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Punjab and 1857: The other view I am afraid, even after quoting the right authorities, Prof K. C. Yadav has drawn wrong conclusion when he says that the Sikhs of Punjab were not loyal to the East India Company during the 1857 rebellion (Perspective,
June
3). He has obviously confused the individual valour of the Sikhs against the betrayal of the Sikh states, in particular, the states situated beyond Sutlej. There is overwhelming evidence to prove that Delhi was recaptured by General Nichaloson with the help of the forces of the Raja of Patiala. Is it not a fact that the Raja of Jind, another traditional betrayer since the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, placed his best Sikh horsemen under the command of Lt. Hodson to crush the Gujjars of Meerut and Muzzafarpur who had joined hands with the rebels? In fact, the Rajas of these Sikh states had guarded the G.T. Road for the safe passage of the British troops from Ambala to Delhi. Jullundur was saved for the British by the forces of the Raja of Kapurthala.
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And how is that not a single soldier protested when a Company of Her Majesty’s 81st under Captain Chichestor was quietly admitted into the Govindgarh Fort in Amritsar on May 12, 1857? The 57th NI company, the 10th Native Cavalry, remained loyal to the British. The British fully exploited the age-old enmity between the Punjabi and the Poorbia soldiers, between the Hindu Punjabi and the Sikh Punjabi. According to Cave Brown, the term ‘Poorbia’ was deliberately revived for it revived the contempt and hatred with which the class had ever been regarded. It widened the breach between the Punjabi and Hindustani which rendered any coalition impossible between the two. According to Dr Surender Nath Sen, the author of Eighteen Fifty Seven, published in 1957: ‘The Poorbia sepoy in Punjab, except in the border districts of Gurgaon, Rewari and Hisar was not only with in a strange but in a hostile country. A tradition that promised the followers of the Guru the plunder of Delhi was also revived by the British and the Sikhs were assured that the prophecy would come true under the British rule (Eighteen Fifty Seven published by the Government of India in 1957 with a Foreword by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, then Minister of Education). It is unfortunate that the name of Punjab was tarnished by the Cis-Sutlej Rajas and not by the Punjab of Ranjit Singh for the Punjabis put up a tough resistance at Sialkot, Ajnala, Peshawar, Multan, Bannuu, Kohat, Rawalpindi and Nowshera, Gurdaspur at Trimmu Ghat. The Ajnala massacre is aptly compared with the tragedy of Holwell’s Blackhole. K. K. KHULLAR,New Delhi
Unsung hero In her article, “He breathed and
lived Gurbani” (June 3), Reema Anand has very well brought out the noble virtues and yeoman’s service to society by Bhagat Puran Singh. The selfless service for the sick, destitutes, fallen and rejected, rendered by Bhagatji is unparalleled. His humility and dedication knew no bounds. But the sad part is that our society has failed to recognise the same and give him the place he deserved. Just because he was apolitical, non-self seeking and a true servant of suffering humanity? Probably, that’s why no forum, political, NGOs etc has tried to highlight what he gave to society and the recognition he deserved. Bhagatji’s is a fit case for the Bharat
Ratna, though belated. It will be a befitting tribute to the great servant of humanity. Lt-Col BHAGWANT SINGH
(retd), Mohali
A correction In my article, “Saving our rivers” (Perspective, June 10), Jawaharlal Nehru supervised the construction of the Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej and not as
mentioned. BIKRAM SINGH VIRK, Kapurthala
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