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Mensa minds need to think too!
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9/11/2001 has
increased the alertness level of democratic countries and
reduced their tolerance level at the same time.
France
took the lead amongst European countries to ban what it called,
"ostentatious display of religious symbols". The Sikh Turban is
neither a religious symbol nor is it ostentatious in any
manner. World Sikh News believes that the debate on the turban
issue must go on till we reach a solution. We have published
several viewpoints –ranging from that of Gurtej Singh, I. J.
Singh, Jasdev Singh alongwith several political leaders and
human rights organizations. Readers are requested to
first read Harpreet Giani's article
'Different
Strokes': Curious stance against French secular initiative
to which this open letter is a reply. |
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Dear Harpreet Giani Ji
Sat Sri Akal.
 Your
first name suggests that you are a Sikh, but your full name suggests,
you are a ‘secular’ Sikh and certainly not a Khalsa Sikh –the new
term that you have coined in your article, “Different Strokes”
published in The Tribune on
24 February 2008.
I am a devout Sikh, baptized and so a Khalsa, but as I fail in my
practices, I am happy to be called a Sikh than a Khalsa.
I write
this note taking strong umbrage at the blatant insinuation against
the whole body of human rights defenders by you in the edit page
piece.
In this note I will attempt to match some of the key points
that you have raised, though I must admit that I do not match your
international qualifications.
You say that “some decades ago, the people of
India
speaking through the Constituent Assembly, decided to make India a
secular state.” May I remind you that the two Sikh members of the
Constituent Assembly countered the entire provisions of the secular
constitution of India by saying unambiguously that, “the Sikhs do
not accept this constitution, the Sikhs reject this constitution.”
As I would
like to limit myself to the main question, may I say that the
religio-political ethos of Sikhism is more secular than that of the
Indian state, adequately exemplified by the martyrdom of the ninth
Master, Guru Teg Bahadur for the cause of right to religion of
followers of another faith. The rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh too
was more secular than that of the present Indian government.
 Your defense of the French move to ban the turban in
government schools of France, written in the style of being, the
French “ambassador-at-large” by calling the resistance by the
affected school children, Sikh activists and organizations, “a
direct challenge to the tenth Sikh Guru” and ridiculing some of the
ill-prepared steps by some naïve organizations to go to the
International Court of Justice is a perverted attempt to confound
the issue.
It is true, as you have matter-of-factly presented that just
a handful of students only in government-run schools are affected by
the turban ban and as you put it, the French public has the “right
to have a secular state policy.” What is not true and what is
certainly wrong is that infringement of the right of even one
individual, of whatever denomination he is, and whatever religious
or cultural domain is he from, is against the axiom of equality,
liberty and fraternity.
All minority institutions, which come up with the monies painstakingly collected by the
minority community members have the right to frame laws and
regulations delimiting admission of students to people of other
communities –who have otherwise more opportunities. You may do
well to read the Justice Rajinder Sachhar report about denied opportunities to
Muslims and also the plethora of reports about denial of such
opportunities to Dalits and other underprivileged sections. To the
best of my knowledge and I should know, for my son, Manjot Singh,
last year participated in the entrance examinations of the SGPC-run
medical college, there is no such restriction that only an
Amritdhari can get admission into their institution. Since the
allegation came from you, who is a bar-at-law, I double checked with
lawyers who are experts in the functioning of the Sikh Gurdwara Act,
1925 and SGPC affairs and they too have confirmed what I have said.
All that is required is that Sikh students and only Sikh students
have to have preliminary knowledge of Sikhism. No such judgment
has been passed by the
Punjab and Haryana
High Court, “quashing” as you say the “unhealthy practice” of the SGPC.
You have posed an interesting query, “will the Khalsa schools
allow a Muslim to say the Namaz if he wants to say it, during school
hours?” I think the answer is “Yes” and the vocal minority whom you
denounce will stand up for such an individual’s right to do so in
case the SGPC relents.
Lest you misunderstand, let me reassure you that I hold no
brief for the SGPC and I even agree with your suggestion that the
Muslim Rababi descendants of Bhai Mardana should be given an
opportunity to perform Kirtan at Darbar Sahib, though I would add,
only after duly amending the Sikh code of conduct for such purposes
only.
