Sikh Martyrs in India’s Freedom Fighters

Today all around the world there is major discussion on one topic. World leaders are holding conferences and discussions regarding the so-called “WAR ON TERROR” that is, how to control Terrorism.

I would like to bring the following things to light:

1. Do people know, how it all started and when?This problem started some time in 620AD in Mecca, the city in Saudi Arabia, which means this is not a new problem and that this problem is more than 1380 years old.
2. What are jihadis actually looking for and what is a jihad.“Jihad has come to mean an offensive war to be waged by Muslims against all non-Muslims to convert them to Islam”

Every person finding a solution to this problem of Terrorism must know the cause, of why (counting from the year 2008) nearly 1374 years back in the year 634 AD., the Muslims launched their first merciless attack on the Christian kingdom of Byzantine, and converted the local Christian population to Islam at the point of the sword, after capturing Jerusalem, Damascus, Cesaria, Antioch and Cairo (then called Babylon and later Al Fustat).

Why was this first unprovoked attack on Christendom unleashed?

The Byzantine Christians had not attacked Arabia, they had not attacked Muslims. Then why were they attacked by the Muslims? The reason for this attack lies in the rejection of the Dawat-ul-Islam (Invitation to embrace Islam) sent to the Christian Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (Heraclios) by Mohammed-ibn-Abdallah, who was the founder of Islam.

This invitation was in fact an ultimatum to either embrace Islam, or surrender to the Muslim armies and pay protection money to the Muslims through a penal tax called Jaziya or to prepare for war. (It is in the same spirit that the Ayman Al Zawahiri calls upon President George Bush to embrace Islam). Since Heraclius rejected all these demands, the Muslims launched their first major attack on a Christian kingdom in the year 634 (they had launched a smaller attack five years earlier in 629 at Mu’ta and had been defeated).

This story of Muslim aggression and occupation of Christian lands, repeated itself over the next 1372 years when the Muslims launched unprovoked attacks on Christian Egypt in 640, on Christian Nubia in 650, on Christian North Africa in 650, on Christian Spain in 711 and again on 3/11), on Christian France (under Frankish rule) in 732, on Christian Sicily in 812, on Christian Byzantine again in 1071 to 1453, on Christian Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Croatia, Albania, Hungary Austria, Poland Russia in the period between 1389 to 1683 and on Christian America on 9/11.

All these Christian nations were invaded by the Muslims not because they had any grievance against them, not because they had attacked the Muslims, but because it was in the world view of the Muslims to attack all non-Muslims and convert them to Islam. That was the reason why they attacked on 9/11.

INDIA also faced its heat in AD 712 when Mohd Bin Qasim attacked sind. And there after a series of attacks by different islamists, followed in 1010,AD 1226, AND THEN IN 1526 By Moghul Emperor Babbar and thereafter till 1774, and it still continues now.

All these attackers had only the same agenda, loot and forcibly convert people to Islam or kill them. Many battles were fought by different countries in Europe as mentioned above, and middle east asia including some parts of china are also mentioned in the history, many resisted for years. For example the Turks fought for nearly 400 years and then surrendered and embraced islam, similarly many others also fought, but I wonder:

1. Has any body or any country or any organization taken it seriously so far?
2. Has any body come out with any solution?

Everybody who is not muslim was attacked and in retaliation they fought or died or embraced Islam but there is no reference that any permanent remedy was chalked out .

There is only one example where a special class was created to fight this forced conversion.

In the year 1699 AD on 13th April GURU GOBIND SINGH ji THE TENTH SIKH GURU of the Sikhs ANNOUNCED and established “KHALSA” as an Anti-Terror Remedy: A SPECIAL CLASS TO FIGHT TERRORISM.

Now let us see what was the situation which made Guru Gobind Singh ji take this decision.

As on April 13th 1699 there was a past history of almost 1200 years before him. And more particularly during the last 100 years it had been happening in relation to his own family:

In 1606 the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev ji was executed because of non acceptance of Islam by the then Moghul emperor Jahangir.

On 11th November 1675 the ninth Sikh Guru Guru, Tegh Bahadur ji father of Guru Gobind Singh ji, along with his five Sikh devotees, were beheaded in Delhi by the then moghul emperor Aurangzeb.

Apart from the above many other battles were fought n 1700 century from 1606 to1699 by the sixth and seventh Sikh Gurus, during which countless sacrifices were made.

Let us look at the performance of Khalsa for the past 308 years:

In the year 1699 INDIA under the command and control of the then moghul emperor aurungzeb, the situation in central and northern India including Delhi was that all places of worship except mosques had beene closed for 25 years (i.e. since 1674) That included all Gurdwaras which were demolished or closed. Non muslims were living in fear. Even the diwali celebration was not allowed to non-muslims and in short, life was made hell for the non muslims.

It was only the Khalsa’s intervention, fighting for almost 75 long years, fighting number of battles, and in June, 1774 CAPTURED DELHI, IN HISTORY IT IS MENTIONED as follows:

“In June, 1774, Khalsa forces headed by, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Sardar Baghel Singh attacked the forces of shah alam with thirty thousand Sikhs and they came and encamped at a place near Kashmiri Gate, that is why today that place is known as “Tis hazari”. They planned a two pronged attack. One section invaded the Ajmeri Gate and the other one breached the wall of the Red Fort and entered the place, which is now known as the Mori Gate. After a fierce battle, the Singhs captured Red Fort, hoisted the Kesri Flag, and put Panj Pyare, including Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, on the throne in Delhi.

