The book is an ode to the unswerving believers and warriors who remain unnamed and their contribution to the Khadku Sangarsh unacknowledged. Over the years, as it has become easier to talk about the struggle without repercussions and Sikh masses no longer consider the topic a taboo, many people who may or may not have played a role in the insurgency have come forward to claim their “fair share of fame”. On the contrary, this book comes out as a humble attempt to recognize the immeasurable contribution of those Singhs and Kaurs whom we remember every day in our Ardaas.
Sikh history can only be narrated accurately by using tools rooted in Sikh traditions. Though contemporary literary sources have satisfactorily relayed to us the history of Khadku Sangarsh, they seldom encapsulate all aspects of it. Measuring the success or failure of the struggle using units like loss of life and livelihood, and political and social changes has done injustice to the cause. This book seeks to provide an alternate perspective- our perspective, using our tools-Sakhi.
Bhai Daljit Singh has carried forward the tradition of relaying history through Sakhi, a tradition passed down through centuries and used by writers such as Bhai Rattan Singh Bhangu and Prof. Puran Singh. Bhai Sahib has woven personal experiences and those of his fallen comrades with facts to relay history in the form of Sakhi. He has managed to answer some of the biggest questions in the minds of today’s youth of Punjab- the Why and How of Khadku Sangarsh, in the very first Sakhi of the book. It is a story of nameless Singhs who served the Panth with unfaltering resilience and recognized Akaal Purakh as the ultimate source of all actions and outcomes. As you go through the book, you realize that it has not only preserved the unembellished truth of the Sangarsh, but also succeeded at capturing its spirit.
As Bhai Sahib has mentioned numerous times in the book that it was the collective Ardaas of the Sikh world that supported them during the Sangarsh,I think it is the same collective Ardaas that has presented us with this book. It is heartening to know that there is more to come from the same pen this book came from. I hope the wait is not too long.
Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh