ਪਨਾਮਾ ਦੇ ਜੰਗਲਾਂ ਦੀ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਹੀ ਪਨਾਮਾ ਨਹਿਰ ਦੀ ਦਾਸਤਾਨ ਵੀ ਕਾਫ਼ੀ ਖੌਫ਼ਨਾਕ ਹੈ।
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00:00The history of our Sikh community is very old and ancient.
00:06Although there are many young people in Punjab,
00:10they go to America, Canada or other countries for employment.
00:15But this is not a new thing.
00:17Our Punjabi community or our Sikh community
00:20has been working for many centuries for employment.
00:26We are talking about Pak Singh Ji,
00:28who is now getting viral on social media.
00:32There are many reports in the media
00:34that the canal in Panama was damaged.
00:37Indians, especially Punjabis and Sikhs,
00:40are contributing a lot to this.
00:42Their grandsons, Darshan Singh Ji,
00:44and Ludhiana's village Rumi,
00:46are present with us right now.
00:48Although the whole family lives in Sweden.
00:50So let's talk to them.
00:52Sir, first of all, welcome.
00:54The history of our Sikh community is very old.
00:58Although there are many young people in Punjab,
01:00they go to America, Canada or other countries for employment.
01:02But this is not a new thing.
01:04Our Sikh community or our Sikh community
01:06has been working for many centuries for employment.
01:08So what documents did you get?
01:10When did you get it?
01:12How did you find out about it?
01:14According to history,
01:16my grandfather,
01:18in 1904,
01:20in 1903 or 1904,
01:22he left Rumi for Panama.
01:26And the route he followed
01:30was from Rumi
01:32to Ludhiana
01:34and from Ludhiana to Calcutta.
01:36From Calcutta to Shanghai in China.
01:38And from Shanghai to Panama.
01:40There is proof of these things.
01:42It is written in his passport
01:44that he traveled from there.
01:46He reached Panama with a lot of struggle.
01:50At that time,
01:52according to the library there,
01:54I found out that
01:56about 150,000 people
01:58from Punjab,
02:00Sikh, Hindus, Muslims
02:02and some Chinese
02:04were all transferred
02:06to Panama.
02:08The lady told me that
02:10about 50,000 people died there.
02:14Because at that time,
02:16the condition of the ships was very bad.
02:18Those who died,
02:20only water was given to them.
02:22There were a lot of diseases.
02:24And when he reached Panama,
02:26there were also a lot of diseases there.
02:28Malaria,
02:30yellow fever,
02:32and everything else,
02:34these were the diseases.
02:36But those who survived,
02:38they started
02:40crossing the Panama Canal.
02:42This was our first
02:44immigration to Panama.
02:46In my opinion,
02:48this is the story of
02:50Kamakar Gatamaru
02:52before that.
02:54What is the story before that?
02:56My grandfather,
02:58according to the papers,
03:00lived there for 49 years.
03:02No one in the village
03:04knew that
03:06the old man had passed away.
03:10But in 1951,
03:12there was a letter
03:14that he was returning
03:16to India.
03:18And the government
03:20was sending him here.
03:22My grandfather
03:24landed in Bombay in 1951
03:26on a ship.
03:28He was in a delicate condition.
03:30He could not get down
03:32because his legs were stuck.
03:34He was offered
03:36to go to America,
03:38or Canada, or wherever.
03:40He said, no,
03:42I cannot go to America.
03:44My grandfather
03:46came to the village
03:48and stayed here
03:50until 1988.
03:54All these people,
03:56Hindus, Sikhs,
03:58the majority of Sikhs,
04:00the Punjabi community
04:02was very strong.
04:04They contributed a lot
04:06to the Panama Canal.
04:08How many kilometers
04:10of the Panama Canal
04:12did you go to?
04:14Did you research
04:16about it?
04:18Did you go to Panama?
04:20Do you have
04:22any other information
04:24about it?
04:26The length of the canal
04:28is about 94 kilometers.
04:30And it flows through
04:32many mountains.
04:34There are solutions
04:36for that.
04:38The first technology
04:40of the Suez Canal
04:42could not be successful
04:44there.
04:46Because the distance
04:48between the two seas
04:50was about 2 meters.
04:52So the ship was towed
04:54to another place
04:56at a higher place.
04:58They were brought
05:00to a lower place
05:02from a higher place.
05:04I did research
05:06about my grandfather.
05:08I found out that
05:10many Sikhs visited Panama.
05:12But I can't say
05:14that the rest of the people
05:16visited Panama.
