were taking him to the court. The
way Bhai Sahib escaped the first time from Ahmedabad is very much like
Hindi movies. Bhai Sahib requested the police officials to open his
handcuffs as he had to go to the bathroom. As soon as Bhai Sahib was
released he ran away and vanished in the crowd. It is said that he
walked his way to Punjab because he did not want to travel in buses or
trains because there were police looking for him all over.
Delivering Justice to Arjun Das and Lalit Makan
The first of Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda's and Bhai Sukhdev Singh
Sukha's great actions was to avenge the massacre of 1984. These two
Singhs of Guru Sahib killed two key people who led the mobs to burn and
kill Sikhs in 1984, namely Arjun Das and Lalit Makan. After these two
incidents Delhi was rocked and shocked. They had never thought that Sikh
militants could strike in Delhi so daringly. After these incidents Bhai
Jinda was declared the most wanted man in India.
Punishing General Vaidiya the architect of the 1984 attack on Sri Darbar Sahib.
This did not stop Bhai Sahib from carrying out militant actions. Bhai
Sukha and Bhai Jinda decided to punish the general who had planned the
1984 Darbar Sahib attack: Gen. Vaidiya. After retiring from the army,
Vaidiya had moved to Poona. Bhai Jinda and Bhai Sukha had reunited in
Punjab and went to Poona together. They arrived on August 17, 1986. They
went to the house that Vaidiya was living at, to find he had moved.
They asked the servant in the house where Vaidiya had moved to but he
wasn't clear and they had trouble understanding his language. They went
in the general direction and a couple days later saw Vaidiya's guard
outside the house. They began to make regular rounds to find when
Vaidiya would come out.
On August 19, 1986 at around 11am, they saw
Vaidiya's wife come out with an umbrella and the General followed.
Vaidiya himself was driving the car. He went to the bazaar and bought
some things. Bhai Jinda and Bhai Sukha were on a motorcycle following
them. When Vaidiya was returning home after shopping, Bhai Jinda pulled
the motorcycle beside the car and Bhai Sukha began to shoot. Vaidiya's
head hit the wheel and his head was bleeding. The Singhs shouted
jaikaaray and made their getaway. The Singhs had also wanted to kill
Gen. Dayal, another officer responsible for the attack, but decided now
was not the time. They returned to the house they had rented, changed
clothes and took a bus to Bombay. From there, they went to Durg and then
Calcutta by train.
Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha's arrest
On
September 17, 1986, Bhai Sukha returned to Poona to get their weapons
that were left there. He along with another Singh got into an accident
with a truck and were arrested. They were tortured for five months and
then for a year and a half were kept in leg irons.
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and General Labh Singh
In the meantime Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda along with General Labh
Singh planned and executed the biggest bank robbery in the history of
not India but Asia. They looted 6 crore rupees in mid eighties and it is
equivalent of about 6 million US dollars in today's money. This money
was used to finance the militant movement and was partly responsible for
increase in militancy after this robbery.
There are several
incidents that depict the quick thinking of Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda.
At one time Bhai Jinda and General Labh Singh were traveling together.
They were stopped by police at a check point. The police got suspicious
of them and before they could say anything, Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda
spoke out in a typical Punjab Police accent of Punjabi starting with a
Gaal (bad word) and ordered them to salute.
The police constable and
soldiers were taken aback and by that time Bhai Jinda and General Labh
Singh escaped. Now that is what I call confidence and quick thinking.
Bhai Jinda and General Labh Singh fooled them to think that they were
police officers.
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda's Arrest and Torture
Finally after one year Bhai Jinda along with Bhai Satnam Singh Bawa was
caught in Delhi at Gurdwara Majnoo Daa Tilla. It is said that he was in
Dehli to send Buta Singh to Dharam Rai but before he could do that he
was caught by police after a brief encounter. Bhai Sahib did not have
any weapons at that time so he could not give them tough time. He was
shot in the leg during the encounter.
He was severely tortured by
police and the police wanted to dig out information about his Kharkoos
from him but they failed. They even threatened to chop his leg under the
disguise of an operation if he did not yield but Dhan Bhai Jinda, he
did not care. He was one of the very few Kharkoos who would physically
attack the police even in the jail. He was too brave. Police personnel
were scared to go alone in his cell.
