Guru Teg Bahadur – Hero who stalled Islamisation of Bharath

Yesterday was the martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur. He was beheaded this day in
1675 on the orders of Aurangzeb. Guru Teg Bahadur was martyred for
protesting against the forcible conversions of Brahmins of India, and
especially the Pandits of Kashmir. The immediate cause of the martyrdom
was the Guru’s response to a delegation of the Pandits of Kashmir led
by Pandit Kirpa Ram, who had approached the Guru at Anandpur Sahib in
May 1675 seeking protection against the Islamic depredations. For this
act of sacrifice, Guru Teg Bahadur is of referred to as Hind di Chadar,
the protector of Hind.

The
martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur in a way marked the beginning of
wide-spread rebellions against the Mughal Rule throughout India that
soon led to the emasculation Mughal power. The martyrdom of the Guru
also was the seed that flourished in the form of the Khalsa Panth
founded by his successor, Sri Guru Gobind Singh. The Khalsa armies were
one of the major contributors in hastening the process of the demise of
Mughal power.

Guru
Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom stalled the project of complete Islamisation of
Kashmir for more than 3 centuries. The Pandits of Kashmir not only
found protection through the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur, the
martyrdom also led to a long period of Hindu rule over Kashmir .

The
project that the Guru’s martyrdom stalled seems to have been completed
in our times! It is an irony of our times that the Guru who protected
Dharma with his life is maligned in the textbooks taught to our
children; and the Khalsa Panth that emerged out of the martyrdom of the
Guru to valorously protect Hindus and Hindu Dharma has begun to drift
away from its anchorage.

J K Bajaj

Centre for Policy Studies