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How The Singh's Punished Gobind Ram
Based On "Tay Deevaa Jagdaa Rahaygaa" By Amardeep Singh Amar
Introduction In the 18th Century, Meer Mannu committed indescribable atrocities upon the Sikhs and the following saying became very common "Manoo is our sickle, we are his crop. As he cuts us down, we double in number…" The soul of 18th Century Mannu had in the 80's come into Gobind Ram, the Batala Police Chief. Last time, Mannu's death to place after his foot was caught in his horse's stirrup and he was dragged until his demise. Perhaps his desire to die at the hands of Singh's had yet to be fulfilled and so his spirit had entered Gobind Ram. The story of his evils is very long, but still some examples are mentioned here. He used to always say that the Sikh will forget their Guru and remember him only. He had told all those working under him to rape Sikh girls. He used to say, "if their seed is changed only then will the revolutionary spirit be taken out of their homes." The Rape Of village Gora Choor One night in January 1989 was a night of horror for the residents of village Gora Choor. SSP Gobind Ram along with countless police officers surrounded the village. A member of Bhai Daleep Singh Babbar's Jatha, Patloo Singh, was staying at one Amreek Singh "Shah's" house. This household had no link with the Babbars, but because Patloo Singh was sick, he was left here while his companions went to Batala to get medicine. In the meantime, an informant informed the police. Patloo Singh's body was broken due to typhoid and he was arrested while asleep. He had tried to grab the mauser rifle sitting by his bedside, but his arms were held down. Gobind Ram thundered, "Ok Sukroo Singh (thin/dried up Singh), which Jathebandee are you a member of? What's your name?" But his roar turned into a kitty cat's purr when Patloo replied, "What's it to you? You want to marry your daughter to me or something?" After this, Patloo was tortured for two hours but let alone telling about the other Singh's, he didn't so much as reveal his real name. When the police began to remove Patloo's clothes in front of the whole village and Gobind Ram wanted to remove his kacherra, Patloo Singh filled with the spirit of Shaheedi. He yelled a jaikaaraa and grabbed Gobind Ram's throat. He pressed his long thumb into Gobind Ram's neck. Gobind Ram's eye's began to roll into his head and he began to gurgle. Gobind Ram shrieked, "Oy! You Mother-fuckers, Are you only going to free me from him when he's killed me?!!" Seven police officers barely managed to free him. Patloo was refusing to let go. As they pulled his thumb from Gobind Ram's throat, his thumb ripped the skin off and blood began to flow. Gobind Ram took out his revolver and shot Patloo. The Singh fell to the ground and became a Shaheed. Gobind Ram yelled, "Take all the people out of that home…bastards keep these people in their homes…sleep with their daughters…take them all out…let's change their family blood today." Hearing Gobind Ram's orders, the police took all of Amreek Singh's family out of the home, including all women and children. They began to beat the women and children with the butts of their rifles. The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and BSF (Border Security Force) officers began to tease and harass the women. One BSF officer tried to touch one woman, but she wrapped the shawl around her head even tighter around herself. Gobind Ram yelled, "Why? What's wrong with his hands? Are their (Singh's') hands better? " He began to walk towards the woman and she stood up. "They came with guns and asked for food…we gave it to them. What power do the weak have before the strong? But they weren't rude like you…" "The bitch serves them like guests eh? Must be her daughter's husbands…" Saying this, Gobind Ram became enraged. He uncovered all the women's heads. He also removed all the family's clothes. The poor women sat in humiliation with their heads down. They were kept like this for two hours. After this, they took Amreek Singh Shah, his daughter-in-law, his son and a girl from his relative's home to the police station. After five days when all were released, the men returned with just bodily pain, but the women returned with not only injured bodies, but also with the weight of stories of how their spirits were wounded. This was the enforcement of the Brahmin "Sudheekaran" (raping non-Hindus to change their race). The Challenge
