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Sikhs

I am going to tell you about a life when I was a Sikh. Like most of the other pages it deals with war. Why? For one the emotions are the most intense I experienced in each of those lives and once I recall those memories I can go on to the less intense but more beneficial memories. Also it's good evidence. Most of the information is of a secret nature and so it unknown today. It outdated so by telling it I am not endangering anyone. If I spoke of philosophy I we might end up arguing. So to show you secrets is fast and efficient.

About eight hundred years ago they started just killing the Saints in India for no reason at all. Be warned that these direct memories are as strong as the way we lived. We were in a very desperate fight, both for our survival and the survival of Gods presence on the planet. We were not afraid of dying or the violence needed to prevent our religions death. The explanations of the weapons and how we used them are very graphic though.

If it were not for the Sikh's, God would have been a lost cause on the Indian subcontinent. For it has been the light and purity that the Sikh's provided which kept and keeps the population of the subcontinent from becoming lost in a sea of words and then descending into darkness forever. Without Sikh’s a bond to darkness would have formed that would have been so complete that as many as a billion souls would have become hopelessly lost to God forever.

First, the shields. They were quite varied and almost always made of shiny hardened steel. You will notice the shields have emblems on them. These were removed in times of war and spikes were bolted on to catch sword blades to keep them from sliding off. Sometimes a long blade was bolted in the centre to act as a offensive weapon. One kind of shield had many flat circles on it that varied in size from ¼ to 1-½ inches across. The circles were offset slightly to produce multiple reflections. We would shine them up so they were very reflective. The Mongols would usually attack at sunset or sunrise with the sun behind them. Our men would be blinded a bit but they had taken time to get used to the sun. At the last second's of the enemy's charge we would use our shields to reflect the sun back at the enemy. They and their horses would be blinded by the glare of a thousand suns. What they did worked more for us than for them.

If the attack was coming at night or midday (or we were attacking) we would apply a thin layer of a clay mixture over the front of the shields. Then we would dry the shields in the hot sun or over fires. The mixture consisted of fine clay, mixed with secret ingredients that included peppers and a special binder. We would of course block their swords with our shields. Our shields would bounce and throw a cloud of fine powdered clay and pepper in their faces. About one second later they were blind and they knew they were dead. Pepper spray for self defence is not new.

The Kara was half of a weapon system. They were used in conjunction with 'Kapon', preferably the short swords that are about 1 ½ feet long. These were kept under our robes in sheaths. They were never taken out in public or shown to non-Sikhs.
If an enemy or potential enemy approached us and we had time we run a piece of string or cloth strip under our Kara. We would hold one end with our left thumb and forefinger and slide the other end under the Kara. The two ends would be combined and then wrapped around the base of our middle finger so it would pull the Kara up into the palm of our left hand.

Whenever our enemy killed an unarmed person he would first try to bring his sword down through his victims head from above. This was an immediate kill. It got less blood on him than if he cut into his body. The natural tendency was for the victim to move backwards, so the attacker would usually close in to compensate. We were trained to move forward and grab the sword with our thumb and forefinger. We would let the sharp edge come to rest against our Kara. At this point, half the time the enemy knew he was dead. The other half of the time he knew something was very wrong. The Sikh would quickly draw his weapon and dispatch him. Slitting a throat with a knife needs no explanations.

Evidence that this was the real reason Sikh's wear Kara's is not at all hard to find. All you have to do is look you will find Kara's that are made of a string of steel balls over a heavy steel wire, which is identical to the strings of body armour and some of the chakras. If a sword hit any of these it went between the balls which prevented it from slipping off and causing injury. The sword would stay where it hit, be it a Kara, the steelhead band, or body armour. All you have to do is look and you can see the relationship between all of these devices.

The 1-½ foot long sword needs explaining. It was sharpened on the inside curve of the blade (at least the first few inches) not on the outside, as are other swords. This was to facilitate the creation of a large exit wound. The radius of the curve of the blade is pretty small when compared to other swords. It corresponds to the arc the hand moves through when the elbow is held still and the hand is moved up and down in the stabbing motion like above.

