February
If we look at the pages of Sikh history for events which happened this month, we will see suffering. But this is not the kind of suffering you experience when you feel sorry for yourself, this is the kind which tempers iron into steel, which makes mortals immortal. So as we read this paper in our comfortable environs, let us pause to remember and pay tribute to martyrs, whose conviction in their religion and culture was so strong that they were willing to sacrifice their lives, but not their faith,
The Sikhs have had a long tradition of using peaceful means to bring about a positive change in their living environment. It is only when all other means of persuasion fail that a Sikh takes recourse to arms, and the three of the topics we have highlighted for February because their anniversary falls then, will illustrate this basic. injunction of Guru Gobind Singh ji to the Khalsa,
Praksh Utsev Guru Har Rai ji
The Praksh Utsav (birthday) of Guru Har Rai ji, the Seventh Guru, falls on February 16. He was the son of Baba Gurditta, the eldest son of Guru Hargobind ji. Baba Gurditta passed away in his father’s lifetime and thus Har Rai grew up in his grandfather’s company. He had a gentle nature and devout temperament and in due time, Guru Hargobind ji decided to nominate him as his successor and consecrated him Guru before departing his life on March 3, 1644.
Guru Har Rai ji made Kiratpur his headquarters where disciples and visitors would pour in from all over, to listen to his preaching and to seek his blessings.
Guru Har Rai ji did not compose any hymns of his own but quoted those of his predecessors in his discourses. He traveled extensively and toured various parts of India, spreading the message of Sikhism.
Outrage at Nankana Sahib
Every time we recite the Ardas, we pray for free access and the right to worship in all the Gurdwaras such as Nankana Sahib, which is now in Pakistan. Every time we recite the Ardas, we pray for free access and the right to worship in all the Gurdwaras such as Nankana Sahib, which is now in Pakistan.
Gurdwara Nankana Sahib marks the place where Guru Nanak Dev ji was born, and is as such one of the most important Gurdwaras for the Sikhs. It is 60 miles from Lahore and every year Sikhs go in large numbers to pay obeisance at the Gurdwara.
It was at this Gurdwara that a massive atrocity was committed against the Sikhs in 1921.
What happened?
“Nankane Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, was the scene of an
outrage unparalleled for its calculated barbanty. Narain Das, the wealthiest of mahants (hereditary priests who had usurped the control or Gurdwaras) had most unsavory repopulation among Sikhs. His stewardship of the Nankann Sabibshrineshad started manya scandal. There were charges of immorality and malversation (corrupt conduct) against him, but he cared little for public opinion and sought to immunize himself against it by acuminating means for an armed showdown. Helaid in a large amount of weapons and ammunition and hired nearly 400 assassins and desperadoes, who were kept on the Gurdwara premises,” says Professor Harban Singh in his book “The Heritage of the Sikhs.”
Now, there was widespread resentment of the fact that the Gurdwara which was built to mark the place where Guru Nanak Dev ji was born, was being run by such a notorious character.
Things came to a head on February 20, 1921 when a group of about 150 Sikhs came to make obeisance at the Gurdwara. The desperadoes hired by Mahant Narain Das fell upon the Sikhs while they were chanting sacred hymns. They were attacked with guns and swords and their Ieader, Bhai Lachman Das was struck down while sitting in attendance of the Guru
Granth Sahib. – The mahant had closed the gate of
the Gurdwara trapping the Sikhs inside he was heard shouting: “Let not a Single long-haired Sikh go out alive.”
Some people tried to stop Narain Das, but to no avail. He even shot and killed Bhai Dalip Singh, a respected Sikh who he also knew well. The barbarity knew no end. The Sikhs (those who were dead as well as those who were injured) were piled up and burnt on a pyre inside the holy precincts. Some Sikhs were even tied to trees and burnt alive.
Such repressive acts always serve to hasten the end of oppression. The massacre of the Sikhs al Nankana Sahib shocked everyone, and the British government, which had till this time been supporting Narain Das and the like in order to suppress the legitimate demand of the Sikhs to have the authority to administer their own Gurdwaras, had to act.
