१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
the nature and effect of that slavery, in those days. And,
therefore, the Sikhs and the Jats could not conceive the idea
and help in the realisation of a United Indian Nation.⁶
The men who represented the English Government in
the Punjab understood this weak link in the chain of the
Revolution and turned it to their advantage. They began
the policy of increasing the hatred of the Sikhs and the
Jats for the Mahomedans. They were reminded of an
ancient prophecy which was current among the Sikhs, that
the Khalsa would one day march on Delhi—the spot
where the Mogul Emperor formerly killed their Guru—and
raze it to the ground. Now the time had come for the
prophecy to be fulfilled! But if, according to this pro-
phecy, only the Khalsa Sahib were to march on Delhi and
conquer, what would be the gain to the English? Instead
of Bahadur Shah, a Ranjit Singh might rule at Delhi. It
is natural that those whose interests lay in ousting both
Bahadur and Ranjit from the throne of India should
think it advisable to change this one-sided prophecy a
little! In this revised and enlarged edition of the prophecy
it was so written that Delhi would be razed only when
the Khalsa and the Company would join hands! What a
prophecy! But the pity is that it turned out true! The
English took every unscrupulous advantage of the situa-
tion. To fan still further the hatred of the Sikhs for Delhi,
a false proclamation was posted that the first order of the
Emperor was to massacre all the Sikhs! Poor old Em-
peror! What an irony! At that very moment, he was
everyday going about the streets of Delhi and saying that
this war was only against the Feringhi and no damage
should evermore be done even to the hair of any Indian.⁷
6. Sir John Lawrence in a letter wrote:—"Had the Sikhs
joined against us, nothing, humanly speaking, could have saved us.
No man could have hoped, much less foreseen, that these people
would have withstood the temptation to avenge their loss of national
independence."—October 21st, 1857.
7. Metcalfe.
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