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Marking the
next target
Raghbir Singh Dhillon
 The world
history is witness to the fact that centuries-long preaching of
Dharam has failed to establish a society and an administration in
which persons of bad intentions may have become extinct. More or
less number of such persons has always been there and may, perhaps,
always remain. Sat Jug found mentioned in Hindu scriptures
was never in existence on earth. It might be in the city alone of a
ruler. Most important reason for the existence of bad peoples in the
society is their love for private ownership coupled with their
uncontrolled sexual habits etc. Although both these factors leading
to other bad habits also have been condemned in every religion but
no effort was ever made by their protagonists to establish a society
sans such persons with administration which could be helpful to curb
these unsocial tendencies.
During Sikh
Revolution Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the last decades of 15th
century put forth the Sikh ideology target which was to bring into
existence a society infused with the sense of global brotherhood,
welfare of all, no discrimination whatsoever with its members free
to observe their own Dharam in its real sense. They should
fearlessly and with malice towards none lead a contented, peaceful
and comfortable life through their earned labour. One should not
only have all the openings to honestly earn his livelihood through
his labour, he should also have the satisfaction of getting help
from the society to fulfill his financial and other needs, if need
be. Vocational and other education of his choice and medical
facilities should be within his reach. Gurbani uttered by Gurus
gives detailed guidance for the establishment of such society. Guru
Hargobind Sahib by establishing Akal Takht in front of Darbar Sahib
at Amritsar established the center for dispensation of godly justice
to all and Guru Gobind Singh by creating Khalsa in 1699 and
declaring Panth as living Guru cleared the road to establish a
panchayati Government for its political and religious defence.
Sikh Gurus and
their followers passed through very horrendous situations to
establish this system. Ultimately it was Bhai Banda Singh Bahadur
through whom foundation of such society and Government was laid in
1710 after defeating Sirhind Moghal ruler. The anti Sikh forces
adopted all means to decimate this set up with the result that the
neglected people were again pushed into the fold of old exploiting
society of Brahmani culture from which the Gurus after long arduous
struggle of 250 years had extricated them. The Sikhs dedicated to
Gurbani still anxiously nurse the desire to revive that system for
which they are ready to make any sacrifice because Guru Nanak Dev ji
in order to preach his ideology and keep it alive had asked his
would be followers to come with their head on their palm and not
shirk any sacrifice.
“jau qau pRym Kylx kw cwau isru Dir qlI glI
myrI Awau]ieq mwrg pYr DrIjy isru dIjy kwx n kIjY]”And if anybody
refuses to meet just demands through peaceful means Guru Gobind
Singh exhorts,“ cUM kwr Az hmw hIlqy drguzq hlwl Asq burdn b SmSIry
dsq]”
Inspired by this
ideal Sikhs have always been in the forefront to achieve religious
and political freedom and they never hesitate to lay down their
lives for this. It is a laudable tradition fully in accordance with
Sikh way of life. Whenever Sikh leaders give call for any agitation,
Sikhs jump in for that in thousands. But their misfortune is that
whenever they are near to achieve their target they are left in
lurch as soon as leaders’ personal aim secretly desired to be served
is achieved. It is like Urdu couplet,
“iksmq kI
XwrI dyKIey tUtI khW kmMd jb ik lby bwm do cwr hwQ rih igAw”[
(What a misfortune! The rope being used to reach the roof was broken
when the roof was just a few steps away).
Since 1947
leaders have played such games by breaking their solemn vows of fast
unto death and self immolation to achieve Punjabi State and when
in1982 Dhram Yudh Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala smelt such
game being planned which was going to damage the golden traditions
of sacrifices of the nation, he took over its command and made it
difficult for selfish leaders to wriggle out of it. But as bad luck
would have it perturbed by his increasing popularity due to his firm
intention to die while fighting for the defence of Darbar Sahib
complex and in order to continue their dubious game, the traditional
leadership again conspired with the Government to encourage military
attack on the complex in 1984 in which the Sant and his companion
sacrificed their lives defending Darbar Sahib and the conspirators
fled the complex under the military protection. Whatever happened
later would always continue to afflict the Sikh psyche. In the
recent past when the Panth decided to take head on Sirsa sadh
for his anti Panthic activities, pseudo-Panthic Government which
actually prompted it side-tracked the issue and arrested many
agitators ignoring the fact that three Sikh youths had been killed.
