Sikhs- Transition of image from Braves to weak!

Islamic Conquest of Sikhism;
For centuries Muslims have been trying to conquer Sikhism and in the process killing 5th, 9th and sons of 10th guru. In 1972 war Pakistan blamed East India for division of their country into Bangladesh and Pakistan (little realizing that they themselves were responsible for division of India into India (east India) and Pakistan (west-India). Creation of Bangladesh was beginning of Islamic conquest of Sikhism and transformation of Sikhs to weak.

Dedicated to Canadian anti-Sikhs; I call them anti-Sikh, as 99% of them do not keep 5 Ks essential to be called a Sikh. Canadian Sikhs are only interested to follow the footsteps of Paki Muslims, the descendants of Mughals, the killers of several Sikh gurus. 

Lies being Taught; Sikhs are brave;

Now the present day truth; History of Transition of image of Sikhs from braves to weak began after creation of Bangladesh from division of Pakistan in 1972. From 1970s Sikh terrorists (with propaganda, financing, arming from Muslims across the border) made religion a tool to garner Satta. Which began with Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973.
 
         "The leadership within the Akali Dal played into the hands of the terrorists when they began to proclaim that Sikh politics could not be separated from the Sikh religion since this was the fact of life proclaimed by the gurus.  

        There were two simple reasons why no Sikh challenged this concept created so conveniently by the Akali Dal. The common man amongst the Sikhs was not really bothered about such issues; he was too busy building a life for himself. Secondly there was an acute lack of knowledge of Sikh history and scriptures amongst the Sikh masses. Consequently, the Akali Dal could feed their Sikh followers anything and they would accept it as the gospel truth.

        The educated Akali leadership such as Prakash Singh Badal, Justice Gurnam Singh and Lachman Singh Gill believed that they could politically outmaneuver their uneducated colleagues and take over the leadership of the Akalis.

        Consequently, these educated leaders allowed communalism to cast a shadow over their party’s political concepts. Their reasoning: their existence was dependent on Sikh votes and such votes could only come their way through religious exploitation.

        These leaders felt that since the Akali Dal could never come to power in Punjab before 1966 and since the state was not Sikh-dominated, the Punjabi suba movement had to be started.

        However, even after obtaining the Punjab suba in 1966, their political fortunes did not improve significantly. The dominance of the Sikh community was confined to only 2%, which they realized was insufficient to keep them in power because of the inherent conflicts within the party itself.

        When they did come to power, they ended up breaking into two or three factions; sometimes the divide occurred between the educated and the uneducated sections. Their government would always fall before the full 5 year term only to be succeeded in a by-election by the congress party.

        Another cause for the growing frustration of the Akalis was the fact that the Sikh community at large did not fall for their ploy that they were the only spokesman of their community or for that matter that the Sikh Panth was in danger.

        Gradually, santdom began to dominate Punjabi politics. Fateh singh then, Bhindranwala now. All these uneducated jathedars who took over the command of Akali leadership knew the words of scriptures but not their spirit.

        The opposition has mentioned the fact that Bhindranwala was an election agent or was supported by one or two congress MPs and that he was a plant of congress(I). The opposition blames the congress(I) for the emergence of Bhindranwala; but I would like to know who invited Bhindranwala into Guru Nanak Niwas and into the premises of the Golden Temple. The SGPC president Mr Tohra and the moderate leadership of the Akalis helped Bhindranwala, otherwise nobody can live in the premises of Golden Temple without permission of SGPC President. After all, Bhindranwala did not just walk in.

        I feel, that they used Bhindranwala for their own political reasons against the government to alienate and commercialize Sikh votes to be used by them in future. They build up Bhindranwala not realizing that, much later, he would become Frankenstein. But towards the end, the Akalis became helpless. The Frankenstein they had created, under the garb of their ‘Dharam Yudh’ for their own political ends, was to eventually compete with them. And ultimately to swallow them.

        One of the reasons, why the army was suddenly sent into the Golden temple – I say suddenly because all along, the government was reluctant to send in the army- was the threat to kill all congress (I) MPs and MLAs on 5 June 1984 and their plan to begin mass killings of Hindus in Villages.

        In my district, Balbera, in Patiala four or five Arthiyas were killed hardly a fortnight before the army action: the mass killings had already started. In model town an architect, a doctor and other innocent Hindus were being killed. They aimed to kill more. Actually they wanted to start a civil war between the Hindus and the Sikhs.

        They were killing the Sikhs who had vocally opposed Bhindranwala and the idea of Khalistan.

