Sardar Khalra, a man of slight build and the appearance of a normal uncle.
Stood like a rock, against a system that turned Punjab into a deadly jungle.
Human rights, legal safeguarding and morality grew wings and flew away
Open season was declared on Sikhs, the predators began hunting their prey
People wonder where he plucked the courage to expose india’s blood games
Rebel currents of courage were already running through his veins
Sparkling freedom fighters adorned Sardar Khalra’s lineage
Ancestor Shaheed Surat Singh sacrificed to prevent moghul pillage
Grandfather Harnam Singh, a Gadhar spurred the indian revolution
Only to witness Punjab and Sikh lives, torn apart by Partition
Despite sacrificing all to liberate india from British imperialism
india repaid the debt with more tyranny, the target was Sikhism
Unconcerned about a career or business, this young man was about selfless service
Protesting at college against minor injustice, this was a backdrop to his masterpiece
It is often said Sardar Khalra began investigating when his own went missing
This denigrates the character of a man who spent a lifetime helping those lamenting
As a Penchayat Secretary he heard countless tales of unimaginable horror
Using this job, documented the disappearances and tales of police torture
Mothers like ours, searching for their children would weep and wail at his side
Holding his own tears, a pledge was made to lift india’s democratic guise
We howled for decades that our land and people were being butchered
The world stood silent, there is no evidence they smugly uttered
TADA, NSA and other acts legalised our physical extermination
With the law and enforcers driving the policy, there was no protection
The Pioneer, an English Publication made a startling declaration
Sikh bodies had been thrown into the river, enough to block irrigation
Rajasthan discovered Sikh bodies, with feet and hands tied together
They complained to the Centre Government, it is polluting our water
But was it humanly possible to consign countless bodies to the river?
Sardar Khalra intrigued, with an Ardas began to seek and wonder
Dara Singh, Manager of Co-op bank was abducted by the police
One day later, dubbed a terrorist and his existence had ceased
Searching for Dara lead Sardar Khalra to Amritsar’s cremation ground
Here our Saint warrior uncovered a gory tale that would astound
Where were the rest of the bodies the world asked intently?
Que Sardar Khalra, to take his place in our history
Posing as an official from the Municipal Corporation
Trawling through names, dates and times of the victims of abduction
The Government had left a startling evidence of their crimes
Even wood purchases, needed to exterminate the bodies in flames
Over two thousand bodies had been discovered in three districts alone
Men, women and children cremated illegally, families not being told
Based on this grisly discovery, Sardar Khalra estimated 25, 000 more
The world would have to know, that our slaughter was sanctioned by law
Most would think a thousand times before publishing such findings
Sardar Khalra wasted no time in calling a press conference
Not only were the countless Sikhs reduced to ashes brought to light
So too was the police chief K.P Gill, a butcher who left no Sikh in sight
SSP Sandhu now fretting, told Sardar Khalra to take the findings back
Or else he proclaimed in the media, I will add one more to the 25,000 stack
Undeterred in his mission, Sardar Khalra continued his investigation
Only death could put an end to this warrior who deserves a divine salutation
Realising that Sardar Khalra had effectively dictated his own fate
He began an international tour to awaken the world before it was too late
Giving speeches in the US, UK and Canada rattling souls about our plight
I challenge the darkness he proclaimed; around me there will be light
Do not go back, international politicians warned Sardar Khalra
You have exposed the system, now we will give you a Visa
I must return to the pit of hell and help my people come what may
My work is not finished, nor will my principles allow me to stay
On return the threats grew in frequency, wife Paramjit Kaur began stressing
Word was given from a Congress MLA, that his death was now pending
Police, Intelligence Beauro and the Chief Minister were salivating to tear him apart
He remained in his little house on Kabir Road, continuing his work like a stalwart
That fateful day had finally arrived, while Sardar Khalra was busy washing his car
Commandoes in numbers, including the police, abducted him not leaving a mark
Mandip Singh witnessed the episode, a journalist visiting from the indian express
Waheguru only knows what awaited Sardar Khalra, the mind wants to digress
Sardar Khalra was consigned to the same flames that he so bravely exposed
Becoming a victim of his own project, with the rest he had been disposed
The man who had unmasked the systematic murder on a scale so great
Was tragically the last in line of thousands, to have suffered the same fate
There goes another diamond, where the rest have gone he will follow
It is not a bitter pill though, we are slaves, it should be easy to swallow
Those responsible have been awarded and roam free
Have truth, justice and freedom become a mere dream?
The next time people snigger, call you a terrorist and brush it aside
Give the name Sardar Khalra, who evidenced and exposed our genocide
Annals of history will remember a man with insane courage
Whose light shone so bright that it had to be extinguished
Embers from our ashes had engulfed the once vibrant skies in darkness
It needed a son of Guru Gobind Singh, to give the broken some solace
Your sacrifice should inspire and infuse a generation to take your lead
You are our unsung hero, may you take birth in every generation my Veer