About ten days after this incident, Gobind Ram's hungry dogs again came back to village Gora Choor. All villagers from Gora Choor and the next villages, Kotlee, Bhangali, Kasakre, etc, were called to the village's Centre. Gobind Ram screamed, "All those between the ages of 15 and 50 go to one side!" "All these sons of pigs! Take off their skin! They all give refuge to their sons-in-law (Singh's)" The Police followed the orders and began to beat all the villagers with thick boards, batons and their rifle butts. Screams were heard everywhere. "I'll say it first then you repeat! If you don't, we'll beat you even worse. Surjan Kaur is a bitch!…..Maninder Kaur is a slut!……Mandeep Kaur is a Prostitute!…." Gobind Ram then began to swear at a woman who was an Akali leader and was in the Amritsar Jail, accused of giving shelter to the Singh's. First Gobind Ram would himself swear and then force all the people to repeat after him. "…You bastards! Why don't you say it louder?… You mother……" He grabbed a baton and began to beat all the assembled people. Terrified, the villagers began to yell the cuss words even louder. He continued to lead them: "Surjan Kaur…..Maninder Kaur…..Mandeep Kaur….." People were forced to repeat and hung their heads in shame. Seeing an older Sardar with a tied beard who appeared to be a retired soldier, Gobind Ram yelled, "You! You pimp…you aren't swearing! Is she your daughter or something??" He then showered him with baton blows. The older Sardar replied, "Yes…Dirty Bastard…I am a retired Major of the Sikh Regiment. And yes, all the daughters of this village are my daughters. I fought three wars for this country…bloody nonsense. But I never saw any lowlife dog Officer like you before…you Motherfucker. The entire country's and the entire Earth's daughters are my daughters and sisters. They are daughters of every Sikh…"Daykh paraieeaa(n) changeeaa(n) maavaa(n) bhaiNaa(n) dheeaa(n) jaaNay…" "Their honour is dead that they keep yelling garbage about their own sisters and daughters…I can't bark like them. You know I am a Sikh soldier?" The enraged Sikh soldier had even yelled at the other villagers now. Hearing the Sikh soldier's bellows, everything became very still. Hearing the Sikh soldier, Gobind Ram was burning up. "Oh yeah? You won't cuss..?" He began to badly beat the elderly Sikh but he did not so much as utter a cry. Instead, he served the police officers a mixture of cuss words in English, Urdu and Punjabi. "…Take him away! We'll do his Court Marshall at the police station. Then he'll see what happens if you mess with Gobind Ram. Why are you all quiet?? Bark! Bark!!!" Gobind Ram ordered all the villagers and police officers. The Police Party took the old Sikh to Fatehgarh Chooreeaa(n) police station. "…Let Surjan Kaur come back from jail…just watch if I don't make her dance naked in front of all the village. And tell your brave warrior Karam Singh (Babbar) that when I get a hold of him, I'll see his bravery myself. And the rest of you big Sikhs…if you keep sheltering those bastards, I'm going to beat you to death and throw you into the river Beas…". He threatened the entire village and gave an open challenge to Bhai Karam Singh and all of Babbar Khalsa. He had invited his own death. Gobind Ram's party then left for their holes in the ground and the next day, the elderly Sikh officer's naked body was found in the village Centre. The people picked it up and took it away. The brave soldier was true to his word. His body was ripped apart like cotton but the glow of Khalsa Spirit was still shining from his face.
