25 years after Indira Gandhi's assassination

IANS 31 October 2009, 10:00am IST

NEW DELHI: Indians on Saturday flocked to Shakti Sthal to pay homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 25th death anniversary.

Known as 'Iron Lady', she ruled the country for 15 years in two stints before being assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the slain leader's daughter-in-law, were amongst the first to pay tribute at her memorial on the banks of the Yamuna river.

An all-religion prayer was also organised on the occasion.

The assassination on October 31, 1984 triggered massive anti-Sikh riots in which 3,000 people were killed in three days in the national capital.

It was a moment in time; it shook India and stunned the world. As Prime Minister Indira Gandhi walked briskly up to the picket gate dividing her home from her office that fateful on Wednesday morning 25 years ago, a hail of gunfire from two of her Sikh bodyguards sent her crumpling to the ground in a blood-soaked heap.

Her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, still in her nightdress, ran out to the garden as R.K. Dhawan, Gandhi's additional private secretary and shadow of many years, scrambled to help the 66-year-old leader.

But 31 bullets fired into a frail body gave her little chance. Although she was packed off in an Ambassador car in Sonia Gandhi's lap to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), doctors at the operating theatre knew it was a battle they could not win.

Although a police officer who wheeled her in said she was already dead, officially her death was announced several hours later as the Indian establishment tried to come to terms with losing the woman who had ruled for 15 years in two stints, two years less than her father and first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's unbroken 17 years.

Gandhi had been on her way to give an interview to British playwright and actor Peter Ustinov, who was waiting with his crew in the garden of neighbouring 1, Akbar Road, for the appointed time of 9.30 a.m. The silence of the morning was broken by the death rattle of bullets that sent flocks of birds scurrying into the sky, its echoes reverberating in Delhi's leafy and tranquil Lutyens' Zone and elsewhere in the days following that Oct 31, 1984.

Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, the two bodyguards, surrendered after emptying their magazines into her. The two were taken away to the guardhouse, where Beant was shot dead by other guards when he tried to escape. Satwant Singh was hanged to death five years later in 1989.

Her death - in apparent reprisal for the Indian Army's assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to confront heavily armed Sikh extremists - left a political vacuum in the capital. Elder son Rajiv Gandhi, her presumptive successor, was away in Kolkata. So was Pranab Mukherjee, No. 2 man in the cabinet even then. President Zail Singh was away on a visit to Yemen. They all tried to rush back to the capital to deal with a situation for which no one was prepared.

Rajiv Gandhi was persuaded, first by cousin and political aide Arun Nehru and then by Zail Singh, to step into the void and was sworn in as India's prime minister that evening. But by that time violence had already broken around AIIMS and there were reports of Sikhs being targeted in retaliation as extremist Sikh groups abroad hailed her killing.

Gandhi's body was brought in a gun carriage through deserted roads on the morning of Nov 1 to her father's sprawling Teen Murti Road residence and site of the Nehru Museum. Long queues of supporters and opponents filed past her body, while the world mourned the passing of a leader who was equally revered as she was despised.

Riots had erupted in several parts of the city overnight as organised mobs, alleged to be led by Congress party leaders, picked out Sikhs, assaulted them, snipped their locks, vandalised their property, torched their homes and began an orgy of lynching the like of which had not been witnessed since the division of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947.

For the next three days, as the country mourned, Delhi burned with the anti-Sikh violence spreading to Kanpur, Meerut and Ramgarh, where the Sikh Regimental Centre was based.

Working class neighbourhoods like Trilokpuri, Tilak Nagar, Seemapuri, that were exemplars of close-knit community living, overnight became monuments to hatred. Entire Sikh neighbourhoods went up in flames, their male members dragged out and burnt alive as vendetta-hungry mobs cheered. Even Sikh homes in affluent south Delhi were targeted and their homes razed. Some were even dragged out of buses and trains as they tried to flee the city.

The madness went unchecked for three days before a shell-shocked and paralysed administration called in the army on the evening of Nov 3. By that time, at least 3,000 Sikhs had been killed, thousands injured and brutalised and a community's collective psyche left so badly scarred that it has not healed even after a generation.

