Ahead of voting in Punjab Assembly elections in 2022, thirty-eight prominent Sikh representatives met the Prime Minister at his residence and felicitated him for declaring December 26 as “Veer Baal Divas” in the memory of the Chhote Sahibzaade (younger sons) of the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh and reopening the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. PM Modi has repeatedly said that right from his childhood he was greatly influenced by the lives, valour, supreme sacrifice, and generosity of the Sikh gurus.
Modi has in the past criticised the Congress and rightfully so, for not taking adequate measures to ensure that the Kartarpur Sahib did not fall in Pakistan when India was divided in 194. Those who allege that the PM engaged with the Sikh community only with elections in mind have completely lost the plot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elections or no elections, has never missed out on an opportunity to reach out to the brave Sikh community. Removal of the “langar tax”, visiting Gurudwara Sis Ganj at every available opportunity quoting from the holy Sikh granths, promoting Anandpur Sahib, Hemkund Sahib and the Golden temple of Amritsar as places of worship and places that celebrate our unity in diversity, are things that Modi has done unabashedly, because he truly believes in them.
Jharkhand State Gurudwara Prabandhak committee head, Sardar Shailendra Singh, presented, the Prime Minister, a few months back with a “swarupa” and memorandum and urged him to extend the frequency of “Jallianwala Bagh Express” four days a week, running of “Jammu Tawi express” from Tata Nagar and opening of an AIIMS hospital at Kolhan and a ESI hospital in Jharkhand. Besides, he requested the PM for establishing a Gurumukhi academy in Jharkhand. The moot point here is welfare of Sikhs has been uppermost across the length and breadth of the BJP leadership.
Sikhs have carried with them huge pain because many commitments made to them by successive Congress regimes were not fulfilled, but the Modi Government has done transformative works, including opening the corridor to Kartarpur Sahib and taking the decision to commemorate the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons. On April 21, 2022, the Prime Minister also released a commemorative coin and postage stamp to mark the 400th Parkash Parab of Guru Tegh Bahadur. On this landmark occasion, in his speech at Red Fort, Modi also said that India has never posed a threat to any country or society and it thinks for the welfare of the entire world even today, amidst global conflicts, asserting that the country is following the ideals of Sikh gurus.
“In front of Aurangzeb’s tyrannical thinking, Guru Tegh Bahadur became ‘Hind ki Chadar’ and stood like a rock. This Red Fort is a witness that even though Aurangzeb severed many heads, he could not shake our faith”, added the PM, as part of his Red Fort address. Reach-out to India’s Sikh community has had many positive effects elsewhere too. Many Sikhs who were blacklisted by erstwhile Congress regimes and were forced to take shelter abroad or stay in foreign lands, have had the opportunity to visit India, their homeland, thanks to PM Modi. One such example is that of Ripudaman Malik, who was wrongfully accused during the Kanishka bombing but was exonerated by a Canadian court in 2005 and visited India years thereafter, once he was declared,innocent. From 341, the blacklist number is now down to only 2.
“The sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur has inspired many generations of India to live and die to protect the dignity of their culture, for its honour and respect. Big powers have disappeared, big storms have calmed down, but India still stands immortal and is moving ahead. I am happy that today our country is moving forward with full devotion on the ideals of our gurus. On this virtuous occasion, I bow at the feet of all 10 gurus.
When we talk about a self-reliant India, we keep the progress of the whole world in front of that goal”, further added Prime Minister Modi, during his electrifying speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort,to mark the 400th Parkash Parab,of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
The credit for mainstreaming the ideals and thought processes of the ten Sikh gurus by reinforcing them from various public platforms, from time to time, goes singularly to Modi. In his speech on April 21,2022, Modi also laid bare the murderous marauder, Aurangzeb who beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675. For decades under Hinduphobic Congress regimes, our history books whitewashed the crimes of the Mughals and likes of Aurangzeb even had a road named after him, till Modi government decided enough was enough and changed Aurangzeb road in the heart of Delhi, to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, in 2015.
