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Journalism of Courage
Amid SoS calls to evacuate Indian students stranded in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann urged Punjabi students, particularly Sikhs among them, to “not leave Ukraine, opt for army training, and fight for the country they have tasted salt from”.
In a video message, recorded both in Punjabi and English languages, Mann, who contested the February 20 Punjab Vidhan Sabha polls from Amargarh constituency, said, “Instead of packing up your bags and coming back to India, the Sikhs among you must volunteer for military service against the Russian invasion. You should go to the nearest military post, declare your identity as a student and volunteer for active military duty. You should ask for 15 days’ training in infantry and artillery. And then join the defences of Ukraine against Russia.”
A former IPS officer and a former MP, Mann said that the Sikhs were “peeved with Russia” for 1984 Operation Bluestar “at the call of Indira Gandhi and other like minded parties, including Soviet Union and British forces in attacking the stateless Sikhs” and reducing “the golden temple complex to dust”.
In the video message, recorded from his native Qila Harnam Singh village on Thursday, 77-year-old Mann asked the students to “volunteer for two weeks’ military training in infantry and artillery in the Ukraine’s period of crisis”.
“Go to nearest army camp. Tell them that you have come to study in Ukraine. Tell them that in this hour of crisis you are volunteering to help militarily. We are a martial race. There is no need to flee to other countries or to come back to India,” Mann said, accusing Russia of highhandedness on Ukraine in 2014 also by “robbing it of a huge territory”.
Mann said if students volunteered for military service for Ukraine, “it would result in big laurels for Sikh community across the world”.
“Je aapan ne Ukraine da ena chir loon khaada, parayee keeti te vaapis Indian aun di lor nahi ai ..aapni martial race aa (If we lived and had food and salt in Ukraine, studied there then there is no need to return. We are martial race)” Mann said, urging the youth to join military ranks to side with Ukraine.
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