Nanak travelled on foot to most of the important religious centers in Asia, passing through dangerous deserts, robber infested forests and going high up on the snow-cold peaks of Himalayas. To lead a revolution against social, economic, political & religious injustices, all at the same time, was not an easy task. Nanak challenged the oppressor boldly through pen and personal persuation. He knew well that the oppressor when frustrated will use the sword and adopt inhuman methods to kill the movement. He therefore wanted his followers to be prepared for that eventuality.
Nanak wrote, “If you want to follow the path of God & human rights, be prepared ‘to sacrifice your head for the same” the clash with the rulers & pseudo-religious leaders started, as for seen by Nanak, quite early in the history of Sikhism. On the basis of the complaints made by the high caste Hindus, Gura Amar Dass was called to explain his conduct at Lahore, in the court of Emperor Akbar, Bhai Jetha ji (Later on Guru Ram Dass) presented the view point of the Guru. The complaint against the Guru was that he ‘was desecrating their faith by permitting low caste people and persons of other faiths to take water from the Bowli (an open well with steps leading to the water level). Akbar rejected the complaint and endorsed the action of the Guru by visiting Goindwal himself & having his meals in the Langar (free community) organized by the Guru, Had Akbar prevented the Guru from giving equal treatment to all people in the use of water from the Bowsi and participating in Langar, the Guru would have offered his head to claim his right to do that.
The fourth Nanak constructed the Amrit Sarovar (sacred pool) at Amritsar so that people of all castes and all faiths could enjoy a dip in the common pool and remove their feeling of being inferior or superior to others. The Harmandir (Golden Temple) in the center of the Sarover, was built by the fifth Nanak. The honor of laying its stone was given to a Muslim Faker, Mian Mir, Instead of the statue of Nanak or any mythological God, the holy Granth compiled by the Guru and containing hymns written by the Gurus themselves, Muslim Bhagats (holy-men), Hindu Bhagats, so called low caste Bhagats and others, was installed there, The inclusion of their hymns removed the stigma that the so-called low caste people are second grade human beings. This great & revolutionary step helped a lot to integrate the caste-complex ridden people to live together as one community irrespective of the caste, color, creed or faith of the members.
To crush this mass movement 8 not to let it become a strong & thereby dangerous to their anti-people mis-rule, the Guru was tortured & killed at Lahore; Adoption of this violent method to halt the wave had a totally opposite effect. The sixth Nanak trained his followers to defend themselves from the armed aggression against them. When the government forces attempted to kill him they were heavily mauled & defeated all the four times. This convinced the people and the rulers too, that the Guru has sufficient might to protect the public from tyranny of the government. The image & prestige of the Guru & his disciples went up sky high.
After this, the charge of the blood thirsty sword of the state ruler was taken over by Aurangzeb, the Emperor of Delhi in order to destroy the movement that preached equal rights for all humans.
He took many steps to execute his evil designs. He won over Ram Rai, the older son of the seventh Guru by granting him a vast real estate & land at Dehru-dun (even today it is owned by his successors) to divide the house of the Guru, His attempts to subjugate the 5th Nanak failed badly. Finally ninth Nanak Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded publicly before a huge crowd & his associates were mercilessly tortured & killed. The Guru had strongly protested against forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam and demolishing of temples to construct mosques. (Many innocent people were killed 6 centuries ago when a temple in Ayodhia was replaced by a “mosque”. Now in 1986, many people have been killed & more are being killed when the mosque was or dared to be re-converted into a “temple”).
Beheading the Guru & his close associates brought the movement to its climax. Guru Gobind Rai s/o Guru Teg Bahadur trained Sikhs to become saint-soldiers, the fighters for justice and protectors of human rights. When Hill Rajas made a sudden attack on the Guru near Paonta Sahib, they lost many oftheir brave Generals & repented for their foolishness. Within a year, they had to face the strong forces of the Muslim Commander of Kashmir who wanted to extract money from them. They had no alternative but to ashamedly beg the Guru for help. The ikkh challenge made the commander to flee at night. Had the Rajas paid tribute to the commander, they would have used brutal force to extract that amount from the poor helpless people. Guru thus saved the public from being tortured by their own heavy money.
Highly obliged with the critical help rendered by the Guru Rajas extended a great formal welcome to him at Rawalsarnear Kulu and offered them-selves to the Guru to be accepted as his disciples with one condition. They desired that they being high caste Khatris, should be considered superior to the low caste people who had already become disciples of the Gura in large numbers. Guru told them “Remember, the disciples whom you call low caste as good humans as you are & they proved themselves to be heroes of the two recent battles, and definitely superior to you “high caste Khatis, It is now they who deserve to be called sardars the truly respected leaders. Such people who live & die for truth are loved by God & therefore by me.”
Such great honor for those people who are considered second grade human beings by the “high” caste in India is another land mark in the history of the human nights.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 18, 1986