Shah Alam, through the aegis of his Ministers, Court Official Munshi Ram Dyal, and Begham (Queen) Samoor offered reconciliation with the Singhs and accepted their four conditions:

1. No Mughal Official would indulge in atrocities on the populace.
2. The Mughal King would pay three hundred thousand rupees as a gift.
3. The Kotwali Area would remain the property of the Khalsa Army.
4. Sardar Baghel Singh would trace historically significant Sikh places in Delhi, and would establish Sikh Temples there. Hindus shall be restored their temples, Till this work was completed he would stay in Delhi with a constabulary of 4,000 horses. The Delhi Ruler would bear all their expenses. Consequently, rest of the Khalsa Army returned.

Sardar Baghel Singh set up an octroi-post near Sabzi Mandi to collect the tax on the goods imported into the city to finance the search and the construction of the Sikh Temples. He did not want to use the cash received from the Government Treasury for this purpose, and most of that was handed out to the needy and poor. He often distributed sweetmeats, bought out of this Government gift, to the congregationalists at the place which, now, is known as the Pul Mithai.

With the help of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh old residents of Delhi, Sardar Baghel Singh found and established seven historical places as the Sikh Temples:

1. Gurdwara Mata Sundri Ji at the place which was know as the Haveli Sardar Jawahar Singh.
2. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. A Mansion belonging to Raja Jai Singh existed there once. Guru Harkrishan sahib ji, the Eighth Guru had stayed there.
3. Gurdwara Bala Sahib. Last rights of Guru Harkrishan sahib ji, Mata Sundri ji and Mata Sahib Kaur ji were performed at this place.
4. Gurdwara Rakab Ganj. The torso of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji was ceremated here.
5. Gurdwara Sis Ganj. Guru Tegh Bahadur ji was martyred at this place.
6. Gurdwara Moti Bagh. Guru Gobind Singh ji sent a message to the Mughal King, Bahadur Shah, by throwing an arrow from this place.
7. Gurdwara Majnu Tilla. It was established in the memory of a Sikh of Guru Nanak dev ji, named Majnu. Guru Hargobind stayed at this place on his way to Gwalior.

On the completion of all the Gurdwaras, Baghel Singh appointed the Bhais (attendant priests) to look after the places and decided to return to Punjab, as well. He was persuaded by Munshi Ram Dyal not to abandon Delhi once the Mughals had coneded to his authority and supermacy. But Baghel Singh replied, “We have been endowed with Kingdom and Destiny by our Guru. Whenever we wished, we could capture Delhi. It won’t be difficult for the Khalsa.”

Sardar Baghel Singh once again decided to invade Delhi in 1785. Shah Alam, scared of Singh, signed a treaty with the Marathas. The Marathas initialed an agreement with the Singhs and consented to pay one million rupees as gift.

And after this KHALSA RAJ Known as Sarkar KHALSA was established by Maharaja Ranjit singh in 1790 till 1839 in whole of Punjab and now known as Pakistan and afganistan KHALSA stood as a strong wall on the Indian borders and Ranjit Singh fought dozens of battles loosing none.

When the Afghans in the eighteenth century had routed the Mughals and later the Marhatas at Panipat, it were the Sikhs and the Sikhs khalsa alone who stood between them and their territorial designs against India. It is now recognized by all the objective historians of the World that but for the bitter struggle then put up by the Sikhs, khalsa, the entire territory upto Jamuna would have formed part of the Afghan Empire. At the cost of the stupendous sacrifices, the Sikhs saved the geographical entity of India from being dismembered at that crucial stage of history.

It was also the Khalsa who salvaged the honor of this country when they freed thousands of innocent young women from the clutches of Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah and a host of other marauders who used to sell them in the Bazars of Kabul, Ghazni and Persia, like Goats and Sheep. It was the Khalsa alone who after thousands of years, reversed the course of history by rolling the invaders back to their quarters and sealing the vulnerable areas in the Northwest against all future invasions with their own blood and bones.

After Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death, some traitors conspired with the British and in 1857, Khalsa Sarkar was taken by the British Raj from the heirs of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Once again the creation of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh ji and the teachings he gave proved invaluable and were applied by the Khalsa against the British for freedom-fighting. A tradition started in northern India in non-sikh mostly Punjabi families, that in every family the eldest sone would become a Sikh.

The movement of Bharat Chhoro and resistance to the British Raj started in actual sense in 1857, and the data available to historians from the historical records show that that out of total deaths in fighting for the freedom of INDIA, KHALSA once again stood on the top.

8O% of the death toll belongs to KHALSA. This was mentioned by no less a person than Maulana Azad.
Another most important point to note is that the Khalsa led Punjab, the only state where terrorists could not carry on their dirty business. They tried in the last decade but failed miserably, because of the tough stand taken by the majority population.

May GOD bless the Khalsa and the world with more chardi kala. The time is not far when people AROUND THE WORLD will say, “there shall be at least one KHALSA from each non sikh family” that day will be the end of terrorism, and we all will be able to say we have truly won the WAR ON TERROR”

– By Joginder Singh – email: 25461818@bol.net.in