‘Sikhs made un-parallel sacrifices for almost a century to protect the human rights of the people. As a reward for that people welcomed Sikhs as rulers of the state, This ‘will be discussed under three subheads, destruction of the rule of terror, un-parallel! Sacrifices!  And high Sikh character.

Destruction of the rule of terror:

Guru Gobind Singh, a few months before his death in 1708 at Nanded (Maharashtra) deputed Banda Bahadur to punish the tyrants, finish the rule of oppression & relieve the people of their troubles & miseries. Five Singh’s were sent with him to help him to contact the people in Punjab and organize them into a fighting force

When Banda reached near the borders of Punjab, he gave call to the people. They suddenly rose against the rulers as if they were waiting only for a leader to ask them for that. The great Mughal army, which, only a few years earlier, had claimed to have “expelled” the Guru from the Punjab and “finished the Sikhs, found it impossible to face this uprising of the oppressed, One after the other, towns fell quickly to the forces of Banda, Within a few months Banda was commanding the area between the rivers Jumna & Ravi, The tyrannical rule of Delhi was uprooted and it was never to be established again.

Two towns, Sirhin & Somana District Patiala were special targets. Sirhind was the headquarters of Wazir Khan; the Governor who got killed the two minor sons of Guru Gobind Singh there. At Somana were residing the executioner of Guru Tegh Bahadur and rich people supporting the rulers. Though, these towns were well protected, Banda attacked them, the top administrator and their supporters were killed. Angry people thoroughly plundered. These cities Lot of blood was shed at many other places as well.

The Guru wanted to avoid all this destruction & death, Justice would have been done, had the commanders & officials who committed the crimes been punished by the Emperor, That would have consoled the people. He, however, was reluctant of do that because most of the guilty people were ‘Muslim Army officers and Muslim chiefs. The Emperor could not dare to displease them.

The Guru had helped Bahadur Shab to secure the throne of Delhi after the death of his father, Aurangzeb. As an appreciation of that, the Emperor extended a royal welcome to the Guru at Agra and gave him many valuable gifts. The Guru travelled with the Emperor up to Nanded, expecting Bahadur ‘Shah to order suitable action against the guilty. After some months, he lost hope that the Emperor will ever do justice by punishing the Built, To end the rule of terror & punish the guilty, the Guru, therefore, deputed Banda Bahadur to go to the Punjab.

It is of great significance that even though many cities were looted, thousands of people were killed and buildings destroyed, not a single brick of the mausoleum Sirhind Sharif was touched, It may be mentioned that Mujaddid Alat Saani, who plotted the execution

Of Guru Arjan is burried there, this behavior of the Sikhs is in total contrast to what was done to the Golden Temple Amritsar by the Muslim rulers & invaders. It was repeatedly desecrated and even demolished thrice by them.

The uprising of the oppressed against state terrorism was organized by the Sikhs. The Government wrongly described it as a war by the Sikhs against the Muslims with the objective of motivating the latter to side with them. Because of the atrocities committed by the rulers masses had lost respect for them. Sikhism was held in great esteem (The high Sikh character & their behavior with the people will be mentioned later in the series) and many important Muslims embraced Sikhism as is evident for the first part of their Sikh names. -Ali Singh,    

Indar Singh, Mir Nasir Singh.

People rose against the tyrant rulers not only in Punjab but also in many towns of U.P. across the Jumna River, where ever Banda or his men could go to lead them. The greedy corrupt administration would flee to Delhi or hill as soon as they heard Banda advancing towards them. Some historians believe that Banda could have delivered all Indians from their miseries & problems had he then decided to take over Delhi. The throne was his, just for wishing. ‘The course of history would have been totally changed.

Though disturbances were all over India, but Bahadur Shah was particularly worried over the failure of his men in Punjab. Because of this he started showing symptoms of deranged mind & ordered wholesale massacre of Sikhs, “His courtiers fed him with stories of ‘Mughal victories over Banda’s rabble, But as the days rolled by with Banda still free, still defiant, the Emperor became a depressive melancholic. He died on February 28, 1712. Kbushwant Singh’s History of the Sikhs P112, “It is known to everyone that the late Emperor Bahadur Shah, with four royal princes & numerous generals had made efforts to repress this rebellion but it was all fruitless”. Wrote Mohd. H.K. Khan while describing the capture of Banda,

The real cause of the disturbance in the country was the bigotry of Aurangzeb & repression of non-Muslims by him. He realized, though too late, that he wasted his life committing sins & crimes against his own people. When he understood the folly of trying to rule by tyranny, he himself prophesied “az ma ast hama fasad bagi” after me only turmoil will remain (Edwards & Garrette Mughel rule in India).

Bahadur Shah had to pay for his: ‘own & his father’s follies of taking away the human rights of the people: Sikhs had to offer their lives & suffer inhuman tortures to make the rulers to realize that.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 9, 1986