Haqiqat Rai

Haqiqat Rai Bakhmal Puri (died 1734; Punjabi: हक़ीक़त राय बाख्मल पुरी (Devanagri), ਹਕ਼ੀਕ਼ਤ ਰਾਯ ਬਾਖਮਲ ਪੂਰੀ (Gurmukhi), حقیقت رائے باکہمل پوری (Shahmukhi)) was an 18th-century martyr from Sialkot, who was executed in Lahore during the time of Zakariya Khan.^[1][2][3]

Depiction of Haqiqat Rai (right)

Life

Haqiqat Rai di Var

According to Akkra's ballad, Haqiqat was born into a Hindu Khatri family of Sialkot; his father was Baghmal.^[4] Some of his Muslim classmates had ridiculed Hindu Gods to which a fifteen-year old Haqiqat retorted by insulting Islam — this was reported to the Maulvi.^[4][5]

A case was accordingly filed before the qazi, who asked him to chose converting to Islam or be put to death.^[4] Despite persuasions, Haqiqat refused and was beheaded in Lahore during Zakariya Khan's governorship.^[4][6]

Char Bagh-i Punjab

Ganesh Das (in Char Bagh-i Punjab|Char Bagh-i Punjab) agrees with Akkra about Haqiqat's antecedents.^[7] But specifics concerning the rest of narrative vary.^[7]

He accuses a mullah of having cried wolf about blasphemy, after his son was defeated by an intellectually superior Haqiqat on a religion-themed discussion.^[7] Irate Muslim inhabitants of the city refused to accept apology of their Hindu brethren (including Haqiqat's parents) in the town and insisted that he either convert or be put to death.^[7] On no easy resolution, the mullah bribed city officials and approached the office of Governor Zakariya Khan at Lahore.^[7]

Portrayed as a man of liberal demeanor, Khan had outright rejected the charges as fabricated upon cross-examination of witnesses despite the mullah bringing a large crowd of supporters, in anticipation.^[7] However, he was held to ransom by the conservatives — ulema, qazi, and Mufti — who supported the mullah and opposed the interference of an administrative official in religious matters.^[7] Khan conceded to their demands and suggested that Haqiqat convert to Islam in lieu of mansabdaari status and other privileges.^[7]

On Haqiqat's prompt rejection of this offer, the Mufti pronounced a verdict of death-sentence but it was stalled for a day upon his father's wish to convince him about accepting Khan's suggestion.^[7] Despite, Haqiqat remained steadfast and waxed long about the virtues of Hinduism and vices of Islam; the following day, Khan had him handed to the clerics in the open court.^[7] He was immobilized in waist-deep soil and stoned, until a soldier beheaded him of piety; the severed head continued to chant Ram Nam.^[7] Haqiqat was cremated — pursuant to Hindu rites — in the garden of one Diwan Kirpa Ram Chopra and a samadhi was installed, which became a spot of veneration for local Hindus.^[7]

Prachin Panth Prakash

Ratan Singh Bhangu held that Haqiqat Rai was mistakenly held to be a Sikh by Zakariya Khan — during a tenure marked with extreme animosity against Khalsa — and consequently murdered in 1734 C.E.

Popular culture

Haqiqat's legacy has been claimed by Hindus as well as Sikhs.^[8][9] In 1782/84, a Sikh poet named Aggra (aka Agra or Aggar Singh) wrote a Punjabi vaar (ballad) titled Haqiqat Rai di Var espousing him as a Hindu martyr.^[4][6] Maharaja Ranjit Singh particularly revered Haqiqat Rai as a Sikh martyr.^[3]

In the first decade of the twentieth century (1905–10), three Bengali writers popularized the legend of Haqiqat Rai's martyrdom through their essays. The three accounts differ greatly.^[5] The Arya Samaj organized a play Dharmaveer Haqiqat Rai, advocating deep loyalty to Hinduism. It also printed copies of the legend, and distributed them free of cost or at a nominal price of 2 paisa.^[10]

