Mughal descendant atones at Takht
HiTMaN 9497
HT Correspondent
Amritsar, April 14
SULTANA BEGUM, last of the Mughal descendants, visited the Golden Temple today
to atone for the excesses of her forefathers, scripting yet another chapter in
the tumultuous history of Sikhs and Mughal emperors.
Devotees gathered around the holy shrine to witness the historic moment and the
anti-climax of the Mughal legacy as Bahadur Shah Zafar's great
granddaughter-in-law stood before the Akal Takht and sought forgiveness. She
did not meet any religious leaders or office bearers.
Accompanied by granddaughter Roshan Ara and family friend Parwant Singh Mehri,
Sultana Begum reached the city on Monday. Her plans to secretly visit the
shrine and return unnoticed were foiled by mediapersons, who traced her to a
hotel.
Looking fragile and scared, Sultana Begum said this was no publicity stunt.
Recalling the atrocities of the Mughal emperors, she said Sikh rage against
their lineage was justified. “We've suffered too. Islam doesn't permit
cruelty against anyone,” she said, adding that they had been cursed to a fate
of penury. Mother of six, Sultana Begum (52) runs a tea stall at Howrah.
She was happily married in the princely family 40 years ago, she recalls. Her
husband Mirza Mohammed Bedar Bakht also lived in poverty, but the family came
on the roads following his death in May 1980.
“I saw an exhibition of pictures of the Mughal emperors' cruelty on Sikhs 15
years ago and knew what we were paying for. I decided there and then to seek
forgiveness on behalf of my ancestors,” she said. Poverty prevented her from
making the trip all these years, she says. “When political leader Chinmaynand
gave the family Rs 50,000, I wasted no time,” she added. “I feel
relieved,” she said after the visit. Sultana Begum also went to the Durgiana
temple here.
She left for Delhi today, to seek forgiveness at Gurudwara Sis Ganj. Akal Takht
Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti reacted by saying that Sultana Begum should
produce proof of her connection with the Mughals and then formally contact the
Takht for forgiveness.
The Mughal carnage
The fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, was tortured during the reign of Mughal emperor
Jehangir who put him on a burning frying pan in the 16th century. Ninth Sikh
Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded on orders from Mughal emperor Aurengzeb in
Delhi in 1675 A.D. He was killed for siding with Kashmiri Hindus and opposing
conversions to Islam. The Sis Ganj Gurdwara stands in old Delhi's congested
Chandni Chowk area as a reminder of that incident. Four sons of 10th Sikh Guru
Gobind Singh were also done to death by Aurengzeb later. Bahadur Shah Zafar,
the last recognised Mughal ruler of Delhi, was banished by the British to
Rangoon in Burma after the failed mutiny by Indians in 1857. The poet-emperor
died there while languishing in jail, unable to fulfil his desire to be buried
in his motherland.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_683632,0015002000000130.htm
Surinder Singh
"HiTMaN 9497" <hitma...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040415074438...@mb-m24.aol.com...
>
> SULTANA BEGUM, last of the Mughal descendants, visited the Golden Temple
today
> to atone for the excesses of her forefathers, scripting yet another
chapter in
> the tumultuous history of Sikhs and Mughal emperors.
She need not apologize as it was not her who did this. But this shows the
greatness of her heart. Few people are able to look at truth in such a
fashion.
-s