Twenty two years ago today, on 9th October 1992, long-time friends Harjinder Singh ‘Jinda’ and Sukhdev Singh ‘Sukha’ were executed by the Indian Government. Sukha and Jinda were responsible for punishing General Vaidiya, the architect and commander of the brutal attack on Harmandir Sahib in 1984 when the army launched a devastating assault on the most sacred of Sikh shrines, and killed many thousands of innocent pilgrims gathered there for Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s Gurpurb. Not a single person was held to account for the illegal and widespread murder, torture, rape and looting that took place on that first week of June in 1984, although thousands of eye witness statements highlight the atrocities that took place under the command of the army.
Addressing the Judge after he had announced their death sentences, Sukha and Jinda said, “the day the evil government attacked Darbar Sahib, we decided our lives belonged to the Panth and it doesn’t matter if we go today or tomorrow. You may announce any punishment you like.” Their roar of jaikara (victory cry) echoed in the court room.
In the same way, Sukha and Jinda remained in high spirits right until their last breath. They faced the gallows with their heads held high and the love for Sikhi in their hearts. They were both studying for their BA’s at university when the 1984 attack took place and feeling the pain of injustice and oppression, they felt compelled to take action.
Throughout their time in jail, they had both endured extreme torture and harassment at the hands of the police and jail officials. However on 9th October 1992 they refused to go to the gallows in prison uniform, instead they both dressed in a white chola with kesri dastaar and kamarkassa. Shaking hands with the jail officials, they thanked them for keeping them for the past 5 years and took long strides towards the gallows. Taking the noose with their own hands and kissing it, they shouted jaikaras to which Nirmal Singh (a co-accused who was in his cell near the gallows) replied with his own roaring jaikara, before he says, “the silence fell.”