Before the partition of India in 1947, Hindus and Sikhs used to gather at his samadhi in Lahore, during the Basant Panchami Festival.^[11] His samadhi in Sialkot was also a place of worship.^[12] In 2004, Nawa-i-Waqt, a Pakistani daily opposed Basant Panchami celebrations in Pakistan, arguing that the festival celebrated Haqiqat Rai's insult of Muhammad.^[13]

Another samadhi dedicated to Haqiqat Rai is located in Boeli of Baba Bhandari (Hoshiarpur district), where people gather and pay obeisance to Haqiqat Rai during Basant Panchami.^[14] In Gurdaspur district, a shrine dedicated to him is located at Batala.^[15] The town also has a samadhi dedicated to Sati Lakshmi Devi, said to be the wife of Haqiqat Rai.^[16]

Many cities in India have localities named after Haqiqat Rai, mostly the ones where the partition refugees settled; for example, Haqiqat Nagar in Delhi. An ISBT located in Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi, India is also named after him.

References

1. Malhotra, Anshu; Mir, Farina (2012). Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199088775. At one level this story is about the inexorable distance between the Hindus and the Muslims—Haqiqat Rai is evidently a martyr to the Hindu cause (refusal to convert), when Muslims exercise political power.
2. Gooptu, Nandini (2001). The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521443661. Plays about Hindu martyrs such as Dharmveer Haqiqat Rai or Maharani Padmini advocated deep loyalty to Hinduism and the need to fight for one's faith.
3. W. H. McLeod (24 July 2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6.
4. Ishwar Dayal Gaur (2008). Martyr as Bridegroom: A Folk Representation of Bhagat Singh. Anthem Press. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-81-905835-0-3.
5. Himadri Banerjee (2003). The other Sikhs: a view from eastern India. Manohar. pp. 185–186. ISBN 978-81-7304-495-3.
6. Reeta Grewal; Sheena Pall; Indu Banga (2005). Precolonial and colonial Punjab: society, economy, politics, and culture : essays for Indu Banga. Manohar. p. 176. ISBN 978-81-7304-654-4.
7. Grewal, J. S.; Banga, Indu (2015). Early Nineteenth-Century Panjab. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317336945.
8. Moliner, Christine (2011). "The Boa and its Petty Enemy: Contemporary Relationships between Hindu Nationalists and the Sikhs". In Berti, Daniela; Jaoul, Nicolas; Kanungo, Pralay (eds.). Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Local Mediations and Forms of Convergence. London: Routledge India. pp. 318–319. ISBN 978-0-367-81806-7.
9. Nirankari, Maan Singh (2008). Sikhism, a Perspective. Edited by Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry. Chandigarh: Unistar Books. p. 154. ISBN 978-81-7142-621-8. OCLC 289070938. 6. Hakikat Rai: He was born at Sialkot in 1781 B.S. or 1724 C.E. in a Kshtriya household of Bhagh Mal and his wife Kauran. He was married to Durga Devi daughter of a Sehajdhari Sikh Kishan Chand of Batala. He entered the Sikh faith through the inspiration of Bhai Budh Singh from Batala. When the Muslim ruler asked him to convert to Islam, he refused to obey his orders. As a result, this young boy was slaughtered under the orders of Khan Zakariya Khan, the Nawab of Lahore in 1741. A fair used to be organized on the day of Basant Panchmi in his memory at Lahore in the pre-partition days.
10. Nandini Gooptu (5 July 2001). The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 223–. ISBN 978-0-521-44366-1.
11. Pran Nevile (2006). Lahore : A Sentimental Journey. Penguin Books India. pp. 23–. ISBN 978-0-14-306197-7.
12. Pritam Singh and Shinder Thandi, ed. (1996). Globalisation and the region: explorations in Punjabi identity. Association for Punjab Studies (UK). p. 49. ISBN 978-1-874699-05-7.
13. . Daily Times. 2004-02-16. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03.
14. "Basant Panchami celebrated in traditional way". The Tribune. 2010-01-21.
15. Gurdaspur: Tourist Places
16. India. Director of Census Operations, Punjab (1996). Census of India, 1991: Punjab. Controller of Publications. p. 17.