Sikhs and binary thinking!

The Dasam Granth is an example. It is either all ascribed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji or not at all. Either all is in, at par with Guru Granth Sahib Ji, or it should be condemned in its entirety. Even though dedicated scholars / researchers have clarified the contents quite critically many times.

If one is critical of the goings on in India you are anti-India. A Sikh is either pro-India, or even speaking up about atrocities against Sikhs, the Sikh rights, Sikhs as an identifiable distinct group, or any thoughts along those lines, makes a Sikh a Khalistani. If one is critical of the Hindutva agenda then one is anti-Hindu.

Above might be outstanding examples but I am sure one can ink of other issues along those lines. The present Taksal issue also falls in that category.

Yet, to me, for a thinking person to go into the binary thinking mode, requires a special effort, unless one is a politician or one wants to maintain one’s moral high ground to impress one’s following. Things are rarely black and white. In fact, I believe, there are more shades of grey, and those are the challenges. Binary thinking only helps to stifle robust discussion at best or help to polarise the community at worst.

However outstandingly brilliant one might be, one’s own thoughts stand untested if one is not prepared to listen to all that the other is saying (or trying to convey), with interest, [In fact one should welcome and be obliged for that], rather than selectively picking out what one likes or dislikes.

At the end of the day, it is about preparing a common platform to convince the (Sikh) masses out there, to move in a common direction, not just half a dozen (or perhaps a bit more!) intellectuals. That is the real challenge and binary thinking, in people (and their groups) that matter, to me, is one of the obstacles!