Revealed! the magic of 153 days!!
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ਜੂਨ 1984 ਵਿਚ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਫੌਜ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਢਹਿ ਢੇਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸਾਹਿਬ
(Akal Takht Sahib demolished by Indian Army in June 1983) |
I was a B.Sc. student in Patiala when Indira Gandhi was delivered justice on 31st October, 1984 for causing desecration of Darbar Sahib and destruction of Akal Takht Sahib in June 1984. Though Bhai Beant Singh, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh delivered the punishment but her fate was sealed under divine order as revealed in Gurbani "ਜੈਕਾਰੁ ਕੀਓ ਧਰਮੀਆ ਕਾ ਪਾਪੀ ਕਉ ਡੰਡੁ ਦੀਓਇ ॥". I vividly remember speech of Principal Satbir Singh ji at Kirtan Darbar in Sher-e-Punjab Market, Patiala sometime after November 1984 "ਇਹ ਨਾ ਕਹੋ ਉਸਨੂੰ ਬੇਅੰਤ ਤੇ ਸਤਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ ਮਾਰਿਆ। ਉਸਨੂੰ ਤਾਂ ਬੇਅੰਤ ਨੇ ਮਾਰਿਆ!! " By second ਬੇਅੰਤ Principal Sahib was referring to the supreme power whom we call Waheguru.
Sometime after that, could be days or weeks or even months but certainly after 31-10-1984, for the first time Sikhs were treated with posters like the one below:
No wonders I, like every other Sikh then, believed in the facts. Was it because it justified Beant Singh and Satwant Singh's act? Was it because Sikhs were very passing through one of the darkest chapter of their five centuries of existence? Was it because it once again proved we always deliver justice to a tyrant, particularly if he/she dared to descarate Darbar Sahib?
Whatever the reason, the chart soothed our aching hearts. Good that someone so painstakingly compiled a spirituous chronology which made us forget the excruciating wounds of June and November 1984. The ensuing decade was writing another chapter of Sikh history in blood. There was no time or reason to revisit history books because nobody doubted the chart. We were living witness of one "153 days justice" unfolding which, for us, authenticated all the earlier events too!
The advent of social media gave another lease of life to such compilations as they are juicy material to get lots of likes and shares. "Likes and Shares" being mark of a social media master. About two years ago the "magical 153 days" chart surfaced again and rekindled memories of 1990s again. Only this time it also raised curiosity to read the history associated with events prior to Indira. But even before I could open a history book or google, dates associated with some of the events seemed defying historical propriety. After flipping only few pages of Sikh History revealed the magic behind those 153 days!!
Only 153 days associated with Indira Gandhi's death are correct. All other dates are concocted to get figure of 153 days!! The motive can only be ascertained if identity of compiler was known: it could be anything from over enthusiasm to gross mischief. I'll not delve into that and leave it you to conclude:
- Ahmed Shah Abdali: In his bid to get that magical figure of 153 days the compiler advanced death of Ahmed Shah Abdali by more than 10 years. He died in October, 1772 instead of July, 1762 as mentioned in the chart above. Moreover Ahmed Shah Abdali ordered attack on Darbar Sahib in 1757 too when the holy sarovar was filled with garbage, carcasses and blood of slaughtered cows. The legendary fight and martyrdom of Baba Deep Singh ji to liberate Darbar
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| ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਬਾਬਾ ਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ (Shaheed Baba Deep Singh ji) |
Sahib was in retaliation to Abdali's attack of 1757. Abdali had deputed his son Timur Shah and veteran general Jahan Khan to invade Darbar Sahib.
The matter of fact is that Ahmed Shah Abdali's death in October, 1772 is 15 years after his first sacrilegious attacks on Darbar Sahib.
During the attack of 1762 Abdali demolished Darbar Sahib with canons and it's believed that during the course of demolition an airborne brick hit Abdali and wounded his nose. The wound never got cured and remained sour till Abdali's death in October, 1772.
- Jahan Khan: It seems that to include invasion of 1757 a case in the "magical 153 days" the compiler very conveniently made Abdali's general Jahan Khan the culprit. Strangely enough he also invented date of Jahan Khan's death at hands of Singhs too!!
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| ਵੱਡਾ ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰਾ (Second Sikh Holocaust) |
- The desecration of Darbar Sahib happened in May, 1757 but the compiler chose Jan, 1757
- Jahan Khan is shown as killed on 19-Jun-1757 whereas it's documented that he was part of Ahmed Shah Abdali's army which attacked Dal Khalsa at Kup Rahira in Feb, 1762. The massacre of 30,000 Sikhs in one day at Kup Rahira is better known as Vadda-Ghallughara.
- Jahia Khan: Yahiya Khan (the correct way to spell) occupied Lahore governorship for a brief period after his father Zakriya Khan died in July, 1745. Zakriya Khan's end is better known for dying a painful death after being hit on head for 22 days with shoes of Bhai Taru Singh ji to relieve his urinal blockage.
