Martyrdom of Bhai Jiwan Singh observed

Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 24

The Bharat Ratan Dr BR Ambedkar Education and Welfare Trust today organised an event to observe the martyrdom of Bhai Jiwan Singh, a Sikh martyr, at Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib in the Hazura-Kapura colony of Bathinda.

Members of the trust claimed that for the first time, a function of the Sikh community hero, who belonged to the Dalit community, was organised in a common gurdwara, which is not established or controlled by any particular class.

The trust consists of five Sikh trustees, including the Dalit and general category members. The members of the trust claimed that the functions related to the Dalit community were never organised in historical gurdwaras or the gurdwaras being run by the SGPC.

They demanded that the SGPC should take this initiative to uplift the Dalits within the Sikh community. They said equal respect and space should be given to the martyrs of the Sikh community.

Besides trust members, some members of Dal Khalsa also participated in the event here today. A dhadi jatha of Surinder Kaur Kulehri sung the heroic ballad of Bhai Jiwan Singh, earlier known as Bhai Jaita.

“Guru Gobind Singh hugged Bhai Jiwan Singh and said ‘Rangrete Guru ke Bete’ after Bhai Jiwan Singh brought back the head of beloved ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had challenged the Sikh community to take back the head of their Guru,” said Kiranjit Singh Gehri, Vice-Chairman, Shaheed Baba Jiwan Singh Nishkam Sewa Society.

“People are rarely aware of the facts that Baba Jiwan Singh, known as the first General of Khalsa Panth. Baba Jiwan Singh along with his father Sadanand and uncle had planned how to bring back the guru’s head. Bhai Jiwan Singh replaced the head of his father with that of the guru’s head. All this was possible with the help of Aurangzeb’s daughter Zeb-un-Nisa, who used to take classes of music with Baba Jiwan Singh. When the ninth guru was in jail, it was Zeb-un-Nisa, who helped Bhai Jaita to escape from the jail along with 52 hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur,” added Gehri.

Sukhdev Singh Bahia, an SGPC member from Bathinda, said the day was not observed by the SGPC in gurdwaras, but I feel it should be observed.

Gurwinder Singh, a member of Dal Khalsa, said, “No historical or SGPC-run gurdwaras celebrate or observe the birth or death anniversary of the Sikh community’s heroes, who were Dalits. Moreover, inequality is rising between the Dalit-Sikh and those who are from the upper caste. A Sikh is a Sikh and has no caste. Over 80 per cent of martyrs in the Sikh community were Dalits. The SGPC should organise such events in gurdwaras to spread awareness among the masses.”