Mahant Narain Das was arrested along with some of his desperadoes and Gurdwara Nankana Sahib was handed over to a committee of seven prominent Sikhs, including Sardar Harbons Singh of Atari, who was vice-president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
Despite all attempts of the authorities to stop Sikhs from attending the cremation ceremony on February 23, thousands gathered to pay homage to the martyrs of Nankana Sahib. Bhai Jodh Singh, the prominent academic, addressed the gathering and advised the Sikhs to remain cool and patient and endure the calamity with fortune with which their ancestors had faced similar situations. The Sikhs he said, had cleansed by their blood the holy precincts so long exposed to the vicious influence of a corrupt and impious management.
Every time we recite the Ardas, we remember the martyrs in the following terms:
“…they who, to reform the Gurdwaras and purge them of longstanding malpractices, suffered them selves to be shot, cut up. or burn alive E with kerosene oil, but did not make any resistance or utter a sigh of com- plaint-think of their patient faith and proclaim the name of God.” Wadha Ghalluhhara – Many comes thought that they had subdued the spirit of the Sikhs, but the true followers of the Gurus have e emerged stronger after every attempt to annihilate them. Even when large numbers of Sikhs lost their lives, bail in 1762 or 1947 or even as recent as 1984, the panth emerged stronger We have had to face constant aggression be it at the hands of foreign rulers or Indians. Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Afghan emperor, was one such person who was responsible for the massacre of Sikhs in 1762. He especially targeted the Sikhs during his sixth invasion of India, – Ahmed Shah set out from Khandar and sell upon a column of the Sikhs in the Malwa region of Punjab. This group consisted of many old men, women and children who were being moved to safety
The Sikhs were surrounded. They threw a cordon around the moving caravan, and many died fighting the enemy. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia sustained 22 wounds fighting Durrani’s men.
It was near Kup village, about five miles from Malerkotla, that the enemy managed to break through the cordon on February 5, 1762. Every Sikh they saw was massacred. History quotes the number at 30,000. It is this event which is known as the Wadha Ghallughara, or the Great Holocaust.
Despite a loss of a substantial portion of the total Sikh population at that time, the spirit of these followers of the Gurus remained indomitable and within a year from this great setback, they had forced Durrani to retreat from Amritsar,
Jaito martyrs
The peaceful struggle at Jaito is a good illustration of what we have had to go through just to be able to assert our basic right of freedom of worship. Jaito is a small town in the rest while Nabha State.
After the British deposed Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, who had been secretly helping the Akalis and the anti-imperialist activists, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee protested and launched an agitation for the restoration of this popular maharaja. The British declared the SGPC illegal on October 13, 1923, and arrested its leaders and active members on charges of sedition.
A batch of Akali workers were arrested from Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib in Jaito and the Akhand Path which was being performed there was disrupted In order to assert their right to worship in religious places, the Sikhs launched an agitation in which a jatha (batch) of 25 Akali workers would walk from the Akal Takhat in Amritsar to Jaito, 117 miles away.
The police would intercept the Sikhs. beat them up and take them out to a desert where they would be abandoned to their fate without food or any money. This carried on for some time, the numbers of volunteers increased and so did the atrocities.
Ajatha, which was being accompanied by S. Zimand of The New York Times, was fired upon on February 21, 1924, but the Sikhs marched on…21 of them fell under fire and many were wounded, but the jatha carried on and reached Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib, where they were beaten up by the police and arrested
News of this barbaric attack spread and the number of volunteers who were ready to undergo all kinds of privations for the sake of their faith arose. Fifteen more jothas went to Jaito till the authorities finally gave in, and allowed the Sikhs free access to the Gurdwara.
As we go about our activities in this month, Iet us remember that many of our ancestors have sacrificed their lives to enable us to live in peace and dignity. the message of the Gurus is one of peace and universal brother hood, and in all our activities we should endeavor to remain true to the moral code laid down by the Gurus.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 3, 1995
