12 June 1984 - On this day, the mutiny /desertion by about 4000 Sikh soldiers of Indian Army was firmly subdued by other units of Indian Army. The mutiny started on 7.6.1984 I.e. two days after Indian Army entered Golden Temple to rid it of Khalistani goons. The mutiny by Sikh soldiers took place at Ganganagar, Sikh Regimental centre Ramgarh, Pune, Silchar , Siliguri and few other places. It is said that as part of Bhindranwale’s grand strategy, terrorists had planted their men in different units to spread rumours and provoke an uprising. On 7th June 1984, 600 Jawans of 9th Battalion of Sikh Regiment at Ganganagar broke into regimental armoury and drove towards Punjab and Pakistan border in two groups. In Ganganagar, they raised Pro Bhindrawale slogans and also killed one policeman there. Some of them managed to cross into Pakistan but remaining were intercepted by Gorkha Rifles and Rajputana Rifles, on Punjab - Rajasthan border. About 100 mutineers were killed in gunfight. Biggest mutiny was at Sikh Regimental centre Ramgarh. It was led by Sepoy Gurnam Singh. When BBC broadcast Mark Tully’s report about mutiny at Ganganagar, about 1500 soldiers at SRC Ramgarh led by Gurnam Singh loaded arms and ammunition into regimental lorries and drove towards Amritsar. At the gate, they fired at Commandant Brig. S. C.Puri and two other senior officers. Brig. Puri was seriously wounded and died in Army Hospital. The mutineers were intercepted at Shakteshgarh Railway station and other places by Infantry and Artillery units of Indian Army. 35 people were killed in firing between mutineers and soldiers manning the roadblocks. At Pune also, about 150 soldiers commandered buses and military vehicles but were intercepted on the way. There was clash on the outskirts of Bombay also. The mutiny was fully subdued on 12th June 1984. After the mutiny, 5 retired Senior Sikh Army Officers met the President Giani Zail Singh to plead for special treatment for the mutineers. They said that they should not be treated as deserters but be allowed to return to their units. Some of them also recommended that rather action should be taken against their commanders for dereliction of duty. The letter written by these 5 highly decorated Army officers, to the President is offered below . What is most perplexing is that these 5 retired Officers kept conveniently quiet when Bhindranwale & his goons were holding religious places to ransom and were indulging in anti national and secessionist activities from within the precincts of Golden Temple. They also chose to indulge in conspiracy of silence when innocent Hindus were butchered by Khalistanis , between 1979 to 1984 but as soon as Gen.T.S.Oberai , the then GOC Southern Command and Gen. A.S.Vaidya , the then Army Chief said that the deserters will be court-martialled and dealt with as per Army Rules, these 5 Generals sprang into action. Nobody knows reason for their convenient silence and selective outrage. Incidentally, even till today SGPC is providing monthly pension to these deserters from its budget, in addition to one time assistance provided at that time . This corpus of SGPC is built with money donated by devotees, including by Hindu devotees who rever Gurus and visit Gurudwaras regularly.
We started using @IFBAppliances Dishwasher 14P Neptune VX 14 purchased from @cromaretail.
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In defense of Indian 🇮🇳 democracy!
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi most successful visit to Norway a minor incident happened. A Norwegian journalist demanded that the prime minister starts holding press conferences. She claimed that Indian democracy is in bad shape.
May be its time to pause? May be its time to be a bit curious to the world’s largest democracy?
Two weeks ago five Indian states and territories held elections. The turn out in the battlefield state of West Bengal was 94%. In the last local election in Norway it was 62%, in many European local elections turn out is below 50%. Can voting in massive numbers be a signal Indians trust their democratic process?
In the same election BJP won big in Assam and West Bengal. It lost even bigger in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Can this diversity be a signal that Indian democracy is reflecting the will of the people?
The journalist referred to a democracy ranking putting India at 157 in the world, behind many dictatorships and deeply troubled states. When a ranking is so obviously contrary to common sense, why not ask critical questions to those making the ranking rather than demand that leaders shall comment on nonsense? I recommend Salvatore Babones book “Dharma democracy”. The book debunks convincingly the flawed methodology of these rankings.
It was referred to a ranking claiming it’s very dangerous to be a journalist in India. Reality is that it is more dangerous to be journalist in the US and far more dangerous in the vast majority of other nations in the world.
Let’s be real. India is not perfect. Of course there are incidents. India has a population the size of North America, South America and Europe combined. But India is much more peaceful than Europe or the Americas. That’s remarkable - given the ethnic, language and religious diversity of India and the many development challenges.
Unless we consider democracy a form of government only suited for some very small, peaceful and homogeneous Western European nations, may be we should commend Indian democracy?
India is the only major former UK colony which became and has remained a democracy. Its sometimes claimed that the Brits taught India democracy. If that was the case why isn’t Myanmar or Pakistan or the Gulf kingdoms democracies??? Reality is that Indian democracy is both homegrown and extraordinary successful.
The river's name is Iravati. Literally it means that she surrounds the earth because of her meandering nature.
River Iravati meets Asikhni who literally means one who is brown colored. This brown color is due to sediment rich water . This is incorrectly called Chenab.
Other river Vipasha who is incorrectly called as Beas joins them. Vipasha is called so because Vipasha means unrestrained. This is because she is fastest river among five rivers that feed Puncha Aap. Literally Five Waters in Sanskrit.
Another river Shatudri is called so because she has 100 tributaries. She is incorrectly called as Sutlej by invaders who do not know Sanskrit.
Then up north we have river Vitasta also incorrectly called Jhelum. Vitasta is called so because she is one Vitasta wide at the source.
These names are meaningful and allow us to reconnect with mother nature.
Please use native names for Bharat's rivers.
I have written about this earlier.
Thanks.