Our Eighth Mission

Tsunami 2004

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 1 am on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra The earthquake caused a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in many countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (100 feet) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were hit hard.

It is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, almost 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.5 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away. The disaster is known by the scientific community as the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and is also known as the Asian Tsunami and the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Khalsa Aid launched the relief mission within hours of the Tsunami and utilized its local partners in Mumbai, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle (GGSSC). The coordinator of GGSSC Sardar Kulwant Singh was absolutely fantastic in organizing his team of volunteers. A team of following members left for Port Blair & further to Campbell Bay on 13.1.2005 and met the committee member of Gurdwara Dr. Diwan Singh at Port Blair and traumatizes to know the condition of Campbell Bay and the people at Island which has about 35% of Sikh population.

  • Ravinder Singh (U.K.)
  • Kulwant Singh and
  • Bhupinder Singh

Due to administrative denial only S. Kulwant Singh was permitted to visit Campbell Bay. Ravinder Singh of Khalsa Aid and Bhupinder Singh of Bhai Ghanaiyaji Sewa International had to return from Port Blair after 2 days visit and reported the lack of assistance from the Local Authority of the island in dealing with the situation of the Sikhs from Campbell Bay.

Ravinder Singh, Kulwant Singh and Bhupinder Singh met the Governor of Tamil Nadu S. Surjit Singh Barnala & Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Island Shri Ram Kapse who was also present at Governor House, Chennai on 15.01.2005 & brought to their notice the worse condition of the situation and non availability of aid.. The local Sikh community in Chennai was very concerned about the situation at Campbell Bay and was working to establish a meeting of all senior Sikh figures.

A shipment containing tons of flour, lentils, salt, onions etc was dispatched along with hundreds of mosquito nets, mosquito repellents, It took couple of days for the shipments to get there and further shipments were sent within days of the initial aid.

Many other islands were also very badly hit, Khalsa Aid established a strong presence on Hut Bay and operated a warehouse of building materials for the people trying to rebuild their houses etc. There was also economic aid for people who lost their livelihoods, E.g, dozens of sewing machines were distributed to the tailors so that they could restart their business and make a living for their families.

We are very grateful for the assistance of Sardar Sandhu Ji, Mohammed Prevaz, The Lions Club (Andaman Islands) and the wonderful Captains of the ships who transported our aid materials to the islands from Port Blair.

Recognise all of the human race as one.

- Guru Gobind Singh Ji