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Cashing on the Sikh Face
Charanjit Singh
 Not
to be left behind Bollywood, where every other actor and even
actress wants to sport the turban, Times of India’s sister
publication in Hindi, Navbharat Times, in association with business
house Ayur Herbal, too has joined the bandwagon. It has come out
with a well-produced but ill-researched TOP 51 SIKH coffee table
book, handpicked by a whole set of non-Sikh “experts” of the paper.
The book was
presented to me by a non-Sikh friend, who, doesn’t fail to bring to
my notice anything which is even remotely related to Sikhs and
Sikhism.
Before getting
into the who’s who of the members who were outlined in the book with
their pictures and testimonials, let’s look at the overall format of
this publication and what was the need or drive behind such a
publication along with the people behind this endeavor.
The book is
result of a collective effort of the following panel of Navbharat
Times- Shachindra Tripathi, Madhusudan Anand with additional
assistance from Manjiri Chaturvedi, Balmukand , Shrikant Sharma,
Joseph Bernard and Sunderchand Thakur. Non-Sikhs may set out their
preferences on who the Top 51 Sikhs are, but if they do not do cross
referencing with a Sikh, they are bound to trip badly, as the
current editors have by including Mandira Bedi as a Sikh stalwart in
a Bollywood-style revealing photo! Is it deliberate marketing
strategy to tease the Sikhs? Not stopping there, to taunt the Sikhs
to the hilt, included in the list is convicted molester and former
Punjab police chief KPS Gill. Including K.P.S Gill is tantamount to
including Salman Rushdie while presenting a piece on famous Muslims.
The political
correctness of the publishing house is clear from the inclusion of
the father and son politicians –Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir
Singh Badal. This is not only outrageous but presentation of a
vitiated image the Sikhs in the eyes of the lay Indian.
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The media in general and the Times of India in particular have
rightly made the Sikhs cynical about Indian media. Try sending a
rejoinder or communication to The Times of India calling
attention to any unfair representation of Sikh community and you
would invariably receive no response. In such a scenario it’s
quite difficult to understand this daily’s effort of going out
of their way and coming up with a book dedicated entirely to a
minority community. |
The media in
general and the Times of India in particular have rightly made the
Sikhs cynical about Indian media. Try sending a rejoinder or
communication to The Times of India calling attention to any unfair
representation of Sikh community and you would invariably receive no
response. In such a scenario it’s quite difficult to understand this
daily’s effort of going out of their way and coming up with a book
dedicated entirely to a minority community.
Firstly the
title Top 51 Sikh (why not Sikhs?) sounds highly colloquial rather
than profound, includes only Sikhs from India and the text has many
typographical errors, which is uncalled for coming from the
prestigious house of Bennett and Coleman Limited.
The book starts
with a small commentary on Sikh faith, its tenets, and then a brief
on each of the Sikh Gurus. Beautifully and boldly inscribed is the
Mool Mantar, only in Devnagari and not in Gurmukhi, which
script too is a significant contribution of the Gurus.
 The
preface by the Indian Prime Minister spells out the agenda of the
compilers of the book. Dr. Manmohan Singh says, “Sikh Quam Desh
Ki Raksha Karne Ke liye hi Paida hui hai” meaning,” “The Sikh
community was born with the sole purpose of defending the Indian
nation.” The reputation of Times of India to toe the line of the
government is pretty well-known. Obviously, the editors could not
have reacted to this travesty of truth from the Sikh prime minister.
Guru Gobind Singh lived and died in the 17th century.
India as a country came in to being only in the 20th
century and here we have the Sikh Prime minister telling us that,
“we were born to protect the country.”
The very
universality of the Sikh thought and the existence of the Sikh
Diaspora have been badly ignored both by Dr. Manmohan Singh and by
the editors of the book.
It is a
consolation that the authors have included stalwarts like former Air
chief Marshal Arjan Singh, Vice-admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi, Montek
Singh Alhuwalia, Athlete –Milkha Singh, environmentalist – Baba
Balbir Singh Seechewal, hockey player Balbir Singh Senior, sufi-singer
Rabbi Shergill, author Dr. Mahip Singh, painter Arpana Caur,
commentator Jasdev Singh and writer Prabhjyot Kaur.
These names
won’t fail to bring awe and inspiration. It is, however, a task to
sift the chaff from the grain. Some like Harbhajan Singh force their
way into the book and some have greatness thrust upon them, though
the Sikh world is oblivious to their contribution.
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The preface by the Indian Prime Minister spells out the agenda
of the compilers of the book. Dr. Manmohan Singh says, “Sikh
Quam Desh Ki Raksha Karne Ke liye hi Paida hui hai”
meaning,” “The Sikh community was born with the sole purpose of
defending the Indian nation.” The reputation of Times of India
to toe the line of the government is pretty well-known.
Obviously, the editors could not have reacted to this travesty
of truth from the Sikh prime minister. Guru Gobind Singh lived
and died in the 17th century. India as a country came
in to being only in the 20th century and here we have
the Sikh Prime minister telling us that, “we were born to
protect the country.” |
Sikhs welcome
any effort by a mainstream publication, but an effort of this
magnitude should have called for much more seriousness so that in
doing so the makers won’t hurt the sensibilities of a community. And
that too with a sponsorship from the Sikh business house of Ayur.
The owner of
Ayur, Mr.Narang must have been through what every Sikh has faced
some time or the other in his life. A battle between acceptability
and faith. This battle has led many to applaud with pomp and glory
any attention which members of your community receive. Be it in any
form, from anyone. How else would you explain the featuring of J.J.
Valaya and Jigs Kalra who adorn the pony and the cap respectively,
with audacity - giving Maharaj Bhupinder Singh’s turban a run for
its money.
Fortunately, it
is a coffee table book, meant to be seen, not be read and
referenced.
Charanjit
Singh is World Sikh News’s young columnist based in Mumbai. He may
be contacted at singh_charanjit@rediffmail.com
5
August 2009
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