On a bitter winter day in 1675, Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb ordered the execution of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk for his refusal to forsake his faith and to defend the right of religious freedom for all. Today, 350 years later, lakhs have gathered at the heart of Delhi not to mourn, but to revive Guru Tegh Bahadur’s heroism with a grand kirtan-samagam and a continuous langar that feeds people from all walks of life. More than just with music and community, this remembrance signals the culmination of a profound transformation in the way India honours its Sikh heritage and the Gurus’ legacy within the national consciousness. On a bitter winter day in 1675, Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb ordered the execution of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk for his refusal to forsake his faith and to defend the right of religious freedom for all. Today, 350 years later, lakhs have gathered at the heart of Delhi not to mourn, but to revive Guru Tegh Bahadur’s heroism with a grand kirtan-samagam and a continuous langar that feeds people from all walks of life. More than just with music and community, this remembrance signals the culmination of a profound transformation in the way India honours its Sikh heritage and the Gurus’ legacy within the national consciousness. The Centre’s efforts have taken Sikh history out of the realm of occasional festivals and placed it at the centre of Indian national identity. Official events around Sikh centennials have become showcases of unity and collective pride. All commemorations today are supported by state power, resources, and honours at the highest level. A New Model for Remembrance The 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur stands as a pinnacle of this approach. Across India, from Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib to Delhi’s Red Fort, a series of mega events have been held to honour his sacrifice. Devotional processions, 24-hour langars, spiritual kirtan, and mass participation show that the narrative is unapologetically national—a public holiday in Delhi and large-scale government support drive the point home. Senior officials, including the prime minister and home minister, have personally attended, affirming that Guru Tegh Bahadur’s legacy are now central to the story of Indian civilisation. In fact, PM Modi flew straight to Kurukshetra after the Ram Mandir Dhwajarohan ceremony to take part in an event commemorating Guru Tegh Bahadur’s ultimate sacrifice. A lesser-noted but important dimension of this shift is India’s active Sikh outreach on the global stage. Government efforts to bring back the Guru Granth Sahib from Afghanistan with state honour, its facilitation and global celebrations, and easing visa and citizenship rules for persecuted Sikh communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan reflect a new form of civilisational diplomacy: India, through the legacy of the Sikh Gurus, projects itself as a protector of spiritual minorities and a beacon for the Sikh diaspora worldwide. Major Initiatives: Commemoration and Restoration Since 2014, the government has systematically celebrated landmark anniversaries: Guru Nanak’s 550th Parkash Purab, Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th, and, most recently, Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 350th martyrdom. These mega events have attracted lakhs, involved world leaders, and reintroduced the nation to the Gurus’ teachings. Heritage projects have reinforced this narrative shift:• The restoration of Sikh shrines and support for a permanent Guru Nanak Chair at a UK university. • The exemption of GST on langar (community kitchens) and enabling foreign contributions for gurudwaras. Add to that the FCRA waiver provided to Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, allowing devotees from around the world to make donations.• The opening of the long-awaited Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, granting Indian Sikhs unimpeded pilgrimage to one of their holiest sites after decades. By transforming Sultanpur Lodhi into a ‘heritage city’ and restoring the Jallianwala Bagh memorial, the government has connected Sikh struggle and sacrifice to the broader freedom narrative of modern India.Sikh Philosophy: A Modern Template for India What this transformation ultimately signals is a re-stitching of the Sikh Gurus into India’s living civilisational fabric. For centuries, their stories were a potent but often compartmentalised source of inspiration. Today, the virtues of Sikh philosophy—moral courage, egalitarianism, spiritual fearlessness, and the readiness to fight injustice—are being held up as a template for the Republic itself. The celebration of traditions like langar as a metaphor for social equality, the commemoration of sacrifice as a pillar of tolerance and justice, and the mass retelling of these histories promise to shape the national character for generations to come. Today, schools across India are celebrating Guru Tegh Bahadur’s legacy and learning how the Gurus stood up to Islamic zealots of their time. Initiatives like “Veer Bal Diwas" to commemorate the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s young sons and wide dissemination of the Guru’s principles in school textbooks and national events embody what may come to be seen as the ‘integration era’ of Sikh heritage with the Indian mainstream. The Moment At Red Fort: A People’s RenaissanceAt the Red Fort samagam, where history once witnessed state-sponsored brutality, the collective voice of lakhs in prayer, service, and remembrance is an act of civilisational renewal. It stands as a marker of how a government-led, people-powered movement can reclaim and reframe tradition. Bharat has transformed loss into inspiration, and marginal memory into collective national pride. Prime Minister Modi has articulated this new zeitgeist on umpteen occasions, observing that India’s survival and resurgence as a civilisation owes much to the Sikh Gurus, whose penance, sacrifice, and vision remain the conscience of a united Bharat. A decade after this transformation began, the change is visible, tangible, and widely felt—across public memory, in official policy, and through the palpable pride of millions.
If Mughal swords once tried to erase these pages of history, the new India has decided to inscribe them at its very core. In re-centering the Sikh Gurus and their message in India’s national story, the government has not only acknowledged Sikh contributions, but asserted that the future of Bharat depends on this mix of resilience and compassion—qualities the Gurus epitomised, and which now illuminate the path ahead for a truly inclusive Indian civilisation.