Remembrance Day - 4th May at the Dam Square, Amsterdam

Amsterdam, 4 May 2013: Soldiers and Civilians who died in World War 2 have been remembered in a National Ceremony organized by Nationaal Comite 4 en 5 mei at the National Monument of Dam Square in Amsterdam. Flowers were laid by the newly installed King of the Netherlands Mr. Willem Alexander and the Queen Maxima, Army Generals, Prime Minister Mr. Mark Rutte and his whole Cabinet of Ministers, Mayor of Amsterdam and many other prominent leaders of the Netherlands. Over 25,000 people participated in the ceremony.

It should be noted that Holland stayed under occupation of Nazi German for 5 years ( 1939 till 4 May 1945, liberation day ) and lost more than 4 millions soldiers & civilians at home and In Indonesia and on many other war sectors as an important ally of the British and America.

Thousands of dutch Jews were picked up from the Netherlands, transported to Germany, Polland etc and were tortured to death. Many people are still alive and are witness to the brutal killings of innocent people by the Nazis. Three Lakhs Dutch died in Europe and nearly forty lakhs died in Asia, under Dutch East India Company.

As usual from 1999, Sikhs were also invited to take part in the ceremony at the New Church and later at the Dam. On the invitation of the Nationaal Comite 4 en 5 mei, Sardar Gursev Singh of Dutch Sikh Council, Sardarni Amrit Dev Kaur Khalsa of Guru Ram Das Ashram - Amsterdam, S. Manjot Singh and myself attended the ceremony on behalf of the Sikh Nation and laid flowers at the monument and paid tribute to our forefathers - Sikhs who died in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia including Indonesia - the dutch colony in WW 2.

The whole program was well covered by the Dutch Media and Television on life. Every year on 4th of May, our presence there highlights our Turban and Sikh Identity to the Dutch people and the world in general.