When a man lifted his sword we would step into it and block the murderer's sword with our wrist and the Kara. Then we would quickly back off, draw our blade and bring it down next to the shoulder near the neck. It would go down through the heart and lungs to about the waist. With a thin blade that was swung in a short arc, it only made a 1 inch slit. When the hilt bottomed out on the man's shoulder you locked you wrist and stepped quickly to the man's side, twisting the blade 90 degrees. You snapped your wrist and locked it so the sword was pulled towards you cutting through the heart and lungs to the ribs. Then with your wrist locked, you pulled the sword straight up and out. It was all over before our adversary was able to lift his heavy sword for another blow.

Swords were custom made. You will notice how each authentic Sikh battle sword is different in curvature. It's not a lack of uniformity. The arc of the sword is the same as the swing of the Sikh's arm to whom it belonged (The arc created by swinging your arm when held stiff.)

Most of the time the sword was swung in battle but occasionally it was used to stab upwards through a man's stomach. By making the curvature the same as the arc of the man’s arm movement, only a two inch cut had to be made. (Trust me human bodies are hard to cut through, especially if you are exhausted from fighting.) Then once sword went through the body you pushed the sword downward to increase the damage.

On the top of the handle of the swords are knobs. This is not for ornamentation nor are they to hang the sword by. When a warrior crossed swords with the enemy it was over their heads. Then the Sikh would bring down the butt of the sword sharply on the enemy's head (or the shoulder blade if he was wearing a helmet). Our warrior would back off and wait. Within ten seconds the tear ducts would involuntarily release and the enemy would be blinded for a couple of minutes with tears. Again, death.

Now for the big flat swords that are so completely different from the other swords. The one with the heavy blunt tip. The big men were given those swords. The swords that I recall were actually weighted at the end. Some times we knew a battle was coming by when the man would volunteer to chop up our firewood. We would let him. This occurred once when we were at peace and two weeks later we were in battle. How he knew that war was drawing near we never did figure out.

When one of the enemy was found to be fearless and skilled, we could not let him live. This was for several reasons. He was a pro and we would have to face him again. We certainly didn't want him to go around for the rest of his life saying that God’s warriors were not so invincible, nor did we want him to train others in his ways, etc.

So even though our greatest assets were our skill with weapons we would change tactics. Our heavy chopper went right for the swordsmen. The Moslem would use his sword to block the downward movement of our mans flat sword, however the enemy's sword was light. The choppers strength and the weight of his sword would crash until it found flesh. Our skills and brains were no match for those who spend their entire life training to kill your people. That is why we changed the rules and used power.

The real 'rock stars' of the Sikh warriors were the young men who used a pair of Kattars. They were the trouble makers so we gave them a way to make a lot of trouble for the Moslem invaders.

The Katars were close combat weapons and were not intended for fighting one to one on a clear field. Instead, these men were expected to jump into the middle of a fight involving up to six men and kill all the enemy before the first one hit the ground. Three against three, two against four or four against two, it didn't matter. These men were fluid and fast. Their weapons light and sharp. The combination was invincible. They would cross their weapons to catch an enemy's sword. Push off with one Kattar and cut in half either the bicep, forearm or triceps of the enemy and disable him. Severing any of these muscles or ligaments permanently disabled that arm. Then the fatal cut could wait.

