FREMONT, California, USA—This past week on March 28, Sikhs from different parts of the country took part in Ensaaf’s 5K fundraising walk to remember the victims of Indian Government brutalities. The walk took place in Fremont’s Central Park (Lake Elizabeth), located just miles from the Fremont Gurdwara. In addition to Sikhs from Northern California, many from other States arrived to take part in the event.
Jagmeet Singh, MPP from Ontario, Canada, was the guest speaker this year. He spoke about the legacy of Shaheed S. Jaswant Singh Khalra and the on-going brutalities of the Indian Government. He also spoke about the campaign stated by Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa for the release of Sikh political prisoners, and asked Sikhs to support the cause. Along with him, Jaskaran Kaur, the co-founder of Ensaaf talked about the work of her organization. She appreciated the efforts of the “Jakara Movement” in helping organize the walk.
Secretary of Stockton Gurdwara and a respected Gursikh, Daljeet Singh also spoke from the stage and asked everyone to support the work Ensaaf is doing. At the end, the “Amasingh” Vikram Singh also put up a magic show.
After the event, the organizers and supporters of the event took a group picture raising jakaras to express solidarity with the movement to seek release of political prisoners who have completed their jail sentences, but have not been released from various jails in Punjab and India.
The motive of the walk was to raise awareness of thousands of Sikhs who were “disappeared in Punjab by Indian security forces during the Decade of Disappearances.” Post 1984’s attack on the Akal Takht Sahib and Harmandir Sahib, and continuing to the early 1990s, the State Government of Punjab sponsored killings of thousands of innocent Sikhs. The event aimed at fundraising to help support Ensaaf’s project of documenting disappearance in Punjab.
More information about Ensaaf and its work is available at www.ensaaf.org. Please donate to Ensaaf at this link.
The night before the event, Jagmeet Singh also spoke at the Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Milpitas at a special event organized to bring together various Punjabi and Sikh leaders involved in American political scene. At the event, Sikh leadership pledged to work towards meeting the goals of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa’s campaign. Mr. Mohinder Mann, Dr. Pritpal Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Gurinder Kaur Chawla were some of the other speakers.
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