Amritsar (Punjab), June 20 (IANS) Furious over a sect’s attempts to replicate the design and structure of the Sikh community’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s highest temporal seat Akal Takht Friday ordered it to raze the structure. 

A meeting was called by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), which manages the affairs of Sikh shrines, here Saturday to decide the fate of the Mastuana Gurdwara in Punjab’s Sangrur district, 170 km from Chandigarh,  

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar later said all Sikh organisations and religious groups like Damdami Taksal, Sant Samaj and Dal Khalsa attended the meeting and the Akal Takht decided to demolish those structures of the Mastuana Gurdwara that are similar to the Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple. 

“They have given the responsibility of executing this work to the SGPC. All of us abide by the verdict of Akal Takht,” he told IANS. 

The private shrine that is being built by Mastuana Dera in Sangrur, has upset Sikh leaders and religious organiSations because of its similarity in design with the Golden Temple. 

The SGPC had sent a probe panel to the replica shrine which recorded video evidence and submitted its report, saying that the sect was trying to replicate Sikhism’s holiest shrine.  

The representatives of Mastuana Dera were also present during the meeting and expressed willingness to abide by the final decision of Akal Takht. 

Kanwarpal Sikh, secretary of radical Sikh group Dal Khalsa, said the Mastuana gurdwara’s move was unacceptable and the only option to end this controversy is to demolish the whole structure. 

“There are only two options, either the Akal Takht will direct the SGPC to pull down the structure or we people would ourselves flatten it through kar sewa (community service),” he said. 

The controversial shrine, owned by cash-rich Mastuana Dera headed by Sant Sadhu Singh, has been under construction since 1967. It had provoked similar controversy when its outer shape became apparent in the early 1990s and the then Akal Takht jathedar (head priest) had issued a Hukumnama (religious edict) barring its completion till key structural changes were made. 

The Mastuana sect comprises of Sikh followers, mostly from the lower strata of society. Its main influence is limited to a part of south-west Punjab’s agricultural belt of Malwa. 

Recent attempts to restart work on the incomplete shrine had provoked angry reactions from other Sikh organisations. 

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/sikh-leaders-order-demolition-of-golden-temple-replica_100207472.html 

Golden Temple Replica

Golden Temple Replica

Varinder Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 9. Coming out openly in the support of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna, former state Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that his party men will support Sarna if he will contest the forthcoming SGPC elections. He said they wanted to save golak money, which was being “plundered” by Akali leaders for their personal gains.

Amarinder also flayed the Punjab Assembly Speaker and said the latter played a “partisan role” which, in turn, led to ruckus in the Assembly yesterday.

“It is unfortunate that the Speaker had not played a free-and-fair role. In fact, the treasury Benches are responsible for the unprecedented acrimonious scenes in the House,” he alleged.

Regarding the continuation of PPCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee in his present slot, he said: “Sonia Gandhi is our leader. It is up to her to make anyone as the president. I will continue to work wholeheartedly and guard interests of the party in the state”. He said he had nothing personal against Kaypee.

“The Akalis are looting the golak money and are using it for their vested interests. We want to save it and that is why we have decided to support Sarna in the next SGPC polls, likely to be held in June 2010. Moreover, Sarna is a good man and we will be doing whatever possible to oust Badal and his team from the SGPC,” said Amarinder, who is currently busy mobilising Congress workers in the Majha region.

Amarinder addressed a workers’ meet at the DCC (Rural) office here today. He had already organised a similar meeting at Tarn Taran yesterday and was scheduled to hold a rally at Gurdaspur tomorrow. He was accompanied by his OSD Major Amardip and senior Congress leaders, including, Jasbir Dimpa, Sukh Sarkaria, OP Soni, DCC (rural) chief Sukhjinder Raj Singh ‘Lally Majithia’, and Prof. Darbari Lal.

