KITCHENER, Ontario: The annual Sikh Remembrance Day ceremony was held on Sunday, November 7 at the military grave of Canadian World War I hero, Private Buckam Singh, in Kitchener, Ontario.

It is the only military grave in Canada of a Sikh soldier from the World Wars.

“Sikhs have a long tradition of military service,” said Sandeep Singh Brar, Curator of SikhMuseum.com and the chief organizer of the annual event. “The Sikh community has organized this Remembrance ceremony every year at the historic location of Private Buckam Singh’s military grave to remember the 117,000 Canadian soldiers like Singh that have died since we became a nation and the 83,000 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army that died in two World Wars.”

This year’s program featured youth from the community participating in the ceremony as well as students from the new Private Buckam Singh Public School in Brampton, Ontario.

COVID-19 safety precautions were carefully followed at the ceremony attended by members of the Canadian Armed Forces, police services, Royal Canadian Legion branches, veterans and elected officials from federal, provincial and municipal governments.

The ceremony is the largest annual gathering of Sikh soldiers and veterans in North America.

This year’s ceremony was live streamed and the program can be viewed at this link: https://bit.ly/3kfw8zt

Sikh Remembrance Day Ceremony details: www.sikhmuseum.com/remember

Private Buckam Singh biography: http://www.sikhmuseum.com/buckam