The question here is not that of merely renaming a road but by renaming Aurangzeb road,the Modi government stripped the last vestiges of legitimacy that was bestowed on the likes of Aurangzeb and others like say, Tipu Sultan, by the Khan market gang and the Congress establishment. Speaking of bloodthirsty marauders, one is reminded of yet another barbaric bigot, a man called Tipu Sultan. There were repeated attempts to capture Kodagu by Tipu and his father Hyder Ali before him. Tipu’s barbarism reached its peak from 1760 to 1790 and this period is considered as one of the most gruesome eras in the history of Kodavas. From the year 1760–1780 Tippu destroyed more than 600 temples across Kodagu. His cruelty and self-obsession had reached its peak when his closest friend left him in the final war with the British where Tipu died in the stampede. He was not shot by Brits. So let us be very clear, Tipu was no martyr. Tipu the tyrant, popularly known and wrongfully projected as Tiger of Mysore was actually defeated by the Kodavas 31 times during 25 years of war and this humiliation forced Tipu to seek revenge on the Kodavas. Kodavas were masters of guerrilla warfare and hence they succeeded every time in ambushing Tipu.
After decades of war and retaliation with Kodavas, Tipu had understood he would not be able to capture the entire Kodagu which would provide him easy access to Mangalore port. Hence he wanted to try something different. Something, which resulted in one of the biggest genocides of the human race.
Tipu sent a message to naal naad Kodavas inviting them for a negotiation, stating his main enemies were Marathas and British and hence he would want to end the war with Kodavas and head back to Srirangapatna. Learning about the invite Kodavas, from naal naad gathered with their family on 12th and 13th of December 1785 at Devati Parambu, located on banks of the river Cauvery, to negotiate and bid goodbye to the long war. As the sunset, behind the mountains of Kodagu, Kodavas came to Devati Parambu unarmed.
Meanwhile, half of Tipu’s army was deployed inside the forest waiting for Kodavas to gather, as a part of Tipu’s cowardly plan. Once Tipu was sure he had unarmed men trapped, he ordered his army to massacre all Kodavas present at Devatiparambu, with troops hiding behind the bushes pounding on unarmed men, women and kids and slaughtering more than 70,000 and capturing about 90,000 Kodavas who were then deported to Seringapatam. The captured women and children were subjected to immense physical and mental torture, the young men were all forcibly circumcised and incorporated into the Ahmedy Corps (name of Tipu’s army). The captured were subjected to forcible conversions to Islam, death, and torture. It is said the scale of the massacre was so huge that the water in the Cauvery river turned red due to blood oozing out of the dead bodies and continued to flow red in color for 12 consecutive days. Many who were captured were converted to Islam and sent back to Kodagu called themselves as Kodava Mapilas.
Tipu after capturing Madikeri fort, set his eyes on removing Kalasa from the Omkareshwara temple and replaced it with the dome which is another architectural evidence of the destruction Tipu carried out during his rule. Tipu also wanted to abolish Kannada completely and hence he introduced Persian language into his administration. The Persian words like “Dhapan, Barcas and Jamabandi ” are still used in many land documents at Kodagu, showing how Tipu at any cost wanted to eliminate Kannada from Karnataka. It is therefore shameful that the Hathras lobby and India’s Tukde Tukde gang, fed by the Congress and the Leftist media, wants to celebrate Tipu’s birthday across Karnataka, something the BJP is completely averse to . Both Aurangzeb and Tipu were not just conquerors but religious fanatics and bloodthirsty dictators who believed in the ethnic cleansing of Hindus, Sikhs, Kodavas and other communities across India.
