Saviour of Kashmiri Pandits-Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji Maharaj

The martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur has a multi-dimensional significance in the annals of Kashmir, especially for the survival of Kashmiri Pandits. Aurangzeb was very eager to convert India, "the land of the infidels" into ``the land of the faithfuls". The Brahmins preserved the Hindu religion and their wholesale conversion to Islam would have helped him in bringing the rest of the Hindus into the Muslim fold. He thought of converting Brahmins to Islam because they form the core of the Hindu religious tradition. So he started persecuting them.

Kashmiri Pandits were renowned for their learning and orthodoxy. When the Mughal emperor turned his eyes towards them, he encountered stiff resistance. During the 49 years of his reign, Kashmir was administered by 14 governors. Iftikhar Khan was the most fanatic and bigoted of these. He ruled Kashmir from 1671 to 1675. He was using force ruthlessly to convert Pandits to Islam. Faced with an ultimatum, many of them began to flee Kashmir. Those who stayed back and refused to accept Islam were put to sword.

Some Kashmiri Pandits met under the leadership of Pt. Kriparam of Mattan decided to go to the Amarnath shrine and invoke the mercy of Lord Shiva. At the holy cave, one of them saw Lord Shiva in a dream, Who told him to go to Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, and ask for help to save the Hindu religion. He spoke to his companions about the revelation and they all decided to appeal to him.

Gum Tegh Bahadur was leading a secular movement and was immensely popular. He attracted large crowds wherever he went. Out of the 11 years of his spiritual reign, he spent almost eight years travelling through Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. He visited almost all the places earlier visited by Guru Nanak Dev to propagate the message of humanity. During his tour, he came across and exchanged views with Brahmins, Vaishnav saints, Sufis

and all those who had been upset by Aurangzeb's increasing oppression. The Guru came to be admired by them. He was all compassion for the suffering humanity and people flocked to him in large numbers. It was his identification with the people and his love and compassion for them, which created the popular perception of the Guru as a hero who could come to the rescue of the downtrodden. They took him as their saviour. He became a source of spiritual solace for the suffering people and they saw in him their protector against tyranny. That is why the Kashmiri Pandits felt that he could help them and protect them from the tyrannical rule of Aurangzeb.

On May 25,1675, when 500 Brahmins from the Valley led by Pt. Kriparam (a Sanskrit teacher in Gobind Rai) came to Anandpur to narrate their story of repression and woes to him, the Guru was moved by their entreaties and told them that their problem could be solved only if some soul of truthfulness and integrity offers himself for sacrifice. His son, Gobind Singh, who was at that time just nine years old, said: "Who else can be more truthful and sublime than you! You alone can protect the Hindu religion. You alone are that graceful and sublime." Guru Teg Bahadur was delighted to hear the brave words of his son. He told the Kashmiri Pandits to go and tell the emperor that if he could be able to convert the Guru to Islam, they would gladly follow him. This resolve of the Guru and his ultimate sacrifice brought tremendous change in the body politic of India, leading in turn to the establishment of the Khalsa by his brave son Guru Gobind Singh, the decline of the Mughul supremacy and re-establishment of religious tolerance.

On November 11,1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur attained martyrdom at Chandni Chowk. Delhi. It is known as Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. Three of the Guru's devotees, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala, had been tortured to death a day earlier on the very spot on which the Guru was martyred. Before these fearless followers of the Guru had their tryst with divinity, the Guru had blessed them and said, "All my blessings are with you — my noble disciples. What greater joy and pride can I have than the thoughts that my dearest disciples were with me."

Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom is an event of greatest importance in the evolution of the Indian ethos, especially the history of Kashmiri Pandits. His supreme sacrifice can be perceived as the triumph of the eternal glory of the Indian spiritual tradition.

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Courtesy:  C L Gadoo  and  November 2000  Koshur Samachar