Amrita Pritam

This Kaura character, though biased, does have a good point while describing situation in 80ies.
I was also there in Delhi/Punjab and other places in India during 80ies during my schooling.

From a Sikh-Punjabi heritage growing in Delhi perspective:

Delhi and Hariyana were worst, My memory is still fresh with the image of my Dad travelling with a .12 shotgun through Panipat in the fiat car and he pulled my ears when I played with the Kartoos(Long Game Singh Bros brand). Sikh woman had started wearing sarees to attract less attention. Sikhs were thrown in Wells and their hair were forcebly cut and the Gurudwara at Panipat was burnt(right on GT road). In himachal my cousin Billa`s best friend was tossed off the cliff while on his honeymoon. My tayaji and daddy used to fight over Khalistan talks(dad being pro-Indian and Tayaji old die-hard Jamindar type).
Kids at School in South Delhi made lot of fun at my expense.
I also remember the day Jun 6th, 1984 when I was just learning to ride a scooter and some Topi wala lalaji said something like `Phoos do Behnchod ko`, while looking at Jarnail Singh`s photo and looking at me from sideways. It was indeed tough.

On the other hand, I genuinely felt sad when innocent Hindus would be dragged out of buses and shot, incident at Lalru(near Ambala) is so fresh in my mind.
Some extremists did commit atrocities on Hindus, I was also sad when my Punjabi Hindu friends would ask my Dad to accompany them for their offerings to Sikh Gurudwaras.
This next generation of Punjabi hindus will never goto Gurudwaras again.

All this could have been different if only India had a vision and compassion to deal with Sikhs. Many lives could have avoided.

Re: # 161
I come from interior of punjab and have both hindu and sikh relatives.I went through that period not as a child,but as young adult.There were bad elements in both hindus as well sikhs who tried their best to create the divide,but they failed because common people did not follow them.In haryana and delhi,it was largely state sponsored.I know what that bugger Bhajan Lal used to say.Maximum efforts to keep normalcy intact were by the communists--people without religeon and god,isn`t it a paradox??

Just an attempt to learn here, if someone could please explain to me. All the websites I see are quite biased on this issue:

- What was(is?) the theological difference between the Damdami Taksal and Nirankari`s?

- Why was it such an explosive issue? were there underlying economic/social reasons or purely theological?

furthermore, can it be compared to the muslim/ahmedi issue?

i remember travelling by a night bus in 1982 from dilli to kullu via chandigarh. i was young and stupid. at one place the bus was shot at and the driver drove thru a crude road-block. we reached chandigarh, and no one dared get down in the bus-station even to take a leak, there were guys with long swords hanging around, we dared not even smoke. the conductor changed, and once we hit the hills, we relaxed a bit and lit-up. then we realized that the conductor was a sikh and came over..scared again. he was actually genial, he merely wanted to let us know of his contacts in kullu in case we wanted to buy ganja. only good part was the buses were not that crowded.

Nirankaris are sect who worship deh taari gurus ie living gurus - against the edict of Guru Gobind Singh. They are a cult. Radha Sawami is another. These `gurus` tried to replace the original gurus, and undermine sikhism with the blessings of other illwishers of sikhs.

Re: # 160 Mohair11


S0ck my c0ck, arseh0le.

Re: # 162
Drlokraj ji,
Tussey Commie spin jroor deyoga, har gull nu.

Khair, There were no riots in Punjab between Hindu-Sikhs.
At one point, I almost thought of cutting my hair, but ``Jako Rakhy Sainya``.
Dehdi Kala Tau Assey Chardi Kala vich A Gaye.

Re: # 164
yes you are right.The little difference is that not all Nirankaris are sikhs by birth.I have seen hindus,sikhs and even muslims following nirankari sect.
Further,the nirankaris have their own religeous book,which they place parallel to Guru Granth sahib.

#163,
Nirankaris, Radha Swamis etc have tried to steer the path of Sikhs by replacing SGGS with their version of Living Guru.

Their story is this, that somehow Guru Gobind Singh after 1707 in Nanded, went and hid himself and lived as a Yogi for 150 odd years or so, then ther Guru met him and he secretly appointed his a successor.

Mainstream Sikhs believe in SGGS as the one and only Guru. Let there be no doubts.
Others can start their own religions as they please, it is a free country. But nobody should be allowed to alter the existing religion, Bahut Qurbaniya dittiya ne already.

I have even heard Japjee sounding verses with other names in it, basically replacing Nanak with theirs.

It is unfortunate.

there is an area called ``Gumti`` off GT road in kanpur, which had sikh population. these folks were truck-owning close-knit fmailies. some of the kids had money-nasha on them, and were upto the usual gunda-gardi some kids with moneyed parents tend to do. i saw one guy threaten other guy claiming that he has already killed 2 and it only cost him to sell one truck. so there was some friction between the sikhs and others.

some 1984, some guys decided to take ``revenge`` .. most sikhs found safety in places like the IIT campus and friends homes, but there was much damage to their bussineses.

so, one a free-for-all atmosphere is created, all kinds of old vendettas get settled.

Re: # 168
This is not commie spin,maximum people with political background killed by terrorists were communists in Punjab and not the Sanghis or Congressis and they were the people actually working for peace.I know how the booklet``who are the guilty``(prepared by People`s Union for Civil Liberties)about 1984 massacre was brought to Punjab,translated into Punjabi and distributed in punjab and how the copies were hidden when govt. banned it.Have you read my poem ``marsiya ik shehar da``which was published in Preetlari at that time.You can read it in my i log or at UP,poetry section.

More akin to Ahmadis in Sikhism are Naamdhaaris who believe that Gurudom did not stop with Guru Gobind Singh and their guru is the current gaddinasheen of Sikh religeon.

Re: # 167 dyno

Truth hurts :)

Re: # 174 and #160 mohair11

My thoughts exactly. :)

#173

Thanks for the responses.

The common allegation (which Kaura alludes too as well) is that the goverment was too ``soft`` on the Nirankari`s or that Indira Gandhi wanted to use them as well against the Akali`s.

It would`nt be beyond Indira to think up a plan like that, a ``pincer move`` with Bhinderanwale at one end and the Nirakari`s at the other. Is that what is now ``commonly`` believed in hindsight?