Yahiya Khan was incited by Lakhpat Rai to decimate Sikhs to avenge death of Jaspat Rai at hands of Sikhs at Rori Sahib. Yahiya Khan was a weak ruler who meekly gave in to Lakhpat Rai's manoeuvrings and allowed him to wreck havoc on Sikhs, Sikh shrines and Guru Granth Sahib. The real culprit of desecration of Darbar Sahib in 1746 was Lakhpat Rai who died sometime in September or October of 1748 after Diwan Kaura Mal handed him over Khalsa ji.
Yahiya Khan was dethroned and imprisoned by his brother Shah Nawaj Khan in 1747. Sometime later or during early 1748 when Abdali attacked Lahore, Yahiya Khan escaped from his brother's imprisonment. No whereabouts are available about Yahiya Khan after he fled Lahore. Some say he became a fakir and died anonymous.
It's obvious that compiler concocted and attributed two dates to Yahiya Khan which are "magical 153" days apart!!
- Massa Rangar: The compiler is most mischievous or reckless in this case! The date when Massa Rangar was killed is depicted as date of attack on Darbar Sahib. The day Bhai Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh killed Massa Rangar is arrived by simply adding "magical 153 days" ! Too much for a titillating research!!
When Bhai Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh arrived in Amritsar to punish Massa Rangar it was hot and humid day during month of Bhadron (ਭਾਦੋਂ). Bhai Ratan Singh Bhangu describes the situation at that moment:
ਸਿੰਘ ਕਹੈ ਹਮ ਜਿਮ ਪੁਜੈਂ ਕੁਈ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਬਾਤ ਬਨਾਉ।
ਜਾਇ ਮਸੈ ਕੋ ਸਿਰ ਕਟੈੰ ਨਹਿਂ ਰਸਤੇ ਹੋਇ ਅਟਕਾਉ।।
(Singhs thought the way we have reached here, Satguru will help further to behead Massa without any obstacles on the way)
ਸੋਊ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਬਿਧੀ ਬਨਾਈ। ਸਿਖਰ ਦੁਪਹਿਰੀ ਮੈਂ ਬਣਿ ਆਈ।
ਵਗੀ ਪਵਨ ਬਹੁ ਘਟਾ ਉਡਾਨਾ। ਇਮ ਕਰ ਲੀਨੋ ਮੁੱਖ ਛਿਪਾਨਾ।।
(In middle of hot afternoon Satguru caused a fierce dust storm in which everyone ran helter skelter to take a cover)
ਸਿਖਰ ਦੁਪਹਿਰੀ ਭਾਦਵੇ ਸੂਰਜ ਅਤਿ ਤਪਤਾਏ।
ਕਦ ਬਰਸੈ ਕਦ ਉੱਜੜੈ ਬਿਧ ਐਸੀ ਲਈ ਤਕਾਏ।।
(It was afternoon of month of Bhadron (ਭਾਦੋਂ), a very humid and hot day, under a fiery sun)
Month of Bhadron (ਭਾਦੋਂ) falls during July and August which means Massa Rangar was
beheaded during those days. But the compiler mentions the day of execution in Jan, 1741 which is very cold month in Punjab unlike the hot and humid described by Bhai Ratan Singh Bhangu.
Let's assume compiler made a mistake but the question remains how many days it took to punish Massa Rangar? does it justify the "magical 153 days" ?
Answer is NO!!
Zakriya Khan martyred Bhai Mani Singh ji in 1737 and advanced to occupy Amritsar and evict Singhs from Ram Rauni fortress and vicinity of Darbar Sahib. In the ensuing bloody battle many Sikhs were martyred and Darbar Sahib occupied. Massa Rangar was appointed chaudhry of Amritsar and very soon after that he entered Darbar Sahib.
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| Bhai Sukha Singh & Mehtab Singh ji beheading Massa Rangar |
It is very much apparent that someone calculated days between 1st June and 31st October to arrive at the "magical 153 days" and created three more instances in which tyrants were punished within "magical 153 days" of them attacking and desecrating Darbar Sahib or Akal Takht Sahib. We took it as a divine judgment and accepted it without ever trying to ascertain the facts.
It's dire need of times that we Sikhs should establish an independent board of eminent Sikh historians and Gurmukhs to review all such unauthentic writings and give their verdict on it. The board need to promoted so well within the community that every Sikh knows about it's existence.
References
- http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Baba_Deep_Singh
- http://www.gurmatbibek.com/contents.php?id=414
- The Sikhs of the Punjab By J. S. Grewal
- http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/warriors/mahtab.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Durrani
- http://www.neverforget84.com/
- Prachin Panth Parkash: Ratan Singh Bhangu
Some sites which published "magical 153 days" stories:
- http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/10548-153/
- http://dailysikhupdates.com/153-days-after-attacking-harmandir-sahib/
- http://www.historicalgurudwaras.com/India/Punjab/Amritsar/ShriHarimandirSahibAmritsar/gallery.php
- http://www.indiabroadband.in/threads/golden-temple-attacks-history.47564/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbyyla06Tm8
- http://www.desicomments.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-9539.html
