Haqiqat Rai was a 15-year-old Hindu boy in Sialkot in 18th-century India. He is known as the first noted victim of Islamic blasphemy laws. He was stoned to death in Lahore.

In 2022, India witnessed a perverted and dangerous form of Islamic outrage over so-called blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad by former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The suspended BJP leader had made the allegedly controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad and his wife Ayesha while responding to Islamist Taslim Ahmed Rahmani during a TV debate where Rahmani was repeatedly insulting the Shivling found at the Gyanvapi complex of Varanasi.

Beheading calls and death and rape threats issued to Nupur Sharma by Islamists had become a routine for a few weeks across the country. Violence and arson also emerged as a byproduct of the same. Several persons were killed by Islamists for merely extending support to Nupur Sharma on social media. A few months after this, as India sees the Basant Panchami of 2023, it is time to remember Haqiqat Rai, the first Hindu victim of the blasphemy law according to Sharia rule.

Haqiqat Rai Puri was born into a Khatri family in 1719 at Sialkot which is now in Pakistani Punjab. Lala Bhagmal Rai was his father’s name. Goran Devi was his mother. His was a rich family in Punjab that followed Vedic Sanatan Dharma. It is notable that Hindu Khatris were among the first to support Guru Nanak Singh at the time when he founded Sikhism. Khatris would often send their elder child to become a member of the fighters’ group in Sikhism specially established to protect Sanatan Hindu Dharma from the Islamic tyrants.

Haqiqat Rai Puri was a quick learner right from his childhood. He developed a keen interest in Hindu Dharmik books since he was 4 years old. Guru Har Rai Acharya Ji would teach her Hindu Dharmik scriptures which he quickly grasped. It was the teachings of his parents and master that made H/aqiqat Rai Puri a staunch devotee of Sanatan Dharma. He was married to Laxmi.

As the years passed by, he went on to complete his studies that he learned from his master. But, this was not sufficient for a person like him to make a living in those days. Persian was the official language of knowledge, administration, and communication in the Mughal rule. Therefore, to study Persian, Haqiqat Rai Puri was sent to a local Maulana where he was admitted with other Muslim students. At this time, he was just 12 years old.