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April 10, 2026
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"They told me further, that some years after this book of Naneek Shah had been promulgated, another made its appearance, now held in almost as much esteem as the former. The name of the author has escaped my memory; but they favoured me with an extract from the book itself in praise of the Deity. The passage had struck my ear on my first entering the hall, when the students were all engaged in reading. From the familiarity of the language to the Hindoovee, and many Shanscrit words, I was able to understand a good deal of it, and I hope, at some future period, to have the honour of laying a translation of it before the Society."
"Their houses were plundered, wealth destroyed, their heads shaven, urinated upon, publicly paraded, jeered upon, beaten with shoes and finally sent to death."
"Prominent amongst the Tat Khalsa reformers were scholars such as Bhai Kahn Singh of Nabha and the prolifically versatile writer Bhai Vir Singh. Closely associated with them was the Englishman M. A. Macauliffe.*? Together with others who shared the same attitudes and concerns, these authors were responsible for moulding and recording a version of the Sikh tradition which remains dominant in intellectual circles to the present day. It is important to remember that, when we read literature dealing with the Sikh tradition, we are usually reading perceptions which have been refracted through a Tat Khalsa lens. The reminder is essential if we are to achieve genuine detachment in any analysis of Sikh history, doctrine, or behaviour. Repeatedly we must draw attention to the impressive success achieved by scholars and writers associated with the Singh Sabha movement, for only thus can we hope to disengage our own interpretations from their continuing influence."
"A most spectacular sign of the success of popular opposition to Tat Khalsa hegemony comes from the domain of festive cycles. As stated previously, there had been a persistent campaign against Sikh participation in festivals like Holi and Diwali."
"The Sikh literati which emerged under the shadow of the Raj were powerfully influenced by the European discourse on their religion and in due course began to exhibit a similar intolerance towards many aspects of the Sikh tradition. Like the Europeans, this new class began a journey in search of âauthenticâ texts, so that the âcorrectâ articles of the faith could be established. This quest for a rationalized Sikhism free of âspurious additionsâ, collectively underwritten by the new Sikh elites and the social forces generated by colonial rule, has come to exercise a very powerful influence on Sikh historiography. Much like European scholars, or like late-nineteenth-century Sikh reformers, contemporary scholarship either tends to ignore vast terrains of Sikh life in the nineteenth century or views it as a superfluous addition which has to be negated. There appears equally a failure to recognize the differences between the ideology of a period and a historical explanation. It was Sikh reformers in the nineteenth century who,for the first time, labelled many current practices and certain forms of Sikh identity as unacceptable. Historians are at fault when they simply reproduce these value judgements and employ categories invented by a section of the Sikh elites to discredit specific beliefs and rituals. What needs to be explained is why,at a particular juncture, certain forms of behaviour came to be viewed with suspicion andinvited censure. To suggest, as many have done, that this was because these beliefs were superstitious and without rational basis is to propose a tautological argument that ends up legitimizing the discourse of the modern Sikh intelligentsia. It is time to give up the ideological blinkers imposed by the complex changes in economy,society and politics under the Raj. A firm distinction ought to be made between the way certain beliefs and rituals came to be represented in the rhetoric of socio-religious movements like the Singh Sabha,and their actual place and function in the everyday life of people... In that sense Dhillonâs work is rooted within what I call the principle of negation in Sikh studies: it is not an isolated example... Sikh studies need to fully open up to the gaze of history."
"The Tat Khalsa were particularly bitter about any custom that even remotely smacked of Hinduism and, quite often, things that did notstrike their fancy were relegated to that blanket label âHinduâ. Such labelling climaxed, in the long run, with the category Hindu becoming a term of opprobrium in the Sabhaâs literature."
"Those who represented the reformist sector of the Singh Sabha movement came to be known as the Tat Khalsa (the âTrue Khalsaâ or the âPure Khalsaâ). Opposing them, and increasingly disadvantaged by the strength of Tat Khalsa ideals and determination, were the conservatives of the so-called Sanatan Khalsa. By the turn of the century the exponents of Tat Khalsa theory had asserted an effective claim to interpret the nature of tradition and to enunciate the approved pattem of Sikh behaviour."
