By Gurmukh Singh OBE | Opinion |
In 1953 late S Khushwant Singh predicted, “By the end of the century, the Sikhs themselves will have passed into oblivion”. (Preface to The Sikhs, 1953). Whilst Khushwant Singh misjudged the historical resilience of the Sikh Qaum to survive, he was right to point to the challenges which lay ahead.
I am reminded of that prediction on reading “Challenges of the year 2022”, the editorial of the January issue of The Sikh Review, Kolkata, India, by S. Partap Singh, DIG Retd. Although, he concludes on a positive note, the article is a stark reminder of the state of the Panth today. That should be a matter of concern for the global Sikh community.
The article lists the challenges faced by the Sikhs since 1947. They were forced to migrate from West to East Punjab followed by Sikh migration from Burma (now Myanmar) in 1959. Sikh farmers have been displaced within their own country, India.
S Partap Singh reminds us of the massive exodus of Sikhs in 1984 and genocide of the Sikhs which followed with “migrations to Europe, North America, and Canada seeking political asylum for the safety and security of their lives due to oppression, killings of youth in fake encounters, and kidnapping for ransom by police forces in Punjab…..The horrors of those dark days (third Ghallughara) are still fresh in the minds of victim families and the general public.”
It is refreshing that S. Partap Singh, an ex-senior police officer himself, does not mince his words when referring to state terrorism in Panjab following the “third Ghallughara” (holocaust) in 1984.
On the social front, while Sikhi is opposed to the oppressive caste system, the practice continues as an influence of the Hindu milieu the Sikhs live in, or, the baggage carried over from their Hindu ancestry. Yet, rejection of caste was Guru Nanak Sahib’s first act of rebellion against this discriminatory evil in human society. The result is that the lower castes are lured away from Sikhi by gurudoms, derawadis and Christian missionaries.
Conversions to Christianity in Punjab have increased massively in recent years. Sikh parcharaks lack the education and missionary zeal to respond to the falsehood about Sikhi being spread by non-Sikh preachers often in Sikhi sarup! Meanwhile, vast Sikh resources are being wasted on marble-clad, gold-plated Gurdwaras as Sikh heritage buildings and artefacts are being neglected or destroyed. Neglect of duty by the politicised office-holders of the great Sikh institutions is central to the present sad state of Panthic affairs.
We are warned that if the current decline in the Sikh population in Punjab from 59 percent to around 53 percent continues, “Sikhs may become a minority in their own homeland, Punjab, within the next ten years.”
Yet, Sikh history and the recent success of the popular India-wide farmers protest led by Panjabi Sikh farmers reminds us that the Sikh qaum has a remarkable capacity to regroup, revive and survive to defy predictions of extinction. The Sikhs derive their strength from their inherited egalitarian Sikhi values of sewa, sharing and Sarbat da bhalaa. These values have received much global media attention during the prolonged but successful farmers’ protest against the black farm laws rushed through the Indian Parliament.
Quite instinctively, wherever the Sikhs live, they stand up for the downtrodden, the poorest and the most disadvantaged groups in need. While their support is unconditional, that is how, by own example, Sikhs attract converts and not necessarily by sending out missionaries to actively seek converts. Sikhi values are in their genes. In fact, that is how the Panjabis, Sikh and non-Sikh, live in the Name of the Gurus.
Historical evidence of Sikh survival after Ghallugharas gives hope even if external and internal challenges seem overwhelming sometimes.
Let the Sikhi spirit of Chardhi Kalaa prevail in Year 2022.
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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As usual excellent reflections from Gurmukh Singh and Gurnam Singh. The fundamental philosophy of Guru Nanak, the basic software/model has been distorted by legacy Hindu/Brahmic influences as well as by politicians and many fraudsters pretending to be ‘sants’ and creating their own money making operations. One of the fundamental elements in my view has been the decline in the education provision in Punjab. The bulk of the masses are easily swayed by loud ‘parcharaks’ quoting extracts from Guru Granth Granth Sahib.
