AMRITSAR The Sikhs under the leadership of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday organized a function to mark 69^th anniversary of  the attack launched by Indian security forces at Sri Darbar Sahib on July 4 in 1955. 

The function was organized at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall situated in the complex of the Central Sikh shrine. Bhai Sarwan Singh uttered ardas (Sikh prayer) on the occasion during which members of the Sikh gurdwara body and other devotees made presence. 

While addressing , the Sikh preacher Bhai Vishal Singh said, the successive rulers of India have made efforts to weaken the Sikh nation by attacking the Sri Darbar Sahib and Sri Akal Takht, highest Sikh temporal seat, time to time. “The 1955 attack which was launched by the then government of Congress, was an act of grave atrocities against the Sikhs who were struggling for their rights. This attacked martyred Sikh activists which are always remembered by the community”, he said.

During the Diwan, Dhadis (traditional ballad singers) also sung the dhadi wars to narrate the history of the attack. 

It was the first attack in free India on the Central Sikh shrine. The Sikhs started commemorating the sacrifices made by the Sikhs during the attack in 2022 on a large scale. 

While addressing the anniversary function held in 2022, the then Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh delivered a historic speech. He said, “Forgetting the sacrifices made by the Sikhs to free India, the then Indian rulers attacked Sri Darbar Sahib just after 8 years of the liberation. This attack showed Sikhs their status in India”.

“Reneging on the promises made by the then government to the Sikhs after the independence of the country was similar to the breaking of promises and oaths made by the Pahadi Rajas (hills kings) at Sri Anandpur Sahib to the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. But when the states were formed in India on the basis of language, justice was not done with Punjab. But to suppress the voice of Sikhs making legitimate demands, an attack was made on Sri Darbar Sahib”, said Giani Harpreet Singh.

“The police force was sent on the orders of the Nehru government, which inflicted heavy loss to the holiness and conduct of the central Sikh shrine. Shots were fired and hundreds of Sikhs were arrested”, said he, adding, “Sikhs always fought for the welfare of the country and were treated as strangers by the governments. The unity of the Sikh community is the only way out of the challenges which were exemplified in history”.

“Sikhs got honour in 1955 for making sacrifices for freedom of the country. Sikhs sacrificed 80 per cent of their lives for the independence of the country but the mere deployment of police force on the central shrine of Sikhs only after 8 years of independence was a manifestation of anti-Sikh mentality of the then Congress government. The then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Punjab Chief Minister Bhim Sen Sachar had tried to suppress the legitimate demands of the Sikhs, but the Sikh community always emerged victorious from the challenges”, said the then SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, while addressing.