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Spirit of Guru Gobind Singhji & Triumph of the Khalsa
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Dr. Kuldip Singh
To understand the ethos of the Khalsa Panth brought
to a grand finale by Guru Gobind Singhji it would help us to recall and
analyse the first triumph of the Khalsa in 1704.
At the Vaisakhi of 1699 Guruji had sent message all over for one year
that Sikhs should gather in large numbers. He introduced the “Baptismal
of the Sword” (Khanda) i.e. Pahul Khandedhar. The Persian historian
and scribe, Ghulam Muhiud-Din sent Aurangzeb a copy of the Guru’s
sermon : “Let all embrace one creed and obliterate difference of
religion. Let the four Hindu castes who have different rules for their
guidance abandon them all, and opt the one form of Lord; adoration, and
become brothers. Let no one deem himself superior to another . let
men of the four castes receive my baptism, eat out of one dish .”
He further reported : “When the Guru had addressed the crowd, several
Brahmins and Khatris stood up and said that they would never accept any
religion which was opposed to the teachings of the Vedas and Shastras
and they would not renounce the ancient faith which had descended to them
from their ancestors".
The Guru continued to address the assembled rajas : “How has your
religious, political, and social status degenerated ! You have abandoned
the worship of True God and addressed your devotions to many gods, goddesses,
rivers, trees and animals. Through ignorance you know not how to govern
your territories; through indolence and vice you disregard the interest
of your subjects. You place over them officials who not only hate you,
but are your mortal enemies. In your quarrels over caste and lineage you
have not adhered to the ancient division of Hinduism into just four sections,
but you have made hundreds of subcastes and degraded humanity. You despise
and loathe one another through your narrow prejudices, and you act contrary
to the wishes of the great Almighty Father. Your morals have become so
perverted that, through fear and with a desire to please your rulers,
you give them your daughters to gratify their lust. Self-respect finds
no place in your thoughts and you have forgotten the history of your sires.
I am intensely concerned over your fallen state. Are you not ashamed to
call yourself Rajputs when the rulers seize your wives and daughters before
your very eyes? Your temples have been demolished and mosques built on
their sites; and many of your faith have been forcibly converted to Islam.
If you still possess a trace of bravery and the ancient spirit of your
race, then listen to my advice, embrace the Khalsa religion, and gird
up your loins to elevate the fallen condition of your country". Upon
this, the rajas departed without accepting the Guru’s proposal to
embrace his Khalsa Panth for the existing religious systems. “Brethren,
this Khalsa is a new - fangled institution for which we have no scriptural
authority,” Raja Ajmer Chand of Bilaspur replied, “Great King,
you must let us worship our idols and shave our head on the occasion of
a death in our family.” (M. A. Macauliffe: V 93 - 101; H. R. Gupta:
I - 280- 281).
Guru Gobind Singh had to fight twelve battles after the creation of the
Khalsa. The first one was in the same year of the Khalsa (1699) when the
hill chiefs lodged a complaint against the Guru with the Delhi Darbar
that the Guru had created a new sect and was instigating them to revolt.
The Mughal government sent a force of 10,000 under its generals to assist
the hill rajas. When this army was defeated, the hill chiefs got together
again, and their combined forces surrounded Anandpur. (M. A. Macauliffe:
V 124-126) They could not dislodge the Guru. After facing one defeat after
another, Raja Ajmer Chand was distressed on seeing the increasing power
and glory of the Khalsa. He prevailed upon other hill chiefs to join him
in meeting the Emperor personally and petition him in sending large, well-equipped
army commanded by select generals. This was in 1704. The Guru was informed
by a faithful Sikh of the result of Raja Ajmer Chand’s mission to
the Emperor. In this exigency the Guru invited help from his Sikhs.
