My prayers go out to this brave soldier and his family.
Posted on 12/06/2004 1:55:36 PM PST by milestogo
Under that gray-white headstone lies Sgt. Uday Singh, the first U.S. soldier of the Sikh faith killed in the war in Iraq. A group of three dozen Sikh people from the area came yesterday morning to honor the first anniversary of the 21-year-old Army gunner's death in Iraq with a modest service, and just as important, to remind the rest of the world that Sikhs are Americans.
Uday Singh was born in India but moved with his family to Lake Forest, Ill., in 1998. Singh, who was from a military family, chose to enlist in the Army in the summer of 2000 rather than enroll at the University of Illinois. On Nov. 23, 2003, he and members of his patrol were killed when their Humvee convoy was attacked by insurgents in the town of Habbaniyah.
The youths at the ceremony wore the typical trappings of U.S. teenagers -- Old Navy fleece jackets and designer boots. But they carried their heritage as well, leading their parents and fellow churchgoers in a centuries-old battle cry that Sikhs yelled when fighting Moguls who were trying to forcibly convert everyone to Islam.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
My prayers go out to this brave soldier and his family.
"The youths at the ceremony wore the typical trappings of U.S. teenagers -- Old Navy fleece jackets and designer boots. But they carried their heritage as well, leading their parents and fellow churchgoers in a centuries-old battle cry that Sikhs yelled when fighting Moguls who were trying to forcibly convert everyone to Islam."
There's that religion of peace again.
Kudos to the Sikhs who have an excellent military tradition of service.
They are also monotheistic, IIRC, and discriminated against on a wide scale by the Brahmins of India.
May he forever rest in peace. He did his duty and made the ultimate sacrifice.
We need more of them in our army
Sat Sri Akal, Sgt. Singh Ji.
Ping.
A Sikh wedding is supposed to be quite an experience.
The Sikhs are cool. Formed in the 1500s to:
1. eliminate differences (caste system, as well as differences between men and women) imposed by the elite Brahmins, while tolerating all paths and people,
2. focus worship on its essential practice of prayer (chanting God's name, in the early hours), while accepting the human body as it is (and thus not cutting hair),
3. promote earning "by the sweat of ones brow," as well as perform charitable works,
the Sikhs found converts across India, threatening the Brahmins' (Hindus) and Mugals'(Moslems) grip in South Asia, particularly in the strategically important Northwest of India. So the Mughals and Brahmins started genocide against the Sikhs, but they eventually lost.
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Sikhs finally established their empire, only to lose it to the British who wanted all the land below the Himalaya, to combat the worldly ambitions of Napoleon and the Russians. No one's perfect, and the Sikh elite were tempted with power, so they dealt with the British, whom the Sikhs were beating in the final war before betrayal within the ranks.
Read this exciting account of the British defeat of the Sikhs, from http://www.mdsct.org.uk/lIfestory/anglo_sikh_wars.htm.
Ranjit Singh (who created the Sikh Empire around 1800) died in the hot summer of 1839, with his death came the end of the ideal of a strong Sikh state. Anarchy reigned in the lavish Court of Lahore, and the administration system was reduced to chaos and confusion. In scenes that would pale the bloodiest Elizabethan drama, the successors to the throne of Lahore unceasingly murdered each other. The machinations of murder and intrigue spilled out into the streets and near civil war ensued between feuding families until the six year old Duleep Singh his mother Rani Jindan Kaur were left to rule.
When Ranjit Singh died the British had neither the power nor the excuse to move against the Sikhs. By 1845 the situation had changed, the British had reorganized, while the Sikh forces were in disarray. The British substantially raised the strength of their army on Punjab's southern border, boat and bridge building commenced, tens of thousands of men and their provisions were camped in strategic places on the Anglo–Sikh border.
In Lahore, with the relative peace afforded to Duleep Singh and the Maharani, the Khalsa Army clamored for payment of long overdue salaries. Recognizing that the fate of her kingdom lay in the hands of the now deeply divided Khalsa Army, the Maharani schemed to unite them against a common enemy, the British.
On February 10th 1846 the first Anglo – Sikh War commenced. The Sikhs mauled the British in the early days of the first battle at Ferozeshah. As the Sikhs waited for reinforcements, to finish off the British army they soon realised that provisions were deliberately held back by their traitorous generals. Four more battles were fought, where the Sikhs were completely routed. When the treaty of surrender was signed in March 1846, nearly half of Duleep Singh's kingdom was taken over and a British resident was installed in the capital.
The 36 year old Lord James Dalhousie, the new Governor-General of India wrote: 'The task before me is the utter destruction and prostration of the Sikh power, the subversion of its dynasty, and the subjection of its people. This must be done promptly, fully and finally.' The scene was set for the final chapter of the Sikh Kingdom".