For decades, Leftist historians distorted our history and history books by legitimizing gore, bigotry and violence, thanks to an intellectually starved Congress Party that wanted to peddle the politics of appeasement under the garb of minority welfare. For decades our history books tried to lionize mass murderers like Aurangzeb and Tipu and efforts were made to project them as heroes. The real history needs to be told to our future generations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, by eulogizing the valour of Guru Tegh Bahadur and exposing the tyranny of Aurangzeb, set the ball rolling,in the most emphatic manner. Modi’s Sikh outreach is in line with his philosophy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,Sabka Vishwaas and Sabka Prayas.
Coming back to what PM Modi has done for Sikhs, besides resurrecting religious and cultural tourism, thanks to better infrastructure and connectivity that will be provided to Fatehgarh Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib and Anandpur Sahib, a bill was passed in 2019, for renovation and upgradation of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial. The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 amends the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951. The Act provides for the erection of a National Memorial in memory of those killed or wounded on April 13, 1919, in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. In addition, it creates a Trust to manage the National Memorial. For decades, Congress president was a permanent member of this trust but the Jallianwala Bagh was poorly maintained and the fraudulent Congress did nothing to restore the brave legacy of this place. By inserting a clause that removes Congress president as permanent member of the trust and by broadbasing the composition of the trust, the Modi government has made the trust apolitical, so that the upkeep of the memorial is not at the mercy of politicians.
In 2016, long-standing demands of the Gurudwara committees were met, by passing the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee Amendment Bill, to ensure greater operational flexibility. FCRA registration was approved for Harmandir Sahib. “Sri Darbar Sahib’s divinity gives strength to us. For decades, the Sangat worldwide was unable to serve there. The Modi Government’s decision to allow FCRA to the Sri Harmandir Sahib deepens the connection of Seva between the Sangat globally and the Sri Darbar Sahib. A blessed moment!”, are the words of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after Prime Minister Modi’s historic decision to give FCRA registration to the Golden Temple, also known as Gurudwara Harmandir Sahib.
On the 550th Parkash Parab of Guru Nanak Dev, PM Modi took personal interest and requested UNESCO to ensure that Gurbaani is translated in as many local and foreign languages as possible, worldwide,so that Guru Nanak Dev’s spiritual message is transmitted to a larger global diaspora. Amendment to the Sikh Gurdwaras Bill, passed in 2016, has many facets regarding the voting rights of Sahjdhari Sikhs.
The amendment brought in by the Modi government brings the inclusion of Sahjdhari Sikhs to vote in the elections to the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). Sahjdhari Sikhs are the people from the Sikh religion who cut/trim their beard or hair. Sahjdhari Sikhs were not allowed to vote in the SGPC since 1944. The new amendment bill will come into force retrospectively from October 8, 2003. Under the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925, every Sikh above 21 years of age, who is a registered voter, is entitled to vote in the SGPC election.
Again, the process of setting up an interfaith University in Amritsar, for over Rs 510 crore, is a great step. Apart from Dera Baba Nanak, Modi is one of the rare, contemporary leaders to have paid obeisance at the historic Ber Sahib Gurdwara at Sultanpur Lodhi too. Sultanpur Lodhi which is where Guru Nanak Dev spent much of his life,is now being developed as a heritage site. On the 350th Jayanti of Guru Gobind Singh, PM Modi also commissioned a 750-bed hospital in the 10th Sikh guru’s memory, in Jamnagar, in Gujarat. The most transformative outreach, however, by PM Modi, which will bring much-needed relief to thousands of Sikhs, is the game-changing citizenship amendment act of 2019 (CAA), which seeks to give citizenship rights to persecuted minorities, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Don’t forget that while in the 1960s, there were over 5 lakh Sikhs in Afghanistan, that number dwindled to a mere 700 by 2022. Forced conversions, which Guru Tegh Bahadur, fought against, throughout his life, is a lesson steeped in sacrifice and by effecting policy measures that empower Sikhs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown he truly cares.
The writer is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP and the Bestselling Author of ‘The Modi Gambit’. Views expressed are the writer’s personal.