SIKHER KATHĀ (kathā, i.e. story, of the Sikhs) by Jatinderanāth Samaddar, published in 1912, is a five-act drama, in Bengali language, dealing primarily with the life and work of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh. It has, in all, about thirty characters including a few historical personalities such as Emperor Auraṅgzīb, Gurū Tegh Bahādur, Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, Sāhibzādā Ajīt Siṅgh and Rām Rāi. The play begins with the martyrdom of Gurū Tegh Bahādur who laid down his life espousing the cause of the freedom of belief. Sudev, a youth of Magadha, who had undergone the rites in response to the call of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh at Anandpur on the Baisākhī day of 1699, acts as a mouthpiece of the playwright several of whose enunciations, such as the one about Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's resort to arms being a departure from Gurū Nānak’s teaching, are contrary to Sikh understanding.

Himādrī Banerjee