"Go and tell Aurangzeb that if he can convert Guru Tegh Bahadar to Islam, they will all convert. Otherwise he should leave them alone"

Guru Tegh Bahadur’s voice brought relief to the Kashmiri Pandits who had gathered at Chak Nanki, Kahlur (now known as Anandpur Sahib). The Pandits had been given an ultimatum by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb that they should convert to Islam or face death.

In the summer of 1675, the Guru, along with his companions were brought to Delhi and asked to convert to Islam or else face the penalty of death by the Mughal emperor. He was also asked to prove his powers by performing a miracle. The revered Guru said occult powers were no proof of one’s nearness to the God.

Despite the inhumane torture, the Guru and his companions refused to convert to Islam. First his companions were tortured to death in front of his eyes, to coerce him into converting to Islam, and when the Guru didn’t budge from his faith, he himself was beheaded.

Describing the martyrdom of his father, Guru Gobind Singh writes in the Dasam Granth,

He protected the forehead mark and sacred thread of the Hindus, which marked a great event in the Kali Yuga. For the sake of saints, he laid down his head without even a sigh. For the sake of Dharma, he sacrificed himself. He laid down his head but not his creed.

Guru Gobind Singh, who was present at the time of the meeting of the persecuted Kashmiri Pandits and his father as a nine-year old boy, went on to institutionalise the Khalsa, resisted the ongoing persecution by the Mughal Empire, and continued "the defence of Sikhism and Hinduism against the Muslim assault of Aurangzeb".

Nihang Sikhs in Ram Janmasthan

The Sikhs have a great contribution to the recent Supreme Court judgement that ruled in favour of a Ram Temple at the Janmasthan site.

According to an FIR dated 30th November, 1858, written by the Thanedaar (Policeman) of Awadh on complaint of Superintendent of Babri Masjid, 25 Nihang Sikhs had entered the Babri Masjid structure.

The FIR stated that the Nihangs were performing Hawan and other religious rituals there. It further stated that they inscribed,“Ram! Ram!” with charcoal on the walls of the Masjid.

The report says the Hindus had access to the birthplace of the Lord – The Janmasthan, which is outside the Masjid, but within the same complex, and that they had been visiting it for a long time, and now the Hindus had entered the Masjid and started worshipping there as well. Reportedly, Thanedar took a few weeks to evict the Nihang Sikhs from the Babri Masjid.

This document proved a great piece of evidence that Muslim parties didn’t have exclusive ownership of the structure.

It is a concrete historical document from Ayodhya which states that Hindus were not just inside the complex, but even inside the Masjid. The document razed to the ground the argument that Hindus never had access to the Masjid.

Who are Nihang Sikhs?

Some accounts trace the origin of the Nihang warrior attire to Fateh Singh, the youngest son of Guru Gobind Singh.

The story goes that one day, as his older brothers were practising battlefield skills, little Fateh Singh also wanted to play with his brothers. But, they refused, saying: “At the moment you are too small.”

Let down by his older brothers, little Fateh Singh went inside the palace and tied a dastaar (turban) as tall as one hand, put on a blue dress and adorned himself with a small Khanda. He placed a Chakar (round disc carried on a belt or worn on the turban) on himself and carried his kirpan. Over his dastaar he wrapped a ‘dumalla’ and in his hand, he held a spear. He then went to where his brothers were playing and said, “Now I don’t look small.”