 Talking of the multitude of religions and castes in
India, you take
this route to defend the French restriction. Please look elsewhere
too. It may do all of us a lot of good to study the multi-cultural
nature of Canada. If the French are continually allowed to have
their way, we will have other countries following them, under one
pretext or the other, as has happened just a few days ago with a
Sikh school student in Melbourne, Australia.
Calling human rights defendants as “rabble rousers” you have
self-righteously imputed motives to all of them. As part of the
‘vocal minority’ (whose numbers is dwindling drastically), I did not
make much noise, but I have traveled to New Delhi, Paris and Cordoba
and addressed the appropriate forums to make the voice of the Sikhs
heard, in a democratic manner about the rise of religious
intolerance in Europe in general and France in particular.
Most attempts by human rights defenders have been
well-documented and have been made at the appropriate diplomatic and
bureaucratic levels to influence the law makers of the country and
the street marches, which you decree, are only supporting democratic
actions, which are not only permissible but fair and legitimate.
“What objection can ever be raised to children growing up in
an atmosphere that is free of religious connotation?” you ask.
Obviously, the answer is that there is no objection. Poking fun at
all of those whom you have denounced, because they are apparently
less literate than you, you say that their children study in
Christian schools and say Christian prayers. I have studied in a
Christian school; St. Anthony’s High School, Malad, Mumbai and I am
proud of it. I did say Christian prayers in the school assembly,
but I said them with my turban on! At no stage did the school
authorities undermine my visible form as the French have done. Those
prayers did not make me a lesser Sikh. And,
by the way, my turban at school had no religious connotation in the
school, whatsoever.
 Not a single activist has ever suggested –verbally or in
writing that the French are creating public obstructions to the Sikh
way of life for all Sikh French citizens. This is purely a figment
of your imagination and an irritant view made up to counter the
other views that get published in papers from time to time.
However it may interest you to know that whether you are a school
student or not, in case you want to have a French driving license, a
French passport or a French citizenship card, you have to remove
your turban and throw your hair behind to be photographed. Should
you be caught for a traffic offense in
France, do not be
surprised if the policeman on duty asks you to remove your turban to
affirm your identity. God forbid, I am not willing to do that and I
will do all I can to enable French Sikhs to overcome the
excruciating mental agony that they have to undergo for their
identity needs. Very conveniently, your article is silent on this
issue.
In the middle of your piece, you say that “Sikhs made up 0.01
percent of the French population in 2006. This is the same as the
number of Zoroastrians in
India! So?
It saddens me a great deal to read your pontification to the
Sikhs urging them to desist from campaigning lest it affect their
status in
Europe. As you are a learned barrister, this is a veiled
warning. If you are aware of the history of the Sikhs, such
warnings are challenges
to them and we welcome them. What you imply is quiet
dangerous. To say that Sikhs have heretofore remained
non-controversial, are you suggesting that being in the news and
fighting for rights, howsoever petty they may be perceived as by the
state and scholars like you, is being “unproductive”. Should
the Sikhs again be prepared to become ‘cannon-fodder’ in another war
that the world may fight and the Sikhs will defend the French and we
will be happy to flash the photo of a French woman kissing a Sikh
soldier?
 I was more than surprised about your disdain about the Khalsa
Sikhs approaching human rights bodies. Your argument is fallacious,
illogical and unethical. As a person with a vast knowledge and
training of human rights and international law, it was expected that
you would emulate your illustrious father, Giani Harinder Singh, who
was instrumental in managing various schools of the Chief Khalsa
Diwan and your grandfather, Giani Kartar Singh, who served as a
member of the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission formed under the
Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. It was a jolt for me to know that
you belong to the famous Giani clan of
Amritsar and that
your family has had Panthic connections. As a graduate of the
London School of Economics and as member of the intellectual coterie
of Mensa International and as the lone Indian to have practiced at
the International Criminal Court, much more was expected of you.
It would be interested to know from you this twist in your
leanings.
You have said that the French are within their rights to
follow their policies. Indeed they are. I hope you will now accept
the preposition that the Sikhs too are well within their rights to
safeguard their cultural and religious rights.
Nevertheless, I urge you to offer your skills and expertise
to intermediate between the warring Khalsa Sikhs and the French and
reach an amicable solution, individual views and opinions
notwithstanding.
Yours in faith
Jagmohan Singh
Jagmohan Singh is a social, religious and human rights
activist based in Ludhiana,
Punjab.
He may be contacted at jsbigideas@gmail.com
27
February 2008
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