The Martyrdom of Bhai Taru Singh
Zakaria Khan, the governor of Lahore, experienced great frustration in his effort to decimate the Sikhs. He once asked his men, “From where do the Sikhs obtain their nourishment? I have debarred them from all occupations. They realize no taxes, they do not farm, nor are they allowed to do business or join public employment. I have stopped all offerings to their Gurdwaras. No provisions or supplies are accessible to them. Why do they not die of sheer starvation?”
A sworn enemy of the Sikhs directed the governor to the village of Puhla, where lived a young Sikh named Taru Singh. According to the informant,
There are Sikhs in the world who would not eat until they have fed their brothers. They may themselves go without food and clothing, but they cannot bear their comrades' distress. They would pass the winter by fireside and send them their own clothes. They would sweat to grind grain and have it sent to them. They would do the hardest chores to earn a small wage for their sake... (Taru Singh) tills his land and pays the revenue to the officials. He eats but little and sends what he saves to his brothers in the forest. His mother and sister both toil and grind to make a living. They eat sparingly and wear the coarsest homespun cloth. Whatever they save, they pass on to the Sikhs.
On hearing this, the governor sent a detachment of soldiers to Bhai Taru Singh's village to arrest him and bring him to the provincial capital of Lahore. The year was 1745. When the Sikh heard of their approach, he came out of the village. Wishing to spare his neighbours any sort of hardship, the 25-year-old Taru Singh surrendered peacefully to the governor's men.
When Mehtab Singh, who had dispatched Masse Khan Ranghar at the Harimandir with Sukkha Singh, heard of Bhai Taru Singh's arrest, he surrendered himself so that he might die by his side. The two Sikhs had their bodies broken on the wheel of torture. When only Taru Singh survived, he was given the choice of Islam or death. When he refused to convert, his distinctive long hair was painfully scraped from his scalp and the young Sikh left to die. Young Taru Singh was given over to a gracious sikh family who tended to him for his remaining days.
Read more about this topic: Sikh Holocaust Of 1746
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