By Karminder Singh Dhillon | The Sikh Bulletin |
In July 2024, the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) issued a circular that was addressed to all parcharaks, dhadis, kavishars, and its own Dhram Parchar committee. It pertained to the color of the Sikh Nishan or flag.
The circular generated considerable excitement within Sikhs across the world who had argued that saffron, which had become the standard color for the Nishan, was not a Sikh color. It belonged to another religion. These Sikhs had called for the Sikh world to revert to blue for their flags that fly in every Gurdwara across the world.
The Sikh Bulletin had, in Vol 1/2020 made the same argument in an article titled The Sikh Nishan Demystified. It can be read here. A number of Sikh preachers and social media influencers – particularly those with Tatt Gurmat inclinations, welcomed the circular, with some expressing excitement that the SGPC and Akal Takhat (AT) had finally come around to doing the right thing to establish the identity of the Sikhs. In some of the commentaries, one could sense euphoria even.
Some commentators were elated over that fact that for once, both the SGPC and AT had actually acted to make a decision. After all, there were numerous dharmik issues that the SGPC and AT had pushed under the carpet or kept silent over – the Ragmala issue, anti-Gurmat content in our classical literature such as Suraj Parkash, the Dasam Granth issue and the refusal to allow women to do kirtan and enter the inner sanctums of the Takhats – for example, amongst others.
The questions as to whether (i) the SGPC and AT have indeed come around to adopt a new and welcome approach and (ii) if the excitement over the circular relating to the color of the Nishan was warranted, can be answered through a cursory examination of the language and content of the circular itself. A picture of the said circular, dated 26th of July, and signed by the Hon. Secretary of SGPC is attached for the benefit of readers.
A translation of the crucial part of the circular is as follows: Taking into consideration the need to remove the confusion arising out the issue of the color of Nishan sahib, it was unanimously decided that information in light of the SGPC Panth accepted Sikh Rehat Maryada be disseminated to Sangats and Parbandhaks.
One wonders what the excitement and euphoria is all about. One further wonders, what, if anything, in this circular suggests that the SGPC and AT have come around to adopt a new approach.
For one, the Sikh Rehat Maryada (SRM) already mandates that the color of the Nishan is xanthic (light-yellow) or blue. Secondly, the following points are worth noting. (i) the circular does not mention the color; (ii) it does not call upon the Sikh world to adopt the right color. Most importantly, the circular is not addressed to the management of Gurdwaras who are responsible for acting on the issue of color of the Nishan. Why is this the case?
It is worth noting that the circular is not a call to adopt the correct color, or even to change to it. It is a call for “information pertaining the issue of color of the Nishan in light of the SRM be disseminated…” For this reason, then, the circular is addressed to “parcharaks, dhadis, kavishars, and its own Dahram Parchar Committee,” and not to the management committees of Gurdwaras.
The decision to omit the mention of the correct color in this circular is more ominous. One suspects that this decision is to provide a way out to the dera, taksali and other groups to continue with the saffron color. In fact, some of these groups in the UK and Greece, have made public announcements to say that they will stick with saffron. Had the circular mentioned the correct color – it would have become a hukumnama of the AT and everyone – deras and taksals included – would have had two choices – follow it, or be branded as going against the hukumnama. Hence, by not mentioning the color, and using the phrase “color of the Nishan in light of the SRM” instead, gives the deras, taksals and other groups a clear way out. Their claim is that since they never did accept the SRM in the first place – and all this circular does is to make a reference to the SRM – it is clear that this circular does not apply to them.
From the point of view of the SGPC and the AT, what this means is that if and when the dera, taksali and other groups complain about this circular, the unstated response by the signatories of the circular would be “we said follow the SRM color, but since you are not following the SRM, you can use whatever color your own maryada mandates.” This reply would, of course, not be possible if the new instruction had mentioned the color. The circular is thus a masterpiece in the art of issuing instructions with loop-holes embedded within those instructions.
SEE ALSO: Sikh flag should be yellow or dark blue, says MGC
One suspects that the circular was drafted with active participation of dera and taksal influence. This is therefore bad news for those who believed the circular was evidence that “the SGPC and AT have come around to adopt a new approach.” The truth of the matter is that the circular is actually evidence of the same old approach – providing goalmoal responses to even the most basic and pressing issues of the Sikh world.
A goalmoal response can be said to be a response that is provided in such a way that it is no response at all. Not unlike the Ragmala decision: read if you want to, and omit if you need to. The circular in question is also evidence of the loop-hole approach – the intention of which is to make it seem that the SGPC and AT are folding up their sleeves to do what needs to be done; while keeping all groups on both sides of the divide – the saffron supporters and the blue advocates, in this case, – happy. No progress here Sikho! Just more of the same old lethargy.
Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the joint-editor of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. This article appeared in the The Sikh Bulletin – December 2024 (Vol 26, No 5). Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com.
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