Jagmohan Singh Barhok
The Sikhs all over the world celebrate the “Martyrdom Day” of Shri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the highly revered 5th Sikh Guru who sacrificed his life for the mankind sending a message never to bow before the might of a ruthless & religiously intolerant ruler. The day is known as ” Shaheedi Divas”. On this day sweetened water ( Chabeels) is distributed to all & sundry to mark the remembrance of the torture meted out to Guru Arjan Dev Ji & and the relief which was provided to him by River Ravi.
Born in 1563 at Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran district, Guru Arjan Dev ji had compiled the first edition of the ‘Sacred Writ’ later known as ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. Guru Arjan Dev Ji, honoured & admired profoundly by the Hindus & Muslims alike, was made to sit on a boiling ‘Iron Pan’ made of cast iron with hot sand poured on his body .\He was martyred on June 16, 1606 as he refused to bow against the tyranny of the then despotic Mughal Ruler Jahangir( 1569-1627),son of Akbar & the third Mughal Ruler, who wanted Hindus to embrace Islam as their religion .Guru Arjan Dev was the pioneer who thwarted his move with unflinching determination, achieving ‘martyrdom’ on the order of Jahangir for not accepting Islam & his move of disintegration as the latter believed the former yielded considerable influence in the Northern India. Guru Arjan Dev was the first martyr of the Sikh faith.
It would be news to many that Jahangir also called Salim was the key player in the Salim-Anarkali love-legend as shown in epic “Mughal-E-Azam” & was highlighted as a ‘symbol of ‘Justice’.
