Bhai Vir Singh.pdf - Vidhia.com

Father of Modern Punjabi Literature / 15
once upon a time." Efforts of those who wish to resist the
onslaughts of Christianity are feeble and will prove
abortive like a leperwithouthands andfeet tryingto save
a boyfalling offa rooftop. 1
The rate of conversion to Christianity was,. in actual fact
never high or alarming and the newspaper commentator's
real point seems to lie in his sarcasm about the Sikhs'
weakening loyalty to the traditions of their faith. Yet there
were instances which aroused the community's concern. In
1853,Maharaja. Duleep Singh,thelastSikhrulerofthePunjab,
whohadcomeunderBritishtutelageatthetenderageofeight
accepted the Christian faith--a conversion hailed as "the first
instanceofanIndianPrinceto the communionof the Church."2
Duleep Singh made liberal donations out of his allowance for
Christian charity and the maintenance of mission to set up a
station in his capital and provided funds for its maintenance.
"Until the Rajah of Kapurthala invited missionaries to his
capital,noinstancehadoccurredinIndia,inwhichtheprogress
of the Gospel had beenfostered by a rule:r."3 Afew years later,
the Kapurthala Raja's nephewKanwarHarnamSinghbecame
a Christian. The Gospel was preached in the neighbourhood
of the Golden Temple. For this purpose one of the surrounding
Bungas, or pilgrims' inns, had been acquired on rent.
Inthebeginningof 1873, four SikhstudentsoftheAmritsar
Mission School proclaimed their intention of renouncingtheir
faithinfavour ofChristianity. This shockedSikhfeeling. Added
to this was a series of carping lectures in Amritsar on the Sikh
faith and the narration of Guru Nanak's life in deliberately
garbleddetailbyShardhaRamPhillauriwhohadbeenengaged
bythe British to write a history of theirfaith. To considerthese
matters some promient Sikhs, including Thakur Singh
1. The Khalsa Akhbar, Lahore, May 25, 1894 (translated from Punjabi).
2. J. Johnston Walsh, A Memorial of the Fattehgarh Mission, p.l13.
3. Annual Report of the Lodiana Mission, American Presbyterian Mission
Press, Ludhialla, 1862, p.51.
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