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Neo-Nirankaris and
Kapur Singh’s White Paper –the true story
Jagmohan Singh
When Balkar
Singh was shot dead in Mumbai, I could not help but recall the neo-Nirankari
episode of 1978. I made special efforts to retrace the White Paper
written by Sirdar Kapur Singh soon after the incident. I was happy
to lay my hands on the document though it brought back bitter
memories of how Kapur Singh, who had reluctantly penned the document
at the instance of SGPC, was cheated in the end. It made me further
sad that though no official White Paper has been prepared by the
SGPC in the case of the Sauda Sirsa cult, the chicanery and
fraudulent manner in which the Sikh religious leadership is handling
the Sirsa dera case, is no different from what they did unto the
Sikhs while handling the neo-Nirankari case.
I had a special
association with the White Paper. As a member of the Sikh Students
Federation Maharashtra, I learnt that the SGPC did publish the
document, some fifty thousand copies, and then under pressure from
the Jan Sangh, possibly Atal Bihari Vajpayee, destroyed them all.
Sikh students from Mumbai requested Bhai Sahib that they would
publish it, but those were not the days of the internet and
correspondence took time. Before we could go ahead and publish it,
Capt. Bhag Singh of The Sikh Review, Kolkatta published it and saved
the day for the Sikh people and for Bhai Sahib Kapur Singh.
When I re-read
the thought provoking, well-researched article, entitled, They
Massacre Sikhs, written by the Sikh nation’s National Professor
of Sikhism in his typical inimitable style, I found that the
material therein as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. I
found it amazing for myself that even after thirty years; I had not
forgotten having read the article. The sound and image of the words
of Kapur Singh could still instill a sense of awe and respect for
his erudite language and depth of knowledge and would also build the
necessary angst which a thinking Sikh mind should develop. The
impact of Kapur Singh is quiet everlasting and young Sikh minds,
having the good of the Khalsa Panth at heart, should partake of this
flavour in Me Judice, Sachi Sakhi and Parasharprasna.
While writing
the Sauda Primer, published by World Sikh News two weeks ago, I
dwelt substantially on this article’s presentation of the genesis of
the conflict between Sikhs and such cults.
The present
extracts from that lengthy White Paper are an edited version of what
the author perceived to be the real to the issue and the rationale
he builds to explain his hypothesis. Matsyanyaya –Fish
Justice is a familiar fable for Sikhs in India. They have
experienced it far too long and continue to do so. It is perhaps
time for the Sikhs to search the idiom and logic to counter this
continuum.
The discerning
reader will find similarities between the role of the neo-Nirankari
movement and that of the Sauda dera. Sadly, he will find a lot of
commonality between the kind of response generated and delivered by
the mainstream Sikh religious and political parties –then and now.
As at that time and now, the mantle of protest and designing and
delivering a response mechanism fell on the shoulders of fringe
parties. Significantly, in 1978 and in 2008, these small
organisations and groups delivered what was expected of them.
Jagmohan Singh
is a political commentator based in Ludhiana. He may be contacted at
jsbigideas@gmail.com
16
July, 2008
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