Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Army of Shahid Singhs in 1984

source: tapoban.org by balpreet singh

After the assassination of Indra Gandhi on October 31, 1984, Sikhs were butchered across India.

I heard this true story about a Sikh couple living in an isolated village outside of Punjab. The couple was young and were amritdhari. The Singhni wore a dastaar and they had a young child.

The Sikh couple had an isolated farmhouse in a Hindu dominated area. When news of the assassination reached the area, and it was found out that Sikhs were being killed, some local thugs also decided it was the perfect chance to loot the farmhouse.

The Singh found out about these plans from some well wishers and told his wife that they had very little time and an attack was coming. The Singh said that they should leave their farm and escape to save their lives. The Singhnee however reminded him that they had done Parkash of Sri Guru Granth Sahib on the top floor of the house and how could they run away from Guru Sahib? The Singh again repeated that there was an attack coming and said that their young child would be killed. Singhnee jee insisted again that it would be wrong to run away from Guru Sahib and let the mob disrespect Guru Sahib's saroop.

The Singh in frustration then said, "Once they kill us, they will disrespect the saroop anyways so what is the point in staying? We can't save the saroop if we're dead. The best we can do is save ourselves now. There is no benefit in staying! You are being stubborn and stupid."

The Singhnee replied that while she had breath in her body, she would not abandon Guru Sahib, even to save her life and while she was alive, no one could dare do any disrespect.

With the mob now on its way, the Singh in frustration told his Singhnee that she could do what she wanted but he was leaving with their son. He then took the infant and escaped.

Singhnee jee went to Guru Sahib's room, and did ardaas. She asked Guru Sahib for protection and for the courage to, if need be, become Shahid in this seva. She then took a kirpan and waited.

When Singhnee jee saw the mob arrive, yelling and carrying weapons, ready to attack the house. She came down and stood at the door holding her unsheathed Sri Sahib. All of a sudden, the thugs in the mob began to turn around and run away, looking back in terror and then continuing to run. Singhnee jee was confused but amazed at Guru Sahib's kirpa as the mob retreated and did not return.

Some days later, the Singh came back to the village to check on the fate of his wife and their property. He fully expected that his wife would be assaulted and killed and their home looted. As he was nervously walking to his home, a Hindu acquaintence stopped him and asked, "Singh, where did you gather all those Nihangs from so quickly that day???!"

The Singh was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

The Hindu replied, "That day, when the mob went to attack your house, your wife came and stood in the door and she was surrounded by so many massive Nihangs who were so tall and carrying all kinds of weapons. Where did you gather all of them from so quickly?"

The Singh realised that Shahid Singhs had themselves come and protected Guru Sahib's saroop and his Singhnee's courage had been rewarded. He went home and begged for forgivness from his Singhnee and told her about how all the villagers were talking about the army of Nihangs that had protected their house.

2 Comments:

Blogger Jaswinder Singh said...

awww that was cute..

11:24 AM  
Blogger Jaswinder Singh said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

11:24 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home