The excuse to annex the Punjab was a minor insurrection in a small Punjabi province in Moultan, which should have been put down with little effort. But the British described it as a Sikh rebellion giving them the excuse to take what remained of Punjab. The major battle of the campaign was fought at Chillianwala in February 1849. The bruised English suffered the worst reverse ever in their history of empire building in India - the fight that was put up by the leaderless soldiery of the Khalsa army surprised both the British army and the traitorous Sikh ruling classes.
Again, the British profited from the treacherous generals of the Sikh armies who withheld reinforcements and helped to turn defeat into victory. At Gujarat and Ramnugger, the British routed the Sikh forces, these two battles signaled the end of Sikh sovereignty in Punjab and a new era of British control in India's richest state. On 10 March 1849, after months of fighting, the Sikh armies laid down their arms. In Lahore a fortnight later a proclamation was read finally annexing the Sikh kingdom to the British Crown.
The British had finally taken the coveted Punjab. The loss to the British was severe and shocked them greatly. In spite of ten years of incompetent and extravagant rule by Ranjit Singh's successors the Sikh army still put up one of the hardest fight that the British had encountered - a fitting eulogy to the strength and power of the secular state built by Ranjit Singh. The major cities of the Punjab were reduced to rubble as sites of the bloodiest battles. The ferocity of the fight left a British Army that committed bloody atrocities rather than leave anyone fit to challenge them. Scavengers and looters moved in to pick through the remains of the dead and to plunder the once great citadels of the Punjab.
Before almost beating the British, the Sikhs had to withstand genocide attempts by their ruling class of the Mughal kings and the Brahmin priests:
http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/events/firstbattle.htm
(Mughal) King Jahangir died on 8th November, 1627 A.D. His son Shah Jahan ascended the throne of India on the 6th February, 1628 A.D. (after battle with his brothers for throne). After becoming king he issued a proclamation, "preaching of any religion except Islam is banned. Temples constructed in the last few years be demolished and no new ones be constructed." In accordance with this proclamation, the step-well at Lahore was filled up and a mosque constructed at the site. This happening alerted the Sikhs to be prepared to defend Amritsar.
One day a squad of Sikhs, while hunting reached near Lahore where the royal family was also hunting. The Sikhs set their hawk in pursuit of a quarry. The royal hunters also released their hawk from the other side. The hawk of the Sikhs caught the prey and brought it to them. The royal hawk in pursuit of the prey also came to the Sikhs. The Sikhs caught the royal Hawk. When the royal hunters came and demanded their hawk, the Sikhs refused. On return, the royal hunters told Kulij Khan, the governor of Lahore , to chastise the Sikhs, he despatched General Mukhlis Khan with an army of Seven thousand to attack Amritsar.
On the 15th May, 1628 A.D., when the Guru heard of the arrival of the royal army, he ordered his generals to take up positions. The marriage of Bibi Viro, the daughter of the Guru, had been fixed for the third day and the marriage party was coming to Amritsar. The guru sent the holy granth and the family to village Chabhal and sent a message to the bridal procession to reach there.
The Sikhs and the royal Army of Mughals clashed near Pipli Sahib. The braves from both sides began to show their skills. This was the first battle on Punjab's soil in which there was no involvement of wealth, land or worldly thing. The Sikhs had only come forward to fight the excesses of the rulers not caring for their lives for the sake of their freedom and honour. When the Guru reached Lohgarh fort, he ordered Sikhs to fire the stone-cannon. That cannon had been made by Mohri, a carpenter of Khemkaran, from a dried tree. When the army started to retreat due to the rain of stones from the fort, Mukhlis Khan challenged, "You are the sons of brave men and there is only a band of fakirs (ascetics) on the other side." Out of the shame, the royal family kept on fighting till dusk.
The next day, in the first attack, Painde Khan came out of the fort and made short work of Didar Ali, Mukhlis Khan's companion. The Guru after defending three blows from Mukhlis Khan's sword, inflicted such a blow on him with his double edged sword that pierced his shield and split him into two. Seeing the end of their leaders, the royal army fled. After the cremation of the Sikhs who attained martyrdom in the battle, the Guru took the Sikhs with him and reached Chabhal by the fall of night.
Click here for links to the dozens of wars the Sikhs were forced to endure with the Moslems: http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/events/index.htm.
Wahe guru ji ka khalsa,
wahe guru ji ki fateh!
It's almost the *only* Sikh name. They are legendary fighters, and quite imposing as well.
I've spent a lot of time in India, and I don't think I've ever met a Sikh who was anything but honorable. As for Muslims, there's a reason they carry those daggers.
God bless him.
These are good people. They are proud, brave, but not fanatical in their faith.
Good ones in my opinion. They're the ones wearing turbans, but they aren't Muslims. One story is that they were founded by pacifist Hindus to fight Muslims. Don't jack with them'
I've been saying for quite some time, that we need to go recruit a Sikh brigade from India, similar to the Ghurkas in the British army.
The Sikhs know how to deal with unruly Islamics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.