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The Solidarity of a Centenarian:
The Spirit of Fauja Singh at The Boston Marathon

SARBPREET SINGH

 

 

 


Boston, Massachusetts, USA - April 15, 2014

The City of Boston observes a grim anniversary today.

Exactly a year ago, two young men, blinded by hate, unleashed terror upon hundreds of innocent men, women and children, destroying lives and holding an entire city hostage until their gruesome opera of violence came to its inevitable end.

Started in 1897, The Boston Marathon was inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, making it the world's oldest annual marathon. It ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events and is one of six World Marathon Majors.

Since 1897, amateur and professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, an event that attracts close to half a million spectators. Starting with 18 participants in 1897, the event now attracts an average of about 20,000 registered participants each year, with 26,839 people entering in 2013.

Boston is poised to host the 2014 Marathon on April 21. This year, the number of registered participants will be 36,000.

Running with the registered participants will be the entire Sikh community of Boston, under the aegis of Sardar Fauja Singh, the centenarian British marathoner, who is the holder of many world records in his age category.

Now, Sardar Fauja Singh won’t exactly be running on April 21. One hundred and three years old now, he ran his last competitive race in Hong Kong in 2013, when he was still a sprightly young lad of 101!

He will be represented in the marathon by his son, Sukhjinder Singh and his coach and trainer, Harmander Singh.

The Sikh community of Boston will be represented by a flag that Harmandar Singh will carry, signed by the Sikhs of Boston. The flag will simply say “Sikhs Love Boston” and will be a powerful symbol of he solidarity that the Sikh community at large feels for the City of Boston, in the wake of last year’s tragedy.

Sardar Fauja Singh will not be here in person, but he will be here in spirit, for sure.

This is a special time of year for all Sikhs.

Yesterday, all over the world, Sikhs celebrated Vaisakhi, commemorating a watershed event in 1699, when the Tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh bequeathed a new identity upon the community and, even more importantly, dedicated it to the eternal service of the oppressed and the dispossessed.

On April 20, a day before the Boston Marathon, the Sikhs of Boston will congregate at the Gurdwara in Millis to celebrate Vaisakhi. Hymns will be sung in praise of The Tenth Master and his brave Sikhs who selflessly sacrificed their very lives for Social Justice.

Also present at Millis will be Harmander Singh and Sukhjinder Singh, bearing the flag of Sardar Fauja Singh for the congregation to sign.

The following day, the Sikhs of Boston will pay homage to the innocent victims of the heinous attack of 2013.

 

April 15, 2014

Conversation about this article

1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), April 15, 2014, 10:11 PM.

Absolutely fantastic! This is what Sikhi is about on a global scale! The ideology which was responsible for this tragedy is the same ideology we had to defend and save our Universal Faith against! So we have more in common with the American people than has been explained ... Well done, Fauja Singh and Harmander Singh! And, well done, Sikhs of Boston!

2: Irvinderpal Singh Babra (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), April 18, 2014, 4:14 AM.

Shabaash, Boston.

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