Gurdwara Shahidi Asthaan Baba Banda Singh Bahadur is situated in the Meharauli Area of Delhi near the Qutab Minar. Here Baba Banda Singh Bahadur ji, his four-year-old son Ajai Singh along with forty Sikhs were tourtured to death by the Mughals.

After his son Ajai Singh was killed, before Banda’s eyes, his heart was cut out and dripping with blood it was forcibly pushed into Banda ji’s mouth, then Baba Ji’s eyes were gouged out. Baba ji’s Body was then hung on a Gate where he was skinned alive. Then his body was pierced with red hot rods; finally he dismembered limb by limb.

Banda Bahadur was tortured to death by order of the Mughal Ruler Farrukh Siyar on June 19, 1716 in Mehrauli near the Qutub Minar. Earlier he was taken through the streets of Delhi to the shrine of the Sufi Saint Khawaja Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli. He was then paraded around the tomb of Emperor Bahadur Shah. He was offered the usual choice of death or conversion to Islam but like all his companions he chose death. He was ordered to kill his own four-year-old son Ajai Singh but he refused. Thereafter they butchered the innocent child. His heart was cut out and forced into Banda’s mouth.

Exactly three years later the Saiyid brothers saw to it that, what one might call Divine retribution, caught up with the Emperor who had ordered the murder and beheadings of untold thousands of Sikhs besides Banda Bahadur and his conpanions. Farrukh Siyar was deposed, imprisoned, blinded and ultimately killed in a very ignominious manner on April 28, 1719.

Banda Bahadur’s courage was unparalleled. He possessed a most fearless and undaunted spirit. W.L. M’ Gregor, in his The History of the Sikhs wrote, “Banda Bahadur was a man of undaunted valour and bravery”. The coolness with which he met his death, earned praise for Banda even from the historian Khafi Khan.

Banda Bahadur took over the military leadership of the Sikhs after the death of Guru Gobind Singh. On embracing Sikhism he became a staunch Khalsa Sant-Soldier of the tenth Guru, who followed the teachings of the Gurus in theory and practice living a pure and simple life.

During his time as the Jathedar of the Sikhs the followers of the young faith increased with many Hindus and even large numbers of Muslims becoming Sikhs. Nawab Amin-ud-Daula writes in the third Ruqat-I-Amin-Ud-Daula as follows, “Many Hindus and Musalmans adopted their faith and rituals. And their chief (Banda Bahadur) captivated the hearts of Musalmans who came in contact with him. He addressed them with the title of Singh.

Accordingly, Dinder Khan, a powerful ruler of the neighbourhood was named Dinder Singh and Mir Nasir-ud-Din was renamed as Mir Nasir Singh.”

A Mughal scribe charged with reporting events to the Mughal Darbar wrote to the Emperor about the activities of Banda Bahadur the following words, “The wretched man has his camp in the town of Kalanaur up to 9th instant. During the period he promised and proclaimed, ‘I do not oppress Muslims’. He fixed a daily allowance and wages and looks after them. He has permitted them to read the Khutba and do Namaz. As many as 5,000 Musalmans have gathered around him. Having entered his friendship, they are free to shout their call and say prayer in the army of the wretched.”
This report by the Mughal official speaks of Banda’s allowing the Mughals under his rule to practise their religion in their own way freely, while the previous Emperor Bahadur Shah (Aurangzeb’s son) who had been aided by the Sikhs and Guru Gobind Singh in securing the Mughal throne had issued on December 10, 1710 (after the Guru’s death) an imperial order stating that, “every Sikh wherever found should be put to death without any hesitation and without any further thought’. Furrukhsiyar was the second Emperor to follow Bahadur Shah I his excessive cruelties on his own men would lead to his death.

Banda Bahadur established the first independent sovereign state under Sikh rule, with its own coins and seal. Although it was short-lived, it put the Sikhs on the path to establish their own rule in many parts of Punjab subsequently. Sri Gokal Chand Narang writes in his book, Transformation of Sikhism that the personal magnetism of Banda Bahadur was too great for the Mughals to ignore, as his undaunted courage and extraordinary valour knit his followers closely to him. The fact that not even a single Sikh, out of thousands that were captured and executed by the Mughal Government, renounced his faith to save his own life was due, in no small part, to the exemplary piety and lofty character of Banda Bahadur.

Air Marshal Jasjit Singh Kler, an Air Officer with vast flying experience in helicopter and a qualified flying instructor took over as Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) on Monday, a press release from the Defence PRO said.

Kler was commissioned into the helicopter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 13, 1980. He is a third generation soldier and was holding the position of Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern Air Command at Shillong prior to his appointment in NDA. On May 31, the earlier Commandant of NDA, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, took over charge as the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. Deputy Commandant Air Vice Marshal Sandesh Wagle was officiating as Commandant.

Kler has flown more than 8,000 hours on various helicopters, flying mostly in Siachen Glacier and in the Eastern sector. He has flown most types of helicopters in the IAF inventory including Cheetah, Chetak, Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-17 IV. Kler was promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in 2015 and took over as Director General (Inspection and Safety). He has held various command and staff appointments including Inspector General (Air), Border Security Force; Senior Air Adm Staff Officer Maintenance Command; Deputy Comman-dant of Air Force Academy; Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, New Delhi; and Station Commander of Air Force Station, Jammu.

