The 13 Shaheed Singh's bodies at Ramsar Sarai being prepared for the Antim-Saskar procession
On 13th April 1978, the Akhand Kirtani Jatha gathered together from all over India at Amritsar to hold their yearly Vaisakhi Smagam. Kirtan had started from Amrit Vela and at about ten o’clock an important message was received. The message said that the followers of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh were holding a procession in Amritsar and were shouting insulting slogans directed at Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the Sikh religion.
The Sangat knew very well that the Nirankaris had been doing such things for several years.The Nirankaris had even gone so far as to give degrading names to prominent Gursikhs including Mata Tripta, Bhai Gurdas, Bibi Nanaki, Baba Buddha, Bhai Lalo and Bhagat Kabir.They scornfully referred to Guru Granth Sahib Ji as “a bundle of papers”, and they called Kar Sewa “Bikar Sewa”.The Nirankari leader is on record as saying that Guru Gobind Singh had made only Panj Pyare (Five Beloved) and that he would make ‘Sat Sitaare’ (seven stars). He had even dared to place his foot upon Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
Since 1943 the Nirankaris have annoyed the Sikhs by distorting Gurbani to promote their warped ideals; just as many Sant-led movements do today. However it was during the 1970’s that the then Nirankari ‘Satguru’ Gurbachan ‘Singh’, went even further. He published articles stating that, Gurdwara Sarovars are pools which serve no purpose and they should be filled-up; Guru Gobind Singh Ji was either fighting battles or hunting and that he knew nothing about meditation; that no sensible person can call the writings in the ‘bulky miscellany’ (referring to Guru Granth Sahib Ji) a divine revelation. Bhai Fauja Singh heard the news from the loudspeaker when he was kneading the dough for the langar. He washed his hands and rushed to the congregation. He delivered a short speech, explaining the dire situation and drew a line, asking for those who are willing to accept martyrdom to cross it. Bhai Joginder Singh Talwara asked children and women not to go. However, many Bibian still insisted on going. After performing Ardas, the Gursikhs bowed before Guru Granth Sahib Ji and went off to Ramdas Niwas.
Upon reaching Ramdas Niwas they found that the procession had finished.The Gursikhs then decided that they should go to the place where the Nirankaris had gathered to hold a peaceful but resolute protest against the blasphemous insults directed at Guru Sahib. It is known that Sikhs of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Bhindra Jatha reached the Reego Bridge near Gobind Gar. Here, the Police stopped them.The Gursikhs remonstrated to the police about the insults being shouted at the gathering.These insults could be heard clearly from where they were standing.They told the police that they wanted to protest against the organisers of the gathering and the hurtful insults. A police officer told the Gursikhs that he would go and stop the Nirankaris and for them to remain there. The police officer went to where the Nirankaris had gathered and the Sikhs waited patiently for thirty minutes for him to return.
On his return there were more policemen accompanying him. D.S.P Joshi told the assembled jatha to go back and that the procession had ended a long time ago. But provoking speeches could still be heard on the loudspeakers.Then about five to six thousand uniformed Nirankaris rushed towards the group of about two to three hundred Gursikhs. Within seconds the massive force of Nirankaris mercilessly attacked them with pistols, rifles, spears, swords, bow and arrows, sticks, stones, acid bottles and home made bombs.The Gursikhs that were hit with bullets fell to the ground and were brutally butchered with swords, spears and axes. As the ground became covered with the bodies of the dead and wounded the police fired tear gas and bullets, but even that
was directed towards the jatha, causing further injuries and death. In this way, the Nirankaris received greater assistance and were emboldened.
Bhai Fauja Singh was fired upon by the Superintendent of Police, who emptied the bullets from his pistol into Bhai Fauja Singh’s chest.These were not the only bullets he was to receive that day, but he kept on standing, uttering only “Waheguru”.Two Sikhs attempted to carry the still breathing and chanting Bhai Fauja Singh to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment, but were quickly arrested by the Police. Bhai Fauja Singh`s body was taken by the Police and put into the “dead wagon”. Again, another Sikh came upon Bhai Fauja Singh and found him breathing and still uttering “Waheguru”. He attempted to help, but half an hour later, when Bibi Amarjit Kaur arrived, Bhai Fauja Singh had attained martyrdom.
D.S.P Joshi was responsible for shooting Bhai Fauja Singh. He did not allow anyone to provide medical attention to Bhai Fauja Singh. Eventually the police took the bodies of the Shaheeds to the morgue.The wounded were taken to hospital. The astonishing thing is that the gathering of the Nirankaris continued for three-and-a-half hours after this bloody massacre had occurred. It has also become known that the D.C of Gurdaspur, Naranjan Singh I.A.S, and other senior officers were present in the gathering during the massacre. It is clear that the authorities of the Amritsar district allowed the Nirankaris to hold their procession in the Sikhs main city of Amritsar during Vaisakhi. The Police authorities are guilty of colluding with and allowing the Nirankaris complete freedom to kill at will, and not dealing with them properly at the right time.
Dalbir Singh produced a telling eyewitness account. Dalbir was a former communist who had devoted himself to trade union activities for more than a decade and is one of many who believe that the Nirankaris had fought the Sikhs with a pre-conceived plan.At the time of the clash he was a correspondent at The Tribune based in Amritsar. His report states:
I approached him and explained that I had seen some armed men who might have been the killers. The officer completely ignored this information. The next day, the police searched the Nirankari centre in Amritsar for the killers and their weapons.They had let the killers scatter, when they could still have been nearby, only to catch scapegoats one day after the actual incident.” Dalbir Singh maintains that the local administration had allowed the main culprits to escape.
The government produced a panel of doctors for the post mortem of the dead bodies. It has become known that Mr Janjooha D.C ordered the post mortems to be done only by one doctor and the government orders were not correctly carried out.The D.C was also involved with the Nirankaris. The press also printed the news details of the incident incorrectly. The Gursikhs of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Bhindra Jatha were called ‘fanatics’.
Harbhajan Singh Yogi responded stated:
The killing of the Gursikhs by the Nirankari leader Gurbachan Singh was a heinous crime. We ask from where and from who did the arsenal of weapons come from? By giving the order to kill the leader of the Nirankaris was the main guilty party of the bloody massacre and should have been punished according to the full weight of the law. However, the Indian government administration, it police and judiciary, were exposed as partners to the Nirankaris and guilty of failing to deliver justice. The Amritsar Massacre set alight the flames of justice in the Panth by the martyrdom of thirteen Gursikhs and seventy wounded.
These Gursikhs were members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Bhindra Jatha. Many of them left wives and children. The Khalsa Panth will always remember the thirteen Shaheeds, as will their great Kurbani. The funeral took place on Saturday 15th April 1978 outside Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib, in front of a congregation of about twenty-five to thirty thousand people. The thirteen martyrs were united on a single funeral pyre, to be cremated together.
What about the families of those who were martyred?
Did they recieve any help from panth or were left on their own?