Hari Ram Gupta (Vol I Page 288) quotes one such letter: “Sri Guruji
addresses the letter to Bhai Sukhya, Bhai Mukha, Bhai Parsa. The Guru
would take care of all his disciples. Repeat Guru, Guru. You will have
the best in life. The entire community is my Khalsa. Come with cavaliers,
footmen, gunners and daring youth. Every Sikh young man coming to pay
respects would be blessed . “
Thousands of armed Sikhs came. The combined Mughal and Hill Rajas’
army surrounded Anandpur, and all means of ingress and egress were completely
cut off. After suffering heavy losses, when food and water scarcity increased,
the Guru was prevailed upon by Sikhs and his family to accept the offer
of the Emperor, sworn on the Quran, that the Guru would not be harmed
if he evacuated Anandpur. Guru Sahib agreed reluctantly. In the midst
of rain, cold and darkness, Guru left in two parties, but was attacked
on the banks of Sirsa. Guruji managed to cross over with two of his sons
and 40 other Sikhs including the five "Piaras". In the subsequent
battle of Chamkaur Sahib, he lost his two elder sons and three "Piaras",
and had to bow to the wishes of the Guru - Khalsa and leave Chamkaur Sahib
at night alongwith the remaining two piaras. While staying at Hehar Village
with Rae Kalha, a Muslim Zamindar, Guruji sent a messenger to Sarhind
to bring news about the rest of the family. Here he also wrote and despatched
his first letter of victory called Fatehnama to Aurangzeb. In this letter
Guruji stated that “When an affair passes beyond all remedy, it
is lawful to resort to the sword what does it matter if a jackal through
deceit and deception killed two cubs of a lion". (Kalgidhar Chamatkar,
671, H. R. Gupta: I, 294 - 297) and (M.A. Macauliffe: V 193). He learnt
about the Martyrdoms of his two younger sons, and proceeded to Dina. Here,
he wrote a long letter, in chaste Persian, entitled "Zafar-Namah",
the Account of Victory, and sent it to Aurangzeb through Bhai Daya Singh
and Dharam Singh. Earlier, Aurangzeb had invited the Guru to his court
by swearing on the Quran that no harm would he done to him. The Guru declared
him a liar and treacherous: “Were you to take a hundred oaths on
the Quran, I would not trust you in the least", “Come to the
village Kangar, and after that we will meet", “Come so that
we may talk to each other, and I will treat you well” (verse 60).
“What does it matter that my four children are killed, as the “coiled
Cobra" is still alive (verse 78); “The idol worshipping hill
men want to kill me, because they are idol - worshippers and I am an idol
breaker” (verse 95); The Zafar Nama tells us, in unmistakable terms,
that one should not lose courage even when faced with heavy odds,
that peace is desirable but not without honour, that in negotiations compromise
is essential but not on the terms of the tyrant. Several important conclusions
can be drawn from this last battle of Guru Gobind Singh which are beacons
for the Khalsa :
(a) This battle, as also all the previous battles fought by Guru Gobind
Singhji and also the subsequent battle of Mukatsar, were defensive battles
and Guruji never allowed the Sikhs to chase the fleeing attackers, or
gain territory.
(b) In all battles Guruji and his Khalsa were heavily outnumbered but
never lost their courage, and did not retreat.
(c) Guru Sahib was well aware of the last onslaught and the big well-equipped
Mughal army coming to dislodge him. Indeed, the last battle of Anandpur
was the final test for the Khalsa, and hence Guruji had sent a call to
the young Sikhs to come over with all their weapons. He wanted to test
them whether they had learnt the central idea of the complete Sant-Sipahi
as enunciated by Guru Nanak :" If you want to play the game of love,
then come with your head on your palm. Walk this way and give your head
without hesitation."
(d) Guruji could have evacuated Anandpur to avoid conflict and saved his
family and the Sikhs, but every action of the Guru was going to be interpreted
by the Khalsa as their future course of action in similar situations.
It is the hallmark of Khalsa soldiers that they do not run away from the
battle-field when facing heavy odds. They prefer to lay down their lives.
