By Gurmukh Singh | Opinion |
Recently, when approached about a Sikh court in the UK, I felt uneasy about the concept. While the community sewa aspect of this initiative in a Sikhi spirit is appreciated, the underlying doubt and principle from a Sikh perspective seem to be the same as for religious courts and tribunals. There should be one legal system in a country albeit, which takes into account the needs of a plural society.
A seminar in January, 2009 explored Religious Courts and Tribunals, with particular reference to the Arbitration Act. A Sikh view was asked for and given. Despite the apparent legal safeguards, this was seen as a slippery slope to an unjust and unequal society.
This week, I am content to reproduce the main arguments from a Sikh angle against a separate system of law for any community. Where relevant. legal experts can pick up any points with reference to a Sikh court in the UK.
There are no religious courts as such in the Sikh tradition. Settlement of disputes in the Darbar of Guru Sahiban (Guru Persons) cannot be regarded in the same category as formal religious courts held by Muslim Kazis applying Sharia law. There were theo-political reasons for the Gurus, especially Guru Hargobind Ji and Guru Gobind Singh Ji, holding temporal courts and defying Islamic religious courts of the time.
Gurmattas would be about interpretation of Gurbani guidance. Sarbatt Khalsa tradition is also about political (miri related) decisions agreeing tactics and Panthic strategy. In the 18th Century, inter-misl disputes were settled at the fringes of such gatherings when the Sardars embraced each other in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. Such conciliations (samjhautas and sulahs) were not based on any fixed religious code.
The fact that Sikhi does not recognise ordained priesthood would also have a bearing on the Sikh religious position on the question of religious courts.
Sikhi guides but does not prescribe or legislate. Sikh religion believes in general guidance by Guru Granth Sahib, based on universal human values but leaves legislation to temporal systems in which Sikhs would participate most actively to establish the ideal egalitarian regimes in which no one inflicts pain on another (Sikh concept of halemi raj).
Sikh reht is continual interpretation of Gurbani, the Guru’s Word, by the Khalsa Panth. The Panth (miri or temporal aspect of Guruship) agrees the code of conduct and changes it, if necessary, according to time and place. It is not prescribed by the Guide Eternal, the Sikh Constitution, Guru Granth Sahib. Otherwise, the Guru would have prescribed a detailed religious law code like Sharia in Islam.
Sikh history shows that religious courts can be used as a means for propagating social injustice inherent in the (mis)interpretation of orthodox religious ideologies. Sikhs would oppose such retrograde trends in the societies they live in.
In the meantime, alarmist press reports about religious courts do stir up extremist elements in the multicultural societies we live in. Legal labels and titles relating a Sikh court can send the wrong signal at a sensitive time.
Due consideration should be given to the religious and cultural needs of a diverse society when laws are made. Otherwise, religious courts and tribunals can stall progress towards an egalitarian legal systems based on fundamental human rights. There should be one law and one legal process for all citizens of the country.
Gurmukh Singh OBE, a retired UK senior civil servant, chairs the Advisory Board of The Sikh Missionary Society UK. Email: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk. Click here for more details on the author.
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
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