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Once there was a dark Diwali in India

Circa November 1675.

Guru Tegh Bahadur was kept in an iron cage and taken to Delhi . The Guru was put in chains and Aurangzeb ordered him to be tortured until he would accept Islam.

This fictionalized account appears in Kushwant Singh’s Delhi:

Strange things happened in Dilli that autumn.Dassehra passed without any Ram Lila or the burning of the effigies of Ravana and his brothers.The Hindus said the badshah had forbidden the celebration of Hindu festivals.The Muslims said that this was a lie and said they knew why Hindus were not celebrating their most important festival.

 

A few days later came Diwali.Not a light in anyone’s house ! Not a sound of a cracker ! No fireworks !No one sending sweets to anyone !The whole world was like a dark,moonless night.You know how much darker the night looks when you expect millions of oil lamps twinkling and there are none !So no Diwali for the Hindus.

 

And the Mussalmans feeling as if ants were crawling up their bottoms!The mullahji of the Sarai mosque asked Lakhi Rai very discreetly why he had not lit any lamps on Diwali night.’The death of a very near and dear one’,he replied.’All the Hindus seem to have lost someone near and dear to them,’ exclaimed the mullahji very sarcastically.’I hope it is not because someone very near and very dear is going to die,yes?’

Guru Tegh Bahadur refused to convert to Islam and was beheaded in public at Chandni Chowk on 24 November 1675. The Guru is also known as “Hind Di Chadar” i.e. “The Shield of India”, suggesting that he gave up his life to protect the religious freedom of non Muslims in Mughal India.

It’s high time we renamed Aurangzeb Road in Delhi to Guru Tegh Bahadur Boulevard.

 

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Happy Diwali

Wish all readers a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year