(e) The Gur’su writing two letters of victory after suffering such
heavy losses,- thousand of Khalsa and all his four sons, showed that the
result of a battle depended upon the preservation of spirit of defiance.
In the mood of ecstasy in which he wrote these letters showed that he
indeed had triumphed and the Khalsa had not been cowed down.
The Second Triumph of The Khalsa : This is signified in the heroic way
in which Banda Bahadur and his 740 followers met their end after capture
in 1716. H. R. Gupta (II page 29) quotes several sources that when Banda
was captured alongwith 740 followers, “The following articles were
recovered : (whether he indeed surrendered, or submitted to a ploy, is
not under discussion) : Swords 1000, Shields 278, Small Kirpans 217, Matchlocks
180, Bows and arrow cases 173, Daggers 114, Rupees 600, Gold Mohars 23
and a few gold ornaments", “With this beggarly equipment in
men, money and materials and living in a small house with an open compound,
he had defied the mighty Mughal Empire for over eight months! No better
record than this challenge can be traced anywhere else in world history".
The countenance of these brave Sikhs is described by an eye - witness
in the following words, as quoted by Khushwant Singh (Volume I, page 115
- 116) from “Ibrat Nama” by Mirza Mohammod Harisi; “Those
unfortunate Sikhs, who had been reduced to their last extremity, were
quite happy and contented with their fate; not the slightest sign of dejection
or humility was to be seen on their faces. In fact most of them, as they
passed along on their camels seemed happy and cheerful, joyfully singing
the sacred hymns of their Scripture. And, if any one from among those
in the lanes and bazaars called out to them that their own excesses had
reduced them to that condition, they quickly retorted saying that it had
been so willed by the Almighty and that their capture and misfortune was
in accordance with His Will And, if any one said : ‘Now you will
be killed', they shouted : ‘Kill us’, when were we afraid
of death."? The executions began on March 5, 1716 and continued for
a week. Besides thousands of people, two Englishmen, John
Surman and Edward Stephenson, who were then in attendance at the Mughal
court, sent the following despatch to the East India Company.
“The great Rebel Gooroo who has been for those twenty years
so troublesome in the subaship of Lahore is at length taken
with all his family and attendants by Abdus Samad Cawn, the suba of that
province. Some days ago they entered the city laden with fetters, his
whole attendants which were left alive being about seven hundred and eighty,
all severally mounted on camels which were sent out of the city
for the purpose, besides about two thousand heads stuck upon poles, being
those who died by the sword in the battle. He was carried into the presence
of the king, and from thence to a close prison. He at present has his
life prolonged with most of his mustadis in hope to get an account of
his treasure in the several parts of his kingdom and of those that assisted
him, when afterwards he will be executed, for the rest, there are a hundred
each day beheaded. It is not a little remarkable with what patience they
undergo their fate and to the last it has not found that one apostatised
from this new found religion” (J.T. Wheeler), Early Records of British
India, P 180, Khushwant Singh Vol. I. Page 116) On being asked about his
conduct Banda replied. “I will tell you, whenever men become so
corrupt and wicked as to relinquish the path of equity and abandon themselves
to all kinds of excesses, then Providence never fails to raise up a scourge
like me to chastise a race so depraved; but when the measure of punishment
is full then he raises up men like you to bring him to punishment".
(Siyar-Ul-Mutakharin, 79-80)
Describing the execution of Sikhs, an offer was made to spare their lives
if they would become Musulman. None agreed. They uttered Wah-Guru, Wah-Guru,
and tried to outbid one another in offering themselves for sacrifice saying
“me, mukta (deliverer) kill me first. They had no fear of death
and they called the executioner, Mukta, or the Deliverer.
A notable event is recorded by several historians that there was a young
newly-married lad among Banda’s followers. His wife and mother reached
Delhi and succeeded in submitting to Prime Minister, Sayyid Abdullah that
the boy was not a Sikh, nor the follower of the Guru and that his life
should be spared. The further scene was witnessed by Khafi Khan and Khushal
Chand. Khafi Khan says that when a police official was setting him free
the boy declined to go, saying: “My mother is a liar. I am in heart
and soul a devoted disciple of my leader, finish me quickly with my companions".
