Events from Sikh history this week
included: Gurgaddi Divas Guru Granth Sahib Ji (Oct 21), Saka Panja Sahib (Oct
30), Jyoti Jot Guru Gobind Singh Ji (Oct 25). Coming up is the Prakash Divas of
Guru Nanak Dev Ji next week and I will be posting about that soon.
Background on Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan
Abdal: In 1521 Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Bhai Mardana arrived in Hasan Abdal and
were doing kirtan. This created jealousy in Wali Khandari, who was used to
having this attention from the locals. He had the only water supply in the
area, and cut off the locals from being able to use it so they would stop
following Guru Ji once they realized Guru Ji had no water. Guru Ji sent Bhai
Mardana to ask Wali Khandari for water for the villagers. He went three times.
Wali Qandhari rudely refused, and asked him to ask his Master (Guru Nanak).
Guru Ji asked everyone to remember God. He asked the
villagers to push away an embedded rock and a fountain of water sprang from it. Wali Qandhari’s fountain dried up,
and he he became angry. He threw a giant rock from the mountain towards Guru Ji
from the top of a hill. Guru Ji stopped the rock with his hand, leaving the
imprint. Seeing this, Wali became a follower of the Guru. This rock still
stands and Gurudwara Panja Sahib has been built there (see picture to the right). Panj means five, panja
meaning outstretched palm.
Now moving forward in time to the 1900s. We
previously learned about Saka Nankana Sahib and the freeing of Nankana Sahib
from mahant Naryan Daas had taken over the Gurdwara and was doing bad deeds.
After this, in 1922, Mahant Sundar Das was doing very bad things, and the Sikhs
told him to stop his actions. As a result, he took amrit but he did not change
his thinking. He wanted revenge against the Sikhs. A group of five Singhs was
arrested for cutting Acacia wood for langar from land attached to Guru Ka Bagh.
They were all sentenced with lengthy jail time for stealing from the mahant. The extreme
punishment caused agitation amongst the Sikhs. The police started beating and
torturing Sikhs, arresting 5 Singhs daily until the jails were filled, and
there was plans to move the Sikhs to a fort in Hasan Abdul using a train.
Seeing the conditions of the Sikhs the local sangat wanted to provide them with
langar. They asked the trainmaster to stop for langar, but he refused. The
sangat decided to stop the train themselves. Bhai Karam Singh is reported to
have said “Baba Nanak had stopped a mountain with one hand. Cannot his Sikhs
stop a train?” The 300 members of sangat were doing Naam Japna and lied on the
railway tracks. The train was approaching, and in front were lying Bhai Karam
Singh and Bhai Partap Singh. The driver refused to stop. The train rode over
Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh, then stopped. Bhai Partap Singh
encouraged the sangat to serve the langar before tending to their injuries. Both became shaheeds. Six others had injuries. Subsequently, the train driver was
arrested and asked why he had stopped. His statement was “I had been given
orders to not stop the train at any cost. As per the orders, I did not stop the
train and was moving at full speed. When the train hit Shaheed Partap Singh I
felt as if it had hit a huge mountain. I fell down and my hand got lifted from
the speeder and the train stopped. After investigating the engine, it had been
found that the brake had not been applied. I felt that some unseen hidden power
(Vaheguru) stopped the train” (account from Bibi Harnaam Kaur, wife of Shaheed
Partaap Singh http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Saaka_Punja_Sahib,_True_Story
). May we all reflect on these amazing parts of our history. These Singhs made a big sacrifice to feed their fellow Sikhs langar and Waheguru Himself stopped that train so that the Sikhs could do it.
References
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