In a sorry, shabby and sordid story of massacre, loot and arson in Amritsar there is one bright spot which shines through the grim darkness of communal fury. This is the role played by the Golden Temple of Sikhs in the critical days of crisis which followed March 5.
This great centre of Sikh religion, situated in the heart of the city, became a refuge for men and women of all communities. Hither they came in their thousands with their few worldly possessions tied in bundles, fleeing before irrational fury of mobs and fear and panic dodging their footsteps. Here they found food and shelter and they were looked after with true Sikh hospitality by the authorities of the Golden Temple.
Shelter To Muslims
Typical of Sikh conduct when madness prevailed all around was the treatment extended to nearly 300 Muslim women and children who came to the Golden Temple as refugees. No discrimination was shown towards them and they were looked after like refugees of all other communities.
It was on the night of March 5 that the refugees began to pour into the Golden Temple. By the night of March 6 there were nearly 30,000 of them sheltering here. Still their number increased and by the night of March 7 it had risen to a total of well over 40,000.
The problems created by such a large influx can well be imagined, but the Golden Temple authorities have been manfully grappling with them and at no time has any refugee been refused permission to enter the temple. Food has been supplied to refugees free of charge, and those who can be sent back to their homes or evacuated to other areas are constantly being sent there to make room for new arrivals.
By the night of March 9, a steady stream of people had begun to leave Amritsar and the number of refugees in the Golden Temple also decreased. But even today the number of people sheltering here can hardly be less than 15,000 or 20,000.
As I stood on the spotlessly clean marble floor of this Temple I could see nothing but unbroken lines of refugees on all sides sitting, standing or huddled in bunches. I heard a number of weeping Sikh women refugees who came from Katra Jaimal Singh tell me how their houses were burnt and how when they tried to escape their menfolk were butchered in cold blood by the mob. One old woman said that she saw with her own eyes her only son stabbed while they were making their way to the Golden Temple. Another said that her nine-year-old son was crushed under the falling wreck of burning houses and that she herself escaped with severe injuries. Then there were refugees who had been in the train which was attacked by a muslim mob after it had been stopped near Sharifpura, a suburb of Amritsar by pulling of alarm chain. These related story of unmitigated horror before which everything pales into insignificance. It was cold-blooded, brutal attack in which even women and babies-in arms were not spared.
The Golden Temple authorities, who are expecting a visit by Sardar Baldev Singh, Defence Minister in the Interim Government, are hoping they would be given adequate facilities to carry on their humanitarian work. At present I understand, their stocks of food are running low.