The rumor now is that Government is seeking truce with him for its
political ends.
We start beating
drums of joy when clean-shaven boys of clean-shaven parents dropping
Singh from their names like Abhinav Bindra show any excellent
performance on the global level forgetting the often-preached story
of a Sikh boy whom Guru Gobind Singh had refused to entertain
because he had plucked a hair from his beard. Similar is the case of
a woman with cut hair and English dress without any head gear who
won in UK
the battle of Kara which is no longer the preserve of Sikhs alone.
We shouted to vote for the Sikh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the
nuclear issue simply for his being Sikh although he represents much
despised party of Blue Star Operation infamy and he had not the
courage to meet any demand of the Sikhs. We all are sad over the
untimely death of Ishmeet Singh and wish his soul a peaceful abode.
But by showering honour on him for his performance in Bollywood
competition of song & music do we mean to encourage our youth to
lead Bollywood type of life? Or it is just because he happens to be
a near relation of S. Manmohan Singh? It is all due to our lack of
knowledge of Sikh ideology and its target.
Apart from many
small religious and political parties there are 30-35 Punjabi
magazines and one daily paper which claim working for the
restoration of Sikh honour and goad the Sikhs to get rid of Akali
BJP combine that stands in the way of achieving it. These lesser
known identities that exhort the Sikhs to unite, are badly
criticizing each other. Why don’t they stop this vilification
campaign? In addition there are four more papers, Ajit, Punjabi
Tribune, Naya Zamana and Desh Sewak which also happen to preach Sikh
ideology in their own way for setting up a society of workers and
non-exploiting people. Thousands of tracts are distributed every
month; large number of people throng daily to Gurdwaras; whole Sikh
nation seems to have become Amritdhari if we add up the figures in
respect of persons claimed to have become so by those who spearhead
these campaigns; if we take into account kirtan darbars held every
year and the large number of people attending them entire Sikh
nation seems to have become Gursikh. Still large number of people is
becoming patits. The position is like the 2nd
World War propaganda which always claimed victories for Allied
Forces but actually Germans were advancing. It appears
“mrz bVHqw
igAw jUM jUM dvw kI”[
All this is the
result of Sikhs being not aware of their target due to their
entanglement in various kinds of unsikh-like activities detailed
above and due to their lack of Gurbani teachings they are unable to
understand the way out from this rigmarole. Position is much more
miserable than it was at the time of Guru Nanak as the masses at
that time were simple hearted and mostly honest to be easily
prevailed upon but now most of them are very clever and unreliable.
As per policy of Gurus instead of coming into confrontation with the
Government we should through Gurbani Vichar first purge Sikh Samaj
of prevalent corruption and anti-gurmat activities. Some independent
religious and political intellectuals dedicated to the achievement
of target should come out of hibernation to create a platform where
all the editors of Punjabi magazines and papers should work for an
agreed programme. A convention of Punjabi editors was recently held
at
Chandigarh under the aegis of International Sikh Confederation.
This move can be
given further impetus by the proposed board of intellectuals which
should supervise the Dharam Parchar operations. Our means of
communication are now far better than available during Sikh Gurus
period. If we use these means properly the foundation of samaj
envisaged by them can start taking shape in just 10-15 years and
ultimately lead to the formation of a Government friendly to this
cause. The areas badly affected by Derawad may be taken up on
priority for intensive work It is time for testing the loyalty and
honesty towards Panth of all the parties in the field claiming to
espouse its cause by using their impressive oratorical power,
articles and editorials.
27 August, 2008
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