Those with some education and limited vision are in charge of the gurdwaras and thus cannot see the strategic threats that have been highlighted.
The present communications tools are indeed very effective but the messaging has to be clear and reinforced. It is a process in which we all have to contribute.
Comments by scholar colleagues are much appreciated. Found the exchange between Dr Gurpreet Singh and Dr Karminder Singh Dhillon (at link: https://www.sikhsaakhi.com/blog/22 ) most refreshing. It is highly educational regarding conduct of discussion.
Scholars have a catalytic role in Panthic affairs: to assess the state of the Panth and to promote positive trends from within. Scholars should not attempt to “lead” through organisations/jathebandis – that causes ideological divisions – but “promote” Sikh education and advancement through discussion in simple language. Dr Gurnam Singh’s comments invite ongoing discussion and Dr Virk’s critiques always hit the nail on the head!
Beautiful write up. I totally endorse that “Sikh qaum has a remarkable capacity to regroup, revive and survive to defy predictions of extinction.”
I too had similar debate with Dr KS Chillon on this narrative: https://www.sikhsaakhi.com/blog/22
Gurmukh Singh OBE’s article and its Critical Review by Gurnam Singh (Sanghera) are both welcome. The intitiative must come from Sikhs in Diaspora. What else we need to stem the ROT? The so-called AKALI PARTY who which was created to fight for SIKH INTERESTS is fighting for its own survival during its Centenary year. In the words of Prof. PURAN SINGH, if SIKH SPIRIT is dead, there will be only Sikh fossils left (Read his Spirit of the Sikh Vol. I &II).
Great honest and sobering piece by my good friend Gurmukh Singh. He refers to a prediction by Khushwant Singh that the Sikh Panth would be virtually finished by the end of the 20th Century, Though his prediction did not materialise, it is correct to say that the Panth is in a state of existential crisis. This might sound surprising given the vast networks of marble-clad Gurdwaras, not only in Panjab but across India and the world. But, using computer science language, ‘hardware’ appears to be in good shape, our ‘software’ is outdated and riddled with viruses.
As Gurmukh Singh rightly notes, “Sikh parcharaks lack the education and missionary zeal to respond to the falsehood about Sikhi being spread by non-Sikh preachers often in Sikhi sarup! Meanwhile, vast Sikh resources are being wasted on marble-clad, gold-plated Gurdwaras as Sikh heritage buildings and artefacts are being neglected or destroyed”.
So the question we face is, what is to be done? There are two different mechanisms, both of which have proven to be effective in reviving Sikhi. As we saw with the historic kirsani movement, the first is that we simply wait for the next state-sponsored attack, and we react accordingly! The problem with this is that such periods of successful struggle or ‘sangarsh’ are often followed by decades of conflict and decline.
The other mechanism, as was so powerfully demonstrated by the Singh Sabha Movement is to develop a turbocharged education strategy to research and teach Sikhi through identifying the clear and timeless principles and applying these to the global challenges of our time; crime, poverty, discrimination, inequality, justice, environmental degradation, racism and other forms of oppression, hunger, all kinds of violence, corruption and ignorance.
This is a tall order because the present tekhedar’s (incumbents) of our Panth have very little interest in upsetting a very successful financial model, which feeds the Sikh masses all kinds of superstitious, ritualistic faith, and in return, keeps the money flowing into the gholaks.
So, part of the strategy must be to either dislodge the Pujari’s, which, given most Sikh preachers, directly or indirectly, are on their payroll, will prove to be a difficult task. The other option is to take a lead from the Singh Sabha Scholars, and that is to bypass the Pujati’s and, through modern communication methods, social media, university spaces, and other community spaces, put forward a Gurbani centred progressive rethinking of Sikhi for the contemporary age. That does not mean disposing of traditional Sikh literature, but it does mean new and more critically informed readings.
I think intellectuals such as Gurmukh Singh and others, along with progressive publishing houses, such as Asiasamachar, can lead the way, but we must expand the intellectual base to avoid even intellectuals becoming the modern-day pujari’s.
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