CHANDIGARH: The glory of Sikh history, which depicted the sacrifices made by warriors during Mughal rule, radiated through a light-and-sound show at Punjab Kala Bhawan on Saturday. The two-and-a-half-hour play, ‘Singh Soorme’, produced and directed by Jarnail Singh Gogi in association with Panj Pani Rang Manch, was composed by Sharanjit Singh and Satpal Singh Joshila.
Gogi said he staged the play to promote Sikh history, especially among youths. Though the era might be different, the evils prevalent in society have only changed their faces and not characteristics. So, these have to be dealt with in a tougher way even today.
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| Reward For Killing Singhs | |
| Zakaria Khan and Mir Mannu had given a call to throw out all the Sikhs from the province and had fixed rewards for their prosecution or liquidation. Ten rupees for information, fifty for killing and eighty for gringing a severed head of a Sikh. The Sikhs were hounded and killed as if in a game. | |
Although the Mughals wasted lacs like this, the Panth went on flourishing and multiplying.
The performance begins with the ruler of undivided Lahore, Zakoria Khan, receiving a dispatch from Nadir Shah, demanding money and other gifts as signs of accepting the latter’s subordination. Khan seeks advice of a dancing girl at his court, Gulu Bai. Acting on her advice, he sends a message to Sikhs to loot Nadir Shah, assuring them that his Lahore Army would not interfere.
When returning from Delhi to Iran, Nadir Shah halts in Punjab, where he is attacked by Sikhs at midnight. The warriors loot his treasure and also release all girls who were taken captive by Nadir Shah. Ignorant of Zakoria’s role in this incident, Nadir orders him to kill all Sikhs and fill up the the Golden Temple ‘sarowar’ in Amritsar.
Nadir Shah dies on the way and Ahmed Shah, who had accompanied Nadir Shah, feels that it is his responsibility to wipe out Sikhs. He scouts for a person whom he can crown as ‘Choudhary’ of Amritsar and who would help him to accomplish the task. Again taking Gulu Bai’s suggestion into consideration, Ahmed Shah names Massa Ranggar as his choice.
Meanwhile, a girl named Jeeto, who was the sister of sewadar Joga, is raped and killed. Joga reaches Darbar Sahib to take revenge against Massa. Ranggars soldiers assault him and throw him out. Joga brings the body of his sister home, puts his home on fire and sets out in search of Sikhs. He locates them in Lakhi forest. He narrates the insult of Darbar Sahib to Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh. They reach Patti, kill its ‘choudhary’ and snatch the revenue he was carrying to deposit.
Thereafter, when Sukha Singh and Mehtab Singh face resistence from soldiers in entering Darbar Sahib, the duo introduce themselves as ‘Choudharys’ of Patti who have come to pay revenue. Upon reaching the shrine, they see mujra going on. They behead Massa and run away with his head, bringing the curtains down on a valour-coloured script. Simran Singh enacted the part of Sukha Singh, Sunny Gill that of Mehtab Singh, Nagender Gakhad portrayed Zakoria Khan and Sunny Sandhu played Massa Rangar.