        During my mass contact programme in Patiala district in May 1984, we faced so many angry people. The Patiala gurudwara dukhniwaran was coming up as sub center of the terrorist movement. Harvinder singh Khalsa was camping in our district and coordinating the activities from there. People I my constituency refused to talk to me. Why are you not taking any action they asked? Gurdwaras were no longer gurdwaras if terrorists were hiding there, they told me. How many more innocent people will be killed?

        These activities must have prompted the army action. Otherwise, the army might have been better prepared. The army had thought the operation would only last one hour. They would surround Harminder sahib and ask the people inside to surrender and the later would come out. And it would be all over.

        Had the terrorists done so all this would have been avoided. But people inside the golden temple began to fire. Bhindranwala went into the Akal Takth because he realised that the government would not enter Harminder sahib. Bhindranwala took full advantage of the fact that Sikh feelings would be hurt if anything happens to the Akal takth. As a Sikh, I reacted strongly but it had all become too much.

        When Bhindranwala shifted into Akal Takth, Sikhs should have openly to criticized his move. Sikhs should have also told the SGPC President and the other Akali Leaders who had encouraged all this to bring Bhindranwala out of the Akal Takth. They should have strongly objected to the role of the Akalis.

        I did at that time appealed to the Sikhs to come out and strongly oppose Bhindranwala moving into the Akal Takth. In fact, I said that Bhindranwala should be asked to leave the Golden Temple. Why did he not come out and fight if he was so brave? If he was innocent, why did he not come out and prove his innocence? Why was he taking shelter in the premises of the golden temple and encouraging smugglers, criminals, anti social and anti national elements. Why was he collecting arms through smugglers, exhorting money encouraging people to loot and share the booty with them? Is it Saintly? He definitely had links with Pakistanis, Canadians and Americans.   

        Ever since, Tohra took up the SGPC Presidentship, he has concentrated on bringing politics into the gurudwaras instead of teaching the Sikh religion from there. He involved the Sikh religion with politics to such an extent that religion was totally forgotten during his tenure.

        Politics and religion should be completely separated. The Hindus actually began to feel claustrophobic after the hukumnama was issued in 1978 against the Nirankaris. Hindus began to feel that if it is Nirankaris today, tomorrow it will be them. All the math’s within the community ; the radhaswamis, the Udasis, the Namdharis, the Nirmalas etc began to worry about the fact that political hukamnamas could be handed out to them as well. We Sikhs who belong to the congress party began to feel that in future they could issue the hukamnama at will and even command us to join the Akali Party.

        The liberal Sikh was also outraged after all, THE Gurus taught us religious freedom and that was what was being taken away in name of hukamnamas. There can be a few Nirankaris, Radhaswamins, Udasis Nirmalas in each family. They cannot tell us not to mix with our brothers if they become Nirankaris, Radhaswamins, udasis nirmalas etc. where is then the religious freedom the Gurus taught us?

        Immediately after this Hukamnama, I wrote an article denouncing the Hukamnama. I wanted to create a controversy in the universities about this. I had said that these were political hukamnams which did not have any religious meaning. At the same time, Tohra had written to the then railway Minister Madhu Dandwate to name the flying Mail as Golden temple express. I objected to this. I even wrote a letter to Mr Dandwate to warn him that this kind of thing would create problems between the Hindus and Sikhs. The Akalis would want the Kirtan to be relayed and smoking prohibited. They really wanted a gurudwara on wheels.

        Can the intellectuals deny the fact that when any brave and democratic Sikh stood up to question the barbaric acts, duly sanctioned by the author of ‘hit lists’ living in the safety of Akal Takht, he was called a traitor to the community and shot dead. The shooting of the Sikhs by these terrorists was part of a design to subvert the inherent courage of the Sikh community as a whole and reduce us to a community of weak in subjugation to these terrorists.

        The ‘hit list’ stopped the thought process in the minds of many Sikh intellectuals. It conjured up the picture of the menacing shape of the loaded machinegun which stopped dead in his tracks any resistance to what these terrorists had set out to achieve.

        Many Sikh intellectuals may have seen the signs of communalism, emerging in the Sikh community; in face of hitlists, – they preferred to take shelter under the argument that Akali demands were Punjabi demands and the only solution possible was for the government to surrender to the ‘dharam yudh’ of Akali Dal. In fact they were giving up their bravery they were so well known for.

        A large number of Sikh intellectual may have spoken out against terrorism in Punjab, but they did so from the safety of their homes and offices. Why did they not go alone or in a sangat of tens, hundreds, thousands, to the Akal Takth to demand that Bhindranwala and his murdering henchmen vacate their sacrilegious occupancy of our most sacred gurudwara. We Sikhs should have had the courage to solve this problem ourselves. I am as guilty as the next Sikh because I was quite content to let the government cleanse my home. I should set my own house in order.

