The successes of Banda were so spectacular that they surprised both his foes and friends, Where as they made the people happy. The rulers & their army were very much worried, they believed Banda had spiritual power to silence the enemy guns and divert the bullets away from his men. The actual reason of their ignominious defeat was the corrupt & cruel behavior of the administrators & officials against the common man, the people wanted to get rid of such rulers & live a life of peace after their destruction; When Banda was out maneuvered & encircled near Gurdaspur he ran short of food and supplies. He and his men had become very weak & tunable to fight but still there was so much terror & fear in the minds of the commanders & soldiers they all prayed. “God may so ordain things that Banda may seek safety in his flight from the fortress” (Mohd Kasim). Mughal Army could not dare to fight Banda in open Battle, “They Banda & his men accepted an assurance from Abdus Samad Khan that he would intercede on their behalf with the Emperor and laid down arms on December 17, 1715” Khushwant Singh P14.
Breaking his promise Khan caught Banda and made his men prisoners. Banda, tied with iron chains, was taken to Delhi along with 700 Sikhs in a procession including hundreds of carts loaded with severed heads of Sikhs flanked by soldiers carrying 2000 Sikh heads mounted on spears. MM. Harish, a Muslim author writes, not the slightest sign of dejection ‘or humility was to be seen on their faces. If ‘someone said, ‘Now you will be killed’ they shouted: Kill us when were we afraid of death”.
‘When a Mughal nobleman said to Banda, “It is surprising that one, ‘who shows so much acuteness his features & so much of nobility in his conduct should have been guilty of much horrors” Banda replied, “I will you, when-ever men become so corrupt & wicked 0 as to relinquish the path of equity and abandon themselves to all kinds of excesses, then providence never fails 10 raise up a Scourge like me to chastise a race so depraved: when the measure of punishment is full, then he raises up men like you to bring him 10 punishment.” Siyar-ulMutakhein, Khushwant Singh History of Sikhs P112-119 for details.
This explains the mission of Banda and the reason for which he had 10 lay his life. These valuable last words said by him are everlasting lesson for the ruler sand the ruled. The common people must unite against the unjust & tyrant rulers rather than letting their upcoming generation also to suffer at the hands of corrupt & oppressive administrators; The King must deliver justice (P1240 Adi Granth) if he wants to rule the people. Banda and his men were fully clear from the very beginning of their campaign that their job was to pay with their lives the price of freedom for the people from the tyrannical rule, A Muslim writer though possessed with anti-Sikh feelings, wrote “About one hundred Sikhs were killed every day. These people not only behaved very firmly during their execution but they would dispute & wrangle with each other for priority in execution”. About one hundred Sikhs were killed every day.
‘A blood curdling tale is told by Khafi Khan regarding the execution of Hakikat rai, the young newly married son of a widow. ‘The mother approached the Emperor & got the release orders for her son, praying that her son was not a Sikh, The orders were presented to the executioner in time to save the fife of the boy. He however insisted, “I am a committed Sikh heart & soul. My mother is a liar.” The boy beseeched the executioner notion delay cutting off his head because he wanted to join his companions quickly. The bloody sword did the job immediately and the boy’s name entered the ever-increasing list of the Sikh Martyrs.
When Suba Sirhind decided to brick alive in a wall, the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the Nawab of Malahotla objected, “These innocent-children have not committed any crime.
They must not be harmed. If the heinous crime of their killing is committed by us, we and our whole city will be destroyed by God.” Recuse of pleading by the Nawab, for basic human rights of the children, no harm was done to him or his state when Banda Baha dur, defeated the governor of Sir Hind & destroyed the city. Even the present generation of Nawab is respected by the Sikhs. This incident, confirms that the mass uprising was against the guilty rulers & officials and nova fight against Muslims or Islam. It was struggle of course. A bloody one for human rights of the common people lead by the Khalsa
Article extracted from this publication >> May 16, 1986