The Reply An oppressor thinks that after he has committed his evils, people will be terrified. They will forget their honour and pride and bow before him. This does not always happen. It is said that a crowd has no mind, but sometimes there are some people with a mind in the crowd who stand up and agree to have their heads cut off but will never allow themselves to bow before an oppressor. When the news of Gobind Ram’s challenge came to Bhai Karam Singh, Bhai Sahib published a reply in the daily newspapers. He wrote,
Bhai Sahib’s announcement terrified Gobind Ram. For days, he refused to even look towards the assigned place the Singh's had announced. The Singh's were eager to avenge the death of Patloo Singh and punish Gobind Ram and his butchers. In these days, another incident took place. Two secret Babbar workers were arrested from Mehta Chownk. They were remanded to Gobind Ram’s custody where he brutally killed them. Along with those two Singh's, three other completely innocent youths were also killed. One young boy was a student of the twelfth grade and was the only brother of four sisters. All five Singh's were killed in a fake encounter. The young boy was just 16 years old. His mother cried herself blind. Dealing With Gobind Ram’s "Black Cats" The Singh's in Batala Police District were completely enraged. One day, our entire Jatha was staying in village Dalaer Khurd. Gobind Ram’s gang, with orange dastaars tied on their heads and Kalashnikov rifles in their hands entered the village. One resident of the village, Malkeet Singh had arranged the marriage of his daughter and the gang of 20 goons entered into his home. The people at home thought they were Singh's and gave them food to eat. After eating their fill, the leader of the Black Cat party, Jasvinder Singh Kala explained why he had come. (Black Cats were gangs used by Punjab Police to defame Singh's. They dressed up like Singh's but did horrendous crimes so that normal village-people would turn against the movement). Kala asked, “Who’s the owner of this house?” Malkeet Singh replied, “Uh…Baba jee….yes…I understand you’re Singh's…” He was terrified. He was begging Guru jee to save him from these people as he had no idea who they were. Kala shamelessly replied with a terrifying laugh, “Yeah…absolutely right. Babas…Khalistani Babas. HAHAHA” His other goons also began to laugh. “Ok then. Give us all the girl’s jewellery and any other valuables.” He loaded his rifle and pointed it at Malkeet Singh. “But Baba jee…I’m poor…how will I marry off my daughter?” “Don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of that. You just bring us the goods. You don’t want us to make you Khalistan?” He put the barrel against the owner’s back. Malkeet Singh took all the valuables in his home and handed them over. “Ok, now to take care of your daughter, right? We forgot all about that didn’t we?” Kala grabbed the girl, who standing inside, by the arm and threw her on the bed which was going to be given at her marriage. The girl began to scream. Malkeet Singh pleaded, “Baba jee, you asked for what you wanted and we gave it to you. We considered you Guru’s Singh's and respected you…but please don’t do this…for Guru’s sake!” In the meantime, the fifteen year old son of the house went inside and grabbed a pitchfork which he thrust into the stomach of one of Kala’s thugs. Another gang member immediately shot the boy who fell dead on the spot. Our entire Jatha heard the sound of the bullets. We were coincidentally only a few houses away from where Kala was so our entire Jatha of 20-25 Singh's went to where we heard the noise. We saw the naked girl lying on the bed and the blood soaked body of the young boy and we understood what was going on. One Singh in the Jatha yelled out, “Oy! That’s Kala, one of Gobind Ram’s Cats…!!” Bhai Karam Singh bellowed, “Family members, go hide inside. We’ll take care of this. Kill the gang but I want Kala alive! Start the attack!!” All the Babbars opened fire and our rifles began to spit fire. The family members had no idea what was going on, but all ran and hid. Kala’s gang also opened fire in which two Singh's were injured. The Singh's were yelling “Akaal!! Akaal!!” and spraying bullets. Bhai Daleep Singh took out his new gun, the GPM and let it loose. After half an hour of firing, the other side became calm and the house’s courtyard was filled with bodies. The sound of bullets was replaced with sound of groans and cries. There were a total of 11 bodies. Two Singh's from our Jatha were also injured. From the family, only the one boy had been killed, who had been shot before we arrived. Kala, along with four injured thugs was captured. The Girl put on clothes inside and then fell at Bhai Karam Singh’s feet. “Brother, if you didn’t come today then….Oh my god! My brother!” Seeing her brother’s body, the girl began to sob. Bhai Karam Singh tried to console the girl, “No Sister, compose yourself. These were government agents. Your brother is a martyr…a martyr in the battle for Khalistan.” “In the morning, take the boy’s body for cremation and bring us a truck so that we can throw these dusht’s bodies into the Beas.” After the truck arrived, the entire Jatha loaded the bodies onto the truck and Kala with his companions was tied up and brought to the banks of the river Beas. The bodies were thrown in. Bhai Daleep Singh broke the slience, “Ok, let’s do their Antim Saskaar as well.” One Singh took a five litre can and filled it with diesel from the truck. “Hai! Oy Baba jee! We’re your servants…!” Gobind Ram’s lions had become goats. The Singh's drenched the five thugs in diesel and threw a match at them. The dark night was lit up by the five who ran about for some time and then themselves jumped into the river. Attacks On The BSF - August, 1988 The next day, the Singh's saw a four wheeler filled with BSF officers. Bhai Daleep Singh asked, “Bhaoo, what’re the orders?” He was shining the barrel of his GPM with a cloth. Bhai Karam Singh replied, “No…not today…Let them make a routine of things.” In the meantime, at Amritsar, Bhai Gurnam Singh blew up a BSF tanker with a grenade and announced that Babbar Khalsa would make new grenade and bomb Jathas. The four-wheeler made its rounds for three or four days when on the fifth, a massive explosion came from the road and the Madrasis inside were all smeared onto the ground. All 15 Madrasis had to be scraped off the ground.
