Commemorating Anzac Day 2016, “Lest we forget” the 15,000 + Indians who fought & contributed in Gallipoli ‪#WW1‬.

Australia recalls #Sikh soldiers who fought in Gallipoli WW1. But hardly anyone knows about them which is quite unfortunate.

The spirit of Anzac Day has such solemn significance to New Zealanders and Australians and also deep Indian connection to Sikh community.

When the first World War broke out in 1914, there were six battalions of the Sikh Regiment forming part of the British Army.

14th Ferozepur Sikhs
15th Ludhiana Sikhs
35th Sikhs
36th Sikhs
45th Sikhs
47th Sikhs.

Since the Sikh soldiers were known for their bravery and steadfastness, the British employed all the Sikh battalions, except the 35th Sikhs, fighting at such far-away places as Egypt, Palestine, Masopotamia, Gallipoli and France.

In all the battles in which they fought, they suffered heavy casualities. However, there was no wavering among them and they always stood like rock as to rank sky high among the fighting men. While recounting their brave deeds, the immediate attention of all who have a sense of history goes to the first battalion of the Sikh Regiment called the 14th Ferozepur Sikhs, which was moved after a short stay in the Suez Canal area to Gallipoli.

Gallipoli was the original Normandy. Early morning on April 25, 1915, the Anzacs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) landed at Gallipoli in vessels that “moved like giant snakes in the water”.

The battle of Gallipoli was fought in an attempt to capture Constantinpole and take the Turks, who had entered the war on the side of Germany, out of the war. The 2nd Royal Fusiliers were finding it impossible to even clear the beach heads and so the Coy of Sikhs was sent for their help. although the allies did not succeed, the bravery shown by the Sikhs during this operation became a glorious chapter in the history of warfare.

The task given to the Sikhs was highly arduous. They were to capture two Turkish Trench lines called J-11 and J-13. The brave soldiers of 14th Sikhs were equally divided for the assault on these two lines. The fierce battle took place on 3rd and 4th June, 1915, wherein the brave soldiers of 14 Sikhs lost 371 officers and men killed or wounded.

Gen Sir Ian Hamilton was the concerned General at that time. When Lord Kitchner, Secretary of State for War, received an appeal on January 2, 1915, from the Russians that with a view to diverting the Turks, a diversionary front be opened, the War Council decided on a joint attack under Gen Hamilton. When Hamilton landed on April 25 at the Southern Tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, he found that their strength as compared to that of the Turks was highly inferior. He also realised that the terrain greatly favoured the Turks, who were well dug-in. With a view to meeting the situation effectively, he had made the 14th Sikhs of the Indian Brigade a part of his expeditionary force. Sir Hamilton wrote to the Commander-in-Chief in India.

“In spite of the tremendous losses there was not a sign of wavering all day. Not an inch of ground was given up and not a single straggler came back. The ends of the enemy’s trenches were found to be blocked with the bodies of Sikhs and of the enemy who died fighting at close quarters, and the glacis slope was thickly dotted with the bodies of these fine soldiers all lying on their faces as they fell in their steady advance on the enemy. The history of Sikhs affords many instances of their value as soldiers, but it may be safely asserted that nothing finer than the grim valour and steady discipline displayed by them on the 4th June has ever been done by soldiers of the Khalsa.”

The brave Sikhs, who earned a very high degree of appreciation included Sardar Udai Singh, who had saved the life of 2nd Lt R.A. Savory. The handsome Jat Sikh of Manikwal village (near Gill railway station) was over 6 ft tall and had a fair beard and light green eyes. He was a wrestler from his very childhood and when in 1907 he went to Ferozepur to take part in a wrestling match, he was selected by the British to join the 14th Sikhs. He was with the unit when Hamilton’s forces landed at the Gallipoli Peninsula. It is interesting to note that when after the war, he was offered a gallantry award, he pleaded that he should be allowed to go back to his village so that he could pursue his vocation which was dear to his heart.

