Satnaam
Conquer your mind
Not many people know about the 9th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur. The Guru was unusal in the sense that he gave up his life for the sake of another religion, a religion he did not believe in.
The Hindus at that time were being persecuted by the fanatical Islamic Mughal ruler who wanted to convert all the sub-continent to Islam. Many historical and sacred Hindu temples were destroyed and Hindus had either the choice of embracing Islam or death.
The governer of Kashmir state was Afghan Khan. His ruthless policy of destroying Hindu temples and killing Hindus led a delegation of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits to the Guru (after their pleas at other place fell on deaf ears). The Guru told the Pandits (Hindu priests) to inform the emperor that if they succeeded in converting the Guru to Islam, all Hindus would also convert to Islam.
The Guru was thus arrested with his Sikhs and bhought to Delhi in 1675. After Guru Tegh Bahadur refused to accept Islam, he was martyred...
A Guru of humanism, who respected other faiths and their right to exist.
(Note: We are not condoning Islam in this post. Simply posting facts that the above was happening, and the Guru gave his life to uphold their rights to freedom of religion, thought and speech).
The Hindus at that time were being persecuted by the fanatical Islamic Mughal ruler who wanted to convert all the sub-continent to Islam. Many historical and sacred Hindu temples were destroyed and Hindus had either the choice of embracing Islam or death.
The governer of Kashmir state was Afghan Khan. His ruthless policy of destroying Hindu temples and killing Hindus led a delegation of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits to the Guru (after their pleas at other place fell on deaf ears). The Guru told the Pandits (Hindu priests) to inform the emperor that if they succeeded in converting the Guru to Islam, all Hindus would also convert to Islam.
The Guru was thus arrested with his Sikhs and bhought to Delhi in 1675. After Guru Tegh Bahadur refused to accept Islam, he was martyred...
A Guru of humanism, who respected other faiths and their right to exist.
(Note: We are not condoning Islam in this post. Simply posting facts that the above was happening, and the Guru gave his life to uphold their rights to freedom of religion, thought and speech).