Candle That Casts A Shadow: A Prespective As A Sikh

It’s been longer than I intended since my last post. Between this and that, life goes on aboard the silent vehicle of time. But I’ll try to enclose the distance by covering some of the main events and reflecting on them in the next few posts.
There was ‘Bandhi-Chorh’ celebrations amongst the Sikh community, on the 22^nd October, which can be translated as ‘Liberation Day’ ^{** Bandhi means prisoner, and Chorh means release, in Punjabi**}.
The history behind commemorating this day dates back to 1613 AD when Guru Hargobind Singh ji, the sixth of the ten Sikh Gurus, was imprisoned on the orders of the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, in the Gwalior Fort prison.
I have already written a few articles covering the socio-religious-polity during the discriminatory Mughal rule, and the rise of Sikhism to uphold humanity and equality against oppression. On the other hand, the role of Hindutavi officials under the Mughal regime, especially from a Brahminic background, remained that of a cozener, the same under the British Empire, working against the minorities, regardless that many times Hindus from the so-called lower castes too became victims of such guile.
I shall now get straight to the topic of the Gwalior Prison account.
Superstition played a great role in the decision-making by the Royal Mughals. When Emperor Jahangir was taken ill, he claimed to have dreamt that only if he would repent for a sin he had recently committed, he would be absolved and cured of his illness by the divine power. The senior courtiers interpreted the vision to mean that by imprisoning a Pir (a spiritual person), the emperor had committed a sin and hence advised that the Guru should be immediately released from the prison. However, while in prison, Guru Hargobind Singh ji had seen many other Hindu rajas from small provinces being imprisoned unjustly in the fort jail. So, the Guru, standing for justice once again, refused to leave the prison alone unless those rajas were released too. The Emperor granted Guru’s wish, but on the condition that whoever could hold his person would walk out free of the prison with the Guru. So, Guru Ji requested a special Chola (The long pleated shirts that men wore during that era) to be stitched for the day of release, with fifty-two pleats, so that those many Hindu rajas could hold each pleat and walk out of the prison with the Guru. Hence, Guru Hargobind Singh ji helped to release the fifty-two Hindu kings from the Gwalior prison.
On the 28^th December,1620, Guru Ji visited Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs, and people lit the streets with earthen lamps to welcome him. Jahangir was cured, and his relationship with Guru Ji and his Sikhs was cordial for some time after this event, though oppression by the Mughals and rebellion by the Sikhs continued.
This is the overall story, which is documented with slight variations in exact dates, as is also the case with many other historical accounts written globally.  
As part of the Hindutavi agenda to assimilate Sikhs, the day of Bandhi Chorh, is cunningly collaborated over a period of time with the Hindu festival of Diwali. Apart from diffusing the glory attributed to Sikh history, it is a blatant distortion of facts and hence a disinformation to all, including the Hindus. I would like to highlight two main issues with this misleading distortion of events.
● First of all, Diwali is based on a mythical story, the Ramayana, written by an ancient Brahmin poet called Valmiki. But the account of Bandhi Chorh is factual and recorded in history. Hindutavi fanatics are in denial, of course, though I can’t rule out genuine ignorance by many and voluntary acceptance of misguidance in the hope of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ by others (Country of only Hindus).
By combining both fable and fact, Brahminic cunning has tried to share credibility to pass myth as truth. The manipulation of dates to bring both celebrations together is obvious.
The dates for the same festival jump around on the Gregorian calendar because Hinduism calculates time and date according to the astronomical positioning of different planets in the orbit. But Sikhs do not believe in such calculations and follow the Nanakshahi calendar, where dates would not move, the same as on the Western calendar. The date for celebrations for two very different events has been imposed on the Sikhs by the Brahminic system. Obviously, being a tiny minority amongst the World’s most populated majority with power gets influenced to some extent. So, many Sikhs started celebrating Bandhi Chorh on the same day as Diwali, and over a period of time, many even began to call their festivity as Diwali.
But I am glad that this year, the senior representative of Akal Takht called upon Sikhs to observe the day after Diwali as Bandhi Chorh Day. (Akal Takht is the supreme seat of the Timeless Lord, representing the concept of collaboration of Just and moral spiritual-politics, called Miri-Piri, and founded by the sixth Sikh Guru) ** Please visit previous articles for details**.
Even politicians of many mainstream countries wished Hindus a happy Diwali, while making a separate note of wishing Sikhs a happy Bandhi Chorh day. The world is waking up to the Brahminic guile, slowly but hopefully, surely.
● All the fifty-two Rajas released on Guruji’s insistence were Hindus. If anything, Hindus should be celebrating Bandhi Chorh with the Sikhs, not imposing upon the Sikhs to celebrate the event as Diwali. It’s just like asking Christians to celebrate Christmas as Eid, or vice versa.
I have no issue with Hindus celebrating Diwali or whatever they believe in. I wish them the very best, but I expect them to respect the boundaries of belief of others as well. However, while under the Hindutavi regime, it’s not possible- it’s a harsh reality.
Sikhs deserve to get their homeland freed as soon as possible, on many such diverse bases.
May the light from a Diwali candle and Bandi Chorh enlighten people to see the truth clearly and illuminate humanity with a world of tolerance and acceptance.
As always, I attach a podcast by Angus Scott and James Cousineau for additional information.