Why remember the Month of December in 1704?

Kamaljīt S. Ryatt, Birmingham, U.K.

Giānī Pindarpal Singh Jī, ‘Kathā Vāchak’ par excellance and ‘Paṅth Ratan’, or one of his close
confidantes, was recently noted on social media exhorting the Sikh masses, wherever they may be on
the morning of December 27, to continuously utter the word ‘Wāh(i)gurū’ for ten minutes to
commemorate this period of persecution and untold tyranny being wreaked upon Gurū Gobind Singh
Jī-the tenth Gurū of the Sikhs, his immediate family and Sikhs in general. The sole aim of this
exercise is envisaged not only to remember this period of tyranny and oppression but also, more
importantly, to make others all around us cognisant of this ghastly act of terrorism undertaken by the
Mughal forces in collaboration with Hindu Hill Rajas.

Let us examine the aptness and veracity of this strategy. Repeated or continuous utterance of the
word ‘Wāh(i)gurū’ begs the following questions: (a) is it purely to attract others’ attention so that we
may avail of that opportunity and enlighten them of the relevance of this period to us?, and (b) is this
act, solely by itself, enough to bring about a ‘spiritually evolutionary change’ within us, and is this
what we wish to inform and enlighten the others about? The latter not only utterly fails to achieve our
desired objective of making the general public aware of this aspect of our historical past but is also
found seriously lacking in its ability to bring about this ‘spiritual uplift’ that we all seek to induce
within us. As regards the former, it will serve us well if we are rightly prepared and armed with the
relevant facts and share this knowledge, both verbally eloquently and through clear, concise and
precise written words.

Mere muttering or just mechanical repetition, without it arousing (a) undying true love for ‘Nām’
(God) within one’s ‘Hirdā’, (b) a strong inner desire of loving, willing and unreserved surrender to
His ‘Hukam’ (Order), and (c) a strident inner passion for living life by His ‘Razā’ (Will), does not (i)
link oneself with God, (ii) is of limited value at best, and (iii) commonly misleads those in pursuit of
achieving full alignment and complete harmony with ‘Nām’ and ‘Nām-consciousness’. The
following verses from Gurbānī lend some weight to this argument.

haumY nwvY nwil ivroDu hY duie n vsih iek Twie] AMg 560] ‘Haumai’ and ‘Nām’, being the two ends of a
spectrum and diametrically opposite, cannot co-exist.
hau mY krI qW qU nwhI qU hovih hau nwih] AMg 1092] Where there is ‘Haumai’, God is absent; where
there is God, there is no place for ‘Haumai’.
rwm rwm sBu ko khY kihAY rwmu n hoie] gur prswdI rwmu min vsY qw Plu pwvY koie] AMf 491] Everyone
repeats God's name, but its mere repetition does not lead us to God. ‘Nām’ pervades one’s ‘Hirdā’
only through willing and unreserved surrender to Gurū’s teachings and thus one attains its full glow
within.

hir hir krih inq kptu kmwvih ihrdw suDu n hoeI] AMg 732] One does not attain lasting inner purity,
‘Sehaj’ (lasting inner tranquility and equipoise in the face of extremes of adversity or serendipity) and
complete alignment with ‘Nām’ whilst mechanically muttering His Name but thinking and carrying
out evil daily.

The true reality of this period of history in question is as follows. Mughal forces in collaboration with
Hindu Hill Rajas had taken up arms and decided to annihilate Gurū Gobind Singh Jī and his followers
in the month of December 1704. This was primarily because both the Hindu Hill Rajas and the
Mughal empire felt threatened as Gurū Gobind Singh Jī, like his predecessors, sided with the lowly
and downtrodden to protect them from the tyranny unleashed by the Mughal empire and usurpation of
all just human rights, wrongly denied by the Brahminical caste system and by the Hindu Hill
Rajas. The latter preferred subjugation to the Mughals than to rule their people justly and give them
equal rights.

Hindu Hill Rajas were afraid of an uprising from the common masses, unjustly oppressed and
exploited with this practice of caste system by their religious leaders and political rulers. Aurangzeb’s
grip on absolute power and control, on the other hand, was also loosening in the face of famine,
general adversity and periodic attacks on Mughal forces and inroads into their territory in the South of
the country by Marhattas. Aurangzeb, having lost most of his trusted contemporary advisors and
generals and now demoralised, was deliberately misinformed by emissaries from his governor of
Delhi and Hindu Hill Rajas of apparently similar activities being organised by Gurū Gobind Singh Jī
and his army of Sikhs in Punjab. He sided with the Hindu Hill Rajas and ordered his governors of
Delhi, Sirhand, Lahore and Kashmir to march their armies against Gurū Gobind Singh Jī and his
followers in Anandpur.