A couple days later, we overheard to villagers talking amongst themselves about the explosion: “See that Bhaoo? The Guru Singh’s did something amazing eh? The next day the BSF were going to people’s houses looking for all the “spare parts”…Here’s Sahib jee’s leg and there’s Vada Sahib jee’s arm with all his ribbons! HAHAH” The Story Of Harjeet Kaur Because of these attacks, the police in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Batala were all furious. They began to torture all normal residents. They would keep people for in police stations for no reason and rape the daughters of those Gursikhs who gave shelter to the Singh's. In village Leharkaa, we along with the Khalistan Liberation Force’s Bhai Jugraj Singh Toofan had a place we stayed. That household had a daughter who studied in the 10th grade. The police gave her a treatment which left our hairs standing on end. This girl was called Harjeet Kaur and her father and brother were already in Amritsar jail for giving shelter to the Singh's. Harjeet Kaur along with her older sister Parmveer went to meet them, when they caught the eye of SSP P K Sharma. That evening, Sharma came to village Leharkaa and took the girl to the police station, where she was badly tortured. That young body was subjected to third degree tortures. She was beaten with thick boards and hung upside down. They even put salt and chilli pepper in her private parts. But this young Bibi did not even name a single Singh who came to her house. After she refused to do so, she was taken into a room where she was blindfolded and all night seven or eight police officers, along with Sharma raped her. She fell unconscious. When she regained her senses, she found herself lying alone and naked in the room. After they could not take any information from her, the police released Harjeet Kaur. She was in a very bad state. She could not even walk properly. Her spirit had been broken and soon after, she hung herself and committed suicide. The Last Straw Like Sharma, Gobind Ram also began to harass normal people. Finally, his evil reached its limit when he arrested the wives of Bhai Mehal Singh Babbar and Bhai Kulwant Singh Babbar. Both women worked in a bank and supported their children. On August 21st, 1989, a van with tinted windows pulled in front of the bank. Six armed men got out and asked the women to come with them. The women answered, “Who knows who you are? How can we go with someone we don’t even know?” “Look at my ID. I’m Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, ASI. Now shut up and start walking with us or you’re going to be disrespected.” The ASI was yelling his threat. The women began to yell and said, “We won’t go! How are you going to take us? You’ve got big dastaars and look like you’re the sons of Sikhs, have some shame!” The ASI ordered his assistants, “Oy Shera! Pick them up and throw them in the van! People are going to start to gather and make a scene and our job will get harder.”. The officer followed his orders and forcibly took off the women’s dastaars, and tied their hands with them and threw them in the van. Their kirpaans were also taken off. They began to drive towards Batala’s “Beco” Interrogation Centre. The Indian media calls us terrorists, but our fight is for our own nation. We have taken to the path of violence to free our motherland from India. War is not our hobby. It is our compulsion. We call the land between the Ghaghar River and the Chenab our own and fight for it. Before 1849, the Khalsa owned all this land so how are we terrorists? We are fighting for the land that the Brahmins took from us by cheating, after the British left. Torture Of The Two Singhnees For every soldier of Khalistan and his family, no matter with what luxuries they were raised, must come the time of testing. Today, that time had come for the Singhnees of Bhai Kulwant Singh Cashier and Bhai Mehal Singh. People say that a prison is worse than a grave and even darker than the pits of hell. And if the person running that prison is a Jamdoot like Gobind Ram, imagine what kind of a place that would be. Lakha ASI and his gang of butchers arrived at the Beco Centre with the two Singhnees. The clock on the wall read 7:15pm. A Sikh youth was hanging upside down from the ceiling and Gobind Ram was beating him with a long stick. Seeing the two Singhnees come in, Gobind Ram began to spew his filth: "Ah ha! Has the Babbar material arrived? Where the hell do they get wives that are dressed up like that? They come here with jooraas on their heads…" He walked towards Gurdev Kaur and hit her with his