Poh/ਪੋਹ

Many of you will remember that, during the first national lockdown, we sent out newsletters on a bi-weekly basis that shared various resources to our members. We’ve decided to re-start these, with a slight caveat; we will be sending out these newsletters on a monthly basis.

 

Today is Sangrand (the first day of a new month, per the Bikrami Calenadar). This month, the tenth overall, is Poh/ਪੋਹ. Traditionally, the month of Poh has been a reflective and introspective one for Sikhs, as the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib (1705) was fought in Poh. The battle saw 40 Gursikhs, under the command of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, engage with Aurangzeb’s significantly more numerous Mughal forces. Among the Singhs who gave Shaheed (martyred) were three of the Panj Pyare (Bhai Mohkam Singh Ji, Bhai Himmat Singh Ji and Bhai Sahib Singh Ji) and the two Vade Sahibzaade (Baba Ajit Singh Ji and Baba Jujhar Singh Ji). Below, we have linked a Katha (i.e. a retelling) of the Battle, delivered by Basics of Sikhi.

 

Some days after, the Chhote Sahibzaade, Baba Zorawar Singh Ji (aged 7) and Sahibzaade Fateh Singh Ji (aged 5), and Mata Gujri Ji (Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Mother) gave Shaheed at Sirhind. Refusing to convert and give up their Sikhi, they were brutally tortured and eventually ordered to be bricked alive. The brick wall, however, kept collapsing on itself and, in the end, the Chhote Sahibzaade, were ordered to have their throats slit. Some accounts suggest that it took Baba Fateh Singh Ji 13 minutes to take their last breath.

 

At the same time, Poh isn’t, nor should it be, a month of sorrow or melancholy. The countless Gursikhs mentioned above attained Shaheedi in Charhdi Kala; in perpetual elation. This holds particular significance given the fact that the Farmers’ Protest, which started more than a-year-and-four-months ago, ended in victory this week. The Indian Government have decided to repeal the three Farm Bills, which would have deregulated the agricultural market and risked making farmers vulnerable to big corporations. Of course, the victory is bittersweet: more than 700 farmers died during the protests, including the 5 protestors who were run over by Ashish Mishra, the son of the current Minister of State for Home Affairs in India, Ajay Mishra. It is, nonetheless, a victory — a triumph of democratic, anti-authoritarian protest over a classist, casteist, ethno-centric government. 

 

Upon the creation of the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave us the address of ‘Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh’ — the Khalsa belongs to Vaheguru, and victory is gifted by Vaheguru. Fateh, the name Guru Gobind Singh Ji bestowed upon their youngest son, literally means “victory”. It’s fitting, then, that, more than three hundred years after Baba Fateh Singh Ji resisted the Mughal state’s iniquity, the farmers are choosing to celebrate their own triumph over the Indian state’s corruption with one particular slogan — “Morcha Fateh Ho Gaya”.