"The historiography of the Sikh experience in the nineteenth century is based on two principles, one of silence and the other of negation. The principle of silence is commonly found in most historiographies. For instance, official Soviet historiography has long drawn a curtain over state terror under Stalin. Similarly, elitist models of the Indian national movement contain no references to popular struggles for freedom, particularly when these grassroots movements differ in their socio-economic objectives from the aims of the pan-Indian Congress party. In the Sikh case, historical texts are virtually silent about religious diversity, sectarian conflicts, nature worship, witchcraft, sorcery, spirits, magical healing, omens, wizards, miracle saints, goddesses, ancestral spirits, festivals, exorcism, astrology, divination, and village deities. When, occasionally, some of these are mentioned in historical texts, they serve to dress up an argument about how Sikhism was rapidly relapsing into Hinduism in the nineteenth century, how its adherents deviated from the âtrueâ articles of faith and subscribed to âsuperstitiousâ and âprimitiveâ beliefs. Ultimately, this argument in official Sikh historiography goes on to establish that Sikhs were delivered from the bondage of un-Sikh beliefs by the intervention of the late-nineteenth-century Singh Sabha movement. Scholars who favour such inter- pretation are backing what I call the principle of negation. They are of the view that Singh Sabha reformers werein line with traditional Sikh doctrines when they opposed a large terrain of Sikh beliefs and practices in the nineteenth century. One asks why these two concepts, absence and negation, have come to exercise such a powerful influence on Sikh historiography. There are, I think, two major reasons for this.First, European observers of the Sikhs in the nineteenth century were often far more concerned with what Sikhism ought to be like rather than whatit was. Men like Ernest Trumpp, John Gordon, and Max Macauliffe, following the conventions established by Orientalist scholarship on India, showed far greater interest in recording the ideals of the faith rather than the actual behaviour of its practitioners. This preoccupation with texts led them to essentialist formulations of tradition that generally ignored a vast array of forms and religious practices among the Sikhs.â Occasionally, when compelled to take note of these practices in their accounts, they treated them with disdain, dismissing them as corrupt accretions resulting from the moral lassitude of the Khalsa, the decline in the political fortunes of the Sikhs, and the boa-like advances of Hinduism."
"But people refused to abandon festivities linked inextricably to the agrarian cycle and north Indian culture.° To renounce Holi celebrations, for instance, would have implied giving up a period of carnival, a time when indigenous society tolerated role reversal and the inversion of rigid social norms. Of all the groups within civil society, the non-elites were most unwilling to forgo this festival; it was the time of year when they took centre-stage without fear of reprisal. If the definitions of Sikh communal life had been left to the Tat Khalsa, the community today would have been without either the Holi or the Diwali festivities."
"Long after the monsoons cease in the plains of northern India and half the lunar year is over, there comes the widely-celebrated festival of Diwali, held on the day of the new moon in the month of Kattak. The raison dâĂŠtre of this festival of lights is so well known that it needs no explication.*â What may be recounted is how the festival crystallized into âthe greatest festival of the Sikhsâ.88 According to Sikh tradition the sixth guru, Hargobind Singh, on his release from Gwalior fort by the Mughal authorities, arrived in the city of Amritsar accompanied by fifty-two chieftains. The residents of the city were greatly elated and since then have celebrated the day of the festival with jubilation."
"Finally, a sustained campaign was launched to prevent Sikhs from taking part in festivals like Holi and Diwali. These were deemed un-Sikh festivities and an effort was made to replace them with innovations that would commemorate key events from the Sikh past. Babu Teja Singh made the most systematic proposals along these lines."
"The figure who pre-eminently draws these themes together in a single episode is that most famous of all Sikh martyrs, Baba Deep Singh Shahid. Deep Singh, a Jat from Lahore district and a trusted follower of Guru Gobind Singh, had fought with baba Banda singh bahadar and had subsequently become one of the principal leaders of the Khalsa resistance. In 1757, after Afghan invaders had desecrated Harimandir sahib(now commonly known as the Golden Temple), Deep Singh took a solemn vow to enter Amritsar and there endeavour to repossess the ruined temple. Near Tarn Taran his force was confronted by a large Afghan army and Dip Singh met a fate variously described in popular Sikh tradition. According to the dominant version his head was cut off, but clutching it with one hand he continued to fight his way forward for another fifteen kilometres before succumb- ing to his injury within the bounds of Amritsar.â A distinctly gory picture of the decapitated Dip Singh is perhaps the most popular of the coloured prints available today in the bazaars of the Punjab and Delhi.'.. A significant detail in the Dip Singh tradition concerns the desecration of Harimandir. This was, of course, perpetrated by Muslims and it is believed to have included the dumping of cowsâ entrails into the sacred pool. Hostility towards Muslims is another of the themes illustrated by the martyrdom of Dip Singh, a theme which finds clear expression in the early rahit-namas.'â Muslims can never be trusted, their touch will pollute, and Sikhs are required to avoid their company at all times. If necessary the sword must be used against Muslims, for it is they who threaten dharma. ."