Another prominent Sikh soldier associated with this battle was L/Nk Bhola Singh. When Lt. Gen. Sir Reginald Savory came to India in 1968 to attend the presentation of colours ceremony at Meerut, L/Nk Bhola Singh was also present on that occasion. Recapitulating the past, the General spoke about the close relationship between officers and his men as was achieved during that period. In his own words:

…”Only this morning (8th February 1968) Lance Naik Bhola Singh of the 14th Sikhs, who had been wounded in Gallipoli in 1915, took the trouble to come all the way from his home to call upon me, and after 52 years we saw each other again. I was deeply touched, not only at having the pleasure of seeing him again, but also at the thought of all the trouble he had taken to come and see me. When he was wounded, he and I were both young men. Now he is a ‘chitti dari wala‘ and I am old and bald, but although we have both grown much older, yet our affection for each other and our mutual pride in our old Regiment stays as young as ever. Long may this continue.

During one of these attacks on Colonel Palin’s party, on the evening of the 4th June, a Sikh firing from the trench next to Lieutenant Cursetjee, suddenly fell back and said he was hit in the head. There was mark on his turban and no sign of any bleeding. Cursetjee, therefore, told him to continue firing. The next afternoon, when the Sikhs were all washing in the stream that flowed through the gully, this man ran up to Lieutenant Cursetjee, nearby, and said: Look! you said 1 was not hit last evening”, and he held up the “Kanga” with a bullet embedded in it.

The discussion on the battle of Gallipoli will not be complete if no mention is made of the appreciation earned by the Sikhs from the Fusiliers. It was in 1921 when the Fusiliers had been put on the firm footing and they along with the Sikhs were on duty in the Khyber Pass area in the North-West frontier of India. The Fusiliers presented the Sikhs with a Silver Grenade inscribed “in the memory of Gallipoli 1915 and the Khyber Pass 1921”, which continues to be a prized possession with them.

~ Source: Singh Station

Amritdhari Sikh Girl Joined New York Police. She along with her duty di Kirtan and give training of Gatka to other in Baba Makhan Shah Gurdwara. She is performing her duty with all her dress code.

ਨਿਊਯਾਰਕ ਦੀ ਤਰਨਦੀਪ ਕੌਰ ਪੁੱਤਰੀ ਹਰਬੰਸ ਸਿੰਘ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਪਰਿਵਾਰ ਦੀ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਧਾਰੀ ਲੜਕੀ ਦਾ ਬੀਤੇ ਦਿਨ ਨਿਊਯਾਰਕ ਦੇ ਗੁਰੂਘਰ ਬਾਬਾ ਮੱਖਣ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਲੁਬਾਣਾ ਵਿਖੇ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਤੌਰ ‘ਤੇ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਅਤੇ ਇਹ ਪੰਜਾਬੀਆਂ ਲਈ ਬੜੇ ਮਾਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਗੱਲ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਤਰਨਦੀਪ ਕੌਰ ਇਕ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਧਾਰੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਲੜਕੀ ਨਿਊਯਾਰਕ ਪੁਲਸ ਵਿਚ ਪੁਲਸ ਅਫਸਰ ਬਣੀ। ਇਹ ਲੜਕੀ ਗੁਰੂਘਰ ‘ਚ ਕੀਰਤਨ ਕਰਨ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਗੱਤਕੇ ਦੀ ਕਲਾਸ ‘ਚ ਵੀ ਹਿੱਸਾ ਲੈਂਦੀ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਜਦੋਂ ਪੁਲਸ ਦੀ ਵਰਦੀ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਨੌਕਰੀ ‘ਤੇ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ ਤਾਂ ਉਹ ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰਮਰਿਆਦਾ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਆਪਣੇ ਕੇਸ ਵੀ ਉਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਹੀ ਸਜਾਉਂਦੀ ਹੈ।

