Many assume that the legacy of yesterday’s Khalsa was martyred with them. How could, or so they argue, any Sikh of today fight like Baba Deep Singh or Mata Bhag Kaur? They may argue, how could any Sikh of today sacrifice like Mata Gujjar Kaur or the women in Mir Mannu’s jail? Lo and behold, Khalsa ji, the Sikh spirit can never and will never be martyred! In the words of the Sikh women captured in Mir Mannu’s jail: “Manu is our sickle and we are a crop for him to mow, The more he cuts us, the more we grow.” No matter what era, the Khalsa continues to leave the world speachless with its bold resistance to injustice and its unsurpassable, unrivaled strength.

The hardships faced by Sikh women detained in Mir Mannu’s Jail in the 1700s are of the most horrible crimes commited in our history. Mir Mannu, desiring to destroy the Sikh nation, issued for Sikh men to be beheaded and Sikh women to be imprisoned. These women were given forty pounds of grain to grind daily with a quarter of bread and one bowl of water to survive on. The barbaric workers of Mir Mannu told the Sikh women that they could become Muslim begums, possessing all of the wealth, honour, and riches in the world – if they decided to desert the Sikh faith. The Sikh women continually chanted, “the more he cuts us, the more we grow”, laughing in the faces of those mislead workers. “Our lives may leave us, but we shall never leave our Sikh faith!” These women, resisting to become begums, even had their babies torn open with spears through unspeakable torture. Not only did the barbaric workers torture the tiny children, but upon martyrdom, the babies’ remains were cut into peices to be hung around their mother’s necks as a punishment for keeping their faith. Oh Khalsa Ji, should we not become steadfast in our faith after recognizing the sacrifices our mothers made?

The strength of Sikh women is everlasting and the legacy of the female detainees of Mir Mannu’s jail was fully practiced on October 23rd, 1993 by Shaheed Bibi Resham Kaur. As the Muslim government of the 1600s and 1700s in India desired to eliminate Sikhs from India, so too have modern regimes aimed to eliminate the Sikh spirit. Bibi Resham Kaur was detained with her 8-month-old child, Simranjit Singh. The torture faced by Bibi Resham Kaur and her child would even compel stone-hearted souls to shed tears. In order to weaken the Sikh spirit, the police exhausted several efforts against Bibi Resham Kaur. To weaken her, they went as far as lying her 8-month-old child on ice, as the child cried in pain. Bibi Resham Kaur, to the utter shock and speachlessness of the entire regiment, put a stone on her heart and did not give up her Sikh spirit, refusing to give in to the demands of her torturers. The torturers, in utter confusion and anger at their defeat, martyred Bibi Resham Kaur, after she had re-lit the lamp of Sikh spirit and acceptance of God’s will as ever-sweet.

A Modern Day Legend: Shaheed Bibi Resham Kaur Ji
Submitted by: Kaurs United Sevadaars