baton in the stomach. He struck her below the belly and she fell to the ground, bleeding from her privates. For the next eight or nine minutes, he kept striking Gurdev Kaur in the stomach as she lay on the ground. "…Where's your husband? I'm gonna kill him…here, take your Khalistan…Oy Lakha you son of a bitch, bring the ghotna for your mother here!" (Ghotna is a log that is rotated on the legs to rip apart muscles). A thick log was brought and placed on the Bibi's legs and on each side, four heavy police officers stood up. Gobind Ram kept hitting Bibi Gurdev Kaur's joints with his stick. Because of blood loss, the Bibi was getting worse and worse, but Gobind Ram kept repeating, "Where is Kulwant Singh?" Gurmeet Kaur could not bear to watch anymore and turned her face away. "And look at this slut's tricks…" Gobind Ram left Gurdev Kaur and began to beat Gurmeet Kaur. Gobind Ram called on a man with a black turban, "Hand me a rope…" He tied Gurmeet Kaur's hands and then threw her to the ground with a shove. He put a heavy board on her legs and had 4 police officers stand on it. Gobind Ram kept kicking her in the chest. "I'm going to dishonour you to my heart's content. What are are your husbands going to do? Big Babbars….bloody enemies of our country…" He kept talking his filth and also began to offer incentives to turn Bhai Mehal Singh and Bhai Sukhdev Singh in. "Look, if you convince them to turn themselves in, I'll spare their lives and I'll also get them positions in the police force." Both women were crying out, "We know nothing! Since they've left home, we've never met them. We just work and support our children…" Their cries were piercing the air. Seeing the dogs of India's so-called "Ram Raj" in the land of Sita and Daropati committing such acts must have made even Ravan himself shudder. After five hours of non-stop torture, both women fell unconscious. But each time they lost consciousness, they were given water and brought back and the process would begin again. An animal, after going through Halal does not have to go through it again, but here these two frail women underwent halal over and over again after being taken to the brink of death and then brought back repeatedly. Gobind Ram kept repeating "Give us Mehal Singh, Give us Kulwant Singh." For three days and three nights the torture continued. When Gurdev Kaur was nearing her death, the police secretly took her to the government hospital and left her there. Gurmeet Kaur's right leg was paralysed and both were kept awake for many days. Someone was called from the outside to massage her leg. She could not walk but they forced her to do so. In the hospital, a merciful lady doctor took care of Gurdev Kaur and also informed her family. News of all this reached the media and all political religious and social organizations condemned Gobind Ram's actions. When finally Gurmeet Kaur refused to hand over any Singh, she was threatened with being killed. By now though, because the press had gotten wind of the arrest, she was indicted in a false case and sent to jail. Because Gurdev Kaur received the best care possible, she was saved from death, but for the rest of her life she would face health problems.
Things like this were happening to all Sikh Militants' families. Bhai Sukhdev Singh Babbar's nephew was also beaten to death. Atrocities On Singhs' Families In Ropar District, Bhai Didar Singh Daaree was walking on a dirt path in his village of Havara(n) Kala(n) when the police attempted to surround him. Bhai Didar Singh went into a nearby field and an encounter began. Didar Singh had quite a bit of ammunition and so the encounter lasted for 48 hours in which two police inspectors and quite a few police officers were killed. After 48 hours, bullet-proof tractors were brought in which were successful in hunting Bhai Didar Singh down. A police force led by Sumedh Saini fell onto Havara(n) Kala(n) and grabbed Bhai Didar Singh's simple amritdhari brother, who was not involved in anything. They beat him and then brought him to his brother's body. Seeing the body, the brother began to weep, "My beautiful brother…why couldn't I have died in your place?? Where am I going to find a father for you small children? How will your little daughter pass her days?" The brother collapsed on Didar Singh's body. The police pulled him off and then beat him senseless. Even today he wanders the alleys of the village in complete silence. In village Ganga in Bathinda, Babbar Khalsa's Malwa Zone Chief, Bhai Balwinder Singh Ganga's father Sardar Chanan Singh was shot in his sleep by the police.