A few days later Rajiv Gandhi, at a massive memorial rally for his slain mother at India Gate, sought to extenuate the violence by saying: "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."

A quarter century later, Mrs Gandhi's legacy endures.

Her Italian-born daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, who now leads the ruling Congress, is often compared to her for her style and tight control over the party.

Indira Gandhi's policy of bank nationalisation, which heralded a state control over the country's fiscal policies and public enterprise, has been hailed as far-sighted and instrumental in preventing Indian banks from going the way of Western banks that collapsed in the wake of last year's economic meltdown.

Her muscular foreign policy, which led to the division of Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh, is still held out as an example of Indian hard power that critics say has been a tough act to follow by successive governments.

But, as her critics say, the imposition of emergency in June 1975 blotted her democratic credentials. Though she lifted emergency 19 months later and called for elections, which she lost, her image took a heavy beating and she never really recovered.

She returned to power in 1980. And, after younger son Sanjay Gandhi's death in an aircrash in June that year, she became a pale shadow of her former self.

She briefly basked in her reputation as a global statesperson when her government hosted both the Non- Aligned Movement Summit and the Commonwealth Summit in 1983. The following years, she bungled badly when she ordered the army into the Vatican of the Sikhs -- and paid with her life four months later.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/25-years-after-Indira-Gandhis-assassination/articleshow/5176355.cms

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Prof. Darshan singh ji ragi - 3

We have a message from A Gursikh Virji that he has seen the full katha on Dasam Granth by Prof. Darshan singh ji ragi. We hope to get a copy of it very soon. We will try to upload it on this blog. Please keep watching. with best regards. WJKK - WJKF

SikhsIndia

Prof. Darshan Singh ji Ragi

We are shocked on finding various vids on net against Prof. Darshan singh ji ragi. Some of the comments received by us are as below :

Bhagat Singh Bedi said...
This is unfair. The edited video shows that he is insulting Guru Gobind Singh. But Prof Darshan Singh is speaking against Dasam Granth. He says, it has this story about Guru Gobind Singh ji in it, and therefore, Dasam Granth cannot be written by Guru Sahib.He is defending Guru Sahib not putting him down. Please stop spreading this shit about the Prof by posting edited videos of him!

Prince George Sikh Youth said...
You know what, I am not going to watch a minute and a half clip, that has obviously been edited, and make judgements on anyone. In order for it to be fair the whole lecture should be posted, so I could at least understand the context of the lecture and do some background research, before I get out my hatchet.

AMARJIT SINGH said...
Please stop by displaying edit video of Singh Sahib Prof. Darshan Singh Ji Khalsa. Prof. Sahib is doing the job of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, SGPC etc. to implement the Rehat Maryada approved by Sri Akal Takhat Sahib to all Gurdwaras. The Committee of Hazoor Sahib & Patna Sahib has already rejected the Maryada by doing Aarti, parkash of Dasam Granth alongwith Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikh Community should come forward to support Prof. Sahib for these act. Do not forget Prof. Darshan Singh ji is the only person who protest strongly against Govt. in 1984 & the community stand with the kirpa of Waheguru. Prof. Sahib always do kirtan & katha according to maryada never use kachi bani, sakhi. Today large number of self called Sant doing and bholi bhali sangat listen it. In my opinion Prof. Sahib is the Hira of the community. He should continue to do his job. We support him and continue to support him to implement maryada to all gurdwaras. Jathedar of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, SGPC , DSGPC etc. are reqeusted to come forward for this job.

Sikhs India said...
We were shocked on viewing this clip & therefore while uploading it, we asked for your comments with a hope that we may get a clarification from our most valued visitors. We also request Respected Bedi Sahib to mail us a copy of the complete vid / text for uploading on this blog. We are not against Prof. Darshan Singh ji. But in case some one is trying to malign him, we must find it out.Any more details on this issue are most welcome. With best regards to one & all.

Amrit pal said...

I was shocked to see the video, since I have seen the full Katha on Dasam Granth by Prof Darshan Singh. Luckily, somebody made a video. I have a video copy of the full program. If you send me your mailing address, I will mail you a copy of the DVD.

