No
Voting Rights for Sehajdhari Sikhs
Nanak Singh Nishter
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Deeply concerned at the renewed attack by the degenerate
Sehajdhari Sikh Federation’s demand for voting rights for
Sehajdhari Sikhs, noted writer and academic, Nanak Singh Nishter
writes a strong note to the fourth time-elected SGPC president
Avtar Singh Makkar, demanding that such meaningless debate
should end once and for all with a strong directive from the
Sikh Parliament. |
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 Satkatyog
Sardar Avtar Singh Jio
Wahguru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahguru Ji Ki Fateh
You
have the opportunity for the fourth time in a row to serve the Sikhs
through the august body of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee. I hope that you will do justice to this cause
notwithstanding the pressure that you may be put under because of
the political association of your party with the right wing
Bharatiya Janata Party and the prevarication of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court.
I
write to you to totally reject the malicious, threatening and
blackmailing missive from self-styled president of the so-called
Sahajdhari Sikh Federation,
Dr. Paramjeet
Singh Ranu
for
Voting Rights for Sehajdhari Sikhs. I am repeating a chapter of
history that will ensure that no injustice is done to the Sikhs
again.
This is a war of nerves. It was started by those who visited
Gurdwaras but did not have full faith in the Sikh practices. These
non-believing Hindu devotees injected non-Sikh and Hindu religious
practices into our Gurudwaras. Such Hindu devotees coined a category
for themselves and started calling themselves Sehajdhari Sikhs.
In the year 1873 Gurdwara Reform Movement was started for
maintaining the separate identity and to remove the un-Sikh
practices from Sikh life style and Gurdwaras. To a large extent,
the Sikhs were successful in removing the un-Sikh rituals. But till
date some of the Sikhs have failed in realising the root cause of
this evil in the usage of the term Sehajdhari Sikhs, which
still continues in some way or the other, raising its ugly head to
strike at the fundamentals of Sikh religious ethos.
In the year 1899, the movement of Sikh Hindu Hain gained
significant momentum. To effectively counter it, in the same year
of 1899, on public demand, scholar and encyclopaedist Bhai Kahan
Singh Ji Nabha (1861-1938) wrote Hum Hindu Nahin. He set
forth forcefully the Singh Sabha standpoint with regard to Sikh
identity. Hum Hindu Nahi did the tremendous job in de-Hinduising
the Sikhs and established a milestone. As a result in the year 1905,
Hindu idols and rituals could be removed from Sri Har Mandir Sahib
and other Gurdwaras.
The
Sikhs received support from unexpected quarters. In a significant
judgement in 1905, King Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan dismissed an
appeal by Hindus for keeping idols in Dharamsala (Gurdwara)
Hari Rai in Kabul. In his judgement, he made a clear
distinction between idol worshipping Hindus and the Sikhs, by
adjudicating that "Followers of Baba Nanak was one of the
greatest Unitarians and was opposed to idol worship." He went
on to add that, "Hindus had no concern with Sikh shrines, as
Sikhs had nothing to do with Hindu Thakurdwaras or Shivdwaras."
Sikhs had to fight continued lengthy battles at all levels, against
the society and Government for maintenance of their separate and
distinct identity. In the year 1909, passing of The Anand Marriage
Act (for Sikh marriages) by the Central Legislature, was their first
legal victory against the Hindu marriage ceremonies which had made
inroads into Sikh way of life.
In
the year 1917, Muslims and Hindus were granted representations in
Punjab at all parties and official levels. The Sikhs were denied due
representation, under the contention of the Hindus that the Sikhs
are a part and parcel of the larger Hindu community. Again the Sikhs
had to fight for their separate identity and recognition at
political arena. In 1918, they got a significant victory vide the
Montague-Chelmsford Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms, which
accepted the Sikh demand for separate representation.
The
Sikhs were again betrayed in 1919, when the Southborough Committee
had recommended for accepting the declaration of Keshadharis
(people keeping hair) as well as Sehajdharis (people cutting
the hair i.e., clean-shaven) to be eligible for enrolment in special
Sikh constituencies. The struggle of Sikh identity continued, and in
1920 a deputation left for London to put forth its case to the
Secretary of State but to no effect.
