Hemkunt sahib during the Uttrakhand floods disaster 2013
I along with my family were there at Gobind Dham when the flooding and cloud Burst happened. We stayed / were trapped for about 5-6 days there and witnessed first hand the bravery, untiring faith and absolutely calm approach of the Sikh Sangat and how they handled the calamity. We saw how Sangat members fixed and repaired the broken bridge so all could go and do Darshan.
I have attached the article written as a pdf file.
Hemkunt sahib during the Uttrakhand disaster
From the great tragedy of Uttrakhand , there emerged a small ray of hope , a great positive story of about 4000 odd Sikh Pilgrims trapped at 11,000 ft at Gobind Dham or Ghagharia for more than a week. Trapped at 11,000 ft, with all walking tracks washed away, jungle all around and very limited hope of rescue could have easily turned the situation into another of many tragic stories which came out of the great disaster and flooding which unfolded. However the organized approach which was taken, Controls established and most importantly ensuring absolutely NO PANIC turned the tables and made this into a huge success. Most of the tragic casualties in Uttrakhand were due to the panic and stampede and in this particular episode all of this was avoided by sheer determination and will. There was NO looting of any Gurudwara money , on the contrary the main “Golak” was kept in open and people every day used to put money in it !
Key to all this was the Gurudwara Sahib at Gobind Dham which helped to organize and galvanize most of the activities. Gurudawara Sahib along with the Sikh Pilgrims centralized and imposed controls, rationing, ensuring FREE FOOD through out, providing shelter to another for the ENTIRE time. While Indian Army specially the brave Garhwal Scouts had their hands full trying to evacuate huge number of pilgrims at the base camp of Gobind Ghat, help at Gobind Dham could only be reached and that too very limited after about 4-5 days.
The Indian Army eventually managed to rescue EVERYONE all the 4000 odd people and there were no casualties and huge tribute goes to the brave soldiers of Indian Army. However large part of the efforts of Indian Army was to supplement the already organized procedures and process put in place by Pilgrims themselves as they had dug in to wade this huge calamity out. There was also a small permanent detachment of Indian Army Sikh regiment soldiers who helped to establish control and provided much needed support as well.
It brought out the bravery , unwavering faith and self-reliance of the Sikh community as this whole episode was unfolding.. A community long used to hardships and yet possessing unshaken belief in the timeless Lord . A community possessing great ability to overcome hardships and disaster by their sheer ability and self-reliance. A community that has never requested help , but has always been at the forefront of giving help, a community that has stood up to foreign invasions time and time again going back from Alexander to ruthless Abdali Shah. A community having the highest number of Victoria Crosses ever earned by the Indian Army during WWII . The Indian Army in modern times is composed of 15 % of Sikhs despite being just 2% of the entire India population. A community that very firmly believes in self-reliance and a refusal to let dependency dominate their destiny.
The author was rather “fortunate” to be there when the great tragedy unfolded, if nothing else to witness how the events transpired and when it did, how Sikhs reacted to it. The author along with his family had decided to take a trip to Hemkunt Sahib, hoping to beat the rains resolved to attempt to take the pilgrimage around the week of June 19th . However as destiny played out, rains followed along with the trip.
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