ਤਰਨਦੀਪ ਕੌਰ ਦਾ ਕਹਿਣਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਪੰਜ ਸਿੱਖੀ ਕਕਾਰ ਸਾਡੇ ਧਰਮ ਦੀ ਪਛਾਣ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਕਦੇ ਵੀ ਸਾਡੀ ਤਰੱਕੀ ‘ਚ ਰੁਕਾਵਟ ਨਹੀਂ ਪਾਉਂਦੇ ਸਗੋਂ ਵਿਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ‘ਚ ਆਪਣੇ ਧਰਮ ਦੀ ਪਛਾਣ ਕਰਵਾਉਣ ਬਾਰੇ ਇਥੋਂ ਦੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਜਾਣੂ ਕਰਵਾਉਣ ਵਿਚ ਸਹਾਈ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ। ਉਸ ਨੇ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਆਪਣੀ ਮੁੱਢਲੀ ਵਿਦਿਅਕ ਯੋਗਤਾ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ‘ਚ ਹਾਸਲ ਕੀਤੀ ਪਰ ਉਹ ਸਿੱਖ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ ਬਾਰੇ ਪੂਰਾ ਗਿਆਨ ਰੱਖਦੀ ਹੈ। ਉਸ ਦਾ ਕਹਿਣਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਜਦੋਂ ਉਹ ਪੁਲਸ ਦੀ ਨੌਕਰੀ ਦਾ ਟੈਸਟ ਦੇਣ ਗਈ ਤਾਂ ਲਗਭਗ 1400 ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ‘ਚੋਂ 10 ਬੱਚੇ ਟਾਪ ‘ਤੇ ਸਨ, ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ‘ਚੋਂ ਉਹ ਪਹਿਲੇ ਨੰਬਰ ‘ਤੇ ਸੀ। ਸਾਰਿਆਂ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਨਿਯੁਕਤੀ ਸਮੇਂ ਸਰਟੀਫਿਕੇਟ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਗਏ ਪਰ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਇਕ ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ਡਾਲਰ ਨਾਲ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਟਰਾਫੀ ਦੇ ਕੇ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ।

Source : GuruNanakDaPanthNirala

ਇਹ ਤਨ ਮਿੱਟੀ ਦਾ ਮਿੱਟੀ ਵਿਚ ਰਲ ਜਾਣਾ ਹੈ
ਤੇਰਾ ਭਾਣਾ ਮੀਠਾ ਲਾਗੇ ਸਭ ਨੂੰ ਇਹ ਸਮਝਾਣਾ ਹੈ
ਸਬਰ ਨਾਲ ਸਹਨ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਹੁਨਰ ਦੁਨਿਆ ਨੂੰ ਸਿਖਲਾਣਾ ਹੈ
ਤਾਂਹੀ ਮਿਆਂ ਮੀਰ ਅਸਾਂ ਕੌਤਕ ਨਹੀ ਵਿਖਾਣਾ ਹੈ

Mian Mir, the Muslim saint of Lahore, also went and contributed his sympathetic tears. He found Guru Ji’s body all blistered and suppurated, and requested his permission to appeal to the Emperor for his release and the punishment of his torturers. Guru Ji requested him to cast his eyes towards the heavens.

On doing so, Mian Mir saw angels begging Guru Jis permission to destroy the wicked and the proud. Mian Mir on beholding this supernatural vision asked Guru Ji, why when he possessed supernatural power, he consented to endure suffering at the hands of such vile sinners.

Guru Ji replied, ‘I bear all this torture to set an example to the teachers of the true name, that they may not lose patience or rail at God in affliction. The true test of faith is in the hour of misery. Without examples to guide them ordinary persons’ minds quail in the midst of suffering. In the second place, if he who possesseth power within him defend not his religion by the open profession thereof, the man who possesses no such power when put to the torture abjure his faith. The sin will light on the head of him who has the power but does not show it; and god will deem him an enemy of religion. In the third place, the body is naturally subjected to woe and weal, but not the spirit. The body is perishable, the soul is imperishable. To set aside by the exercise of supernatural power the law of nature which applies to all things perishable. and thereby to, engender pride in the heart, would be supreme folly.’

