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Hagiophobia to Sikhiphobia
Jagmohan Singh
The intallation of a portrait of Sant
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale at the Central Sikh Museum has triggered
a brouhaha among most non-Akali parties and outfits which not only
is misplaced, often deliberately provocative and widely off the
mark, but also betrays the proclivity of the Indian establishment to
defame the Sikh community and interfere in its internal matters.
Prompted by the reactions from different faces of the official
Indian establishment, well known activist and political analyst Prof
Jagmohan Singh uses the time-tested tool of writing an Open Letter,
of all the people, to the Sant himself, weaving a narrative of
what's going on, and providing us a subtext to chew on.
 Most
Respected Sant Jarnail Singh Ji
Wherever you
are, either at the Lotus feet of the God Almighty or as an
assimilated part of the Almighty Himself, kindly accept my Fateh,
Waheguru Ji Ka
Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
Martyrs do not
die. Martyrs live forever. They become immortal. You
have proved it.
Though you were physically killed on the night of 4-5 June 1984, you
continue to inspire the Sikh youth. The Indian state and the
Indian media are still mortally afraid of you. They are scared of
your portrait. Thousands of your photographs are being sold in
the bylanes of Amritsar and other cities of Panjab. Your presence
on the internet is overwhelming, but the mere installation of your
portrait, drawn by Varinder Pal Singh in the Central Sikh Museum by
the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee last week has awakened
the Indian media to a “new phase of terrorism in Panjab”.
Sant ji, as much
as I know, you had a love-hate relationship with media persons,
during your tenure as the leader of the Sikh nation, prior to the
attack of the Indian Armed Forces in June 1984. The media
wanted to talk to you and you too loved talking to them. From
Ritu Sarin, Harinder Baweja to Girilal Jain, each reporter and
commentator excelled in spreading hatred against you. Even now
though you are not visible, the mere sight of your photograph or
portrait sends the Indian media into a tizzy. Their sense of
equilibrium, balanced reporting, researching facts, cross-checking
with the other side; all is consigned to the bin and you are painted
a sinner ab initio. I am sure you must be enjoying all
this as you should rightfully do. I am sure that nothing of this
will upset you in anyway.
Fuelled with a
false sense of pseudo-secularism, columnists and editors in the
Indian media cannot accept anything that is godly and holy. If
you are religious and want to wear your religion on your sleeve,
just as you did, you have to bear the cross of being labelled a
fundamentalist and a terrorist. All the work that you did as
part of the seminary, Damdami Taksal, in weaning Sikh youth
away from drug abuse and other ills is just pushed under the carpet.
It is not mentioned at all. To be part of the campaign to
usher religiosity and baptism amongst Sikh youth is considered sin
by the Indian media. It perhaps succeeded to some extent.
A senior
columnist of a major English newspaper from Panjab, in an attempt to
call you a sinner, first relied on his knowledge of schism of church
from state in Christianity, then the red beacon lights and armed
guards to SGPC members. He did not write a word on the Sikh concept
of Miri and Piri nor was he concerned about your commitment to
further the cause of Sikhism. The media had made up its mind to
begin another controversy and there was nothing stopping it.
One satellite TV channel just could not bear your portrait and
attempted to arouse anti-Sikh mania.
The Congress
party and some wayward self-styled patriots, who dared not utter a
word about you a few years back resorted to time-tested
name-calling. The Congress forgot that the husband of the
present Congress chief, Rajiv Gandhi, had called you, “a good
saint.” The Congress failed to take note of the fact that you
not only had the good sense but the acumen to open diplomatic
channels with the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, even though you were in
the thick of a military battle for upholding Sikh identity.
Interestingly, since the Congress is in power today, the “free
Indian media” has refrained from calling you a “Congress agent”,
which comes so easily to them in your case as in the case of
Simranjit Singh Mann and other Sikh nationalists.
Ignored by your
own people, it took 23 years for your portrait to grace the portals
of the Sikh museum ensconced within the Harmandar Sahib premises in
Amritsar. The pressure of Simranjit Singh Mann, the Khalsa
Action Committee and many others worked. The SGPC reluctantly
agreed to install the portrait and then called you, “the greatest
martyr of the Sikhs in the twentieth century”. Never before in
the history of the Sikhs has it taken so much effort to put the
portrait of a martyr in the Sikh museum.
I am personally
privy to the fact that Australian convert to Sikhism and promoter of
the use of stringed instruments, particularly the Rabab for
performing Kirtan, Chris Mooney Singh made diligent efforts for many
years in the nineties to install a replica of the Rabab of Guru
Gobind Singh in the museum. I personally endorsed his efforts
to no avail. He has still not succeeded. Chris Mooney Singh was
not backed by any political group and the SGPC does not understand
any other language.
My mother,
Satwant Kaur tells me that when she was a child, playing with Muslim
children in pre-partition days, she used to hear Muslim mothers
reprimanding their children with the call, “Haria Ragle”,
meaning, “Hari Singh Nalwa can come any moment!” The fear psychosis
that grips the Indian media whenever the Sikhs want to stand tall
and make their presence felt, the media whips up, wittingly,
unwittingly and conspiratorially , “Bhindranwala aa gaya, ab kuch
honne vala hai”.
I regret that I
was unable to meet you when you visited Mumbai in the early
eighties. I do not agree with everything that you say in your
speeches. I also do not endorse when Sikh activists call everything
that you say as gospel truth. I do not share some of your
explanation about various concepts of Sikhism, particularly about
participation of Sikh women in Sikh religious rites. Deifying
any personality is antithesis of Sikhism and I am sure that you will
agree with me on this score.
The Fifth
Master, Guru Arjan Sahib says, “Soorabir bachan kae balee.
Koulaa bapuree sa(n)thee shhalee.” meaning, “They are so brave;
they are men of their word. The Saints have enticed Maya herself.”
There is no doubt that you are the greatest martyr of the Sikhs of
the last century. Why? Sikhs as a people are great admirers of
doers. They are even greater admirers of anyone who makes a
commitment, lives and dies for the commitment. It is
this aspect of your life and the life of many other Sikh
personalities which the Indian media tends to deliberately ignore.
I can easily see the Indian media’s suffering degenerating from
hagiophobia to sikhiphobia.
I salute you,
for “we die before we fall.”
Yours-in-faith
Jagmohan Singh
(The writer is a
social, religious, health and political activist based in Ludhiana,
Panjab. He may be contacted at
jsbigideas@gmail.com )
5 December, 2007
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