Dashmesh Regiment's Head, Seetal Singh Mutayval had a long encounter with the police in which he did a lot of damage and as revenge, the police kidnapped his wife, two brothers and their wives and had them killed. BTF's head, Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal's brothers and father were all killed. KCF chief Bhai Parmjit Singh's mother was also kidnapped and killed. Hundreds of thousands of people came to Babbar Bhai Balwinder Singh Jatana's funeral in Ropar. Sumedh Saini was very annoyed at this and the day after the bhog, he lit eight members of Bhai Jatana's family on fire and burnt them alive including his four year old niece and 90 year old grandmother. The Singh's too, although facing serious losses, tried to punish the oppressors. Two bomb attacks took place against Sumedh Saini but by luck, he survived both times.
The Babbar Chief for Doaba, Bhai Harminderveer Singh Tainee was going to Anandpur Sahib for Hola Mohalla with his Singhnee when an informer told the police near Khanna. The bus was stopped and an ASI officer grabbed Bhai TaiNee by the wrist when Bhai Sahib's Singhnee, Bibi Manjeet Kaur, who was herself a Babbar, took a pistol out of her purse and fired three bullets, blowing the ASI officer's skull off. Tainee didn't want to harm the passengers on the bus so he took a cyanide pill even though he had a filled assault rifle in his bag. Bhai Sahib's Singhnee also shot herself and the couple became shaheeds together. Bhai Tainee's father, Master Amreek Singh was attacked after this but he survived with serious wounds. When They Were Worse Than Butchers…
Not only did Singhs' families face such atrocities, but those who sheltered them also faced horrible torture. In village Kilee Bodlaa(n), Bhai Heera Singh Babbar and Bhai Resham Singh had a hideout in a teacher's field. One day at noon time, their entire Jatha was eating when an informer had the Ferozepur Police surround the house. The Singh's did not think it was right to fight while in the house because women and children could be injured and so the Singh's jumped a wall and ran to the fields. The police opened fire and after the encounter, three police officers and two Singh's were killed. Bhai Resham Singh was one of them, but Bhai Heera Singh survived and made his escape with the others. The police took all the bodies and left but that evening, even before the sun had gone down, the police returned and surrounded the house. There was no Singh in the house now but they threw a grenade onto the roof and blew it open. The entire family including women and children were taken out and tied to a tree and the police began to beat them with their batons. The screams of the women, children and other family members forced the villagers to shut all their doors. The sun, perhaps in shame, set earlier than usual, but the butcher police officers of this Indian "Ram Raj" felt no shame at all. They took diesel out of the tractor in the home and heated it up in a pot. The family members' clothes were ripped off. A police officer went to the kitchen and got a vegetable shredder and then began to skin the family members alive. When the diesel began to boil, the butchers took jugs and big ladles and began to pour it on to the shredded skin. The women and children's shrieks shook the earth and the heavens but the stone hearted butchers were not affected and kept laughing their evil laughs. Death danced in that courtyard for a full four hours and it finally ended when every family member fell unconscious after their bodies were horribly burnt. The police shot each family member dead. Out of the entire family, only the family-head who had gone to the city and a small girl who had hidden in the flower garden in all the commotion, survived. In all of Punjab’s districts, the oppressors were running wild. There was terror amongst the common people. At various places, the brave Singh's too were replying to the oppression. In Malwa, the Singh's killed the murderers of Bhai Balwinder Singh Ganga’s father. In the Majha Zone, Gobind Ram was a constant irritation for the Singh's. A Meeting The five Jujhaaroo Jatehbandees of the Panthic Committee had a secret meeting in the Batala area to decide what to do about Gobind Ram. All the Singh's were incensed at his evils and finally, the Khalistan Liberation Force’s Bhai Jugraj Singh Tufaan took the responsibility of punishing him.