When asked what had made the PPCC to show-case itself as a divided house, Amarinder said the Congress was a united force and that he had no differences with senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

“ The SAD-BJP is there for three years and people of the state are perturbed to see three major violent incidents in Dera Sacha Sauda clash, post Vienna murder violence and most recently Ludhiana violence. There is no rule of law,” he alleged.

Amarinder alleged that certain Punjab police and administration officials were working as “Political Wing” of the ruling SAD-BJP combine and were tormenting Congress workers in “false” cases. “We are busy making lists of such officials and will be dealing with them when we came to power,” he added.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091210/punjab.htm#6

Amarjit Thind, Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3. All Panthic bodies in the state have called for a complete revamp of the SGPC. At a conclave convened here today, a report card was placed before a gathering by Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh in which it was pointed out that the SGPC had “failed” to achieve the basic purpose of religious propagation, resulting in spreading of the dera culture.

“The SGPC has never functioned as such. We have examined that though the SGPC annually holds two sessions of the general house, hardly any matter related to the Sikhism has ever been tabled for a debate or discussion,” he said.

He alleged the scheme of the nomination of candidates for the SGPC was one-sided and based only on political considerations and increased politicisation of the institution. Members considered the organisation as a springboard to enter the Assembly or Parliament, he added.

Dal Khalsa chief H S Dhami emphasised the need for structural and organisational changes in the SGPC to overcome its “shortcomings”. “It’s ironic that the Badals have a stranglehold on the SGPC,” he added. Taking a dig at CM Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir, he said the “Badalisation” of the SGPC has led to the denigration of the Sikh institution.

The resolutions adopted unanimously include building public opinion for fixing a criteria for members of the SGPC and not allowing the Aushotosh of Divya Jyoti Sansthan and his followers to hold its gathering in Ludhiana on December 5-6.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091204/punjab.htm#9

Varinder Singh,

Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 27

Almost putting an end to the long-standing confusion and prevailing apprehensions in the Sikh circles, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar has made it clear that there was no move to withdraw the Nanakshahi calendar.

Makkar has also said that the issue of formation of a separate Sikh body for Haryana has ceased to exist as Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee(HSGPC-ad hoc) chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda had already supported him on November 25 — the day when Makkar was re-elected as the SGPC chief and was subsequently, congratulated by Jhinda immediately after the election.

Meanwhile, the SGPC has decided to form a new committee comprising Sikh scholars to study the Nanakshahi calendar once again and discuss the need to introduce any fresh amendments in respect of the calendar.

The Canada-based designer of the calendar, Pal Singh Purewal, was also likely to be included in the new committee of scholars. Similarly, representatives of Sikh organisations supporting or opposing the calendar would also be part of the committee, said Avtar Singh.

“The calendar is not going to be withdrawn. Those who are busy spreading any such rumours need to exercise self-restraint. Even at the time of proposed discussions of Sikh scholars on the issue, the feelings and sentiments of the Panth would be taken care of. All technical and religious aspects of the calendar would be examined so that there was no dilemma on the issue, said Makkar, who also addressed a meeting of the existing 11 member-committee on the calendar.

 The Sikh leaders and scholars who participated in the meeting included former Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, Prof Suba Singh, Kiranjot Kaur, Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon, Dr Darshan Singh from Chandigarh, Principal Amarjit Singh, Dr Gurbachan Singh Bachan, Swarn Singh, Prof Waryam Singh, Rajinder Singh Mehta and Dalmegh Singh.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091128/punjab.htm#2

Sant samaj for issuing warning to Jathedar Nandgarh

Kanchan Vasdev

Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 26. The Gurmat Sidhant Parcharak Sant Samaj today asked the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, to summon the Jathedar of Takht Shri Damdama Sahib, Balwant Singh Nandgarh, and issue a warning to him for hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs by issuing a statement against Takht Shri Hazur Sahib.

Passing a resolution after a two-hour long congregation of the sant samaj held at Gurdwara Gur Gyan Parkash at Jwaddi today, the Sikh religious leaders said Jathedar Nandgarh was out to torpedo the Panthic unity and he should be asked to refrain from issuing such statements in future so that no other leader dared to do so either.