These men were so fast they could block swords from two men, figure out which was less of a threat, slide in, cut a muscle or ligament, then turn back to the adept man who was still drawing back his sword and disable him before he could he could even begin to swing his sword.
They were so fast, it took less than a second. You couldn't even see their hands. They were just a blur and a flash of steel. They were the real secret weapons and though this weapon had been used before it was never in the effective manner Sikhs used them. We all trained with them but only about two out of 50 of our men were trained to use them extensively (Some men used them as side arms and one of them were effective when used with a shield), yet they often accounted for half the dead. The rest of the men knew to parry and keep at bay any skilled swordsman until one of them could jump in.
They had secret training that taught them things like how long it took a person to bleed to death with different cuts and how each cut disabled. The one story I heard about was told to me by another Sikh. He was sword fighting a Moslem when one of the Kattar men jumping in and stabbed the enemy in the gut just deep enough to cut some intestines (which always resulted in a slow and painful death). Our Kattar man stopped, looked the wounded man right in the eyes and said, 'you're (already) dead'. When the guy understood this and had lost his spirit, he moved on to the next critical fight. By comparison, our warriors were trained to go on even when they didn't have any blood left.
Kattar men were special guys. They were fast, intelligent and never faltered. They always kept their heads. They usually retired at about 25 when their bodies slowed and they realized how foolish it was to continue. These men were kept secret. They went into battle with swords but would drop them and pull out their faster weapons when the need arose.
I am confused about the names of the weapons. For a long time our weapons were all secret. We had no names for them nor were we allowed to give them names. Even today I cringe a little when some one says the name of one of our weapons. The reason was simple. Think of the defeated enemy. When he return ft him for another Sikh to kill.' This kind of explanation of dying took a lot of enthusiasm out of any invader. Not naming the weapons left a certain legacy. There is still a lack of name's for the weapons and this is why some of the names are ambiguous.
There was one weapon I felt was/is mine since I had a big hand in developing it. I have only seen one set of them and it was when I helped set them out at a Baisakhi four years ago. They are like claws. They are only about 5" long and quite curved. The edges are not sharp. The ends are flat and function as flattened fingernail would. In fact that is what these weapons mimic, but larger and stronger than fingernails. These were very effective and the women often used them.

They were tied to a persons forearm with string or cloth and worn beneath their sleeves. They were not sharp so they would not cut the arms they strapped to. If confronted by an aggressor they would bow before them. That would put the enemy at ease and conceal their hands which would grab the handles of those 5" claws that could tear a mans throat out. (Perhaps someone knows where a set of these are so I can take a photograph.) ed to camp he wasn't able to explain away a comrades death simply by saying: 'He was killed with a Kattar' He had to describe his death like this: 'When he was fighting one man with a sword, another man with two long claws came up and in two seconds cut him 4 or 6 times until he couldn’t use his arms then that man le There were many other weapons including a hollow log that overhung the river at a bend we defended. The log had been patiently hollowed out and then loaded with gunpowder and I assume rocks. I was one of those assigned to it. If during my watch the enemy crossed the river I was to wait until a good amount got to the centre but before the first made it out of the riverbed. I think I was supposed to crouch behind and little off to the side of the log and light the damn thing with stick that had something burning on the end of it. The whole log would explode but most of the damage would be in front. It was expected to take out about 20 men but more to the point, it would stop the charge. Now I remember. It was reinforced with a lining of sheet steel so it was supposed to handle one shot. I don't like to think about so I must not have trusted it.

By the wayn one of his previous incarnations, Yogi Bahjan commanded that whole area. We felt quite safe because he was the Moslem leader and he was very ineffective.

In the build up to the invasion of the golden temple complex in Amritsar and the destruction of the symbolic seat of the temporal power of the khalsa in 1984, the wanted man in question Jarnail Singh bhindranwhalia gave himself up to the police authorities. Without charge he was released, what could they charge him with? May be incitement to violence. He gave speeches, pointing out the injustices bought upon the ethnic minority group in the northwest of India that are the Sikhs/Khalsa. The building of canals, diverting river water from the Punjab to Delhi and former part of a larger Punjab but now the new state of Haryana. The consequence of this award is to lower the water table in the Punjab thus having the grave effect of reducing the crop yields, affecting economically the Sikhs. Jarnail Singh pointed this out and listeners took it upon themselves in anger, without receiving any orders from anybody to gun down all the workers on the canal. The state controlled media took this action to wage a propaganda offensive building this man, with only a few tens of devout followers to be a super- terrorist that was a threat to national security and hence arousing the far right nationalists of the Indian mainstream population that are of a separate religious denomination. This being tantamount to an incitement to violence by the state administration. The speeches were therefore not against the law in a country that claims to be the biggest democracy in the world (freedom of speech). I have justified the release of this man but the motives of the state administration are clear. They need him out there to further build him up to be a super-terrorist that will allow them to call for a state of emergency in the Punjab, and as you well know which transpires in the security forces seizing control of the Punjab. Now you have a situation where the Punjab is enclosed in an iron curtain, reporters forced to leave, approximately 500,000 thousand solders and other so called security forces armed ready to execute what is absolute genocide. Sikh soldiers were confined to barracks at this time.

I have spent time in the Punjab, speaking to people who recite images of murder, streams in Amritsar running red with blood. From what I can gage from my personal experiences with people in the Punjab, is that the state army and security forces murdered Sikhs in the region of 250,000.

