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Black episode for
Sikh community as SGPC falls into RSS trap
Corrupted definition of Sehajdhari opens floodgates for non-Sikhs
High Court told
Sehajdhari Sikhs can cut their hair all their life
Sach Kanwal
Singh
 CHANDIGARH:
For decades, the brahamanical lobby led by hardcore Hindutva
champion RSS termed the Sikhs as "Keshadhari Hindus". Now, the
powers-that-be at the helm of SGPC have virtually told the
Punjab
and Haryana High Court through an affidavit that non-Sikhs are non-Keshadhari
Hindus.
The World Sikh News edition of Dec 10-16, 2008 had blown the cover
off this conspiracy in its front page story last Wednesday and the
very same evening its website published complete details of the
affidavit submitted in the High Court, the catch in it, the names
and pictures of people behind this entire saga and the import of the
episode. Within 48 hours of that expose, media in
Punjab
picked up the story in a major way.
Asked to state on oath whether a Sehajdhari Sikh can cut his hair or
shave his beard, the SGPC submitted an affidavit in the High Court
that empowers anyone to shave his hair all his life and still be
counted as a Sehajdhari Sikh.
And none of this has happened through any oversight. A deep-rooted
conspiracy was hatched, all efforts to caution were frustrated,
Sikhism experts appointed by none other than the SGPC were either
silenced or ignored, most of those considered experts were kept out
of the loop and a cleverly drafted affidavit was submitted to the
High Court that made a clear distinction between a Sehajdhari Sikh
and a Keshadhari Sikh.
Some experts had got wind of the conspiracy being hatched in the
backrooms of the Punjab Advocate General H.S.Mattewal and had warned
the authorities but in vain. The man heading Sikh History Research
Board of the SGPC, Anurag Singh, seemed to have teemed up with those
adamant on fulfilling the decades-old wish of the RSS-BJP and the
Hindutva brigade to secularize the Sikh religion, its institutions,
gurdwaras, and theology, and succeeded.
SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar had left
India by the time the media came to grips with the import of the
row, but some of the experts who were hand picked by Makkar blasted
the SGPC for twisting and tempering with the facts. Kiranjot Kaur
dissociated herself from the affidavit, Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba
called it a treachery with the panth of the first order and Sukhdev
Singh Bhaur confirmed that what had happened was very wrong.
The HC had asked through a directive to state clearly "as to whether
or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a
Sehajdhari Sikh". The SGPC affidavit submitted on December 10 said
that a Sehajdhari Sikh, once he becomes a Keshadhari Sikh, cannot
cut or shave his hair. The media in
Punjab
reported the affidavit's contents while totally missing the import
of the twisted formulation by the SGPC of definition of Sehajdhari
Sikh.
The SGPC secretary Harbeant Singh told the High Court that the
affidavit was being submitted after the executive committee of the
SGPC considered the report of the seven-member committee of experts
on December 3. Anurag Singh and Jasbir Singh Sabar (both of whom
were among the seven experts) claimed the affidavit was in
consonance with what the expert panel decided, but a cursory reading
brings out a major harakiri.
Now, Bhai Daljit Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal (Panch Pardhani),
Shiromani Khalsa Panchayat, Paramjit Singh Sarna of Delhi Sikh
Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), Damdami Taksal, and many
other organizations have demanded that the SGPC withdraw its
affidavit. Sikhs across
India are angry. All Singh Sabhas of
West Bengal
have condemned the move and the aware section of the community is up
in arms.
But by all accounts, the Mattewal-Anurag Singh duo seems to be
working at the behest of Sukhbir Singh Badal and elements from the
RSS as well as the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat to whom they are much
obliged.
The definition of Sehajdhari Sikh, drafted by Mattewal-Anurag Singh
and submitted to the High Court, has completely subverted the letter
and spirit of recommendations of experts and has opened floodgates
for non-Sikhs to claim themselves to be Sikhs.
Also, the SGPC affidavit now effectively renders a large number of
Sikhs, born to Sikh parents, as patits. Perhaps a correct fact, but
totally irrelevant to the purpose of the affidavit. All patits now
have to be necessarily kept out of any benefits accruing to anyone
for being a Sikh -- say, for example, for purpose of admission into
Sikh minority educational institutions -- while all non-Sikhs can
simply declare themselves to be Sehajdharis who have still not
decided to become Keshadhari, and thus have to be considered as
Sehajdhari Sikhs.
The RSS lobby was long looking for ways to penetrate into Sikhism
but with this affidavit it has achieved the legal cover of a
corrupted definition of Sehajdhari and now any number of non-Sikhs
can simply memorize the Mool Mantra and declare themselves as
Sehajdhari Sikhs. And all Sehajdharis may decide never to become
Keshadharis and keep on cutting their hair and be counted within the
fold of Sikhism.
17 December
2008
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