Motel rooms were booked out all the way from Griffith to Wagga Wagga as about 12,000 people came for a jam-packed weekend of sports, games, and food.

It was the 23rd Shaheedi Tournament of its kind and was one of the biggest events the town had ever seen.

Large, excitable crowds came to watch soccer, volleyball, and musical chairs - but by far the crowd favourite was Kabaddi, a hard-hitting contact sport popular in Punjab.

Two Kabaddi teams flew in from New Zealand and another team came from Canada, and they squared off against Griffith's hardest hitters over a series of high-impact rounds.

On the day there was a huge army of volunteers performing "langar", a tradition of cooking and serving free food to visitors, regardless of religion, race, or caste.

It was an enormous undertaking for the committee, which has been getting busier every year as each Shaheedi Tournament attracts bigger crowds than the last.

Committee treasurer Harnek Singh Dhanoa said the Griffith Shaheedi Tournament had developed quite the reputation among Sikhs around the world.

"There are other Sikh games in Australia, but this event in Griffith is unique," Mr Dhanoa said.

"This is the only event held in memory of Sikh martyrs around the world."

The history of Sikh martyrs were put up for display by volunteers from Gurduara Miri Piri, a Melbourne group that teaches the history of Sikh persecution and the martyrs who died fighting for the Sikh faith.

Manveer Singh was one of the volunteers telling visitors about the historical and ongoing persecution of Sikhs around the world.

"Throughout Sikh history we were always struggling with one power or another," Mr Singh said.

The Sikhs have faced persecution at the hands of the British, the Mughals, and by the Indians, just to name a few.

Mr Singh can recite many grisly stories of Sikhs who were shot, imprisoned, tortured, and boiled alive for their faith.

Yet for Mr Singh there's always a positive message behind these stories: despite centuries of persecution the Sikhs have always managed to fight back, survive, and build strong communities for themselves.

Griffith's thriving Sikh community is just one example, and the Shaheedi Tournament encapsulates that Sikh fighting spirit.

Fighting for the sake of minority groups, no matter their religion, is a central tenant of Sikhism, according to Mr Singh.

"I believe it's not just in India: all around the world minorities are suppressed," Mr Singh said.

And yet underlying the Sikh religion is the optimism that different religious minorities can coexist peacefully.

Mr Dhanoa firmly believes that Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths can one day set aside their differences. "We believe in one God," Mr Dhanoa said.

Photos by Anthony Stipo

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