Back to Jarnail Singh Bhinranwhalia, who after all was the focus of this incursion and the sole reason for the state of emergency in the Punjab. They attacked the entire golden temple complex conveniently on the anniversary of the martyrdom of the fifth spiritual leader of the khalsa, knowing full well that many devotees would be present in homage and prayer at the temple "like lambs to the slaughter". Also one has to ask the question why did they attack approximately sixty Sikh temples all across the Punjab when they with absolute fact knew that Jarnail Singh was in Amritsar in the building called the Akal Thakt, the symbolic seat of the temporal power of the khalsa. Why did they feel the need for so many troops when Jarnail Singh's location was known and he could be isolated very easily. The troops went in, destroyed the Akal Thakt and other parts of the golden temple, killed Jarnail Singh and his so called terrorist group in a short time, there was no need to occupy the entire Punjab unless they had plans for all the Sikhs in the Punjab, unless this was part of the strategy for the genocide of the Sikhs. After Jarnail Singh was killed the army occupied the golden temple complex which is seen by many as the sanctum sanatorium of the khalsa/Sikh community of the world, they occupied it for no clear reason and the solders looted the temples treasury and burned down the temples library, both containing religious relics and hand written texts by the Sikh spiritual leaders up to 500 hundred years old. A clear and decisive method to destroy the physce and dignity of the Sikh community.

The aftermath. It is logical and easily conceivable that there will be elements that remain strong and look to protect its people from any more murder and will simply be seeking some justice and retribution. These elements, we will address them as militants, are even more dangerous now because their dignity has been destroyed and they do not posses a stable physiology having witnessed the mass genocide of their kinsman. This was seen in Rwanda were Tutsi militias took control of the capital and the Hutu population retreated into Zaire having just committed the genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group. I understand that this is a very saw point with the United States, state department as it vetoed along with the British not to send more troops into Rwanda under chapter seven of the united nations charter. Not accepting genocide because this would have placed an obligation to intervene by the USA under the auspices of the United Nations. Showing a great deal of pusillanimity that was born from there experience in Mogadishu in Somalia, therefore having to bear the weights of guilt and responsibility for the murder of upwards of 800,000 ethnic Tutsi's in Rwanda. Groups started to emerge from within the Punjab; Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Bhindranwala Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK) to name but a few. They targeted members of the Punjab police who played a significant role in the genocide of the Sikhs and members of the families of Punjab police officers. Do you see these groups as cold hearted terrorists? If we consider the burden of witnessing the mass genocide of their kinsman, it is acceptable that they seek retribution against those that partook in the genocide, but not members of their families. I can only offer the argument of diminished responsibility on the part of the Sikh militia based on the fact that in there actions was a reduced capacity of physiological cognisance manifested in the killing and the rape of there kinsman. This situation in the Punjab created by the Indian government was seen as a further opportunity to exterminate the Sikhs. The state controlled propaganda machine kept rolling, giving licence to the Punjab police to be heavy handed, having every excuse to kill at will, proclaiming innocent Sikhs who were murdered to belong to this Sikh militant group or that Sikh militant group. From my personal experience with people in the Punjab and reading a broad range of literature I am of the opinion that a number in the region of 1,000,000 Sikhs were murdered in the Punjab from the years 1984-1993. It came to a halt in 1992 with the capture and murder of top officials in the Sikh militia organisations, Sukhdev Singh Babbar (BKI), Gurjant Singh Bhudsinghwala, Avtar Singh Bhrama (KLF), Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, Parmjit Singh Panjawar (KCF/BTFK) but to name a few. No militia, no reason or licence for Punjab police to kill innocent Sikhs. During my time in the Punjab in the late 90's a pleasant time but for one instance where I was very nearly robbed by a member of the Punjab police. To this day the Punjab police are hated by the mainstream population of the Punjab and to this day they keep on terrorising the Sikh population of the Punjab. They take money with force from civilians; they call it water and tea money. This a legacy of being handed large sums of money by the Indian administration in Delhi for the heads of Sikhs, this being the reason why no senior members of the Sikh militia groups were ever tried for there alleged crimes, because they were captured and tortured to death in police custody for the rewards.