"The creation of the Khalsa was an epoch-making event in the religious and political history of the country. It marked the beginning of the rise of a new people, destined to play the role of defenders against all oppression and tyranny."
"A reading of the RSS history tells us that seva has always been at the core of Hindutva praxis. Since its inception, an important aspect of the organizationâs work revolved around providing service in the form of relief during natural and political calamities such as the Partition of India in 1947, the Assam earthquake of 1950, the Punjab Floods in 1955, the Tamil Nadu cyclone in 1955, the Anjar earthquake in 1956, the Andhra Cyclone of 1977, the Latur earthquake of 1993, the Odisha Super Cyclone in 1999, the Bhuj earthquake in 2001, Koshi River Floods in 2008 and most recently the Uttarakhand Floods in 2013. Apart from creating a humanitarian and compassionate image for itself, _ relief interventions after these disasters also provided opportunities to the RSS to undertake cadre building and consolidate its organizational network."
"I am not the ruler of Gujarat, I'm a servant of Gujarat. The environment in which I grew up, seva is treated as a dharma, not power."
"Many workers appear to take a delight in blaming others for all ills. Some may put the blame on the political perversities, others on the aggressive activities of the Christians or Muslims and such other faiths. Let our workers keep their minds free from such tendencies and work for our people and our Dharma in the right spirit, lend a helping hand to all our brethren who need help and strive to relieve distress wherever we see it. In this service no distinction should be made between man and man. We have to serve all, be he a Christian or a Muslim or a human being of any other persuasion; for, calamities, distress and misfortunes make no such distinction but afflict all alike. And in serving to relieve the sufferings of man let it not be in a spirit of condescension or mere compassion but as devoted worship of the Lord abiding in the heart of all beings, in the true spirit of our dharma of surrendering our all in the humble service of Him who is Father, Mother, Brother, Friend and Everything to us all. And may our actions succeed in bringing out the Glory and Effulgence of our Sanatana-Eternal - Dharma."
"Massjid Shahid Ganj, in Lahore, was constructed as a mosque by one Falak Beg khan, in 1722. The Sikhs, however, claimed that the mosque had been built by demolishing a Gurdwara. Sometime around AD 1762 ,when Sikh power in the region was on the ascendant, they took possession of the building ... The land... became the site of a Sikh Gurdwara and the tomb of a Sikh leader, Bhai Taru Singh."
"When a mosque is adversely possessed by non-Muslims, that is to say, by the Hindus, the Muslims lose all the rights in the land and the building, including the right to worship. The building cannot maintain the character of a mosque and no duty is cast upon the person in possession therof to maintain its original character or to maintain it even as a building."
"The dispute over the Abdullah Khan Mosque, which was adjacent to the Shahid Gunj Gurdwara, flared up when the courts dismissed the Anjuman-i-Islamiaâs claim to the site and confirmed the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). 89 Its intention to demolish the defunct mosque and build shops on the site led to widespread protests. When the Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam stood aloof, in marked contrast to its activist role in the Kashmir movement, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan thundered against it on 14 July in a packed meeting at Mochi Gate, and afterwards founded the Majlis-i-Ittehad-i-Millat to lead the Shahid Gunj protests. 90 Public opposition to the Ahrars was so great that they found it virtually impossible to hold a meeting in Lahore for the best part of a year. 91 The Majlis-i-Ittehad-i-Millat held a series of public processions and meetings at Mochi Gate. 92 On 20 July a large crowd gathered there from across the Punjab in a bid to reach the disputed mosque to offer prayers. Despite these efforts at mobilisation, the dispute remained unresolved."
