Melbourne – A seminar on “The Sikhs & 1947 Partition of Punjab” organized by Khalsa Education Society & Sikh Federation Australia jointly was held at Epping Memorial Hall in Epping suburb of Melbourne on 15th August 2015. The objective of this seminar was to introduce Sikh community with the prevalent historical trends and the background of partition.
Bapu Bharpur Singh, Bhai Hardeep Singh from Melbourne and S. Udham Singh Singhota were the guest speakers of the seminar. Born in 1915, Bapu Bharpur Singh now living in Melbourne, recounted the tragic day of partition of India and still feel the trauma inside. He said that some people celebrate this day as ‘Jashne-azaadi’ but I would call it a day of Barbaadi for Punjab and can never imagine to celebrate such a day.
Addressing the seminar, second guest speaker S. Udham Singh from Sydney, reiterated the memories from 1947 when he was studying in college.
Gurinder Kaur from Khalsa Education Society presentation a presentation about the condition of women during 1947 partition of Punjab. She talked through the various types of violence, the women during Punjab partition of 1947 had to go through. She stated that going through the terrible plights of 75000-100000 women, there can be no reason to commemorate 14th and 15th August as any days of celebration.
Towards the end of the seminar, Bhai Hardeep Singh from Melbourne, gave a detailed speech about the timeline of terrors happened with Sikhs from the time of Sikh Gurus and how 1947 was another shadow of what Mughals did with our puratan Gursikhs. He also talked through the Gadar Movement and also presented the facts with evidence from Gurbani as well.
A question answer session was also done towards the end though it fell short of time.
The seminar was first of its kind organised to educate the community with the facts of real 1947 partition and was well attended by the audience.
You can view pictures of the seminar event by clicking here.