Jathedar Nandgarh had recently created a furore by stating that the Sikhs should not visit Takht Hazur Sahib and Patna Sahib as these two seats of religion did not follow the Akal Takht maryada in letter and in spirit.

Announcing the resolution passed after the congregation, president of the sant samaj Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa Bhindrawale demanded that the Nanakshahi Calendar should be amended before December 24 and released.

Otherwise the sant samaj would call a congregation of religious heads to decide the future course of action on the issue. The religious leaders gathered today said it was unfortunate that whenever an issue confronting the Panthic unity was taken up, the Sikh high priests made controversial statements, thereby derailing the entire process.

Giani Harnam Singh said the issue of Nanakshahi Calendar had acquired sensitive proportions and even the Sikhs were now divided over it.

The Nanakshahi Calendar, which was prepared by Canada-based Sikh scholar Pal Singh Purewal, had caused some confusion in the minds of the Sikhs and so amendments were required to make it more acceptable.

The Sikh leaders had been debating over the issue and had recently directed the SGPC to remove the ‘discrepancies’ soon so that the calendar could be released on the auspicious occasion of the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh on January 5.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091027/punjab.htm#13

Sega Pecel

Sega Pecel

Resep Pecel
Sumber: http://inforesep.com

Resep Bahan Pecel :
150 gram kangkung muda
150 gram kacang panjang, potong @ 2 cm
150 gram bayam muda
200 gram taoge atau jenis sayur lain
garam menurut selera
rempeyek kacang

Resep Sambal Pecel :
250 gram kacang tanah sangrai/goreng, cincang kasar
6 buah cabai rawit
2 buah cabai merah
1 sendok teh kencur cincang
3 siung bawang putih
3 lembar daun jeruk purut
1 sendok teh asam jawa
1/4 sendok teh terasi
300 ml air matang
garam dan gula merah menurut selera

Cara Membuat Pecel :
Rebus secara terpisah masing-masing sayuran, tiriskan.
Sambal pecel : tumis cabai, kencur, bawang putih, dan daun jeruk dengan 3 sendok makan minyak goreng, tiriskan. Haluskan bersama kacang goreng, beri air matang, aduk kental. Hidangkan sayuran dengan sambal dan rempeyek kacang.
Rempeyek kacang : haluskan 10 buah kemiri sangrai/goreng, 5 siung bawang putih, 2 sendok teh kencur cincang, 1 sendok teh ketumbar, dan 1 sendok teh garam.
Campur 200 gram tepung beras, 50 gram tepung sagu, bumbu halus, 1 butir telur kocok, aduk, tuangi 450 ml santan cair sambil diaduk menjadi adonan yang licin. Masukkan 5 lembar daun jeruk purut iris halus, dan 200 gram kacang.
Tuang 1 sendok sayur adondn di pinggir penggorengan. Biarkan mengeras, lepaskan dengan sendok penggorengan, bawa ke tengah, goreng dengan api kecil sambil dibolak-balik hingga kering kecokelatan. Angkat, tiriskan.

3 hari saya berada di Jogja minggu lalu.. yang pasti untuk urusan pekerjaan. Ada rasa yang berbeda ketika saya menginjakkan kaki di tanah Jogja begitu pesawat mendarat, bahkan saya hampir tidak bisa mendeskripsikan perasaan yang tengah dialami, yang saya tau… saya senang sekali bisa kembali ke kota ini.

Perasaan senang itu saya tunjukkan dengan berkali – kali up date status facebook dan merencanakan untuk makan siang di tempat favorit saya. Dalam perjalanan menuju kantor di Jogja, saya mengamati jalan dan tempat yang terlewati, juga pengendara sepeda motor yang merupakan transportasi utama disana (katanya).