Bhai Jugraj Singh declared, “that bloody butcher…progeny of Meer Mannu…he’s going to fly 25 feet high when I’m done with him…But Babio, we have very little atta (meaning flour but a codeword for explosives), if you could help us with that?” Bhai Gurnam Singh Babbar, chief of the Majha Zone replied, “that’s not a problem Bhai Sahib jee. You’ll get as much atta as you need. Just prepare yourselves to punish that dusht. It doesn’t matter frankly who gets him, but he should not get away.” Trip To Amritsar After the meeting concluded, I went with Bhai Gurnam Singh and some other Singh's to Sree Amritsar. We had come to have darshan of Sree Darbaar Sahib. We left our equipment at one of Bhai Gurnam Singh’s safe-houses and then left. We listened to keertan for some time and then decided to go to the bazaar that evening. One University student who lived at the safe-house gave his suggestion that we not go out empty-handed as there were security officials everywhere. We came back to the room and armed ourselves. Two Singh's grabbed assault rifles and wrapped shawls around themselves while us three remaining Singh's each took a pistol. In the bazaar, we saw a car with flashing red lights approaching and Satvinder Singh said, “It looks like the prey is coming by himself…It looks like Gobind Ram! It’s his car at any rate…” I asked Bhai Gurnam Singh, “Well Jathedar Sahib, what do you think?” Taking his revolver out, Bhai Gurnam Singh replied, “we’ve finally got an opportunity, what’s there to think about? Let’s do it.” I looked behind the car and said, “Yes, but who’s going to take care of them?” referring to the jeep filled with security guards. “You two with the assault rifles go meet the security jeep, us three will take the main man.” With this, Bhai Gurnam Singh began to walk quickly towards Gobind Ram’s Ambassador car. The car was started but parked. Gobind Ram was inside but his son was inside a book store. We hadn’t yet reached Gobind Ram when the two Singh's opened fire on the security jeep. “Rajan! Run….” Yelled Gobind Ram as he heard the bullets. By this time we three had begun to shoot his car as well. The driver immediately turned the car around and Gobind Ram began to shoot at us with his service revolver.
With a cry of “Hai! Papa! Gobind Ram’s son fell in the crossfire as he was reaching the car. The driver was wounded but sped away. The security jeep went out of control and smashed into a tomato cart, leaving tomato chutney all over the street. After our magazines were empty, we jumped a wall and hid in a garden. Satvinder Singh said, “Looks like he got away…” Bhai Gurnam Singh replied, “It’s possible…are all our Singh's in chardi kala?” “We’re all fine, but the hasty Singh's with their assault rifles haven’t returned yet” I said, worried about their fate. After a little while they returned as well. “Well Singho, we’ll find out in tomorrow’s newspaper what happened and who’s chutney we made. Now let’s get out of here…” We took Bhai Gurnam Singh’s advice and all left the city for secure locations. The next day, the newspapers all featured the story on Gobind Ram being injured and his son being killed in an attack. Hunt Moves To Jalandhar Gobind Ram was transferred to the Jalandhar Police Training Centre. Maybe he considered himself safe at that place, but fate was laughing at this thought of his. Bhai Jugraj Singh met up with us and complained, “Babio, you haven't gotten the atta to me?” Bhai Gurnam Singh gave me a bag filled with explosives and sent me to Bhai Jugraj Singh’s hideout. Bhai Jugraj Singh met me with a lot of love. Bhai Jugraj Singh gave his Fateh and hugged me. He looked at the bag and said, “Our Force is just carrying around guns, this time I’m going to ask for explosives too. I like the Babbars’ style of doing things with bombs.” I said to Jugraj Singh, “But Khalsa jee, he’s gone and hidden himself in some hole in Jalandhar?” “That’s no big deal, the Khalsa will go after him. The Guru’s lions can even go to London to get their man.” The next day we went to another hideout where a young man with a cut beard sat us down. Bhai Jugraj Singh asked, “Well Choohar Singh, Nikka hasn’t returned?” “He’s come bhaji, he came back yesterday. He’s here somewhere…let me check. Oy! Nikkaa! Baba jee’s here!” At the call, a young Singh who had absolutely no beard came and gave Bhai Toofan a fateh. In a very young age, Bhai Jugraj Singh had developed a very good reputation in the