Mr. Speaker, when Hindu Brahmins from the Kashmir Valley faced persecution from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, they sought refuge with the ninth Sikh guru, Tegh Bahadur, whose name means “brave with a sword”. Aurangzeb had offered them a cruel choice: abandon their faith or offer a great sacrifice. On hearing this, a young Gobind Rai, who would go on to become the 10th Sikh guru and who was the son of Tegh Bahadur, looked to his father and asked, “Father, what sacrifice could be greater than your own?”
With those words echoing in his heart and mind, Guru Tegh Bahadur set out for Delhi, with the faithful standing firm at his side. They accepted torture and death, but they did not bend and they did not yield. They stood unbroken in their own faith, and in so doing, they protected the faith of another. It is in memory of this that I rise today.