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SHABAD VICHAR SMS Posts by Sd. Jagjot Singh ji

· Kadi ik din layi hi sahi, apne naal ik pran kar lo, ki aaj da din, Waheguru mere naal jo vi karega, mein usnu apna bhala man ke shukrana karanga. Phir dekho din de ant te tusi kine sehaj vich hovoge.

· Bandagi, in a way can be seen as SPIRITUAL ROMANCE. Many Bhagats have depicted themself as Suhagans and Waheguru as their Spiritual Husband. Sikhs must be aware of both their Physical and Spiritual lives and distinguish between the two.

· You must have realized that, some wishes take long time to fulfill. Probably,Guru Sahib wants to end the excitement attached to the fulfilment of such wish, so that we can remain in sehaj awastha always.

· Je Naam Atma da bhojan hai, te es de bina te Atma bhuki hi mar jayegi.Te mari hui atma vala jeev sada hi chinta vich jeenda hai. Apne bhale layi, nit apni Atma nu feed karo ji.

· Kadi suniya hai, koi kisan ik beej boye, te sakde guna phal paye. Gurmukh jan eho jeha vyapaar karde ne. Jad japya hoya Naam Ajapa ho jaye, ta rasna ik vaar japdi hai, naal sakde rom japde ne.

· “COMPLETE EMOTIONAL DETACHMENT FROM THE VISIBLE & COMPLETE ATTACHMENT TO THE INVISIBLE” Try to adopt this principle in your life and you will see your life change for the good.

· We would like to know your feedback on our SMSs. Pls. send MSG SHABADVICHARSMS followed by your opinion as an SMS to 567678.

· If you feel our SMSs are any help to you, pls. ask your friends/relatives to join in by sending JOIN SHABADVICHARSMS as an sms to 567678.

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श्रद्धा के आगे नतमस्तक है सीमा

Oct 25, 11:33 am

अमृतसर [जागरण संवाददाता]। पाकिस्तान में स्थित ऐतिहासिक गुरुद्वारा करतारपुर साहिब के दर्शन करने की भारतीय श्रद्धालुओं की मंशा पूरी होती नजर नहीं आ रही है। अभी ये लोग गुरुद्वारे से तीन किमी की दूरी पर भारतीय सीमा में धुस्सी बाध पर बने एक प्लेटफार्म से दर्शन करते हैं। यहा से गुरुद्वारे का सिर्फ गुंबद दिखाई देता है। डेरा बाबा नानक और गुरुद्वारा करतारपुर साहिब के बीच कई दशकों से एक कारीडोर की माग की जा रही है। पाकिस्तान सरकार ने अपनी ओर इस कारीडोर को बनाने की घोषणा भी कर दी है लेकिन भारत सरकार की ओर से अभी कोई मंजूरी नहीं दी है।

इस संदर्भ में शिरोमणि गुरुद्वारा प्रबंधक कमेटी [एसजीपीसी] प्रधानमंत्री को कई पत्र लिख चुकी है। एसजीपीसी की साधारण सभा ने भी कई बार इस संदर्भ में प्रस्ताव पारित किए हैं। पिछले साल केंद्रीय मंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी ने डेरा बाबा नानक का दौरा किया था। उस समय उन्हें करतारपुर साहिब के इतिहास के बारे में जानकारी दी गई थी। सिख नेताओं ने कारीडोर के निर्माण की माग की थी। तब मुखर्जी ने कारीडोर के निर्माण का आश्वासन दिया था। लेकिन अब तक यह माग पूरी नहीं हुई है।

पाकिस्तान की ओर बहती रावी नदी किनारे स्थित गुरुद्वारा करतारपुर साहिब के दर्शन अभी भारतीय सीमा में बने धुस्सी बाध के ऊपर बने एक बड़े प्लेटफार्म से किए जाते हैं। हालाकि श्रद्धा से सराबोर श्रद्धालु दर्शन के लिए रोज डेरा बाबा नानक की अंतरराष्ट्रीय सीमा के निकट पहुंच जाते हैं। भारत-पाक निगरानी चौकी से आधा किमी दूर स्थित इस प्लेटफार्म में पहुंचने के लिए श्रद्धालुओं को सीमा सुरक्षा बल के जवानों की जाच से गुजरना पड़ता है। 6 मई 2008 से पहले श्रद्धालु धुस्सी बाध पर खड़े होकर करतारपुर साहिब के दर्शन करते थे। बाबा गुरचरण सिंह बेदी, बाबा जगदीप सिंह बेदी मेमोरियल चैरिटेबल अस्पताल व बाबा सुखदीप सिंह बेदी [श्री गुरु नानक देव जी की 17वीं पीढ़ी के वंशज] ने इस प्लेटफार्म का निर्माण किया। इसको दर्शन स्थल का नाम दिया। तब से श्रद्धालु इस स्थल पर खड़े होकर दर्शन करते हैं।

