A Lesson

It was the summer morning of 1989, two men dressed in a cameo uniform with matching hats and bulky armor approached Jaswant Singh, an ordinary Sikh citizen, at the Indira Gandhi international airport and asked him to come with them.

“What happened?” Singh kept asking as they blindfolded him and put me in a car to drive off. “I am not sure why and where they were taking me, but there was a sense of fear and hope at the same time. It was either I die that day, or I make it back alive.”

1984, the year when Indira Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, committed genocide against Sikhs. She killed many innocent lives and In a matter of days, got assassinated by her own trusted bodyguard.

“There was tension in the air because Gandhi’s assassination made everything worse,” Singh sighed. “She was already killing many of our people, sending armies to our temples, and was convinced that anybody different that she is a religious aspect is a terrorist. Her death boiled Rajiv Gandhi’s [ndira Gandhi’s husband] blood boil.”

When army soldiers approached and took Singh with him, he soon realized that he was taken because of Gandhi’s assassination and the ongoing Sikh genocide. He kept praying to make it out alive that day.

“I have never felt fear the way I felt fear that day,” Singh said. “I would not wish that upon my worst enemy, to see the death slowly approaching you and there is no escape.”

One of the soldiers undid the blindfold. Singh realized he was taken into the middle of a jungle and was asked to run for his life while one of the soldiers shot at him.

“Sir, I am not a terrorist,” Singh said countless times, but the army officers were convinced. Since Singh stood on his grounds and did not run away, the officers decided to run a background check on him. They held him for another day before they let him go.

Today, Singh and his family which includes his wife, two daughters and one son live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since their move in 2014.

The hate crime against Sikhs has calmed down a bit but has not completely diminished yet. Singh visits his homeland Punjab at least once a year.

“Regardless of the hate crime, I grew up in Punjab, that’s my motherland,” Singh cheerily said .“There is no other place in the world that makes me happier than Punjab.”

Before the Pakistan-India partition in 1948 from British rule, the Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu populations of the region lived in unity. After the partition, Hindus were refugeed in India, Muslims to Pakistan, and Sikhs were divided between the two regions. Many lost their homes, families, and even lives during the refugee process.

Being a Sikh, Singh’s family also had to travel for many days until they reached a proper refugee spot. He grew up hearing stories about the hardships that his community had been through and would never let those teachings fade away from his memory.

“These stories make me the person I am today,” Singh said. “My people have gone through so much, worked hard, and are well respected today. Hearing about these stories gives me the courage that I can do anything in life because nothing compares to what my parents, my family, and my community have gone through.”