Kler also commanded an Mi-17 helicopter unit and was posted to Namibia to raise and train the Namibian Helicopter element. The press release said that Kler is an alumnus of College of Defence Management and National Defence College, Bangladesh. Kler is a Master of Business Administration and also has a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Indian Institute of Public Administration. For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2001

~ Source- IndianExpress

A 115-year-old Gurmukhi translation of the Quran, believed to be the “oldest” Punjabi version of the Muslim scripture, has been discovered in a village in Punjab.

This 784-page volume was translated from Arabic to Gurmukhi by a scholar of the Nirmala tradition. A Hindu businessmen and a Sikh collected money for its printing, a task which was undertaken by an Amritsar-based Sikh publisher.

Published in 1911, the edition was recently traced to a village in Moga district by Dr Subhash Parihar, art historian and former professor of history at the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, while he was working on an encyclopaedia on Sufism to be published by Punjabi University, Patiala.

It was previously believed the first Gurmukhi translation of the scripture was carried out by scholars of the Qadian-based Ahmadiyya sect of the Muslims in the early 1980s. However, the discovery of the 1911 edition has taken many scholars by surprise.

“I frequently need to consult the Punjabi version of Quran for research purposes. During a casual discussion on the issue, Noor Mohammad of Lande village of Moga district, told me that one such translation was with him.

“When I received a copy, I could not believe that Quran’s translation in Punjabi was done over a century ago. The research that I have done so far has made me believe that it is the oldest Punjabi translation of Quran Sharif”, Dr Parihar said. Dr Parihar said it was translated by Sant Vaidya Gurdit Singh Alomhari, a Nirmala Sikh. Priced at Rs2.25, only 1,000 copies were published.

“Its beauty is that its printing was sponsored by two Hindus ­— Bhagat Buddhamal Aadatli and Vaidya Bhagat Guranditta – along with a Sikh, Sardar Mela Singh Attar of Wazirabad, Pakistan. It was published by Sardar Buddh Singh at Shri Gurmat Press, Amritsar”, he said. Till a few years ago, the copy was in possession of poet Jhanda Singh Aarif of Kotkapura.

“After Arif’s death, his elder son Natha Singh handed it over to Noor Mohammad. Natha Singh died around six months ago,” Parihar added.

Source-Tribune

Ramadan is not only a month of challenging oneself by not eating and drinking during day hours but it is also a time that stands for compassion and unity. In the Kashmir valley, which is experiencing usually hot weather during Ramadan this year, hundreds of Muslims who do not manage to find space in crowded mosques have to pray on roads instead.

The sizzling temperatures are no deterrent, and the conditions are made easier by noble souls such as an elderly Sikh cloth dealer from Srinagar. As Muslims prepare to pray on pavements outside the crowded mosque in Karan Nagar locality of Srinagar, this Sikh man rolls out new fabric sheets from his shop for them to pray on comfortably. Although he hails from Amritsar in Punjab, he has been living in Srinagar for many years now.

He is there every Ramadan, outside the mosque to offer the new fabrics for free. This has become a common sight for the people who live in and around the area. And the Muslims are bowled over by this Sikh man’s generosity.

Sameen Khan, a radio jockey working with Big 92.7 FM station, uploaded some pictures of him on Facebook. The post has gone viral online.

People are describing him as not only a noble man but one with a good sense of humour too. He does not own a big store but sells his fabrics on pavements. He describes his offerings as service to God.

In the Valley, where the politics of divide between Muslims and Pandits (Hindus) has been played to the hilt, Sikhs are a small community. Jammu and Kashmir has a total number of 3.7 lakh Sikhs, out of which nearly 80,000 live in Kashmir.

Sikhs and Muslims participate in each other’s festivals and Ramadan often serves as a reminder of the same. In the uptown Srinagar locality, Sanat Nagar, local Sikhs come out every evening with dates and water, and offer them to Muslims for breaking the fast.

A roadside stall put up by the Sikh community displays the message, “Recognise the entire Human race as one.”

The Delhi High Court today gave the go-ahead to Delhi University (DU) – affiliated Khalsa College to commence its admission process for this academic year under the minority status.

“How are the teachers of the college affected if students are given admission under the minority status?” Justice GS Sistani asked the DU teachers who had sought a stay on the National Commission for Minority Educational Institution order granting minority status to Sri Guru Teg Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College.

The Judge added, “Fresh appointments of teachers in the college will be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.” It said the authorities concerned should inform the new students that the petition challenging the minority status given to the college was pending.

The High Court, in its interim order yesterday, had only allowed the counselling process, not the admissions.

The court’s order came on a plea by the teachers who had claimed that if admissions under the minority status were allowed, their service conditions would be affected. They had also challenged the grant of minority status on the grounds that it would affect the interests of SC/ST students.

The college was granted minority status in 2011, which was then challenged by teachers as well as DU on whose plea a stay was granted by the High Court in 2012, according to the petition filed by the teachers.

As per the plea, DU had withdrawn its petition in July last year, saying that it had no objection to the minority status granted to the college.

Last July, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), which runs the college, had assured the court that the admissions and appointment of teachers would “continue as per the old system” which allows admission in general as well as SC/ST/OBC categories.

On April 18 this year, the DSGMC said since DU and the government had accepted the minority status, it would not continue the ‘interim arrangement’ and not be bound by the provisions of the SC/ST Reservation Act. The teachers had then again filed a plea seeking a stay on the order. — PTI

~ Source- Tribune