"There is a marked difference in the behaviour of Muslims and Sikhs towards women and children captured during this fight. While Muslims everywhere dishonoured, abducted or murdered Hindu and Sikh women and children, Sikhs never resorted to anything of which they might have reason to be ashamed. On the first day of attack, several Muslims got killed by an infuriated Sikh crowd in a locality which was at the junction of a Muslim and non-Muslim zone, not very far from the centre of the Sikh influence. More than one hundred Muslim women and children, whose menfolk had either been killed or had run away for safety, fell into the hands of the Sikhs. Sikhs kept them safe and fed them for the two or three days that the fighting lasted and all communications in the town were cut off, and later sent them under escort to the City Police Station, These women acknowledged the chivalry and courtesy of the treatment of the Sikhs towards them. (156)"
"From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to a woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad from whom kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the Creator is without a woman. That mouth which praises the Creator continually is blessed and beautiful. O Nanak, those faces shall be radiant in the Court of the Creator."
"The holiest of the holy of the Sikhs, Nanakana Sahib, birthplace of Guru Nanak-analogous to the Mecca of the Muslims and Jerusalem of the Christians. This Gurdwara also had a vast estate, developed along model lines as a farming colony, and it yielded an annual revenue to the Sikh community of about 20 lakhs of rupees."
"The Sikhs had a further deep interest in Nankana Sahib, which is the birthplace of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism and is situated in the heart of Sheikhupura district. The Hindus of the Punjab had quite as heavy an economic stake in these districts as the Sikhs, and more so even in Lahore, which town owed almost its entire wealth, industry, educational enterprise, and importance to the vast effort the Hindus had been expending for generations in building it up. Sikh enterprise in developing Lahore was second only to the Hindu-the Muslims there being backward and unenterprising, consisting mostly of migratory seasonal labourers or petty hawkers. (99)"
"Sikhs have some of their most sacred Gurdwaras in the West Punjab. The freedom of these Gurdwaras and access to them for purposes of worship forms the sorest point of grievance which the Sikhs have at present against the Pakistan Government, and what is regarded as the easy attitude which the Indian Government is adopting with regard to this matter so deeply vital to Sikh religious sentiment."
"Gurdwara Janam Asthan was subjected to continuous attacks since June. Muslim police pickets posted ostensibly for the purpose of protection of this place abetted arson and attacks on the Gurdwara. On August 11, Baulch Military entered the Gurdwara on pretext of finding out supposed bombs concealed inside the Gurdwara, and there bayoneted or shot dead 13 Sikhs... (108-9) The famous historic Sikh Gurdwara of Chhevin Padshahi, situated at a distance of fifteen yards from the Police Station on Temple Road in Mozang, was set on fire on the morning of the 15th August. The few Sikhs who were inside the Gurdwara were burnt alive in the flames. This was one of the numerous places of non-Muslim worship which had been burned in Lahore. Baoli Sahib, Gurdwara Chaumala Sahib and others had been burned before. Even the famous Dehra Sahib, held in highest sanctity by the Sikhs as being the place of martydom of Sri Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Guru of the Sikhs, was attacked. The Sikh guards and priests of this Gurdwara were mostly killed. (127)"
"There is then the famous Gurdwara Dehra Sahib in Lahore, site of martyrdom of Sri Guru Arjan Dev. There is the famous Shahidgunj, sacred in Sikh history as the place where the pioneer upholders of the Sikh Creed suffered torture and death at Muslim hands. In Rawalpindi district there is the Panja Sahib Gurdwara, sanctified by Guru Nanak, and so is the famous Babe di Ber in Sialkot. In Gujranwala District is Eminabad. In Lahore District is Kartarpur, a place where Guru Nanak resided for a considerable time. Besides these more famous Gurdwaras, there are hundreds of other shrines, associated with the Sikh Gurus, with holy men and with events in Sikh history. There are then places associated with Sikh history, such as the Mausoleum of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore and his birthplace in Gujranwala. Sikh history and the dearest association of the Sikhs are enshrined in these places. To think that Sikhs and Hindus would leave en masse all that has been mentioned above, if it had been possible for them to retain these, is fantastic nonsense, worthy only of the mendacions propagandists of Pakistan."
"Probably about 40% of this small but doughty people are in one manner or the other describable as refugees. The transference, in the main, has been from irrigated regions splendidly fertile to lands less productive. Prosperous colonies developed by an industrious and capable peasantry have been abandoned, as has much other property in rural and urban areas; some revered shrines are left on the far side of the boundary.â... âUntil members of this numerically small but virile obstinate and deeply religious community, can (like British Catholics visiting Rome or Lourdes) buy a ticket for Nanakana Sahib or Panja Sahib confident of the ordinary decencies of international travel, there will be no stable peace in the two Punjabs, nor basis for Pakistan to rank herself as the full equal of other countries in standards of civilized modern toleranceâŚâŚ âInquiry confirmed the doubt. It elicited, too, the appalling nature of the Sikhsâ own losses. About 40% of them had been made refugees. No such figure was approached by the other communities. They had no strong Press to put their case."