with thanks : source : http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/national/general/5_1_5887309/

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Badal directs GMADA to demarcate land for memorial

Published by: Noor Khan
Published: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 at 16:19 IST

Chandigarh, Oct 25 Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to identify 25-35 acres of land in the historic village Chhapar Chiri in S A S Nagar (Mohali) to raise a memorial to commemorate the victory of Great Martyr Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and his brave soldiers, where they fought a battle against Mugals forces on the personal directions of the 10th Sikh Master Guru Gobind Singh.

An assurance to this effect was given by the Chief Minister to a delegation of Coordination Committee for the Memorial of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur led by its Chairperson Baljit Kaur in a meeting here, an official spokesman said.

The Chief Minister asked the delegation to constitute an expert committee involving the Sarpanch ( village head) and the Ex-Sarpanch besides prominent residents of the village to finalize the site plan and design of the proposed memorial to be constructed on the demarcated land.

He assured the delegation that the state government would extend full support and cooperation to complete the entire project with in a time frame in view of its greater significance since the Tercentenary Anniversary of the Battle falls on May 2010.

with thanks : source : http://www.samaylive.com/news/badal-directs-gmada-to-demarcate-land-for-memorial/664259.html

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Why it's being shown on net that Prof. Darshan Singh ji Ragi is doing Guru Ninda.

Why it's being shown on net that Prof. Darshan Singh ji Ragi is doing Guru Ninda. Who are the persons behind this controversy.Please post your most valued comments on this issue. We firmly believe, that Prof. Darshan Singh ji, can never do any Guru Ninda. May we request you, to let us know the source, where from we can get a copy of this complete vid. With due respect & regards to Prof. Darshan singh ji Ragi.

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Leamington's £11m Sikh Temple ready to open its doors

22 October 2009
By Sundari Sankar

It has taken nine years, cost £11 million and now covers 4,280 sq m, but Leamington and Warwick's new Sikh temple is finally complete.
Members of the area's Sikh community are preparing for an nine-day celebration to mark the official opening of the Gurdwara Sahib on the Queensway trading estate, starting on Sunday.

Thanking everyone who has contributed to the project, the general secretary Jagtar Singh Gill said: "After many years of waiting, the congregation have what they wanted."

Communications officer Rajvinder Singh Mann said: "Sunday will be a true milestone both for the Sikh community and the region as a whole.

"A project of this size can only have been possible with the unstinting support of the entire congregation both in terms of finances and the many hours that people have devoted to make this dream a reality."

Plans to build the four-storey building began in 2000 with a pledge from 240 families to raise £1 million.

The overall scheme has cost £11 million - completely funded by the area's Sikh community.

Lead architect Phillida Turrell from MPC, the building's designers, said: "Every part of this project has been a real challenge - on the plans I had to draw in every single block.

"But when you stand in front of the Gurdwara Sahib and see it in all its glory, then it all becomes worth it.

"It's been a great project to work on."

But not everyone has reacted positively to the new building.

An ongoing debate on the Courier's blog recently received the following post from an anonymous reader: "It's totally unnecessary for it to be so big and its completely out of place in its surroundings. Walking in the car park of Sainsbury's makes me feel like I'm in a scene from Aladdin."

Another reader wrote: "I think is a blooming eyesore. Why do we have to have such a building in Royal Leamington Spa?

"Have one by all means, but this size is ridiculous, whoever paid for it.

"It should never have been passed and I feel like I am in the middle of India, not England. It is a disgrace!"

