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Gur Ki Ninda Sune Na Kaan…
Dr Ripudaman Singh
 Pen is mightier than the sword; and
camera is mightier than the pen.
Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh 'Insaan' was very unlucky. When he was
engaging in Guru-ninda there were some cameras that caught his
blasphemy. The pictures taken of Mr Insaan imitating Guru Sahib,
sitting in bir-asan and preparing his 'eternal' jaam were flashed
across the World by the major newspapers. Result: A huge uproar and
anger among Sikhs followed by clashes, injuries and deaths. This is
one of the major disturbances Punjab has witnessed in recent years.
But is Guru Ninda something unique to Sikhi? Guru Ninda has taken
place all the time, but unfortunately it is not captured by the
camera…
There have had been more lucky blasphemers. They have not imitated
but desecrate Guru Sahibs in one way or the other. Some of them have
refused to believe in the authority of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and
have engaged in their own Gurudom in Punjab for many decades. They
constitute a huge vote bank and hence have enjoyed the leniency from
our Panthic leaders who have paid frequent visits to their deras
seeking blessings from the 'Satguru'.
Then there are those desecrators who, by using the Sikh
terminologies of sangat, katha, kirtan, diwan, naam have tried to
fill the spiritual vacuum among those Sikhs who feel neglected by
the mainstream Sikhi. Their huge deras across Punjab with a larger
membership reflect serious failures in part of our organizations.
Punjab has been affected by dera endemic. It might be harder to pass
college and secure a job to earn a living, but it is easier to start
a dera and have a respectable number of followers who will ensure
your decent living. And in most of the instances such an enterprise
has proven to be successful. This is a business which will hardly
fail, ensuring enormous profit.
Then there are subtle but dangerous desecrators. They look like us,
talk of mainstream Sikhi, but don't miss a chance to sting the Sikhi.
The first desecrator imitates Guru Gobind Singh ji and prepares his
jaam using Rooh Afza. The second one ridicules the concept of Amrit
and claims that Guru Sahib could have put jaggery instead of pataase
while preparing amrit. He refuses to believe in his Guru's Amrit.
The first one doesn't claim to be a Sikh and writes his own maryada.
The second one claims to be a Sikh but refuses to follow the Guru
and ridicules the panthic maryada. He declares gurbani as 'koor
kabar' (trash) and denigrates the Ardas. But he is lucky. There is
no camera to capture is blasphemy.
There is not much difference between the two. The second one is
making space for the first one to flourish and strengthen his roots.
Guru-ninda in any form should not be tolerated. If people want to
establish their spiritual businesses, they are welcome to do so, but
not in the expense of Sikh principles.
The pen may be mightier than the sword, but it's the sword that has
always defined the fate of the great civilizations
Chuuk kar az hama heelte dar guzasht
Halal ast burdan ba shamsheere dast!
(The author is a Brand Ambassador designated by the SGPC and had hit
headlines for his legal fight for the right to carry kirpan in
Denmark. He is a doctorate in genetics and well versed in Sikh
affairs.)
23 May, 2007
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