Introduction To 'Guru Gobind Singh - Apostle Of Universal Brotherhood' By S.N.Sewak

The Partition of India in 1947 is one of the bloodiest events of world history because the independence of the country brought with it blood and tears of millions of innocent people on both sides of the border dividing the newly-formed nations. If Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan suffered the worst type of torture and faced death at the hands of plunderers and murderers masquerading themselves as saviours of Islam, the Muslims in India met with similar fate in the name of religion. A large number of conversions took place on both sides and many people changed faith only to save their lives. I distinctly remember the situation when we were also told to become Muslims or face death. My mother used to tell us the stories of Haqiqat Rai and the infant sons of Guru Gobind Singh who preferred violent death to forfeiting their faith. These real-life stories inspired us and filled us with great courage to meet any challenge. I understood everything as I was in my teens and used to go to a middle school. We were a family of five - widowed mother, two sisters, and two brothers. The 'well-wishers' approached my mother many a time to secure our conversion and although my mother told them tactfully that we were ready to embrace Islam, she put them off with one excuse or the other. We had already made our resolve to escape if possible or to face death if necessary; we were only marking time.