Twisting, Obscuring, and Distorting the Truth: The Case of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji’s Supreme Martyrdom

By Karminder Singh Dhillon | Opinion |

The year 2025 celebrates the 350th martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs.

Guru Teg Bahadur ji was put to death – by the order of then Emperor Aurangzeb – in the public square of Chandni Chowk, Delhi on the 11th of November 1675. Just five years prior, Emperor Aurangzeb had announced his policy of Ek Mazhab – or one religion. In the intolerant and fanatical Emperor’s mind, the only way to have peace and unity was for everyone in the world to profess just one religion. The only thing worse than his bigoted policy was its cruel and demeaning implementation. Aurangzeb had decreed the destruction of all places of worship and education belonging to faiths other that the one he subscribed to. He further ordered the discontinuance of all customs, rituals and practices that contravened his Ek Mazhab dictate.

Guru Teg Bahadur’s supreme martyrdom was in response to the Ek Mazhab decree that was the brainchild of the zealot and fanatical Aurangzeb. The ninth Guru decided, on his own accord, and according to his own humanist convictions, to take a stand on the issue in a very public way. He went to Aurangzeb on his own, to send a message to Aurangzeb that his One Mazhab dictate was unacceptable. The Guru evidently knew that Aurangzeb would stand by his narrow, extremist and intolerant beliefs and resort to tortures and death to anyone who stood up against him.

An ultimate martyrdom thus became necessary to convey an ultimate message to humanity at large – that defending the right to one’s beliefs was an unassailable right. And for such a stand and message he laid down his life.

This is why Chandar Sain Sainapat, in his account of the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur in Sri Guru Sobha Granth (1711 AD) declared the Guru as Srishtt ki Chador. His depiction points towards the defense of humanity and protection of mankind being the philosophical foundation and message of the martyrdom.

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It’s quite a straightforward foundation for the martyrdom. Yet, for reasons that can range from nefarious co-option, political agendas, selfish interests, narrow mindedness, envy and plain stupidity – a whole gamut of forces, institutions, ruling elite and governments have spent the past 300 years in undertaking efforts to obscure, distort, corrupt or hijack the truth of the event, its motivation and its philosophical foundations.

Those who share the blame in twisting, obscuring and distorting the truth of the martyrdom include a variety of agenda-oriented authors of classical Sikh historical literature; Sikh clergy, institutions, intellectuals and leadership that propagate the corrupted narratives unthinkingly and un-critically; and the Hindutva led movements within India whose primary aim is the cooption of Sikhi and Sikh Gurus. The general population of Sikh masses – large proportions of whom have broken away from reading, critical thought and the ability to analyze information objectively and form reasoned judgments cannot be without blame; and are hence an accessory to the crime as well.

This edition of The Sikh Bulletin is dedicated towards not just shedding light on the distortion, but exploring the philosophical underpinnings of the unprecedented sacrifice. Readers are presented with a research-based article titled “Guru Teg Bahadur Ji’s Martyrdom: The Real Message And The Efforts To Obscure It” (page 8), as well as two short pieces by the Panch-Pardhani Council titled “The Martyrdom Of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji: A Living Legacy For The Defense Of Human Rights And Freedom Of Expression” (page 33) and “A Call For Ideological Vigilance On The 350th Shaheedi Anniversary Of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.” (page 35). A Punjabi version, as made available by the Council is also published on page 13. The Editorial Board of The Sikh Bulletin thanks the Panch-Pardhani Council for its courageous efforts in this regard.

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Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the joint-editor of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. This article appeared in The Sikh Bulletin, Vol 27 No 5, December 2025. Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com.

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