Cuaca yang agak mendung hari itu sangat menunjang perasaan campur aduk antara senang, kangen dan sedih karena berada di Jogja. Sedih..? ya saya sedih karena teringat lebih dari setahun yang lalu saya pernah berlibur bersama teman – teman ke Jogja untuk melepaskan penat dan lari sejenak dari hiruk pikuk Jakarta. Waktu itu saya harus membuat keputusan yang sangat penting dan saya sangat tidak yakin akan keputusan itu. Untuk menenangkan diri, saya pilih Jogja sebagai tempat pelarian.

Dalam perjalanan menuju kantor, semua yang saya dan teman – teman lakukan tahun lalu di Jogja terlintas satu persatu seperti sebuah film kilas balik. tidak terasa ternyata saya tersenyum mengingatnya dan sedih mengenangnya.

setelah singgah sebentar di kantor dan menyelesaikan apa yang perlu diselesaikan, saya pergi untuk makan siang bersama rekan kantor. pilihan saya jatuh kepada SGPC, tempat jual nasi pecel yang terletak di depan kampus kedokteran hewan UGM.

SGPC bukan tempat yang bagus atau mewah, malah jauh sekali dari kesan itu. justru kesederhanaan tempat ini yang membuat saya kepingin balik lagi, ditambah dengan alunan live music dari home band nya…

jangan salah… SGPC punya band sendiri yang bermain pada saat jam makan siang. band ini memakai seragam batik seperti halnya para pelayan SGPC dan mereka menyanyikan lagu2 yang sedang nge trend saat ini atau beberapa lagu barat dengan sesekali di sisipkan irama keroncong… hihihihi kebayang kan lagu barat versi keroncong. alat musik yang digunakan tidak berbeda dengan band pada umumnya hanya saja bass yang digunakan adalah bass betot.. lengkap sudah ke jadoel an band ini.

menu makanan nya sangat sederhana sekali, yaitu nasi pecel yang kalau bahasa jawa nya “Sego Pecel” dan sayur sop, dengan tambahan lauk seperti tempe goreng, tahu goreng, sate telor puyuh dan beberapa jenis gorengan lainnya.. sangat Indonesia lah pokoknya.
minuman yang disediakan ada beberapa macam, tapi yang paling sering dipesan adalah es teh manis dan es jeruk peres, sedangkan minuman jenis soda – soda an atau teh dalam kemasan botol itu pun kalah pamornya.

meja dan kursi dari kayu dengan model yang sederhana ditambah beberapa foto pemilik warung pecel ini menambah kesan jadul SGPC.. tapi suasana itulah yang entah kenapa saya sangat menyukainya.

kebetulan saat saya makan disana pas jam makan siang sehingga sempat menyaksikan home band ini beraksi, makanan.. minuman.. warung yang sederhana.. ditambah pemain musik dengan bass betotnya sungguh memberikan pengalaman yang menyenangkan dan membuat saya ingin kembali ke tempat ini lagi.

Malam hari saya tiba di hotel jam 9 malam dan tidak memungkinkan untuk jalan – jalan di Malioboro, salah satu jalan yang sangat terkenal di Jogja, padahal hotel tempat saya menginap ada di ruas jalan itu.
tapi saya tidak mungkin melewatkan malioboro yang sudah di depan mata begitu saja walaupun sudah malam. jadilah saya tetap menyusuri jalan itu walaupun sebagian toko dan penjual pernak pernik mulai membereskan dagangannya. saya sengaja tidak menggunakan becak atau andong karena saya hanya ingin menyusuri jalan sambil melihat – lihat aktifitas yang ada disana..

beberapa penjual sudah mulai membereskan dagangannya tapi masih ada beberapa yang masih berupaya mencari rejeki karena melihat lalu lalang pengunjung yang masih ramai. di beberapa tempat juga terlihat penjual gudeg mulai membuka dagangannya, harum sekali aromanya…
tidak jauh dari tempat gudeg, ada tukang angkringan yang sedang menyeduh kopi untuk pelanggan dan disebelahnya ada seorang simbah yang sedang merapikan penganan kecil jualannya…

sang simbah langsung aktif menawarkan dodol atau bakpia begitu saya mendekati mejanya..tapi tetap dengan bahasa jawa yang sopan dan saya hanya tersenyum sambil menolak halus dodolnya..