Khushal Chand writes that the lad declined to recognise his mother and
wife. “ I do not know whose mother she is, and from where she has
brought this girl. My companions have gone, I have no time to lose. The
delay is painful to me". Saying this, he put his head before the
executioner (H.R. Gupta Vol II Page 32-33 quoting Tarikh-e-Muhammad Shahi,
2476; Ganda Singh 229, f.n.).
The way these 740 or 780 Khalsa jawans met their end so heroically, remaining
in ecstatic Charhdi Kala, was indeed a great Triumph of the Panth in 1716.
If even one of them had flinched and left the Khalsa fold, it would have
set a bad example and shaken the strong edifice of our creed. This notable
event needs to be commemorated and celebrated befittingly every year by
our Raagis, poets, Dhadis and painters to being into limelight the line
in our daily Ardas(Prayer) “Sikhi Kesaan Swasaan Naal Nibhai - Bolo
ji Waheguru.”
The Third Triumph of The Khalsa in 1984 : Our history is replete with
scores of instances where Sikhs singly, or in groups, sacrificed themselves
displaying lofty spirit of the Khalsa. Many such heroic deeds find mention
in our daily Ardas (Prayer). Due to our negligence, our non Sikh brethren,
in India and outside, have remained in the dark about the Khalsa heritage
of Shahidi or Martyrdom. Even own children regard this litany in our Ardas
as a part of the Sikh folklore. It is in this context that I regard the
events of 1984 as the Third Great triumph of the Khalsa.
Inspite of the media giving perverted and distorted coverage, as time
passes the bare facts would stand out and cannot be hesmirched. It is
strange that many of our own people have not understood the essence of
our great victory in its true light.
In August, 1982 All Akali leaders started their peaceful Dharam Yudh Morcha
under command of Sant Longowal after praying and vowing at Akal Takht
that they would not give up their struggle unless and until their main
demands of acceptance of Anandpur Sahib Resolution (which was for greater
autonomy to Punjab as well as other states and stoppage of Digging of
Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal because Punjab had no surplus water) were conceded.
Damdami Taksal, Babbar Khalsa, Dal Khalsa, Akhand Kirtani Jatha and all
Akali groups had joined hands. The Government, however, refused to accede
to the demands of the community. An all-round media campaign was launched
to malign the Sikhs and project the Morcha as being against the Hindus
of Punjab, indeed, as a movement for secession. To start with, hunks of
beef were thrown in temples, and cigarettes and biris were thrown in Darbar
Sahib. An impression was created that hundreds and thousands of Hindus
were being killed in Punjab and preparations were afoot to launch an armed
movement to turn out the Hindus from Punjab. During the Asiad, 1982 all
Sikhs travelling to Delhi through Haryana were humiliated. Well-known
Sikhs, even those belonging to the Congress, and serving or retired army
generals, were not spared. In response to the call for a peaceful ‘Rasta
Roko' on 4.4.1983, the peaceful agitators were met with by unprovoked
and indiscriminate firing by the police. A fact-finding team of opposition
leaders, including A.B. Vajpayee and Harkishen Singh Surjeet, was “shocked
by the devastation at Malerkotla and Kup Kalan", and came to the
conclusion that the ‘excesses committed by the police were heart-rending'.
In the same vein, after a peaceful Punjab Bandh, in response to the call
of Sant Longowal on 8.2.1984, a counter bandh called by Hindu Suraksha
Samiti on 14.2.1984, which resulted in large-scale and widespread violence
against Sikhs, desecration of Gurdwaras all over Himachal, Haryana and
Punjab. Hindu mobs attacked the Sikhs at 56 places in Amritar. A mob led
by an ex-BJP MLA smashed a model of Darbar Sahib kept at Amritsar Railway
Station and stuck a burning cigarette in the ‘mouth' of Guru Ram
Dasji’s picture kept at the same place. This is just one example
or the reaction as a result of the concerted campaign of disinformation
against the Sikhs.
