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Being Compatible
World may
hail him but how would the Sikhs remember this Prime Minister?
Charanjit
Singh
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Bewildered at the twists and turns of Indian Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, our young columnist, Charanjit Singh
from Mumbai, writes a missive to him expressing the predicament of
the community which rejoices his rise to the highest office in the
land but is annoyed at his sermonising. His views are representative
of what many in the Sikh community feel about the first Sikh Prime
Minister. |
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 Dear Sardar Sahib:
I am puzzled whether
to address you as Dr. Manmohan Singh -the economist, the politician,
the prime minister or just Manmohan Singh who still carries the
outward symbols that visibly make you a Sardar.
Five years as a
prime minister and the massive backing of the Congress party, you
are assured of your prime ministerial comfort for yet another 5
years.
To be honest, I am
hardly inspired. It all started, when you sincerely bowed before the
entire nation with a pain which was real and perhaps not political,
vehemently absolved the previous occupants of 10 Janpath, for any
involvement in the unfortunate events which took place 25 years
ago.
More recently, the
whole Sikh Diaspora around the world gazed with lot of hope in their
eyes to your meeting with the flamboyant French Prime Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy, when you discussed economic ties between two
nations. It was quite likely of them to be carried away by your Sikh
identity. But the Sikhs struggling for recognition of the turban in
France were later reminded that it’s only their Guru who can guide
and help them, in these difficult times. I think it was too to
much expect from a Congress prime minister to put his French
counterpart at even the slightest unease and which may have been
remotely detrimental to commercial exchanges between two nations.
The contributions of Sikh soldiers in France during the World Wars
be damned and let the spirit of equality and fraternity remains
confined to the text book in both India and France as far as the
Sikhs are concerned.
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Your
honesty should not be limited to merely not taking pecuniary
benefits but that there should be honesty of purpose and intent
to resolve the various political conflicts in the country,
including those of the Sikhs in Punjab.
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You have always
fought earnestly to convince your high command and the entire nation
that you are their man and you being a Sikh would not have a bearing
on your political career. In fact, you have been more helpful in
undoing the mistakes of the past which they did not have the guts
and political will to do.
I fail to understand
your conspicuous absence when the Congress party was nominating the
likes of Jagdish Tytler for contesting parliamentary seats. The
manner in which this perpetrator and the other one, Sajjan Kumar
were teasing and ridiculing the Sikhs should have raised your
hackles. Grapevine says that you were against the nomination, but
you and the party swung into action only when another conscientious
Sikh journalist hurled a shoe and sealed the political fate of those
leaders who have managed to evade justice.
 No one can doubt
that you have done a great service to the entire nation as a finance
wizard and recently as prime minister. No one can question your
unimpeachable loyalty to the Congress party, towards the Gandhi
family and your honesty and credibility as a political chief
executive of the country.
This loyalty has had
its rewards. In a country where scores aspire to the position of
unlimited power and glory, you have managed to retain the job for
nothing less than 10 years. No short of a miracle!
In these
circumstances, the Sikhs rely on you. Cutting across party lines
and regions, Sikhs across the country tend to think that your
honesty should not be limited to merely not taking pecuniary
benefits but that there should be honesty of purpose and intent to
resolve the various political conflicts in the country, including
those of the Sikhs in Punjab.
You will have to do
much more. Sikhs feel strongly that you are nothing but a leader of
the Congress party. I am not sure whether you would want to undo
this perception. My humble request to you- that if you can’t do
anything that will make your community proud, then, at least don’t
allow yourself to become a Sikh card for the ruling party which can
be played at their beck and call.
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In
Punjabi there is a phrase, Bhatt paye sona jerra kann padhe…”what
good is that gold which tears the ears apart.” Concerned Sikhs
are still reeling under the shock that you rendered when you
called names to human rights bodies and activists. Please do not
do this again. |
The least which I
can appeal to the Sikh prime minister is not to plead for issues by
using names of Sikh Gurus and certainly to refrain from delivering
condescending sermons of forgive and forget on issues which have
inflicted deep pain to the body politic of the Sikh nation.
In Punjabi there is
a phrase, Bhatt paye sona jerra kann padhe…”what good is that
gold which tears the ears apart.” Concerned Sikhs are still reeling
under the shock that you rendered when you called names to human
rights bodies and activists. Please do not do this again. These
bodies provide the small ray of hope for the millions who live in a
democratic country where freedom and liberty are invariably followed
in letter but seldom in spirit.
 I have no doubts
that fellow Indians and the world would remember you for your
honest, integrity, financial acumen and much more. I don’t know how
the Sikhs will remember you. I do not want the Sikhs to remember you
as one of the many Congress party leaders.
Now that you are
well entrenched in your seat, I wish you well. I do this with the
hope that you will do well for your fellow countrymen (your
community included).
In the field of
economics and finance, you have set many a milestone and progressed
a lot. You need to do that on the social and political front too.
Let us all graduate from treating religious and regional identities
not, ‘One of the many’, but as equals in the journey of progress of
humankind.
With kind regards.
Sincerely
Charanjit Singh
Charanjit Singh is a
young WSN columnist from Mumbai. He may be contacted at
singh.charanjit@mail.com
1
July 2009
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