But others have defended the temple. One blog contributor pointed out that the structure was entirely funded by the Sikh community, adding: "If it was a Christian church people would not be kicking up such a fuss."

Another wrote: "Most people from Leamington and Warwick would have grown up with Sikh friends or colleagues and know they have the same ideals as the rest of us.

"Perhaps its detractors should look in the mirror and do some soul-searching on how they stain the beauty of this planet, let alone Royal Leamington Spa."

What do you think about the new Sikh temple? Post a comment on the Courier blog at www.theleamingtoncourier.blogspot.com Alternatively, email editorial@leamingtoncourier.co.uk
or call 457737.

The temple's official opening ceremony will begin with prayers on Sunday at 9am, followed by events all day until 6.30pm.

People can join in a procession through south Leamington and Whitnash between 11am and 3pm and there will be tours of the temple and food and drink.

Celebrations will continue every day until Monday November 2, including Khalsa kids' club, film screenings, talks and a fireworks display.

A crew from the Sikh Channel will be paying a visit to broadcast live on television.

For a full programme of events, visit www.gurdwara-leamingtonandwarwick.co.uk or call 424297.

Anyone who cannot make it on Sunday can still take part in a free tour on Saturdays between 10am and 3pm between November 7 and December 5.
Email tours@gurdwara-leamingtonandwarwick.co.uk

with thanks : source : http://www.warwickcourier.co.uk/newsl/Leamingtons-11m-Sikh-Temple-ready.5758953.jp

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Dal Khalsa gives Punjab shutdown call on Nov 3

Amritsar, Oct 23 (PTI) Radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa today gave a call for a complete shutdown in Punjab on November three to mark the 25th anniversary of 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and elsewhere.

"The objective of the shutdown call is to express anguish against" the riots and "expose" the "denial of justice" to the victims besides paying homage to those killed, its spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh told reporters here.

The Khalsa Action Committee (KAC), a conglomerate of various Sikh outfits, endorsed the call and said "only essential and emergency services including medical services will be allowed during the total shutdown".

with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/345170_Dal-Khalsa-gives-Punjab-shutdown-call-on-Nov-3#

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Army welcomes Sikh recruit

By Julia Duin on Oct. 23, 2009 into Belief Blog

Sikhs, which are one of the world's least-understood religious groups because of their signature turbans, have long been barred from U.S. military service because they insist on wearing these turbans over a long unshorn braid of hair plus a beard. This does not square easily with the Army's insistence on crewcuts for clean-shaven men.

Several Sikh media organizations sent out a press release Friday about a Sikh officer, Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, whom the Army just agreed can keep his religious regalia. He is a New Jersey doctor who was recruited to join the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program several years ago. He maintained his turban throughout his 8 years of medical education, which included specialized Army training, attendance at Army ceremonies and work in military medical facilities.

In June, he was told that he must remove his turban and cut his hair to begin active duty. He appealed that decision and Friday, the Army agreed he was right. Read the press release here from the Sikh Coalition, which adds some interesting details on how 49 members of Congress petitioned the Army to relent. There is also a Sikh dentist involved who is also asking the Army to change its policy.

Sikhs have been ultra-rare in America's armed forces since the 1980s when the Army revised its dress code concerning the wearing of religious articles. It's a mystery why it's taken the Army so long to change on this, as the Canadians - including the Mounties - and the British allow turbaned Sikhs to serve as active duty military.

- Julia Duin, religion editor

with thanks : source : http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2009/oct/23/army-welcomes-sikh-recruit/#

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Sikh Matrimonial : Sikh Boys & Girls

Please view the Matrimonial profiles of Sikh boys & Sikh Girls on our

Sikh web portal http://www.sohnijodi.com/

Some of the recent postings are being mentioned below :

S S Malhotra, Chartered accountant, born 1983;

Balkar singh, Software engineer in MNC, persuing MBA IT;

Dr. J S Kapur, MBBS, born 1982;

S S Ahluwalia, Businessman, born 1983;

P S Ahuja, BCA, DNIIT, born 1982;

Karandeep Malik, Software engineer, born 1983;

M S Pannu, M Phil topper, Lecturer;

Gurmeet singh, BE, MBA;

Lakhvinder singh, B. Tech;

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