Many sham negotiations were held between Akali leaders and the representatives
of the Government. In these the opposition parties were also involved.
Every time the Akali leaders would agree to compromise their demands,
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would back out, agreeing only to relaying
Kirtan from Darbar Sahib - as a sop.
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had actually commenced this Morcha
initially, as a man endowed with great intellect, understood the game
Indira Gandhi was playing: She had succeeded in maligning the Sikhs and
creating a fear psychosis; she would attack Darbar Sahib with full force
to kill as many Sikhs as possible, arrest the remaining leaders to finish
the Morcha. He foresaw only two alternatives before him. First, that he
and his men should abandon the Morcha and come out of the Darbar Sahib.
In this, not only he would have lost face, but his liquidation was certain,
as several attempts had been made earlier to make him stop the popular
Amrit prachar being carried out by Damdami Taksal under his leadership.
He also felt that by running away from the Ardas offered at Akal Takht
(that they would lay down their lives rather than give up the Morcha,
without achieving their objectives), would also finish him as a religious
leader. His second option was to resist the onslaught of the security
forces and die a heroic death.
For this, he started planning earnestly in the beginning of 1983. One
by one, he prepared a number of ex-serviceman to fight and lay down their
lives defending the sanctity of Darbar Sahib in the best traditions of
the Khalsa. In 1757, only five Sikhs guarding Harimandir had fought with
a large army of Afghans and died fighting but had not run away (Miskin
- Tazakira: 165 quoted by Khushwant Singh Vol. page 146 and H. R. Gupta:
Vol. II, 136). When he had collected a band of reliable head-givers, he
put them in separate rooms to recite Mul Mutra and Gurbani for 15-16 hours
a day, away from the gaze of outside world. Bhindranwale felt emboldened,
and during his address to the annual conference of Sikh Students Federation
held at Manji Sahib in Sept. 1983, he made the following declarations
:
(1) That he had taken part in the Ardas at Akal Takht in Aug. 1982 wherein
he, along with other leaders, had taken a vow that they would continue
their peaceful Morcha till their demands, specially those contained in
the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, were met. He would not compromise and would
rather lay down his life.
(2) He was convinced that Indira Gandhi would never accede to their demands
and that she would set up many more phoney negotiations and then send
the army to Darbar Sahib with the hope that the Sikhs would not only surrender
physically but would give up their demands.
(3) He repeated his resolve that he would resist the entry of the army
into Darbar Sahib with all his might and that he was fully prepared to
meet any eventuality according to the long established Sikh Traditions.
He and his men would give a good account of themselves by killing large
number of army personnel before laying down their lives. They would never
surrender.
General Shahbeg Singh, of Mukti Bahini fame, had joined him and offered
him not only his head, but also expertise, in putting up formidable resistance.
The whole Darbar Sahib Complex had been open for everybody and no part
had been barricaded. Plain-clothes intelligence men were everywhere. Government
agents had gained the confidence of all important Akali leaders, and one
of them was a close aid of Bhindranwale as well. Nobody could enter the
Darbar Sahib Complex without being searched by police and para - military
Forces. The government must have known that Bhindranwale had only 303
rifles and their ammunition. Many are of the view that these were
sent by the Government in the Langar Kar-Sewa trucks to instigate and
embolden the Sant. CRPF fired on the Darbar Sahib Complex,
all day on June 1, 1984 killing 8 persons in the parikarma; the bullets
had left 36 marks on the Golden Temple, which were duly reported. There
was no firing from inside. Bhindranwale’s men were to fight
only a defensive battle and were to take on the army only when they attempt
to enter the complex. When the army invasion commenced on June 3, 1984
- the Shahidi Gurpurab of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji - then the army had got
ready a team of workers who were to quickly repair any damage and cover
it up. They were fully confident that the whole affair would be over in
minutes and they would kill and capture the remaining leaders in no time.
