The Bloody Vasaikhi of 1978

1
The Bloody Vasaikhi of 1978

• At Vasaikhi we celebrate the finalisation of the
  Sikh religion and the creation of the Khalsa
  brotherhood The Supreme Brotherhood.
• However in 1978 this amazing day was marred by
  the murder of 13 Sikhs.
• A new page in Sikh History was created.

2
A group of people called the nirankaris came into
being from an ex-Sikh. Gurbachan was his name and
he claimed that he was God and he used to abuse
the Sikhs and Guru Granth Sahib.The Congress
Govt of India used him as a tool to reduce the
powerbase of the Akali Dal Sikh party in Panjab.
They supported his movement in Panjab wherever
they could. His followers were given high govt
positions etc.
3
This man sat on a chair with his feet on Guru
Granth Sahib Ji. He used very bad language
against the Gurus and the Sikhs. The Nirankaris
wanted to hold their function in Amritsar on
Vasaikhi knowing that there would be opposition
from the Sikhs. The indian govt supported them
on this. However the Panjab Govt of the Akali
Dal/Janata coalition was divided over whether
they should be allowed. The Sikh Akalis were
against it and the Hindu Janatas were in support
of it.
4
Ultimately the Hindus in the Panjab Govt
coalition threatened to bring down the Panjab
Govt if the Nirankaris were banned. The chief
Minister of that time was Parkash Singh Badal (
who is also current chief minister now). The
decision lay with him to either ban the group
that insulted his Guru and his religion, and let
his govt fall, or allow them to insult Guru and
the Sikhs at Amritsar, the Holiest City of the
Sikhs.
5
Unfortunately for the Sikhs Badal was more
concerned with preserving his political career
than worrying whether someone was insulting
Sikhi. He allowed the nirankari program to go
ahead.When the nirankaris started their program
a group of 100 unarmed Sikhs went to observe what
was going on. As they reached the venue the
panjab police surrounded them and made them sit
on the road. The police then fired teargas at
them.
6
While they were suffering from the effects of the
teargas, some gunmen using buses and coaches as
cover fired on the 100 Sikhs. They did this with
the help of the Panjab police. Every Sikh
received bullet wounds. 13 Sikhs died and 87 were
injured. After this happened the Police
escorted the nirankari leader gurbachan to safety
in Delhi. The events of that day seemed like a
planned military manoeuvre.
7
After this had happened the Sikhs tried to have
the killers prosecuted. But at every step of the
way the Indian govt threw obstacles in the path.
Ultimately the case was taken out of Panjab
(which is against the indian constitution) and
the cases were dismissed. The state govt of
Badal was also dismissed by the indian govt some
months after. So what was the outcome of the
whole episode?
8
We saw how selfish Parkash Singh Badal was/is in
allowing his political career to take over his
religious commitment. We saw the panjab police
involved in the murders of Sikhs. We saw the
indian govt help plan an attack on Sikhs and then
interfere in the justice system.We saw the
killers of Sikhs walk away without facing justice
of any kind.
9
12 Sikhs who were killed at Amritsar in 1978
Bhai Fauja Singh who headed the 100 Sikhs