05:18Hindus, Muslims,
05:20Chinese visited Panama
05:22to visit the canal.
05:24You have a long history.
05:26When you went to Panama,
05:28you got a lot of documents.
05:30You talked to people there.
05:32You mentioned
05:34that there was
05:36a lot of history
05:38about the canal.
05:40Have you got the documents
05:42about the canal?
05:44Have you talked to
05:46the government
05:48about this?
05:50I have asked
05:52the people there.
05:54They accepted that
05:56there was a Sikh
05:58from India.
06:00He gave me a document
06:02I can say that I am very thankful to our Indian Ambassador, Mr. Seth, who encouraged me a lot and promised that we will support you if you take this cause forward.
06:17First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Seth, who encouraged me a lot and promised that we will support you if you take this cause forward.
06:27First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Seth, who encouraged me a lot and promised that we will support you if you take this cause forward.
06:37Today, we are forgotten. No one remembers us in Panama.
06:42If they issue a stamp, then my next motto is that a memorial should be built there.
06:51For all the poor people of India who went there for the sake of hard work.
06:56I don't keep the 11 dollar pension.
07:00That's why I am working on this project.
07:05I have got a lot of courage.
07:07I want people to remember this story of the unforgotten Sikhs.
07:15We have seen that whenever we remember someone, we talk about them.
07:20But why don't we talk about them today?
07:22The workers who have worked hard there, how much they have been compensated.
07:28Our Punjabis, you told us how they used to climb mountains.
07:33They have worked very hard.
07:35It is our duty to take information from the people who have gone there and find out how much they have gone there and how they have worked there.
07:47The young people here, our children, should be taught how our Punjabi Sikhs or our Indians have worked abroad.
07:56Unfortunately, when I went to the library, there was a lady there.
08:02I told her that I have come from India.
08:05I am doing this project for my grandfather.
08:08I didn't say that I am doing it for the sake of Indians.
08:10I said that I am doing it for the sake of my grandfather.
08:13She was shocked to see me.
08:16She said, you are the first Indian who has worked here for 40 years.
08:20You have come to ask me about this.
08:23No one has come here.
08:24I said, okay.
08:25She said, no Indian has come to ask me about this.
08:29I was very surprised.
08:31Why didn't a Sikh think about this?
08:35She gave me the document that my grandfather has worked here.
08:43I got a lot of support wherever I went.
08:47I got a lot of respect.
08:49I have done everything.
08:51I want to build a monument for my Sikhs.
08:57I want to issue a stamp.
09:00So that we are recognized in the world.
09:02If America has given us money, we have given our blood.
09:06Let's talk about the Sikh regiment.
09:09The Saragarhi battle was fought.
09:11It is still remembered.
09:13When Captain Narendra Singh was in the Congress, he talked about it.
09:17It is still remembered.
09:19He talked about how our soldiers fought.
09:22But our laborers who worked there, it is still remembered.
09:27It is still important.
09:29But these days, when young people go to America,
09:32many young people go with donkeys.
09:34It is mentioned about the Panama jungles.
09:36It seems that the jungles of Panama are crossing the Panama Canal.
09:40The Sikhs are also broken.
09:43Have they ever thought about it?
09:46I can't say that the Sikhs are broken.
09:49But the contribution of the Sikhs is there.
09:52Those who went there,
09:54because there were no cranes at that time.
09:56A lady told me there
09:58that our Sikhs used to climb mountains with two bags of cement.
10:03To take it there, when construction was going on.
10:07So that's why our contribution is big.
10:10I don't want to comment on the donkeys.
10:14I don't know anything about them.
10:16If I say something wrong, I don't want to comment on it.
10:20But our contribution is a lot in Panama.
10:23And I want one thing to happen in my life.
10:28Mr. Darchand Singh, tell me a little more about your family.
10:31Your grandfather was your grandfather.
10:33Your father, do you live here or somewhere else?
10:36And who else was in your family?
10:39My father and my uncle were two boys and two girls.
10:45Two of them were my aunts.
10:47My father and my uncle.
10:49We used to live in a house like this.
10:52My grandmother used to live here.
10:54I still remember that my grandmother used to talk a lot.
10:57I don't know where she went to have tea, leaving me.
11:01We know about our poverty.
11:03Because at that time, if I go back, I look at my life.
11:07There was no land here.
11:10We were not born here.
11:12I still remember my father's words.
11:15He used to say that we used to bring a lot of wheat.
11:17There were so many grains to eat.
