Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: December 20, 1999
URL: http://us.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/20varsha.htm
My mind is in a more chaotic state
than usual. It's the result of a periodic affliction, under which spells
I suffer greatly but emerge none the wiser. I'm wondering, could the current
virus lead me to new ideological plains? See, after the Kamala Das episode,
I had "words" with my Sardar. It began with his expressing admiration for
her courage to forsake all for Love, and continued through sizzling attacks
which had nil to do with the dippy dame, and ended with light spanking.
All in all, very stimulating, indeed. And educational, too. For I unexpectedly
got a glimpse into a mindset I never associated with Sikhs -- that of the
minorities. MY Sardar?! I quietly died.
I've always been baffled by the
large chunk of hate mail from Singhs. It's as easy to delete the trash
from the Sens and Nambiars (label them "pinko"), as from the Khans. But,
Sardars?! I just couldn't fathom why they hated me to death, and why there
should be more of those who hate me. To my mind, Sikhs just couldn't be
all that goes by the Indian aberration known as "secularists." They form
nearly 33 per cent of the Indian army, and I couldn't see them as stupid,
limp-wristed wimps. I liked them, and so they *had* to like me. Therefore,
each hate mail was a personal breach of faith.
Now I find that I never knew them
at all... Of course, I made the classic boo-boo of bunching different individuals
under one tag, and I'm doing it again by ascribing one Sikh's thoughts
to the lot -- but that's how things work in the real world. Here are my
findings: Sikhs believe Sikhism to be a very distinctive minority religion
of India. Sikhs detest me because they see me as a symbol of a majoritarian
threat to their identity... When I finally managed to drag this out of
my reluctant Sardar, I was too shocked to react, let alone rebut. Actually,
I burst into tears.
There are about 18 million Sikhs
in India, comprising 1.8 per cent of the population. They form 62.95 per
cent of Punjab's 20 million people while... Screw stats, here are vignettes
of what attracted me. 1860: Baba Ram Singh, leader of the Namdhari movement,
raising the banner of revolt against the British regime... 1913: The founding
of the Ghadar Party in SF to liberate India from the British yoke... Udham
Singh's defence of his assassination of Lt Gov Michael O'Dwyer: "He wanted
to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him"... 1942: Their
taking the lead in Netaji's Indian National Army for the liberation of
India, with Gen Mohan Singh organising the Sikhs of Malaysia against the
British... 27 October, 1947: "The British Indian Army transformed into
the Indian Army, with the first Sikh regiment arriving in Srinagar to save
it from the marauding tribesmen sent from across the border by Pakistan"...
But that ain't the point. While
arguing, I'd said: "Why would I even blink if my daughter wanted to marry
a Sikh? There'd be no cultural or religious disparity she'd have to face."
Which had brought forth the Hinduism-wants- to-swallow-our-identity line...
Thing is, Hindus are conditioned to regard Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism
as "panths" or sects. My folks told me that the elder son would become
a Sikh while the younger remained Hindu; that the Gurus were devotees of
Ram and Krishna; that the Marathi sant-poet Namdev's hymns are included
in the Granth Sahib; that, prior to the tenth Guru, there was no separate
name for the followers of Guru Nanak and they were considered a part and
parcel of Hinduism; that Guru Govind Singh gave the name "Sikh" to those
who were willing to fight the tyranny of the Mughals. I was taught that
Hinduism is a generic name given to all the faiths which have roots in
India and believe in Parmatma (God), Prarthana (prayer), Punerjanma (reincarnation),
Purushartha (Karma) and Prani Daya (kindness to all living beings). Sikhism
believes in all...
So my Sardar said, "We believe in
martial traditions; we do not believe in a caste system; and we most certainly
do not worship idols." And I wondered, is the Kshatriya not martial? Is
there no caste among Sikhs? One of the greatest modern Sikh leaders, Master
Tara Singh, petitioned the GoI to provide special benefits to Harijan Sikhs!
He was also one of the founding members of the VHP! At a meeting in Bombay
on August 19, 1964, Tara Singh declared, "Sikhs and Hindus are not separate.
Sikhs will survive only if Hindus survive. Sikhs are part and parcel of
the Hindu Society. Guru Govind Singhji brought in Gurumukhi the wisdom
and philosophy from our scriptures and Puranas. Are we going to give up
this heritage?"
And as for idol worship, what few
understand is that Hinduism is monotheistic as well as catholic. Parmeshwar,
or Brahmatma, is the pivot, the godhead, into which Man will merge on achieving
moksha. Its catholicity lies in allowing Man to think for himself and find
his own path to moksha. Hinduism has its icons -- like Islam has the Ka'ba
-- which are only a means of concentrating the mind. Sikhs worship the
Granth Sahib and pictures of the Gurus -- aren't they icons? Till Durgayana
Mandir was built, Durga's idol was worshipped in the Harmandir Saheb!
I wondered, when did this wedge
of irreconcilable differences get driven between Hindus and Sikhs? What
are the roots of Sikhism...? Here are some stanzas from the Gurus and the
Guru Granth Saheb:
* Taha hum adhik tapasya sadhi /
Mahakal kalika aradhi ~ Guru Govind Singh
(There I worshipped and did penance
to seek Kali.)
* Ram katha jug jug atal / Sab koi
bhakhat net Suragbas Raghuver kara / Sagri puri samet Jo en Katha sune
aur gaave / Dukh pap tah nikat na aave ~ Guru Govind Singh
(The story of Ram is immortal and
everyone should read it. Ram went to heaven along with the whole city.
Whoever listens to or sings His story, will be free of sin and sorrow.)
