| Sikh Missionary
Society:
Articles: Sikh Martyrs:
Martyrdom of Zorawar Singh, Fateh Singh
Martyrdom of Zorawar Singh, Fateh Singh
Why lose your faith to save your life,
Faith lives with you, even after you die.
The joint forces of the emperor and the rajas of the Himachal,
not considering their solemn promises given to the tenth Guru, attacked
him when he left the fort of Anandpur Sahib. It was a cold winter
night of December, 1704. Attack by the enemy forces and difficulties of
crossing the flooded Sirsa river resulted in the separation of the Sikhs.
As mentioned in the previous sakhi, Guru Gobind Singh with his two elder
sons and forty Sikhs reached the village Chamkaur. The two younger
sons of the Guru and his mother were lost and reached the village of Kheri.
They went to the house of Gangu, who used to serve them at Anandpur.
To obtain awards from the government for helping them arrest the children
and the mother of the Guru, Gangu reported the matter to the police stationed
at Morinda. The policemen quickly came to Gangu's house, arrested
them and took them to the Governor of Sirhind, to obtain rewards for catching
the "rebels".
What greater catch could the governor dream of than capturing
alive the family of the Guru, particularly because he had failed to kill
the Guru? He decided to convert the young sons of the Guru to Islam
by any means. He offered many baits to the children and made promises
of royal life if they agreed to become Muslims. The boys, however,
remained firm in their faith. Therefore, the governor adopted force
and a harsh attitude to pressure them into becoming Muslims.
 To
torture them, the children and their grandmother were locked up in a watchtower,
which was very cold. They sat all night without even a blanket to
put around them. The elder son, Baba Zorawar Singh was just 8 years
old, while the younger son, Baba Fateh Singh was only 6 years old.
The children exhibited no fear at all when they were presented
the next day in the court of Wazid Khan, the governor. They acted
gracefully like princes and with great self confidence uttered, Waheguru
Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. This angered Wazid Khan very
much. He was annoyed that the children had not bowed before him,
to show him respect. He personally threatened them with many forms
of punishment and torture if they did not act according to his wishes and
embrace Islam. The children again firmly refused to give up their
faith.
Having failed to frighten the children and mold them to
his wishes, Wazid felt humiliated. When Baba Zorawar Singh and Fateh
Singh bluntly told him they would not adopt Islam under the threats of
death or torture, he ordered them to be bricked alive in a wall.
While being bricked, the children showed no sign of fear
or sadness on their faces. When asked to save their lives by giving
up their faith, they again firmly said, "No!" When the wall reached
their shoulders, it is said it fell down. The children were taken
out from the debris and were heartlessly murdered in cold blood.
This sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh's sons, only six and
eight years old, will forever be remembered by young and old alike to learn
lessons from their lives. Firm belief in faith, freedom of worship,
and refusal to submit to any kind of attack by rulers is the way to live
or to die.
Retaining his faith for a Sikh, is superior to retaining
his life. Whatever we may do, inevitably we are going to die. Why not die
with courage?
Note: These kinds of tyrannical acts of the rulers
revealed the imbalance of their minds and their unsuitability to run the
government. The people were enraged and revolted against them. When Banda
Singh Bahadur came to Punjab, the people attacked Sirhind in 1710, destroying
all roots of the oppressive rule.
|