saya lanjutkan perjalanan menyusuri jalan malioboro, kali ini berbalik arah menuju hotel. disalah satu sudut jalan saya berhenti sejenak sambil memperhatikan nama tokonya, dan ternyata itu adalah tempat saya makan bebek bersama teman2 tahun lalu.. namanya bebek terang bulan

wah kangen sekali rasanya makan ditempat itu bersama teman2 dan tertawa2 seperti dulu, entah kapan bisa berlibur bersama mereka lagi.

perjalanan saya di Malioboro sudah harus selesai karena besok pagi saya harus kembali bekerja…

Selain SGPC dan Malioboro, banyak tempat lain di Jogja yang ingin saya singgahi, keramahan dan kesederhanaan Jogja tidak pernah cukup untuk saya.. apalagi ditambah kenangan liburan bersama teman.

kalau dipikir2 tidak ada satu hal khusus yang menarik di kota ini, cumaa… Jogja itu ngangenin dan membuat siapapun ingin kembali lagi dan merasakan keramahannya…

SGPC, Cambridge varsity to institute scholarships for Sikh students
Charu Chhibber
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 29. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) plans to institute scholarships in collaboration with the University of Cambridge (UK) for needy and meritorious Sikh students for research studies leading to MPhil and PhD degrees.

SGPC president Jathedar Avtar Singh said the SGPC had received a proposal from the Department of Human Resources, University of Cambridge (UK), in February this year regarding providing opportunities to Indian students from the Sikh community.

Michael O’ Sullivan Joseph, Director, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, arrived in India a few days back to discuss the modalities for the creation of scholarships.

The Trust grants about 860 scholarships to Commonwealth students who are meritorious and fulfill the eligibility for admission to Cambridge varsity.

Joseph visited important institutions accompanied by the Director, Education, SGPC. He held a meeting with the SGPC chief in which the Director, Education and Principal of College of SGPC and Agya Paul Singh from Ludhiana participated.

The amount of scholarships will be shared as 50 per cent each between the SGPC and the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. The scholarships will be granted through the SGPC-Cambridge University Education Foundation.

The University of Cambridge, which is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year, and has decided to open its doors to Guru Granth Sahib for the first time in whose presence an MoU will be signed in July, 2009.

Sikh students who will avail the scholarships for MPhil or PhD degrees will fill a five-year bond to serve at the appropriate level in various educational institutions of the SGPC. The SGPC on the one hand plans to build up its core faculty and on the other, needy and meritorious students will get an opportunity to study at the most prestigious university of the world which has produced approximately 75 Nobel laureates, informed the SGPC chief.

A four-member committee, comprising Vice-Chancellor, Guru Granth Sahib World University, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Director, Education, SGPC, GS Walia, chief coordinator Agya Paul Singh and Inderjeet Singh Seehra of Cambridge University, has been formed to finalise the modalities with the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust regarding the SGPC Cambridge Scholarship Programme.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090630/punjab.htm#6

ORAL EVIDENCE AND SIKH HISTORY

Dr Kirpal Singh

[Editorial in Jan 2003 issue of Abstracts of Sikh Studies]

The Sikhs have been known as makers of history. They could not write their history because they had to struggle hard for their very existence. Mostly the history of Sikhs is based on tradition which has been recognized as a valid source of information. Guru Amar Das, the third Sikh Guru has said :

ਬਾਬਾਣੀਆ ਕਹਾਣੀਆ ਪੁਤ ਸਪੂਤ ਕਰੇਨਿ

The accounts of their great elders their worthy scions recount.

