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True Lies
 Worldwide, the
Khalsa Panth celebrated Vaisakhi this week, and vowed to re-connect
to the spirit of teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. The fervor of
Vaisakhi and the religiosity of the Guru Maneo Granth Jagriti Yatra
have forced millions to focus upon the Sikhs and learn what this
great religion is all about.
Like the
proverbial 'korrku' in the 'daal', India's top Hindu
right wing leader L K Advani has been trying hard to create a bitter
taste.
From Gandhi's 'My
Experiments with Truth' to Jawaharlal Nehru's "Discovery of India'
to Lal Krishan Advani's 'My Country, My Life', the Sikhs have
continued to contend with lies, falsehood, hate and condescension.
Gandhi called Guru Gobind Singh, 'a misguided patriot' and now
Advani says that 'Sikhs were created to protect the Hindus'.
Confronted with his promises, Nehru invariably retorted, 'the times
have changed.'
Advani, in his
book My Country, My Life (My Lies too?) has said it was his
party's pressure that pushed Indira Gandhi to launch Operation
Bluestar against Harmandir Sahib, and that he had always been
opposed to All India Sikh Gurdwara Act and the Anandpur Sahib
Resolution. Badal has for years been pretending that he wants an All
India Sikh Gurdwara Act and had led the morcha (agitation)
for inclusion of Chandigarh in Punjab and more rights to the states
under the Anandpur Sahib resolution.
Sukhbir's father,
Parkash Singh Badal, who very sincerely said a few weeks ago that he
had no role in making Sukhbir the party president and it was the
fervent wish of other Akali leaders, is himself not known for any
ideological stances. He has often termed the relationship with the
BJP as one with a brother and prides himself on his ties with the
saffron right wing party that is fond of underlining that the Sikhs
are a part of the Hindus.
To Badal, it may
sound acceptable since his presence at jagratas, at
havans, in temples, performing aarti etc and his wife's
visits to samadhs etc are pretty frequent. Sukhbir Singh
Badal, when caught on the wrong foot, failed to present even a savvy
excuse. He had nothing to say as to why the President of the Akali
Dal has not read the book written by his alliance partner's Prime
Ministerial candidate, that too when the contents of the book are
triggering controversies every single day.
Sukhbir has
rarely been seen with any book in his political career and is known
more for his brashness rather than any scholarly interests. The
Akali Dal president, not even a baptized Sikh, has never been seen
at any function to honour Sant Bhindranwale's memory, has never met
Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar's family, has no record of speaking out
for human rights groups, and was unaware of any move on political
prisoners' rights.
It is naive to
expect a ban on the book from Badal or the Congress. Advani's
half-truths and lies should be translated into Punjabi and
circulated in large numbers all over Punjab. The contents of the
book should be taken to the people for it is rare that the likes of
Advani give us a peep into the Brahaman mind.
Advani's white
lies are not restricted to Sikhs and
Punjab.
The leadership of the Bharatiya Janta Party has tasted victory
pursuing hate-based minority-baiting. The book is the beginning of
another such attempt. The Brahaman machinery in
India cannot
digest the co-existence of Dalits, Sikhs and Muslims. There is no
room for dissent. To them, India is a monolithic whole who "has to"
follow the diktat of the Brahman pantheon. (Remember, 'Agar Hind
mein rehana hoga, Vande Mataram kehna hoga).
Scholarly
rebuttal and admonition is not part of Indian political writing.
Nor is it part of the political debate. Such a debate should be
forced on the people or Punjab and Sikhs at large to uncover the
true lies of the likes of Advani.
16
April 2008
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