"(In the matter of developing Colony Lands) the Jat Sikh has reached a point of development probably beyond anything else of the kind in India. In less than a generation he has made the wilderness blossom like the rose. It is as if the energy of the virgin soil of the Bar had passed into his veins and made him almost a part of the forces of nature which he has conquered. It is clear that the Jat Sikh from the central districts of the Punjab has been very largely responsible for the building up of the colony areas of Lyallpur and Montgomery in the Punjab, which form the granary of a large part of India. It may further be mentioned that the Sikhs in the central Divisions of the Punjab have largest Agricultural interests of all other communities put together."
"We now enter the heart of the Punjab, the tract from the Jhelum in the north to a little beyond the Sutlej in the south. It contains all that is most characteristic of the Province. It is the cradle of the Sikhs and hundred years ago was the mainstay of Ranjit Singh and his power.â... âThe peasant proprietor is the backbone of the colonies as he is of the Punjab. In the Lyallpur colony he holds about 80% of the land and in Shahpur nearly as much. In the latter he was mainly recruited from Northern Districts but in the former almost entirely from the central Punjab. A colony could hardly have had better material, for Ludhiana, Jullundur and Amritsar represent the flower of the Indian Agriculture. They are the home of the Jat Sikh who has been described as âthe most desirable of colonists.â"
"The Sikhs played a major part in the development of the rural area of this part and the urban area was built up mainly by the enterprise of Hindus. It would be correct to say that almost the entire trade, commerce and industry of the Lyallpur district and the portion of the Sheikhupura sub-district is in the hands of non-Muslims."
"This was one of the numerous places of non-Muslim worship which had been burned in Lahore. Baoli Sahib, Gurdwara Chaumala Sahib and others had been burned before. Even the famous Dehra Sahib, held in highest sanctity by the Sikhs as being the place of martydom of Sri Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Guru of the Sikhs, was attacked. The Sikh guards and priests of this Gurdwara were mostly killed."
"Firing continued to be directed against the famous Dehra Sahib Gurdwara of Lahore, site of the martyrdom of Sri Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Guru of the Sikhs. This, in spite of the fact that this place is situated at a distance of hardly five yards from the Lahore Fort, Headquarters of the Additional Police and military pickets for the city. Water-taps supplying water to the Gurdwara estate were cut off, so that the inmates about 150 in number, should be left to die through sheer thirst. After firing for some time, the Muslim National Guards advanced towards the Gurdwara, and set fire to the building adjoining the Gurdwara. The whole area was ablaze in a few minutesâ time. Some Sikhs had taken shelter in the Samadh (Mausoleum) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which is separated from the Gurdwara by a distance of about 30 yards. Here the Muslim crowd, amid cries of âPakistan zindabadâ etc. and filthy abuse directed against the Sikhs battered at the Gates of the Samadh. Several Sikhs were shot dead. The gates of the Gurdwara and Samadh were perforated with bullets. These happenings occurred on the 13th August."
"Until members of this numerically small but virile obstinate and deeply religious community, can (like British Catholics visiting Rome or Lourdes) buy a ticket for Nanakana Sahib or Panja Sahib confident of the ordinary decencies of international travel, there will be no stable peace in the two Punjabs, nor basis for Pakistan to rank herself as the full equal of other countries in standards of civilized modern toleranceâŚâŚ"
"The tract mentioned above, comprising parts of Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Lyallpur district is one contiguous tract and is Popularly known as the Shahidi Bar. In the preceding paragraphs an account has been given of the Sikh share in the development of this tract and there is no gainsaying that but for the Sikh enterprise the rural areas in this tract would not have been developed and but for the Hindu-Sikh enterprise the markets in this tract would not have flourished."
"About 66.7% of the cultivated land (in Lahore District) is in the hands of the Jats, the great majority of whom are Sikhs. They are commonly of very fine physique and often blessed with brains as well. They represent a magnificent supply of human material. They could be and upto a point are, a very great asset to the District and the Punjab. The communal majority in the District belongs to the MuslimsâŚâŚ and the typical zamindar of the district is Sikh Jat."