From where did all this hate for the Sikhs by Indira Gandhi arise? The Gandhi-Nehru dynasty was a nationalistic dynasty that saw an India for Hindu’s, a Hindustan, a term that is commonly used in India and by ethnic Hindu’s, which in no doubt causes offence to other ethnic groups in India. In the 60's Jawarlal Nehru following his Hindustan dream went on a campaign to push for legislation that saw the removal of the Punjabi language being taught in schools in the Punjab. Eminent Sikh leaders namely Sant Fateh Singh opposed a move to the oblivion of the Punjabi culture and closely connected Sikh religion. He went on hunger strikes and organised rallies ...etc, this forced the whiley well educated J. Nehru to abandon his plan for nullifying the Punjab language but for a well liked second prize. He enforced a plan that made it only possible to keep the Punjabi language if the borders of the Punjab were redefined to not include districts where the majority populations were of the Hindu religious denomination. This saw the halving of the Punjab State to a smaller Punjab and the new Haryana State. During the partition we lost half of or beloved Punjab and now we're left with one quarter. When his daughter Indira Gandhi came to power in the seventies, a chip of the old block, she never forgot the troubles her father had experienced with the Sikhs in the Punjab and of cause followed her father’s ideology of a Hindustan. Indira was convicted of election fraud in the late seventies and the main stream population did not batter an eyelid because she was seen as a demi-god by them being the daughter of J. Nehru. The Sikhs in the Punjab expressed their concern with the retaining of power by indira Gandhi, the constitutional limitations that allowed her to remain in power. She saw the Sikhs as a perennial thorn in the side of her, that she wanted rid of by any means. With the emergence of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala in the early 80's she saw her chance to create and mould a situation in the Punjab that would allow for the extermination of the Sikhs and the creation of a true Hindustan. In the opinions of many she is seen as being tantamount to Adolf Hitler and after her Slobodan Milosevic. There is a word in the Punjabi language that reads remarkably like Gandhi and it means dirty.

The USA state department has to recognise that they along with everybody on the face of this earth has a moral obligation towards humanity and not just to their own citizens or their own economic situation. Your shortcomings with regards to this point allowed for the genocide to take place in Rwanda. I acknowledge the good the USA has done for humanity in the intervention in the Balkans, WW2 etc, but it cannot be selective or even not accept genocide is happening to avoid its responsibility. I remember a United States State department spokeswoman explicitly suggesting that “acts of genocide were taking place in Rwanda” but did not accept genocide was taking place. The USA assumes a special role in the protection of humanity being the only super-power left, and has to take on this role with moral endeavour. The question of the credibility of the UN was an issue before this current Iraq crisis. An international body that’s rule is decided by its most powerful members, who use it as a tool to cater for their own interests. The majority accept a genocide is taking place, but a permanent member who has the power of veto decides they cannot be bothered or it will have a negative impact on the elections in their own country.

I hope to receive a reply.

Poem:

'Leave your stubbornness, serve the saints and have faith in their word.'
(Guru V, Gauri Raag : Guru Granth Sahib Jee)

I was to proud to fall to Your feet,
I was a liar and I was a cheat,
My faith shook like an autumn leaf,
O Guru Nanak forgive me for my mind is weak,
My time has come and now I weep.
I didn't see this was Waheguru's wonderful play,
I didn't see I was merely acting as He'd say,
To some ,Guru Nanak, You revealed this game
And bestowed the gift of His Name
The Divine Light beamed from their face
O Guru Nanak You give endlessly, give me faith.

Sunny bhola

A powerful question it is, and a very personal one for many Sikhs who have been living in foreign countries, such as England, USA and Canada. Many if not all who have been raised, or nearly raised their entire life in these countries, must have asked the same question that I have, over and over, why am I a Sikh?. Why do I follow the Sikh religious beliefs? and most importantly, what is it to be a Sikh?

I have lived 21 of my 24 years in Toronto and like most Sikhs who maintained unshorn hair, have been harshly ridiculed, had to fight physical and verbal battles with my school mates almost every day. Just trying to survive in this white-dominated culture where children were out rightly racist, was a tough daily battle. The only thing that kept me strong at heart, was hearing the stories my father used to read to us all, of the lives of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, his children and other Sikh Martyrs who gave all for their faith in Sikhism.

