This article is based on the noted historian's affidavit filed in the Punjab High Court in the Civil Writ Petition No. 2771 of 1998 filed against Government of India, the NCERT and CBSE, by Dr M.S Rahi, Phd., General Secretary, Guru Nanak Universal Brotherhood Society, 2040 Sector 21-C, Chandigarh -160022. --Editor, The Sikh Review
I have read the para regarding Sikhs as set in Medieval India - A History Textbook of Class XI, by NCERT and prescribed by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The paragraph in the above said book is distortion of Sikh history and totally out of tune with the principles and philosophy of Sikhism. It is born out of malice and it is a deliberate distortion of Sikhism and Sikh history. It is outrageous and the Deponent has deeply felt hurt after going through the paragraph relating to the Sikhs.
The authors of Medieval India may be historians of standing in their fields of specialization, but so far as Sikh history and Sikhism is concerned they have shown themselves to be ignorant and biased, unfit to write a textbook for students. The reasons are as follows:
i. The authors say that the reason for the conflict with the Sikh Gurus during the reigns of Jahangir and Shahjahan "were political and personal rather than religious." Now look at what Emperor Jahangir writes in his Memoirs or autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri:
"There lived at Goindwal on the bank of the river (Beas) a Hindu named Arjan in the garb of a Pir and Shaikh, so much so that he had by his ways and means captivated the hearts of many simple-minded Hindus, nay, even of foolish and stupid Muslims and he had noised himself about as a religious and worldly leader. They called him Guru, and from all the directions, fools and fool-worshippers were attracted towards him and expressed full faith in him. For three or four generations they had kept this shop warm. For a long time the thought had been presenting itself to me that either I should put an end to this false traffic or he should be brought into the fold of Islam.
"At last during the days when Khusrau passed along this road, this insignificant fellow made up his mind to see him and conveyed preconceived things to him and made on his forehead a fingermark in saffron which in Hindu terminology is called qashqa (teeka) and is considered propitious. When this came to the ears of Our majesty, and i fully knew his heresies, I ordered that he should be brought into my presence and, having handed over his houses, dwelling palaces and children to Murtaza Khan (Shaikh Farid Bukhari) and having confiscated his property, I ordered that he should be put to death with torture." (Dr Ganda Singh, The Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, in the Punjab Past and present, Vol. XII-I, Serial No. 23, April 1978, p.160. The whole article needs to be gone through.)
According to his own statement, Jahangir was "looking for an opportunity to put an end to Guru Arjan's preachings," or to convert him to Islam.
ii. Writing further, NCERT authors say that, "there was no conflict between the Guru and Aurangzeb till 1675...."
This is historically incorrect. Immediately after his accession, Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai, seventh Sikh Guru because of his high appraisal of Dara Shukoh, Aurangzeb's elder brother who had been murdered at Aurangzeb's orders, it was as a result of that, Guru Har Rai sent his eldest son and a delegation of five leading Sikhs to Aurangzeb's Court.
Aurangzeb thereafter summoned Guru Har Krishan, eighth Sikh Guru, who himself went over there and died of small pox in Delhi in 1664.
On accession of Guru Tegh Bahadur, ninth Sikh Guru, Aurangzeb got him arrested in November 1675. This is supported by historians like Sarup Das Bhalla, (Mehma Prakash, 1776). Swarup Singh Kaushis, (Guru Kian Sakhian, 1790), and S.M. Latif (History of the Punjab, 1891), and others.
NCERT authors are quite innocent of these facts of Sikh history.
iii. Writing further, NCERT authors say that the "cause of arrest" and "According to some Persian accounts, the Guru had joined hand with a Pathan, Hafiz Adam, and created disturbances in Punjab."
Dr Ganda Singh who made a special study of Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom, in the article, The Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur in Historical Setting in the Punjab Past and Present, a Journal of Punjabi University, Patiala, Vol. XI, Part II, Sr. No. 22, 1977 p.201-202, threw light on the stratling fact that Hafiz Adam had been banished from Punjab by Emperor Shahjahan in 1642, and as a result, Hafiz Adam left on pilgrimage for Mecca and Madina and died there in December 1643 (PP & P 500/22, p.202). At the time, Guru Hargobind was the sixth Sikh Guru, and that Hafiz Adam and Guru Tegh Bahadur never met.
NCERT authors never applied their minds to these basic facts of history.
iv. Writing further on causes of Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom, NCERT authors say, "It is difficult to sift the truth of these allegations."
When these authors don't apply their minds to the facts of history, and acts like zealots to their viewpoint, why should they sift truth from falsehood?
v. Further, "previous Governor, Saif Khan, is famous as a builder of bridges" and that "stories of mass persecution by the new Governor appear to be exaggerated."
In (iv) above they say it is difficult to sift truth, and, here, they pass a value judgement about the current governor on the basis of performance of the previous governor. Would they say the same thing about Aurangzeb's policy viz a viz Akbar's?
Then what about P.N.K. Bamzai's History of Kashmir (p.371), about Kashmiri pandits praying at the cave of Lord Amarnath, and getting an inspiration to go and approach Guru Tegh Bahadur about their religious persecution? And Guru Gobind Singh's peroration at the time of cremation of his father's severed head, (later compiled into the autobiography), Tilak janju rakha prabh ta ka - that Guru Tegh bahadur had performed the supreme sacrifice to protect the right of Brahmins to wear their caste mark and sacred thread: both of these had no sanctity in Sikh religion from the days of Guru Nanak. Guru Tegh Bahadur laid down his life for basic human rights, for freedom of conscience, but NCERT authors are moved by narrow considerations to defame and denigrate Sikhism.
vi. NCERT authors say, "although Guru Gobind Singh was not able to withstand Mughal might for long or to establish a separate Sikh State...."
Guru Gobind Singh in pre-Khalsa period (pre-1699) defeated the hill Chiefs a number of times, but never occupied an inch of their territory. Guru Gobind Singh had no intention to establish a Sikh State in the post-Khalsa period as well.
This is also clear from his Zafarnama, Letter of Victory, addressed to Aurangzeb in December 1705. After Aurangzeb's death in February, 1707, he helped his eldest son, prince Muazzam, later known as Bahadur Shah in the battle of Succession. For that Emperor Bahadur Shah conferred a Khillat and made other offerings to Guru Gobind Singh at Agra. Now, Guru Gobind Singh wanted Bahadur Shah to take steps to set right the wrongs, and punish Wazir Khan the Nawab of Sirhind for his excesses. Bahadur Shah was disinclined. That made Guru Gobind Singh to commission Lachhman Dev, administerd him Pahul and gave him a new name Banda Singh. He also, at that stage, told Bhai Nanad Lal that he was determined to confer on his followers, coming from poorer sections of society, rulership of land. The famous couplet, raj karega khalsa, from Bhai Nand Lal's Tankhahnama, or code of conduct, is attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.
It was from 1709 that that couplet began to be recited regularly in Sikh congregations as part of their religious litany, and inspired them to perform acts of heroism with a view to establish their rule in Punjab.
The authors of NCERT book, Medieval India, are pseudo-secularists who, in pursuance of policies of the Congress who put them there, were determined to malign Sikh Gurus, Sikhism and Sikh history, without regard to facts. They have either not studied Sikh history or have applied their minds selectively to scan only those references which, they thought, would distort and damage Sikhism, and spread disinformation and misinformation about the Sikhs. They have not cared to use their intellect, as would seem by their persistence, even after the Punjab High Court Judgement report in AIR P&H, page 284. They are denigrators of Sikhism and Sikh values in pursuance of a sinister political agenda.
