Sangat

Thank you for having me.

Yeah, so I'm sure many of the Sangat already know who Basit Palasinghe is.

Nonadnam has been around for quite a long time, very similar to Basis of Sikhiya, in terms of, I think Basics started in 2011, 2012, and you started in 2013?

Yeah, I think Basics started with March 2012, and we started in January 2013, so yeah, very similar timeline, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, for me, depends how far back you want to go.

I spent my early childhood in India, moved to the UK when I was eight years old and grew up in a Gursikh family.

So we always had a relationship with Gurdwara, with Sangat.

I kept Kiesha whole life, learned Japji Sahib as kids and grew up in the UK, had my education, everything here, grew up going to Sikhi camps, being inspired and learning more for ourselves.

Little did Jaswant Singh's parents know this would be the last time they saw their son.

Both Jaswant Singh and Satnam Singh went directly from the house to the Gurdwara Sahib where they prostrated and joined the Sangat.

By then, three ASIs in police uniform appeared at the gate of the Gurdwara Sahib.

They sent a message to Jaswant Singh and asked him to exit the Gurdwara.

In other words, it was imperative to fill the hearts of Sikhs with the light of a fighting spirit to challenge the darkness of tyranny.

Bhai Jaswant Singh told the Sangat in detail how thousands of Sikh youths in Punjab were being tortured and murdered by the police, their bodies burned in the streets of the cities as unknown and unclaimed, with the police denying their crimes all the while.

The police picked up thousands of teenagers from their homes in broad daylight, even as people looked on.

Even as they knew about their disappearance, helpless families were kept in the dark about the whereabouts of their children.

That's why we want to take our case to the people's court at the global level and say to the people of the world, you called us terrorists, you called us communalists, while those you called peaceful prophets of democracy, now that you've seen their true reality, tell us who is a terrorist and who is peace-loving.

the gift of martyrdom.

Addressing the Sangat, Bhai Jaswant Singh said that the Guru has many gifts, but the greatest gift is not milk as a life-sustaining resource in agrarian society, nor one son, but rather that special gift that any Sikh can have at will, the gift of martyrdom.

Those who acquire this gift do not become Gurus, but after Gurus, they become the most respected people of our community.