Sikligar families get new homes after decades of hardship, 80-yr-old breaks down on getting keys

Barsaat vich saara ghar tapakda si, te haneriyan vich chhatt udd jandi si (We had nothing. We came from Pakistan during the riots of 1947. Spent 10 days here, 10 days there… lived under makeshift cloth sheets, then somewhere else for another 10 days. I even worked with (former prime minsiter) Lal Bahadur Shastri. But no one ever held our hand. We have lived here for 35 years sometimes under tarpaulins, sometimes with a thatched roof of straw. During the rains, the entire house used to leak, and in storms, the roof would simply blow away.)

Struggling to speak further, he added, “Ajj Rabb inhan lokan vich aaya hai. Ihna ne sanu pakke ghar ditta hai (Today, God has come to us through these people who have given us permanent homes).”

For the Sikligar families of Jujhar Nagar, it was a historic day and an end to generations of living in fragile huts and temporary shelters. The Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust handed over the first 35 of 70 newly constructed houses to the families. The project, dedicated to the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, has been built under the “Sunny Oberoi Housing Scheme” at a cost of around Rs 2 crore. The inauguration was done by Dr S P Singh Oberoi, Justice M M S Bedi, and Dr Raj Bahadur.

For over three decades, these families lived in tarpaulin shelters and straw-roofed huts that leaked during monsoons and often lost their roofs during storms. Today, as they stepped into their sturdy, lintel-roofed homes, the entire locality resonated with celebration and relief.

Dr Oberoi said the trust was not merely providing houses, but restoring dignity, security, and hope to the Sikligar community, the traditional weapon-makers who once crafted arms for the soldiers of Guru Gobind Singh.
“These homes,” he said, “are not just buildings but a new life and a new beginning for the families.”

The Mohali district president of the Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust, Kamaljit Singh Ruby, said that after surveying all the families and witnessing their distressing living conditions, the project was immediately approved. He added that similar houses are also being constructed in the nearby village of Jhanmpur to uplift Sikligar families there as well.

Voices of the Sikligar families

Baghauri Kaur, wife of Bakhtoura Singh, told The Indian Express, “Saada taan hun akheerla samaa hai, par bachhe khush ne. Pakke makaan mil jaana saade lai vadhi rehmat hai (We are in the last stage of our lives now, but our children are happy. Getting permanent houses is a great blessing for us).”

Gyan Kaur said, “Kade kise ne nahi suni… Sarpanch-panch bahut bane, par kachchiyan nalaan takk hi kaam kita. Ehho jeha kaam pehli vaar hoya hai. (No one ever listened to us. Many people became sarpanches and panches, but their work never went beyond building a few drains. This kind of work has happened for the first time).”

Raju Singh, 32, born and raised here, said, “Doctor Oberoi sanu nark ton kad ke swarg vich le aaya. Na kise sarkar ne suniya, na kise afsar ne (Dr Oberoi has taken us out of hell and brought us into heaven. No government ever listened to us, nor did any officer).”

Chand Kaur, 90, said, “Main bahut kuch nahi jaandi… par jinne Sardar ne saanu pakke ghar ditta, oh sade laii Rabb ton ghatt nahi (I don’t know much. but the Sardar who gave us these permanent houses is nothing less than God for us.)”

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