11:20So that's why they struggled to spend.
11:23Everyone has done it.
11:24I say that no Punjabi has done it.
11:26The British used to take everything.
11:28It is also possible that we were not educated.
11:31There was no doctor here.
11:33My sisters and brothers all died.
11:35I have survived alone.
11:37I have no sister or brother.
11:39My uncle and my father are gone.
11:43My mother is gone.
11:44My two aunts are gone.
11:46All my children live in Sweden.
11:48We are settled there.
11:50We have to live there.
11:52We have to die there.
11:54You had mentioned about the Panchgranthi.
11:56It was a long story in my mind.
11:58The Panchgranthi was also brought with your grandfather.
12:02Tell us about it.
12:03Did you search for it?
12:04Did you go to the Sikh Reference Library in Amritsar?
12:07Did you meet the publisher?
12:09What did you find out about it?
12:11Tell us about it.
12:12When my grandfather came back in 1955,
12:16he brought a Panchgranthi with him.
12:19My mother had kept the Panchgranthi in her chest.
12:24When my mother died,
12:26I came back from Stockholm.
12:28When I opened the chest in the village,
12:30I found a document containing my grandfather's passport,
12:33Panchgranthi and other documents.
12:36I kept it as a souvenir for him.
12:39Usually, people give sets.
12:41I didn't give it to him.
12:42I kept it carefully with me.
12:44It is a souvenir for me.
12:45I have kept my mother's chest in a beautiful way.
12:49I have kept it in my house in a beautiful way.
12:55When I took the Panchgranthi,
12:57I didn't open it for 10-12 years.
12:59I didn't read it.
13:00I kept it safely in my house.
13:04It was kept there.
13:05When I went to Panama,
13:08when the discussion started,
13:10when I came back,
13:12there were two people from the Gurudwara.
13:14We opened it and did a good research.
13:16When we opened it,
13:18we saw that there was a stamp in it.
13:20The stamp belonged to Los Angeles,
13:24of the Sikh Library.
13:26The number 68 was written on it.
13:29From there, we came to know that
13:31this stamp belonged to Los Angeles.
13:35It came from Los Angeles to Panama.
13:38I don't know how it came to Panama,
13:40because I didn't get time to do much research.
13:42Now I will go and do research on it.
13:44My grandfather was from Panama.
13:47As far as I know,
13:49my grandfather used to run a Gurudwara there.
13:54He used to read from this Panchgranthi.
13:56He must have been a Sikh.
14:00He went there and spread it.
14:02I came to know that there are many people there
14:05who don't know anything about Sikhs.
14:08Other girls told me that there are some here,
14:11but they don't know anything about Punjab or Sikhism.
14:15They are the 4th or 5th generation.
14:17Yes, they are the 5th generation.
14:19They don't care about it.
14:21When I opened it,
14:23I saw that there is a bill in it.
14:25I have a copy of it.
14:27It is from 1938.
14:29It means that it was printed somewhere in 1930.
14:35Jeevan Singh and Sanjhwala accepted it.
14:38When I was there,
14:40they showed me these photos.
14:42They accepted that it was printed in 1930.
14:45In 1930 or 1932.
14:48How it went to Los Angeles,
14:50no one knows.
14:52How it went.
14:54How it came to Panama from Los Angeles,
14:56no one knows.
14:58It is in my custody.
15:00It is in stock.
15:02I can talk about it.
15:04Thank you very much.
15:06Darshan Singh,
15:08from Rumi, Ludhiana.
15:10He is from Sweden.
15:12His family lives there.
15:14His grandfather was from Panama.
15:16He contributed a lot to Panama.
15:18Not only did he talk about his grandfather,
15:20but when he researched,
15:22he found out that most of the Indians,
15:24the Punjabis,
15:26went there and worked hard.
15:28He has a document,
15:30his grandfather's,
15:32even his identity card,
15:34of the company,
15:36he has it.
15:38He has a pension of $11.
15:40His documents are there.
15:42We can say that our history is
15:44the history of Punjabis and Sikhs.
15:46The example of Juhi Jag is of Pak Singh.
15:48Although in the pages of history,
15:50he was given a lot of respect,
15:52but Darshan Singh
15:54has been continuously trying
15:56to restore his work
15:58to the next generation,
16:00to the present generation.
16:02In which the government
16:04also contributes.
16:06The government of Panama
16:08and the government of America
16:10also contributes.
16:12Varendar Singh from ETB,
16:14Parat, village Rumi, Ludhiana.