Hakikat of Basant Panchami
This Basant Panchami, as we pray to the Goddess of Learning, it is noteworthy to learn about the teenaged Khatri boy Hakikat Rai Puri of Sialkot who was beheaded by a benevolent Maulvi on this very day in 1732!
This brave and highly intelligent son of Lala Bhagmal Rai Puri and Kora Devi was born in the year 1719. His strong intellect and sharp grasping power made his father send him to a Maulvi to learn Persian – the lingua franca of the times. The high praise that his brilliant performance fetched him from the Maulvi made one of his classmates (the son of the Maulvi) jealous. Provoked by an argument over some disconnect in spellings, the classmate falsely accused Hakikat of blasphemy. Hakikat denied having made any derogatory utterances yet he was arrested.
His father, the wealthy Khatri merchant Bhagmal, kept beseeching the Maulvis for leniency from punishment (Death or Conversion) but they did not relent. He was taken to Lahore on foot and not allowed to use any other mode of transportation even when offered by Hindus on the way. He was beaten and abused on the way. He reached Lahore after two days and was presented before the local Provincial Governor, Zakaria Khan who was the son of Abdus Samad Khan, the Governor of Sarhind, who had tortured Banda Singh Bahadur to death in 1716.
When the Governor confirmed the punishment, the fearless teenager asked the Maulvis if converting to Islam would make him immortal. When they responded in the negative, he queried aloud as to if that was not so, why would he even think of abandoning his great religion! Towards the end, even his distressed parents implored him to convert to stay alive but the brave teen was steadfast. He told his mother that it was she who had taught him that there is nothing greater than Dharma and he could not go against her teaching!
Thereafter, on the day of Basant Panchami, they started stoning him alive in accordance with the prescription in Sharia for blasphemers. Hakikat kept chanting ‘Ram Ram’ till he was half dead. At this time, a benevolent Maulvi beheaded him to save him from further pain.
A temple was made in his memory which is still standing in Lahore as a testimony to the valour exhibited by this precocious teenager on that Basant Panchami. Till the partition of India, Hindus used to assemble there and offer their respect at his samadhi.
This incident clearly illustrates the condition of Hindus in Mughal India and has been narrated by Ganesh Das in the Book Chahar Bagh-e-Punjab.
Basant used to be celebrated in Pakistani Punjab till as late as 2004. It was put to a stop by religious clerics and historians iafter the Pakistani newspaper Nawa e Waqt printed that Basant was a celebration of blasphemy committed by Hakikat Rai.
This brave and highly intelligent son of Lala Bhagmal Rai Puri and Kora Devi was born in the year 1719. His strong intellect and sharp grasping power made his father send him to a Maulvi to learn Persian – the lingua franca of the times. The high praise that his brilliant performance fetched him from the Maulvi made one of his classmates (the son of the Maulvi) jealous. Provoked by an argument over some disconnect in spellings, the classmate falsely accused Hakikat of blasphemy. Hakikat denied having made any derogatory utterances yet he was arrested.
His father, the wealthy Khatri merchant Bhagmal, kept beseeching the Maulvis for leniency from punishment (Death or Conversion) but they did not relent. He was taken to Lahore on foot and not allowed to use any other mode of transportation even when offered by Hindus on the way. He was beaten and abused on the way. He reached Lahore after two days and was presented before the local Provincial Governor, Zakaria Khan who was the son of Abdus Samad Khan, the Governor of Sarhind, who had tortured Banda Singh Bahadur to death in 1716.
When the Governor confirmed the punishment, the fearless teenager asked the Maulvis if converting to Islam would make him immortal. When they responded in the negative, he queried aloud as to if that was not so, why would he even think of abandoning his great religion! Towards the end, even his distressed parents implored him to convert to stay alive but the brave teen was steadfast. He told his mother that it was she who had taught him that there is nothing greater than Dharma and he could not go against her teaching!
Thereafter, on the day of Basant Panchami, they started stoning him alive in accordance with the prescription in Sharia for blasphemers. Hakikat kept chanting ‘Ram Ram’ till he was half dead. At this time, a benevolent Maulvi beheaded him to save him from further pain.
A temple was made in his memory which is still standing in Lahore as a testimony to the valour exhibited by this precocious teenager on that Basant Panchami. Till the partition of India, Hindus used to assemble there and offer their respect at his samadhi.
This incident clearly illustrates the condition of Hindus in Mughal India and has been narrated by Ganesh Das in the Book Chahar Bagh-e-Punjab.
Basant used to be celebrated in Pakistani Punjab till as late as 2004. It was put to a stop by religious clerics and historians iafter the Pakistani newspaper Nawa e Waqt printed that Basant was a celebration of blasphemy committed by Hakikat Rai.
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