Though I was still young and didn't understand the details of Sikh values at that time, just having role models like Guru Gobind Singh Ji' young children (Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh) kept my spirits alive and allowed me to pass through this most critical time in my life as a youngster with a strong sense that Sikhs were brave, strong, courageous and that we would give our life, but stand tall like warriors and face all obstacles.

Today the racism has decreased many fold since the 1970s and early 80s when I was in public school, however it is still very real and visible to Sikh boys who maintain their long hair. They endure the same subtle discrimination by their class mates. The only difference being, it is less physical nowadays.

The last few years, since entering University I have asked myself many difficult questions such as, would life not be easier if I just adopted the norm of today's society? by cutting my hair, drinking alcohol, smoking, hanging around in bars and partying?!

I had to fight an inner battle, the reason being that I knew much of what Sikh values were and what a Sikh should be doing, but did not see it in practice in society. The attitude if 'no one else cares, then why should I'? was prevalent for a short period of time in me. In my eyes Sikhs were no longer Sikhs. They might have been born into a Sikh family, but they did not practice what my concept of Sikhi was. Doing your prayers, trying to understand Gurbani, keeping long unshorn hair, not drinking, smoking, sleeping around, having inter-religious affairs and so on. These were not Sikh behaviours to me, but western values which Sikhs were endorsing full heartily and still are doing.

I am no exception, I to when the time came, got into a relationship with a Hindu girl, and would love to have married her, but circumstances did not allow it. The last year has been the most craziest of my life. For some unknown reasons to me, a Muslim girl came into my life. This was the most challenging time of my entire life. The reason being, I loved her and she loved me, however, I could never marry her unless I convert to Islam she said.

Now what is a 23 year old, warm blooded Sikh to do? I love her, but at the same time, I knew my Gurus, their children, the many other Martyrs gave their life, but did not accept Islam. Should I betray their sacrifices? for LOVE?

I was so confused, why did she not say such before coming into my life, "that she can only marry a Muslim"? Why after taking my heart did she throw this piercing thorn into our relationship? However when I reflected, I knew I had strayed away from the Sikh values, and if I wanted to maintain Sikh values, I would have to give her up, or she would have to convert to Sikhism.

I asked myself why did my Gurus sacrificed their lives for Sikhism? It must be truly the greatest religion? Why did they ignore all the riches of the world, the pleasures of society? of women? but immersed themselves in the love of God?

This period was the most testing in my life. If I had not known about Sikhism, I would have probably "jumped the gun" so to speak and married her by converting to Islam. However when I looked into what Sikhism is, what are its values, what is its history, I knew I would be doing a grave injustice not only to my Gurus, but my own soul, for forsaking the most humanly religion in the entire world. Most poetic, most respecting of all other religions, and foremost, only religion in the entire world, where Sikhs have sacrificed their lives to help save another religion. The ninth, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, just one prime example. How can I betray this worldly religion, which respects all humans, does not enforce itself on anyone, respects all religions alike, for humanly pleasure? I didn't. I couldn't. Blessed with the understanding of my faith. I never would. My love left, but my faith remained.

I wrote her the following poem to depict to her my reasoning, my feelings, for my decision...

She asked from me, my heart in love,
I gave her my treasures- heart, body and soul.
Unsatisfied was she, requesting my identity
I could only offer her my life, not birth!

I shall not forsake my blessings at birth
a religion of love, in blood poetically wrote.
Equality its emblem, crowned by selfless sacrifice
a religion offering peace, justice to humanity.

A religion not elitist, nor condemning anyone
joining humankind as beloved children of God.
A religion stressing Truth (God), not blind following
spreading rays of happiness, not endless tyranny.

Why do you ask me to relinquish this path?
do you not want to be my partner, equal in all respect?
My "Love", I tell you, my heart I will burn,
shall die as a Kaffir, in God's love, over and over.

Jas. Aug,17, 95.

I sacrificed love for a human, for the love of my Guru. I could not betray my Guru, who holds the wisdom, the light, the key, to ferry me across this worldly ocean, to give me the true nectar bliss of God' love, to bring me closer to my essence of whom I am, my spirit, my soul, for anything or anyone in this world.

By Jaswant Singh