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In a significant judgement in 1905, King Abdur Rahman of
Afghanistan made a clear distinction saying, “Followers of
Baba Nanak were one of the greatest Unitarians and were opposed
to idol worship.Hindus had no concern with Sikh shrines, as
Sikhs had nothing to do with Hindu Thakurdwaras or Shivdwaras."
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This clearly shows that the Sikh identity crisis was not created by
the British to divide and rule as presumed by many; it was most
certainly the brainchild of some fanatical Brahmins, who conspired
to undermine Sikhism and attempted to assimilate Sikhism into their
fold.
In
the year 1925, The Sikh Gurdwaras Act was passed and fortunately,
they could not succeed to infiltrate into that. In that, a Sikh was
described under Section 2, Sub-Section 1 to 10, as an Amritdhari
who does not profess any other religion. The Sikhs were successful
in not allowing the term of Sehajdhari Sikhs (clean-shaven)
to be introduced in it. It was maliciously inserted through an
amendment in the year 1959. It was done under the pretext "To amend
the Act for the purpose of extending it to the territories that,
immediately before the 1st November 1956, were comprised
in the State of Patiala and East Punjab States Union and for certain
other purposes."
For
other purposes, under Section 2, after Sub-Section 10, a Sub-Section
10-A and Clauses i, ii, iii and iv have been inserted to incorporate
Sehajdhari Sikh and its definition. This provision had gone
unnoticed by the Sikhs, and became a part of the Act from 1959
onwards. The Jammu and Kashmir Sikh Gurdwaras and Religious
Endowments Act 1973, was also originally free from the term of
Sehajdhari Sikh. In the year 1981 through an amendment in
Section 2, the Clauses d, e, f and g have been inserted to include
Sehajdhari Sikh and its definition. Communal-minded Hindus
could not find an opportunity to interfere in the Acts of Delhi,
Nanded and Patna Sahib Committees with respect to the definition of
a Sikh.
I am sure that you and your SGPC team and your lawyers are aware of
the facts that I have reiterated here. I learn that you have set up
a seven member committee to look into the request of the High Court.
I would like to categorically state that the Punjab and Haryana High
Court has no business to adjudicate upon the definition of a Sikh
and the SGPC should not respond to the interventionist and illegal
High Court order.
During the last SGPC elections, the government of India has
obliterated all Sehajdhari voters as it was the right thing to do.
Even then, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had failed to deliver a
clear verdict on a petition filed by Jagmohan Singh and Baldev Singh
Sehajra of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) challenging Dr. Paramjit
Singh Ranu’s desire to be enrolled as a voter. Though the
government has taken a decision discarding voting rights to
Sehajdharis, Dr. Ranu and his ilk have yet to understand that a
patit –an apostate can never be a Sehajdhari, even if such a
nomenclature is accepted.
Sehajdhari Sikh is a contradiction in terms. A large number of
Hindus visit graves and tombs of Muslim saints. Does that make them
Sehajdhari Muslims? Then how come visiting Gurdwaras, makes them
Sehajdhari Sikhs?
The message of Guru Granth Sahib is for all. The doors of Guru
Nanak are open to all. The House of Guru Nanak knows no distinction
of caste, creed, colour, religion and geographical boundary. No
one, in his right senses would challenge the Sikhs’ right to manage
their own religious affairs as they want to.
Those who advocate the status of Sehajdhari to non-believers
for the sake of increasing the numbers of the Sikhs, fail to realise
that the Lion as the King of the jungle is a rarity and not a common
occurrence and it requires a lot of grit, determination and
sacrifice to become one. If one wants to be a Sikh, one can
exclusively be a Sikh, but a Sikh cannot be a sailor of two boats.
You cannot be a lion and sheep at the same time.
The
Sikh case is in your hands and you have to snatch it from the
mischief of courts and governmental intervention by making a firm
declaration of closing of this mischievous chapter of Sehajdhari
Sikhs seeking voting rights.
With kind regards.
Sevadar,
Nanak Singh Nishter
President, Sikh Graduates' Association
Hyderabad
Email:
nanaknishter@gmail.com
26 November
2008
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