| Baba Zorawar Singh Ji & Baba Fateh Singh Ji
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.
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