Having completely surrounded Anandpur, the invading forces waited and relied upon the slow but
gradual diminution of food and water and other general resource for survival, and eventual submission
and defeat of the Sikhs. However, frequent skirmishes took place over the ensuing few months
between the combined forces of the empire and small groups of Sikh fighters judiciously exploiting
their guerrilla warfare tactics. Gurū Gobind Singh Jī and a small army of his followers thus defended
Anandpur for as long as possible. Simultaneously, the opponents had lost countless lives, their
limited but valuable resource of food and water, and ammunition to Sikhs during these attacks. The
delay in conquering Anandpur, their loss of life and valuable assets, and the fear of general uprising
by people in Punjab against the Mughal army forced the invading generals to change their tactics.

A charade of a truce was prepared. An emissary was sent with an official document, based on oaths
sworn on their holy cow by Hindu Hill Rajas and Quran by Mughal officials, offering freedom to
Gurū Gobind Singh Jī, his immediate family and all his Sikh followers subject to their vacating
Anandpur for a safe place of their choice. With their diminishing numbers, food and other resources,
a decision was taken by Sikhs in general, against the advice of Gurū Gobind Singh Jī, to accept this
conciliatory offer. However, no sooner Gurū Gobind Singh Jī and his small band of followers had
reached a small neighbouring village, the combined armies of the invading Mughal and Hindu Hill
Rajas, reneging their erstwhile promises and assurances based on oaths, began their charge and
relentless pursuit.

Chamkaur, approximately 37 miles from Anandpur, was the next obvious place which could offer not
only safety but also some ability to defend against the onslaught of this large army. With the enemy
forces in hot pursuit, they had no choice but to cross the raging cold waters of Sirsa river within 10
miles of Anandpur. Gurū Gobind Singh Jī lost many of his Sikhs, all of his own literary works as
well as that of his 52 poets in the process and got separated from his mother, Mātā Gujrī Jī, wife, Mātā
Sundrī/Sāhib Kaur Jī, and two younger sons, Bābā Zorāwar Singh Jī (aged 9 years) and Bābā Fateh
Singh Jī (aged 7 years) on approximately 21 December. In such difficult times and utter confusion,
with enemy forces in relentless pursuit, Mātā Sundrī/Sāhib Kaur Jī, accompanied by Bhāi Manī Singh,
proceeded to move towards Delhi whilst Gangū, a Hindu Kitchen servant, offered Mātā Gujrī Jī and
two younger sons of Gurū Gobind Singh Jī to escort them to a safe place.

Gangū, with malice and greed within, handed over the 'booty' (Mātā Gujrī Jī and two younger sons of
Gurū Gobind Singh Jī) to Mughal administrators in return for a decent reward. The captors kept the
captives in the top floor of a tall tower, on cold marble floor with biting cold winds blowing through
and gave them little or no food, any suitable bedding or warm clothes. The Mughal administration
repeatedly attempted to lure the young boys to accept Islam in return for promises of untold riches and
princely status. However, they remained true to their faith, steadfast and defiant. On refusal, they
were initially 'bricked alive' but had their jugular veins cut subsequently when the wall collapsed at
Fatehgarh Sāhib, Sirhand on 27 December. Mātā Gujrī fainted on hearing the news and fell to her
death from the top floor of the place of her imprisonment.

Gurū Gobind Singh Jī, along with approximately 40 Sikhs, reached Chamkaur and soon found himself
surrounded by 1,000,000 (10 x 105) of enemy forces. Small bands of five Sikhs went out to face this
vast army of the enemy and in the process a number of Sikhs, along with two elder sons of Gurū
Gobind Singh Jī, Bābā Ajīt Singh Jī (aged 17 years) and Bābā Jujhār Singh Jī (aged 15 years), lost
their lives on or around 22 December. When only eleven Sikhs and Gurū Gobind Singh Jī were left
behind, ‘Paṅj Piāre’- 'the chosen five of the remaining Sikhs'- took a decision and ordered Gurū
Gobind Singh Jī to leave with three other Sikhs for the sake of well-being of the Nation. Gurū
Gobind Singh Jī, treading carefully the area, now swarming with Mughal army and its spies,
eventually reached the jungle of Macchīwāṛā on 23 December. He and his accompanying Sikhs had
not eaten nor slept for few days. Gurū Gobind Singh Jī had no warm clothes, used his bow as a pillow
for resting his head and his bare feet were blistered and bleeding from injuries suffered along the
way. The remaining Sikhs at Chamkaur displayed absolute and unwavering faith in their Gurū and
his teachings, fighting valiantly and dying fearlessly for the sake of defending the just human rights of
the common citizens, and challenging the tyranny unleashed by the Mughals and relentless oppression
and exploitation of the common masses by the unethical, bigoted and cruel Brahmanical caste system.

Gurū Gobind Singh Jī had earlier lost his father, Gurū Teg Bahādur Jī-the ninth Gurū of the Sikhs,
beheaded at the behest of Aurangzeb whilst defending the just human rights of Hindus to practice
their faith, though considerably disparate and incongruous to his own beliefs and practice, without any
persecution, now lost his mother, Mātā Gujrī, his four sons, countless beloved Sikhs, and 40 Muktās
(Sikhs who had earlier reneged their allegiance to the Gurū but later returned and begged his
forgiveness) in this month of December in 1704.