(Guru Granth Sahib, p. 951)

At times tradition has to be verified with other sources of information. There is scarcity of Sikh source material. Consequently there are a number of distortions in Sikh history as it is based mostly on the information provided by the opponents. The problem of sources of information has become acute under the impact of science and technology. Telephone has become a common mode of communication. People in general including Sikhs have been abandoning the habit of diary keeping or letter writing. Thus the future historians are being deprived of two important sources of information. This loss as well as paucity of source material referred to above can be set right with the help of Oral History.

One of our contemporary Punjabi papers of Canada quoting from the Oral History statement published in the Abstracts of Sikh Studies, “disagreed with the Editor. There is a system of recording Oral statement. Wherever the Oral History cell is established whether in a University in USA or in Nehru Memorial Museum, New Delhi – The primary thing is to select knowledgeable persons whose reminiscences are to be tape-recorded in connection with particular topic. The statements published in Abstracts of Sikh Studies have been recorded after a lot of efforts by the Editor who was founder project officer, Oral History Cell in Punjabi University, Patiala. The Oral History Cell first studies the biographical details of the person concerned along with the events in which he /she has taken part. Then the questionnaire is prepared in such a way as to draw maximum information from the person concerned. That questionnaire is sent to the interviewee. Arrangements are made to tape record the statement according to the questionnaire. Then the tape-recorded statement is converted to a script, which is sent to the person concerned for final approval. How Oral evidence is helpful in writing of Sikh history can be illustrated by one example. Operation Blue Star 1984 is watershed in the modern history of the Sikhs. After hundred years or so its official records and tainted media papers (tainted because they are pro-government and not independent due to censor restrictions) will be available for writing its history. Practically no Sikh source material will be available for the event so intimately connected with the Sikhs. It is, therefore, high time that interviews by skilled persons with highly placed knowledgeable individuals should be tape-recorded. And their scripts preserved for the future historians. It is advisable that Oral History Cells may be established at Guru Nanak Dev University, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar and Punjabi University Patiala Oral History Cell be revived. These centres may have advisory panel of experienced and knowledgeable persons to guide and help them in selection of suitable persons whose reminiscences are to be tape-recorded. In this way necessary source material will be made available to the future historians to arrive almost right conclusions.

At times responsible persons in Government service or even after retirement hesitate to part with the information. In that case Oral History Cell has to convince the interviewee that complete secrecy would be kept about the statement uptill the specified time. In some cases written undertakings may be made to convince the deponent of the secrecy of the statement. One example will not be out of place here. When I went to England in 1964 late Master Tara Singh, the Akali Leader, gave me introductory letter to Maj. J. M. Short who was considered expert in Sikh affairs and had been re-employed to pacify the Sikhs in 1947. He arrived in India in the last week of July 1947. I requested him to give statement on some specific points. He gave his consent on the condition that his statement should be published immediately to which I readily agreed. In his statement he used the word “trim a little” for Sikhs which most probably he meant tehsil Zira, Firozepur, which were subsequently given to India. In the previous communication to Sir Evan Jenkins, Governor Punjab, these tehsils had been given to Pakistan. In 1964 it was highly controversial whether Punjab Boundary Award had been modified or not. I honoured my words. His statement was published in 1972 in my book Partition of Punjab three years after his death in 1969.

In case the Sikhs want to avoid distortion and to present their history in the correct perspective, they must adopt the technique of Oral History for collection of material. Otherwise the Sikh perspective is likely to be lost in the flood of information released by science and technology.

See also http://ridingtheelephant.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/another-shoe-is-thrown-another-indian-politician-a-target/  _______________________________________________________________________

It’s curious how the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is having unintended and totally unexpected impacts on India’s general election campaign which officially begins on April 16.

Varun Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, has refocused the Bharatiya Janata Party’s fundamentalist electoral platform over the past three weeks, and now the memory of the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 has focussed attention on a less-than-savoury side of the Congress Party.

