The year long 400th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, this year, has once again drawn the world’s attention to the genocidal violence inflicted on Sikhs and Hindus by the Indian Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, and the Sikh Guru being publicly beheaded for standing up against this genocidal violence.
But a few, including the Indian National Congress headed by Smt Sonia Gandhi believe that it is all a propaganda. A spokesman of the Congress has threatened to raise this matter in the Parliament. I would welcome a national debate in and out side Parliament. I urge Smt Sonia Gandhi and Sh Rahul Gandhi to personally participate in the Debate
The historical reality is that Guru Tegh Bahadur ji’s resistance to the genocide of Hindus escalated the Mughal empire’s retribution against Sikhs. Several thousands of them were savagely butchered, including bricking alive of the two grandsons of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. History has no other parallel of such a gruesome genocide.
Genocide means systematic destruction of a particular population or a section of it. The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines Genocide as intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, by Killing members of the group or Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group or Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part etc.
It was at the hands of Mughal kings that Sikhs and Hindus faced existential threat. The entire succession line of Sikh Gurus was destroyed. A booty was fixed on the Sikh head. They were sawed, mutilated, boiled, roasted and burnt alive. Attempts were made to permanently destroy Harminder Sahib Amritsar.
Sikhs were banned from celebrating their festivals. People were prohibited from giving them food or shelter. They were driven to forests and deserts. All that to permanently destroy the Sikh identify. Thus, Sikhs faced unprecedented genocidal violence , unseen in any other part of the world, at the hands of Mughals. This violence is day in and day out memorised in Sikh Ardas:
ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਸਿੰਘਾਂ ਸਿੰਘਣੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਧਰਮ ਹੇਤ ਸੀਸ ਦਿੱਤੇ, ਬੰਦ ਬੰਦ ਕਟਾਏ, ਖੋਪਰੀਆਂ ਲੁਹਾਈਆਂ,
ਚਰਖੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਚੜੇ, ਆਰਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਚਿਰਾਏ ਗਏ, ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਲਈ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀਆਂ ਕੀਤੀਆਂ,
ਧਰਮ ਨਹੀਂ ਹਾਰਿਆ, ਸਿੱਖੀ ਕੇਸਾਂ ਸੁਆਸਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਨਿਬਾਹੀ….
The United Nations (UN) acknowledged Genocide to be the gravest violation of human rights and a deadly crime against humanity . But the UN has failed to recognise the genocide perpetrated against non-Abrahamic religions like Sikhs. Therefore, there is a clamour for the United Nations to acknowledge the Genocide of Hindu and Sikhs at the hands of the Mughals
I would seek support of one and all to support my petition to the Government to request the UN to recognise Sikh Genocide and to commemorate Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom day as a ‘Day of Commemoration in memory of the Hindu and Sikh victims of Genocide and Holocaust.
hts and freedoms; concentration of power; passing laws that discriminate against people based on their identity; and exclusion are emblematic of governance by force.
Genocide, can be prevented if governance by force is challenged by the leadership, as was done by Guru Tegh Bahadur. Institutionally, governance by force can be thwarted by ensuring access to justice; establishing accountable and inclusive institutions; encouraging rule of law; reduction in corruption in all forms; fostering responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels; ensuring public access to information; protecting fundamental freedoms; checking of violence and hate speech; and legislating non-discriminatory laws. Early detection and prevention of genocide, therefore, is essentially a challenge of good governance entailing elimination of inequalities and promoting a common sense of belonging and dignity.
Genocide is religion, ideology and geography neutral. No society is firewalled against it. Genocide, in any part of the planet, in modern times or in antiquity, is a crime against human race. It is a collective global responsibility of all societies that no genocide is lost to history, as lessons learnt from each genocide are of equal international importance in preventing its repetition in any other corner of the earth.
Thus, it is imperative that genocide of Sikhs in the seventeenth and eighteenth century are recognised by the United Nations for the larger good of the humanity and information regarding this genocide is disseminated among all member states of the United Nations.
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