entire area. “Well friend, where’s your duty these days?” asked Bhai Toofan. “I’ll tell you Baba jee, but first you should introduce me to the mahapurakh beside you” the young man said, seemingly uncomfortable with my presence. “Oh, don’t be shy around him. This is our own Singh, Mengha Singh Babbar…I’m going to put you under him…” Said Bhai Jugraj Singh, taking the young man’s hand and putting it in mine. The young man grasped my hand tightly and said, “there’s never anything to be afraid of, but it’s good to be safe. These day’s I’m posted at Jalandhar, in the Training Centre.” The Plan & Justice A few days later, according to the plan, we rented a store near the Training Centre to sell tea and snacks. We hired a cook and arranged for samosas, toast, puri/chholay, etc. We also rented a room in the Dogar colony of the city. Our young friend visited us there every day and this helped prepare him mentally for his job. We taught him about Gurmat’s revolutionary principles. We gave Nikka the job of telling us when we had the opportunity to do our job. The bomb was ready with about 10-12 Kg of explosives attached to a detonator. The bomb in total was about 20 Kg and we stored it in our restaurant with some broken utensils and other garbage. We wore long kurtas and chaadraas like truck drivers. Amongst the customers that came, we spread the story that we were failed truck drivers who decided to open a restaurant. How long could Gobind Ram keep us away? One day at around quarter after seven in the evening, Nikka came to us. “Baba jee, today is a great opportunity. Gobind Ram and his gang have gone into the city to see some “Star Show” with dancing movie actors. Most of the police are busy with security. “And the sentry party?” I asked? “Baba jee, those low-lifes caught some young girl today and are busy with her now. I managed to slip away. Now’s the time. Go fit the bomb…” Bhai Jugraj Singh put the bomb in a sack and gave the remote control to me. He put on a Commando uniform and left with Nikka. “Babbaraa, do ardaas to Sachay Patshaah for our success…” said Bhai Jugraj Singh as he was leaving. It felt as if some 18th century Shaheed was speaking through him. After about half an hour, Jugraj Singh came back and I asked, “Well Babio, how did it go?” “Sachay Patshaah did kirpaa. You check the cells for the remote. I fit the bomb under his chair. That Brahmin’s going to fly 25 feet high. Sachay Patshaah, may your Panth have victory!” Bhai Jugraj Singh put his hands together in ardaas. Now we waited for the dusht to come back. We kept looking at Nikka while sitting in our restaurant. At around 10.30pm, Gobind Ram’s car returned with its siren wailing. We saw Nikka saluting Gobind Ram in the lights, and Gobind Ram got out and began to walk towards his office. Bhai Toofan grabbed the remote from me and pointed it towards the office. We were within range. We waited for Nikka’s signal and every second same like an epoch. After about three minutes, our wait ended as Nikka flashed his torch at us. Bhai Jugraj Singh became alert right away. Nikka flashed the torch a second time and Bhai Toofan’s thumb came and rested on the button. When the torch flashed a third time, Bhai Jugraj Singh called on Dashmesh Pita and pressed the button with full force. Like the clap of thunder, “BOOOOMMMM” the bomb exploded.
Gobind Ram along with all the things in his office and the office beside his flew at least 50 feet high. Nikka, standing at the gate, yelled “Sat Sree Akaal!” and rand towards us.
Bhai Jugraj Singh yelled at Nikka, “Go back! You’re going to cause us some other problem for us now!” Because of the explosion, many rooms in the Training Centre were now ablaze. The Centre was filled with screams and wails. All the workers were running around and bumping into each other in terror. Nikka flashed the victory symbol and said, “Babio, the bastard was going to leave and then I don’t know what happened, he just went straight for his office.” Nikka was having trouble hiding his joy.
Bhai Toofan addressed the both of us, “Ok Nikka, you go back. Bhai Sahib, let’s get out of here.” “Ballay Babio! What kind of friendship is this? I’m not going to get caught by these butchers! The first thing they’re going to do is start to beat all the guys on sentry duty.” Nikka decided to come with us. All three of us put on Commando uniforms and left the city. A few days later, Nikka was named the Area Commander for Baba Bakala. |