        The Akali Dal and the SGPC have by not throwing out Bhindranwala from the premises of the Golden Temple lost the right to speak for and on behalf of Sikhs. The Sikh community as a whole expects that the head priest atleast should be above the fear of man but these head priests became soundless wonders.

        The Akalis were not really concerned with the welfare of the Sikhs. They could not see beyond their own political concerns.   In the early 80s many of the Sikhs who lived outside Punjab used to tell me that the movement for khalistan had made them feel insecure. Some of them were bureaucrats and each time they went to Punjab, they were asked if they were indeed going back to Khalistan. Or they were continually mocked about when Khalistan would be born.

        I went to see Tohra about this fear.  I told him that I had come to see him as a Sikh and not as a politician. But when I expressed concern about what Sikhs outside Punjab felt, he merely said nothing could be achieved without kurbani.

        This was not too different from what Bhindranwala voiced in his tapes. The Sikhs who lived outside Punjab were traitors for him. “Let them die” he had said. “for they do not do our work”.

        Tohra does not believe in any religion. He has ruined the image of the Sikhs. In fact, I hold him responsible for the tarnished image of the Sikhs. I cannot stay in the Harminder Sahib or in the SGPC without his permission.

        Why should there be an office of a political party in any Gurudwara. Nine crores of SGPC money was misused for political purposes.

        I would also hold the leadership of Akali Dal responsible for what has happened, because they turned out to be so weak. They had known Tohra’s game all along and did nothing letting themselves be out maneuvered by the extremists. Towards the end they even pleaded to the govt to save them because they feared that the terrorists would blow up the gurudwara.

        Tohra is really the evil genius behind the lot of the disruption which has taken place in Punjab. In fact both Tohra and Harkishen Singh Surjeet. The later has been chief advisor to Tohra since at least 1978. The way he brought Harkishen Singh Surjeet into the Rajya sabha appears most illogical. Why should the Akalis support a CPM leader as a Rajya Sabha member rather than one of their own men?

        When Harkishen Singh Surjeet began to criticise the Akalis and to project the CPM, Badal realized Tohra’s game. His eyes were opened. Tohra was responsible for planting CPM card holders as pracharaks (junir Granthis) in nearly 75% of the Gurudwaras durtying end seventies.

        The Akalis hate me. They think that I am anti Sikh. I am not anti sikh. I anti Akali. They have ruined the image of Sikhs. For the first time the differences between the hindus and the Sikhs has taken such an ugly turn.

        They did have the Fateh Singh agitation, but hatred was never there. The Sikhs are known for their tolerance.  They respect other religion. Guru Nank Dev even sent people to Mecca. The Sikhs are very liberal, but these Akalis made us feel as if we are intolerant.

        The Akali agitation has done incalculable damage to the Sikh community. We are now shouting and screaming after the army action. We say our sentiments are hurt. These are hollow sentiments. Where were these sentiments, when Hindus and Sikhs were being killed. Why were we silent when Hindus were pulled out of buses and shot dead.  
         The transition of image of Sikhs as brave turned to weak when Sikh terrorists with machine guns shot dead unarmed innocents Hindus and Sikhs. Terrorists measured their bravery by the size of their machine guns, anti tank guns and mines, Rocket propelled guns with which they killed unarmed innocents humans. Anybody with a machine gun can kill any number of unarmed humans as the number of bullets in his machine. Actually it is not bravery and never was. It was show of cowardice. there was a time when 2 persons were afraid to accost a single sikh with flowing beard. people of all walks of life would trust a Sikh. but since the days when it took 8-10 sikhs with machine guns to kill unarmed 4-5 commuters, the image of sikhs as brave community has turned to that of weaklings. The final blow to the trust and confidence which Sikhs generated with their presence occurred when protectors became killers. Sikh bodyguards did not kill Indira Gandhi alone. They also killed the trust and confidence which the community generated among people, in last few hundred years, by their very presence.      

        The blow to the Sikh community has been quite profound. We were a proud community. We thought we were the cat’s whiskers. The savior of all. But now it was seen that we did not had the guts to face the situation. We, the Sikhs, should have the ones to throw Bhindranwala out of the premises of Golden Temple. We are now finding it difficult to admit our failure. Our so called dynamism and bravery has disappeared. Still I am optimistic. Time is great healer. The Sikhs have to search within themselves. The healing touch should come from the Sikhs themselves. I must search myself for a healing touch and finding it must help others to do so.

Source;

Punjab story – Amarjit Kaur. She is daughter of late Col Raghubir Singh, former CM of Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union (PEPSU). She was married to Devinder Singh, son of former maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh. She has served as member of Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms from the 1976 to 1988. She also contested Lok Sabha elections as the Congress candidate from Patiala seat in 1985, which she lost by a thin margin. In 2009, she joined SAD.

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