The army had not given any ultimatum for people inside to come out with
raised hands and surrender or face the army attack. The army attacked
40 other historic holy Gurdwaras simultaneously, which exposes their objective.
Bhindranwale’s 40-50 men put up dogged resistance and the army suffered
tremendous losses. For two days, Indian infantry resorted to deadly firing
with machine guns, rockets and mortars, hoping that Sant Bhindranwale
and his man would be frightened into submission. On June 6, thirteen battle
tanks trundled into the Complex, seven of them trampling the Parikarma.
On June 7, in the evening Doordarshan news bulletin an army officer remarked
that “they all (Sikhs) died fighting and none of them surrendered
with arms".
Bhindranwale had indeed triumphed in Sikhism’s best tradition as
he and his associates died fighting. It is strange that many simplistic
Sikhs still hold that Bhindranwale is responsible for desecration of Darbar
Sahib and Akal Takht, and that he should have come out earlier and fought
from outside. They scarcely realise that Bhindranwale had no intention
of fighting the Indian army or the police or paramilitary forces. He was
engaged in Amrit prachar and was propagating against the use of Alcohol
and drugs. Circumstances took him inside the Complex and he could not
come out honourably except by laying down his life for the dharma.
The essence of this third triumph of the spirit of Khalsa is something
quite different, which very few Sikh intellectuals have realised. The
events preceding Operation Bluestar were planned to create a rift between
Hindus and Sikh not only of Punjab, but all over. The minds of the Hindus
has been poisoned and they hailed this event with one voice. A.B. Vajpayee
remarked that this should have taken place six months earlier. Others
considered this as the correct action at the correct time. Inspite
of all the propaganda, and grave provocation of attacks on their
holy Gurdwaras, and repeated belligerence of Hindu mobs all over Northern
India, the Sikhs never retaliated and no Sikh mobs attacked Hindus,
their temples or their property anywhere. As soon as the news about the
army attack on the Darbar Sahib trickled, Sikhs started marching towards
Darbar Sahib in their thousands. Not only that, about 6,000 Sikh army
jawans left their barracks and started marching towards Amritsar. Nowhere
did those Sikhs attack any Hindu on the way. Indira Gandhi’s calculations
had misfired. Operation Bluestar was followed by ‘Operation Woodrose'
where army entered all Punjab villages hunting for Amritdhari (Baptized)
Sikhs. In spite of large scale torturing and killing of Sikhs, Sikhs did
not retaliate by killing Hindus even then. Indira Gandhi and her advisors
had expected that Sikhs would attack Hindus and this would give the government
an obvious and justifiable reason to eliminate them by large-scale army
and air force action. Her agents were ready all over India so that, in
that eventuality, they would attack all Sikhs outside Punjab, killing
them, looting and grabbing their property. In spite of the gravest provocations,
Sikhs did not rise in anger. The way the Sikhs were attacked in trains,
buses, on the roads and killed in thousands all over India in an
organised pattern for three days in Nov 84 following the assassination
of Indira Gandhi, is a clear pointer that these mob attacks had been planned
in the wake of Operation BlueStar. Even following such large scale
murderous attacks, the Sikhs never thought of attacking innocent
Hindus. Only at few places they offered taken resistance to the attacking
mobs.
In spite of facing heavy odds for over a decade and a half, and suffering
tremendous loss of life, property and prestige, the Sikhs spirit has triumphed
in the end. They have managed to survive when they were in great danger
of being wiped out. Indira Gandhi’s nefarious plans lie in tatters,
so does her party and government. Let us join in thanksgiving to celebrate
the advent of Guru Gobind Singh triumph of Spirit of the Khalsa that shall
never die , for it has been nurtured by the blood of our Gurus, Sahibzadas
and countless martyrs following in their footsteps.
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