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‘N’ number of agendas won’t help
WSN Bureau
The Sikh
community is currently passing through troubled times, and the
crisis is not uni-layered. It is a multi-layered one. While on the
one hand the Sikh community is facing a continuous onslaught from
Hindutva-propelled establishment elements, at the same time it is
under attack from forces that want the Sikhs to shun their core
ideals and idealism. The internal equations within the Sikh panth
are further complicating the matters. The Sikh society today is
seemingly coming out as spiritually sick and weak.
The spiritual
and moral value system lies in a shambles and the great spirit of
idealism is eroding fast. In individual life of a Sikh as well as in
the societal life of the Sikh nation, a sadly degenerated image of a
Sikh is being presented to the wider world that is doing inestimable
harm to the reputation and larger view of Sikhism. The more such a
situation continues the worse will be the rise in cynicism.
Right from the
daily news to the weekly or monthly columns being churned out by
Sikhism scholars, the underlying spirit of criticism, the proclivity
towards focussing on the negative and the critiques of the
developments within the community has come to be so pervasive and
ubiquitous that instead of inspiring someone on religious or
political turf, they are only adding to the malaise. There is a
proverb in Punjabi which, when roughly translated, says when a
corpse opens its mouth, it is only to tear the coffin. Most such
political or quasi-political columnists (or political
quasi-columnists?) have come to represent only such a trait in
writing.
The only thing
all this underlines is the acute need for an internal unity within
the Sikh nation. Not only is it difficult to bring about a change
without such a unity, but it is also impossible. But for such a
unity, there needs to be a convergence of targets and tasks, which
is possible only if we correctly diagnose the problems and the
challenges that the community is facing. It is this domain where the
lack of a collective internal understanding of the issues is
becoming a huge problem. Everyone has a different idea of the
affliction, therefore everyone's prescription too is different.
 For some, the
issue of Dasam Granth is the premier issue; for another pujarivaad
is the root cause of all problems; another thinks that there is no
bigger service to the community than stopping the prakash of Guru
Granth Sahib at samadhs; there is no end to those whose prime
purpose in life is to ensure that Sukhbir Singh Badal reaches the
Chief Ministerial target; scores think that to oust ‘the
characterless' from the SGPC is task number one and then comes the
multitude which thinks the babavaad is the biggest enemy of Sikhism;
everyone is on to his own trip.
Laying obstacles
in Sukhbir's path, flinging the mace at pujarivaad, exposing the
babas and releasing obscene CDs have become new targets for the quom.
No wonder the quom is running into several directions at the same
time, a recipe for intense factionalism. When a nation weakened
spiritually and morally also gets divided into factions then fights
turn into petty squabbles. When such activities start receiving
acceptance, then it is a sure sign of a community headed downhill.
If the Sikh nation's conscience does not waken up even at this
stage, then not only will the community lose its pride but will also
be Gunahgaar of the Guru.
23 January 2008
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