"Compared to the Vilayatwali text, its language is of much later period."
"There are two sakhis preceding this, a close study of which along with the aforesaid five brings out clearly the real motive of the author for writing this Janamsakhi. The motive evidently was to degrade Guru Nanak in comparison with Baba Hindal. Apparently, the author is a follower of Baba Hindal."
"Mardana! this Ayodhya city belongs to Sri Ramachandra Ji. So let us go for his darshan [visit with God]."
"I have seen the light of Muhammad (with my mind's eye). I have seen the prophet and the messenger of God, in other words, I have understood his message or imbibed his spirit. After contemplating the glory of God, my ego was completely eliminated."
"It claimed to be an eye-witness account which it was not. Bhai Balas name does not appear in any of the other Janamsakhis."
"The later tradition which pretends to have knowledge of all the details of life of Nanak was therefore compelled to put forth as Voucher for its sundry tales and stories, Bhai Bala, who is said to have been the constant companion of Nanak, from his youth days up, whereas our old Janamsakhi does not even once name Bhai Bala. If Bhai Bala had been a constant companion of Nanak and a sort of mentor to him, as he appears now in the current Janamsakhi, it would be quite incomprehensive why never a single allusion should have been made of him in old tradition. â"
"Steinbach, a European ex-army officer, who worked at the Lahore Durbar for nine years, described the Golden Temple at Amritsar as a Temple of Visnu, one of the Sikh deitiesâ. The Encyclopedia Britannica (ninth edition, 1857) does that same. Quoting Thorntonâs Gazette (1862 edition), it says that âin the middle on the small island, is a temple of Hari or Vishnuâ, and adds that Ahmed Shah âblew up the shrine with gunpowder, filled up the holy tank, and caused kine to be slaughtered, thus desecrating the spot.â"
"The Hari Mandir, dedicated to Hari/Vishnu, is as sacred to Vaishnavas as any of their non-Sikh temples; its tank was already an old Hindu place of pilgrimage, where Maharana Ikshvaku is said to have performed yajnas. (The 1875 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica says in its entry on Amritsar that it has sacred tank with a temple dedicated to Vishnu in the middle)."
"Their plan for Amritsar City was ambitious. They wanted to keep the City beseiged, to force Hindus and Sikhs out by arson and murder, and finally to capture two places held dear by Sikhs, and wearing a character symbolic of Sikh greatness and pride: Darbar Sahib and Khalsa College. Letters threatening destruction of these two places continued to be received by the authorities of these places from Muslims. In their confidence and feeling of being advantageously situated the Muslims did not mind declaring their plans."
"A student by the name of Bir Singh contributed a letter to the Khalsa Akhbar, February 12, 1897, saying: Near the Dukhbhanjani beri tree (in the Golden temple precincts) there is a room on the front wall of which is painted a picture. The picture depicts a goddess and Guru Gobind Singh. The goddess stands on golden sandals and she has many handsâten or, perhaps, twenty. One of the hands is stretched out and in this she holds a Khanda. Guru Gobind Singh stands barefoot in front of it with his hands folded...."
"Brahmin priests and their idols had been associated with the Golden Temple for at least a century and had over these years received the patronage of pious Hindus and Sikhs. In the 1890s these practices came under increasing attack by reformist Sikhs."
"A new Muslim invader, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who tried to salvage the Muslim rule, had to give up after several attempts from 1748 to 1767 A.D. His only satisfaction was that he demolished the Harimandir and desecrated the sacred tank with the blood of slaughtered cows, two times in a row. But the Sikh and non-Sikh Hindus rallied round the Khalsa again and again and rebuilt the temple every time."
"Another expression of this tendency is the induction of Muslim divines into Sikh history, e.g. the by now widespread story that the foundation stone of the Hari Mandir was laid by the Sufi pĂŽr Mian Mir. After this story was repeated again and again in his weekly column by Khushwant Singh, Sita Ram Goel wrote a detailed survey of the oldest and modernst sources pertaining to the construction of the Hari Mandir, found no trace of Mian Mir there, and concluded: "I request you to ... stop propping up a blatant forgery simply because it has become popular and is being patronised by those who control the neo-Sikh establishment." Khushwant Singh never mentioned Mian Mir again."