Dhan Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji!

Dhan Sikhi! Dhan Khalsa!

~ Source: Sikh Awareness Society

Long Term Accommodations Granted to 3 More Sikh Soldiers.

Three Sikh enlistees will be allowed to wear the uncut beards and hair and turbans that their religion requires when they report to Army basic training next month, the Army decided Friday.

Specs. Kanwar Singh and Harpal Singh and Pvt. Arjan Singh Ghotra were granted their requested long-term religious exemptions to Army appearance standards by Debra S. Wada, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. The accommodations allow the soldiers — who will serve in Army National Guard or Reserve units — to maintain the tenets of their faith while serving in uniform under conditions set by Wada.

The conditions match those Wada set a week earlier when she granted Sikh Army Capt. Simratpal Singh, a Ranger-qualified engineering officer and Operation Enduring Freedom veteran, a similar accommodation. Singh was the first active-duty Sikh soldier to be granted a long-term appearance exemption since the Defense Department in 1981 imposed strict regulations banning long hair and beards — effectively barring Sikhs from serving. In 2014, the Pentagon amended that policy, specifying that religious-based appearance accommodations should be granted unless the military demonstrated compelling reasons to deny them.

Thousands of such accommodations have been granted on a case-by-case basis to troops of several faiths.

In memos sent to each of the Sikh enlistees, Wada mandated that they wear their beards and hair in “a neat and conservative manner that presents a well-groomed appearance.” She set limits on the length their beards can appear when rolled and tied, and required them to wear black or camouflage-pattern turbans in uniform unless their assignments require a helmet. They will be allowed to wear “under turbans” beneath their helmets.

Wada, as she did when she granted Simratpal Singh’s accommodation, expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Army Combat Helmet and gas masks with the soldiers’ long hair and beards. Simratpal Singh has said he recently passed various tests — including a tear gas chamber test — with his beard, long hair and turban.

Attorneys for the three enlistees in late March filed a lawsuit against the Army, Defense Department and senior defense leaders demanding the recruits be granted the religious exemptions before they reported to Basic Combat Training. Despite the Army granting their clients’ religious accommodations, lawyers for the trio said they will move forward with their federal suit in an effort to make the exemptions permanent for Sikh soldiers who plan to serve in the U.S. military.

In a statement, Harsimran Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, which represents all four of the Sikh soldiers granted recent accommodations, noted that the Army plans to revisit the exemptions in about a year, and the service could rescind them at any time.

“We commend the U.S. Department of Defense for its decision to allow these soldiers to serve with their religious turbans and beards,” Kaur said. “However we know, the federal court knows, and even our nation’s largest employer, the DoD, knows that engaging in case-by-case, burdensome accommodation processes while enforcing a discriminatory ban is illegal and indefensible.”

Kanwar Singh, 26, is completing a master’s programs at the University of Massachusetts and Harvard University, according to the coalition. The native of India became an American citizen in 2014 and enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in August after he was told he could not earn a commission through ROTC because of his beard, hair and turban.

Harpal Singh, 34, is also an Indian native who is an expert in electrical and electronic engineering and has worked to build communication networks in Africa, Russia and the Middle East, according to the coalition. He enlisted in November into the Army Reserve after he was recruited for his language and cultural skills through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program.

Arjan Singh Ghotra, 17, enlisted as an infantryman in the Virginia National Guard in December, according to the coalition. Ghotra was born in Virginia and will attend George Mason University after graduating from high school in May.

“After months of waiting, I’m ecstatic that I can finally serve both God and country,” Ghotra said in a statement. “I will be forever grateful to the Army for at least letting me go to boot camp. I look forward to proving that I can serve as well as anyone and am hopeful the Army will extend my accommodation afterward.”

Source- stripes.com

No one should have to choose between their religion and serving their country!