Bhai Jinda and Bhai Sukha reunited forever.
In Poona, Bhai Sukha and the other Singhs had finished doing Ardaas
after Rehraas Sahib, and then shouted Jaikaaray. Bhai Jinda was in a
nearby cell and a also shouted jaikaaray. Bhai Jinda had recognized Bhai
Sukha's voice. Finally the two had been reunited.
Later Bhai Jinda
along with Bhai Sukha were transferred to Bombay and prosecuted and got
the death penalty for killing General Vaidya. It is amazing how Bhai
Jinda and Bhai Sukha faced death. It is clear from their letters that
they sent out that they were not at all scared of death. The last four
years of their life were spent doing a lot of Bhagti.
They slept
minimal and spent all day reading Gurbani. Their regular nitnem was 11
Sukhmani Sahibs, 25 Japji Sahibs, and 3 hours amritvela abihyaas a day
apart from their regular 7 bani nitnem while in jail.
Meeting Baba Thakur Singh Ji Khalsa:
Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukhdev Singh Ji Sukha wanted to
take Amrit when they were in jail. As a result they asked the officials
at the jail they were at if an Amrit Sanchar could be organised. The
Hindustani government did not let this happen.
When Baba Thakur
Singh Ji went and met both these beloved sons of the panth they told
Baba Ji about the government refusing their request from an Amrit
Sanchar. Baba Ji told these beautiful Singhs that no government or power
in this world could prevent them from receiving the gift of Amrit. Baba
Ji then said that, the king of kings, the saint of saints, that
beautiful king of this world and the next Satguru Sri Guru Gobind Singh
Ji Maharaj would give these two Singhs Amrit personally hereafter.
Day of Hanging
Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda woke up at 12am. They bathed and until 3am
and then they did paath. They had prepared some dahee(n) (yogourt) which
they then ate along with one apple each. They then did their final
ardaas and keertan sohila paath.
They dressed in white cholas with
kesri dastaars and kamarkassas. Bhai Jinda shook hands with the jail
officials and thanked them for keeping them for 5 years. Bhai Sukha and
Jinda also asked about their 30+ relatives who were in Poona.
When
they were lead to the gallows, they shouted jaikaaras. They walked with
long strides. Bhai Nirmal Singh who was in a cell near the gallows also
replied to the jaikaraas.
The two Singhs climbed the gallows
with smiles. They had wanted to bring sweets for the executioners, but
perhaps they were not allowed. They kissed their nooses and even though
they wanted to put them around their own necks, were not allowed to do
so. The time had come and according to Bhai Nirmal Singh, Bhai Jinda
shouted loudly to Bhai Sukha, Veer Sukhiaa! Roar a Fateh! He then heard
jaikaraas. And then they stopped.
Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jinda were
kept hanging for 30 minutes. They were hung together. For the execution,
4 Deputy Police Commissioners, 10 assistant Police Commissioners, 14
inspectors, 145 sub-inspectors and 1275 officers had been assigned.
At quarter to 5 in the morning, police vehicles came to the Poona
Gurdwara Sahib where the families were staying. They took the family to a
police station outside Poona from where they were taken further.
The family was then taken to a spot near the Moola River where a part of
a sugarcane field had been cleared. Bhai Sukha and Bhai Jindas bodies
had been brought to the site in a truck. The family brought clothes and
items for the cremation and despite police protests, insisted on doing
everything themselves. They washed the bodies and Bhai Jinda and Bhai
Sukhas fathers lit the pyres at 6.20am. No relative showed any sadness
but instead congratulated each other.
Three bibis from Jammu did keertan. The ashes were not given to the family.
Conclusion:
What beautiful Singhs of Satguru Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj! For
as long as the stars stay in the sky the whole Sikh nation shall always
have these two beloved jewels of Guru Sahib in their hearts and minds.
Professor Puran Singh described the nature of the son's of sovereign Punjab's mothers:
The son's of Punjab's Mothers
They don't live life cautiously
They aren't afraid to sacrifice their lives
And they don't turn away from the battlefield.
The new Sikh generation now must take responsibility to fulfill the
dream of Khalsa Raj. Awake Youngmen of Punjab, Awake! Take and wear the
Double Edged Sword of the timeless.
