During the turmoil of Partition, in the narrow lanes of Dabbi Bazar—an area nestled close to two heavily populated Muslim neighborhoods—stood Baoli Sahib Gurdwara. On June 4th, the semblance of daily life gave way to sudden, unforgiving violence.
That morning, worshippers and caretakers within Baoli Sahib Gurdwara believed it would be like any other day of prayer and gathering. But as the hours passed, armed assailants surrounded the sacred courtyard. Without warning, the attackers set fire to the Gurdwara, their intention clear: to turn a place of refuge into an inferno. Flames roared up into the wooden beams and plastered walls, sending black smoke billowing into the sky and searing heat through every chamber.
Trapped inside, the Sikhs who had sought solace within those walls faced a horror beyond imagining. Some were shot down as they tried to flee the advancing blaze; others perished where they stood, roasted alive by the unyielding flames. In a matter of minutes, Baoli Sahib Gurdwara was transformed from a house of worship into a scene of profound tragedy. When the smoke finally cleared, there was nothing left but charred timbers and the echo of lives extinguished.
This brutal assault on June 4th stands as a stark reminder that, during Partition, Sikhs were targeted in acts of calculated violence. The ruins of Baoli Sahib Gurdwara bore witness to a community’s pain—a day when faith itself was engulfed in fire.
