Author: Satbir Singh Bedi
Publication:
Date: April 16, 2008
At the time of partition of the country, Sikhs
were equally divided between India and Pakistan on the basis of the location
of their homes but they were not welcome in Pakistan and were thrown out of
their homes in Pakistan by Muslims.
Further, as they could be easily identified
because of their long hair and beard as well as turban, they were killed in
more numbers than the Hindus whose homes were in Pakistan. The Sikhs were
then left with no option but to go to India and they adopted India as their
country with unanimity.
At that time, no Sikh was against the idea
that India was their real homeland. Only negligible number of Sikhs remained
in Pakistan to serve as up keepers of the service in Gurudwaras (temples of
Sikhs).
Of course, Muslims may say that the large
number of Sikhs whose homes were in India, did not allow them to remain in
India and they too had to flee because of these Sikhs. That is also true but
the act of Sikh fanatics in killing Muslims at the time of partition was in
fact, a retaliatory measure.
While a sizable portion of Sikhs are not Hindus
(as they consider Sikhs as separate entity), some others might say that they
are Hindus too, besides being Sikhs. That means that they don't consider Sikhism
as a separate religion.
But according to some people, the numbers
of such persons are very very very less, and further dwindling. These people
hold the view that Sikh thought, philosophy and fundamentals came out of both
Islam and Hinduism, plus a lot of original wisdom added by Guru Nanak and
succeeding 9 Gurus for guidance of the entire humanity, and Sikhs in particular.
Two great religions of the day met, impacted
on each other, fusion took place, and there emerged a new religion Khalsa
out of the melting pot. Many a scholars have figuratively opined that the
Sikhism was born to the Hindu body, with Islamic soul, PRANA or life-force.
That may not convey much to an inquisitive mind. A more correct view is that
it took good points from all the existing religions at that time, including
Jainism, Buddhism, Sanatan Dharma, many faiths and sub-faiths, but drew largely
from Hinduism.
Hence the emergence of Sikhism which is now
history. According these same people, people of all hue and colours should
always bear it in mind to comprehend the whole phenomenon as any discussion
is liable to suffer without appreciating this all important truth. Their advice
to their Hindu and brethren of other religions is to accept Sikhism as a separate
religion, and immediately, and without any delay or murmur. Its non-acceptance
has been doing a great harm to the country, creating friction and discord
among peace-loving communities for a long time. It is essentially a different
religion, and has to be accepted as such. Once that is done, these people
think and I, too think that the Sikhs would calm down too.
Thus they will be able to devote fully to
the cause of nation-building, instead of diverting their energies to prove
this ticklish point as this worry would go away from their heads.
There are large number of Sikhs who think
on the above lines but there are some Sikhs like me who think that Sikhism
is part of Hinduism but the people who think that Sikhism is a separate religion
are perhaps more in number and there is no harm in saying that Sikhism is
a different religion provided India remains a country of the Sikhs and there
is no demand for creation of a separate Khalistan.
I think that just as I have a right to express
my opinion, Sikhs who consider Sikhism to be a separate religion too have
a right to express their opinion provided we do not go against the spirit
of national unity.
However, some fanatic Hindu leaders too had
played their part in bringing about the friction between Hindus and Sikhs
by insisting that Punjabi was not their mother tongue when in fact, they spoke
Punjabi in their homes. These Hindus also insisted that Sikhs were part of
Hindus. So, all this talk by Hindus irritated the Sikhs and forced them to
give a call for a separate buffer State for Sikhs.
However,my appeal to Hindu brethren of Punjab
is to accept that Punjabi is their mother tongue and that Sikhism is a separate
religion, to soothe the bitter feelings of Sikhs.
At the same, my appeal to my Sikh brethren
is to accept India as their country since they chose it themselves and remain
faithful to its unity and integrity.
After all, it is India that had a Sikh General
and is having a Sikh Prime Minister. So there is no discrimination against
the Sikhs in India. So, let us remain loyal to it.