* Kahaiya Hinduan daro na ab tum
/ Im likho pathon dil sain Guru Nanak ki gadi par / Ab hain Tegh Bahadur
Unko jo Muhummadi kar lihoon / To ham hain sab sadar Arya Dharma rakhak
pragatiyo hain ~ Guru Tegh Bahadur
(Hindus, do not fear, Guru Tegh
Bahadur is Guru Nanak's successor. If Muslims bother you, I'll take care
of them. For I am the protector of Hinduism.)
* Tin te sun Siri Tegh Bahadur /
Dharam nibaahan bikhe Bahadur Uttar bhaniyo, dharam hum Hindu / Atipriya
ko kin karen nikandu Lok parlok ubhaya sukhani / Aan napahant yahi samani
Mat mileen murakh mat loi / Ise tayage pramar soi Hindu dharam rakhe jag
mahin / Tumre kare bin se it nahin ~ Guru Tegh Bahadur's reply to Aurangzeb's
ordering him to embrace Islam.
(In response, Shri Tegh Bahadur
says, My religion is Hindu and how can I abandon what is so dear to me?
This religion helps you in this world and that, and only a fool would abandon
it. God himself is the protector of this religion and no one can destroy
it.)
* Sakal jagat main Khalsa Panth
gaje / Jage dharam Hindu sakal bhand bhaje ~ Guru Govind Singh.
(The Khalsa sect will roar around
the world. Hinduism will awaken, its enemies will flee.)
What's more heart-breaking is the
new-found empathy between certain Sikhs and Pakistanis. How could a "Sang
Sabha" of Sikhs -- at Lahore -- listen to the Jamaat-e-Islami say: "Do
not consider yourselves alone in the fight for freedom. All the Muslims
of the world are with you." Have they so soon forgotten the Hindu and Sikh
corpse-laden trains from Pakistan? In June, N S Malik wrote about the training
of Paki soldiers: "To Pakistan's army, 'the only good Indian is a dead
Indian,' and the funniest item of the Pagal Gymkhana in their cantonments
is the beating given to a sickly looking man depicted as a Sikh, a symbol
of India. Children and adults are blindfolded and made to take a stick
and hit this effigy. The audience gets fantastic fun out of it." Such Sikhs
are the progeny of the clergy of the Golden Temple, led by Arur Singh,
who had honoured the massacring Gen Dyer by declaring him a Sikh, on condition
that he renounce one cigarette a year...
I've been told that Sikhs feel "betrayed
badly by India." Or, "I can't understand how they can fight for that country
or wave the flag merely because they were born there." Or, "Do you expect
them to stand up for India if they had seen their near ones die?" Look
at it this way: There's Papa, Mama, Big Brother, Little Brother, Sister.
One day, Big Brother badly beats up Little Brother for being naughty. So
Little Brother throws stuff around, does considerable damage and leaves
home. Next, he calls Mama "that woman," and demands a share of the estate
on the threat of blowing up the family... I'm sorry, but I spit on this
type.
The Blue Star fiasco cost India
many brave jawans since they were ordered to minimise the destruction of
the Golden Temple and thus were unnecessarily exposed to militant fire.
However, the crux is: The Sikh community itself bears as great a share
of the blame as Mrs G and the Congress. For they turned a blind eye to
the militants holed up in the/ gurudwara and who ventured out to murder
and create mayhem at will. As one of my Mallus had said, "If Guruvayoor
or Sabarimala were being used in such a manner, I'd be the first to cheer
along a military action to flush out the bastards."
I'm sick of hearing about how Sikhs
feel aggrieved by the 1984 massacres. If they're so aggrieved, how and
why did 62.95 per cent Sikh Punjab vote Congress...? Did Balasaheb or Rajju
Bhaiya lead the rioters in Delhi? Did Hindus murder Sikhs -- or did the
acolytes of the Nehru-Gandhis...?
And, of course, the pinkos... Vijay
Prashad, an assistant professor of International Studies at Trinity College,
Hartford, and a member of FOIL, wrote about the Tenth Hindu Conference
in NYC, where a resolution was passed urging "all the Hindus of the world
to act in a broad and nationalistic manner rising above their personal
beliefs and creeds, parochial languages, and provincial and sectarian considerations
such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamilian, Telugu, Bengali, Jains, Sikhs, etc."
Prashad's note: "The VHP offers the Hindu (and Sikh and Jain!) migrant
an easy task: give money for work in India, to help those Hindus who are
in 'distress'."
A Singh, professor at RI College
commenting on a book on Tipu Sultan: "...surely most of butchering of Sikhs
in the 18th cen took place at the hands of invading Muslims or Moghuls,
but many Hindu rulers and/or Hindu ministers, for example, of Sirhand and
Lahore governors were effectively responsible for much violence against
the Sikhs. But we tend to evade or suppress these facts to present Sikhism
as an anti-Islamic tradition allied unambiguously with Hinduism." What
to say?
Since May 1941, pinkos have advocated
the multinational theory. A CPI resolution classified 16 Indian nations
(Pathans, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Hindustanis, Tamils, Kannadigas, Malayalees
etc) and stated that each should be granted the right of secession. Bhindranwale
convinced thousands of Sikhs -- one of the most industrious and prosperous
groups -- that India made slaves of them, and the Intellectuals stressed
that because they had been wronged, they have the right to separate. The
destruction of the Babri by Hindus is "vandalism," but the terrorism of
Khalistanis and Kashmiri Muslims is a "resurgence of sub-nationalities."
They set the stage - - and the Sikhs danced. What a tragedy...
