Shaheedan De Sirtaj, plus a history with comments on Sikhi
The tele-movie named “Shaheedan De Sirtaj” summarizes one of the basic foundations of the Sikh doctrine of martyrdom for the cause of justice being willingly accepted as a divine reward for the betterment of the human society as examplified in the life of Guru Arjan Dev Ji. The Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak on principles of equality and justice for all, universal brotherhood, honest and peaceful co-existence and equitable distribution of all resources. In the 17th century Sikhi got a major boost, especially after the establishment of a Sikh religious center at Amritsar (first called Chak-Ramdass) and completion of its Holy Scripture — the Aadi Granth by Guru Arjan Dev Ji the fifth Nanak.
Sikhi's popularity, among the masses, was further enhanced during the drought and famine of Lahore, when the fifth Guru whole heartedly provided relief for eight long months to all there, without any distinction of caste, creed, race or religion and managed to have their farm revenues exempted by the emperor Akbar. He also had wells or tanks dug for fresh water wherever needed and did many other services for the citizens of Punjab.
His provisioning of relief and shelter to lepers and destitutes at Tarn-Taran earned him and the Sikh religion great aplombs in the hearts of all well meaning humans.
The sudden rush of masses to embrace this new faith became a cause of serious concern to the Brahmins, the religious professionals whose followers were decreasing; this was putting a serious dent in their earnings. So too at the Delhi Durbar where the moderate Mughal emperor Akbar had been succeeded by Jahagir, a man who drank to excess (even though alcohol was prohibitted by the Qur'an) and used afim (opium). Knowing of his sons wild ways Akbar who had preferred his grandson Prince Khusro as the next to sit on the Mughal gaddi, but Jahangir won the war for the throne and, in a moment of anger, had his own son blinded.
Though now remembered as a man of the arts, Jahangir was no Akbar and he returned to the wishes of the Ulema — of converting his subjects to Islam even if often by any means necessary. So both the Hindu Brahmins and the Mughal Emperor became envious of the growing popularity of this new religion and its concomitant drain on their coffers and began to plot and scheme against Guru Arjan and the Sikhs. At first their efforts were aimed at reducing the converts to Sikhi to stop its spreading, but it wasn't long before the annihilation of the movement was being attempted. With even Muslims converting to the new religion Jahangir, with the powerful Hindu banker Chandu Shah wispering in his ear, set his attention on Guru Arjan and his growing flock.
Notwithstanding the earlier internal squabbles among the Sikhs when Pirthi Chand attempted to wrest the Sikh Guruship away from Guru Angad (he ended up by starting his own sect), seemingly insignificant incidents, such as the refusal by Guru Arjan to accept the proposed marriage of his son Har Gobind to the Khatri Diwan Chandu Shah's daughter (a proposal Chandu had puplicly belittled at first) or the, politically inconvenient, visit of Prince Khusro, who at the time was fighting with his father Jahangir over the Mughal throne, to Guru Arjan's abode were exaggerated and soon the Guru was charged with plotting against the state!
This vicious, seemingly Mughal scheme, of executing the Sikh Guru, though in actuality conceved by the Hindu Diwan Chandu Shah would, they thought, both stop the spread of Sikhi and also provoke an open uprising Sikhs against the Hindus and their Mughal overlords.
However, the inherent tolerance advocated in their Gurbani and the high level of consciousness of the peace loving Sikhs, not only prevented any backlash but also strengthened the resolve of everyone to be led by the personal example of abiding by the Will of the Almighty Ek-Oankar as exemplified by Guru Arjan Dev Ji during his torturous “Martyrdom” executed by Chandu Shah, who hired a man to pour hot sand over the head of the Guru Ji while seated on a large iron platter being heated over a fire during the scorchingly hot month of June! It is an ironic fact that among the majority Hindu community, not even a single soul stirred to raise a voice against perpetuation of such an inhuman, barbaric and torturous end to a divine and pious Sikh personality who neither flinched nor questioned God or His justice in spite of an earlier request by his friend, the man the Guru had considered the Holiest and most pious man in all of Hindustan, the Sufi Faqir Sant Hazrat Mian Mir who had asked the Guru to allow him to use his influence to end the Guru's inprisonment and prevent the Guru's torture.
This first unique “Martyrdom” of Sikh history not only set an example to instill pride in the future generations of Sikhs, but infused a new spirit and trend in the world to fight injustice and tyranny with non-violent means but by portraying the massive strength of self control and power as also unflinchingly risking one's own life for the sake of preserving the freedom and human rights of everyone, irrespective of religion and race to live and worship as they choose.
Guru Arjan Sahib was a great visionary who conceptualised the idea of creating a peaceful and prosperous co-existing society by developing a city around the Sikh center, where he patronaged the settlement of various artisans of all trades to ensure simultaneous growth of economics, fine arts, martial arts and spirituality under the same roof. He not only encouraged the trading of the best breeds of horses, but worked hard to impart complete training of horse riding and warfare to his only son and future Guru Hargobind Ji, who later carried forward the doctrine of Sikhism of resolute and substantial preparation of the warrior's martial skills to ensure lasting peace and stability of any region in their fight against the fanatic zealots who ruled India at the time.
The rise of Sikhism, saw the establishment of a large but peaceful “Sikh Empire” which spread from Kabul in the West to the outskirts of Delhi in the East, to Jammu and Kashmir and Tibet in the far North and to Sind in the South. An Empire where all religions were equally assisted by the state to bloom and flourish. I (the author) believe the five decade rule of Maharajah Ranjeet Singh proved the fact that Sikh doctrine is not merely a theory, but is the only solution to establish a global peaceful co-existent society of just and sovereign humans.