Both events, coincidentally, are highlighting extreme Hindu views regarding Muslims and Sikhs.

Shoe thrown at Chidambaram

The dynasty has been hoping that the election focus would be on Rahul Gandhi, prime-minister-in-the-making, and on his mother, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party and the current coalition government, so that they would together get the credit for leading Congress to victory in a new coalition government. But these other events have now burst onto the stage.

Dealing with the second event first, a Sikh journalist threw a shoe during a press conference yesterday at Palaniappan Chidambaram, the home minister, because the Congress has allowed Jagdish Tytler, a controversial politician, to stand as a candidate in the election. [On April 9, two days after the shoe throwing, the Congress Party withdrew Tytler and another candidate from the general election in response to growing criticism].

Tytler has been accused for the past 25 years of being one of the instigators of vicious riots staged by Hindus against Sikhs after a Sikh security guard shot Indira Gandhi. The specific Tytler allegation relates to a Sikh temple being set on fire, causing the death of three people.

I was in Delhi at the time and saw how Sikhs feared for their lives as 3,000 were killed and the riots spread – riots that were undoubtedly encouraged by Congress politicians and not quelled for several days by the party’s leadership that included Rajiv Gandhi, who became prime minister (and was assassinated in 1991).

Jagdish Tytler

Sikh anger over those events has been reawakened by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week asking a Delhi court to clear Tytler of charges against him and to close the case that has been running through the courts for years. The court will give its verdict on April 9  [deferred till April 28] but, whatever it says, many Sikhs are convinced that the CBI was working under the instructions of the Gandhi-led government that wanted to clear Tytler so he could stand as a candidate.

If those suspicious are correct, the government’s plan has misfired, as became quickly evident today when protests against Tytler spread across the Sikh’s home state of Punjab, disrupting traffic and blocking railtracks.

Leading Sikhs defended the journalist. The SGPC, known as the Sikhs’ parliament, offered him a job and legal expenses, and the Shiromani Akali Dal,  a Sikh political party, offered him a two lakhs of rupees ($4,000) reward and offered to make him a parliamentary candidate.

Reports suggest that Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister and a Sikh, is far from happy about the candidature of Tytler, who seems to have some hold over the party’s leadership. The government has today reacted to the protests by reconsidering his role.

The fact that Congress has not dealt with prosecutions stemming from the 1984 riots while it has been in power over the past 25 years seems to show an appalling bias. This strengthens the feeling of hurt and estrangement that fed the Sikhs’ call for Khalistan (a form of independence or autonomy for Punjab) through the 1980s.

Varun Gandhi filmed on a video

The Varun Gandhi episode involves the 29-year-old son of an estranged member of the Gandhi dynasty who has become a prominent and cherished member of the BJP. Seen till now as a mild, soft-spoken young man who wrote poetry, he has suddenly become the poster boy of the BJP’s extreme nationalist wing since he was filmed allegedly verbally attacking Muslims  and Sikhs (even though he is mother is a Sikh). He claims videotapes were doctored.

It is not clear whether his attack was planned with BJP leaders. Initially it was seen as detrimental to the BJP’s cause at a time when the party is trying to play down its nationalist Hindutva doctrine and make broad economic and developmental appeals to the electorate.

But the BJP has now decided to ally itself with Varun, and some leaders have visited him in jail, where he is being held for his inflammatory speeches. This is because, like it or not, Gandhi is playing to many BJP supporters’ deeply held anti-Muslim views, and he has rallied them to the BJP‘s cause – leaving other politicians to tut tut on the sidelines and regret that Gandhi had been quite so outspoken.

All this shows how nothing is ever simple in India. While Varun Gandhi’s mother is a Sikh, his late father Sanjay (Rajiv’s brother) was half Parsi and half Hindu. And Jagdish Tytler, born to a Hindu father and Sikh mother in what is now Pakistan, was brought up after his parents died by a prominent Christian educationalist.

You’d think that such diverse backgrounds would breed tolerance!

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This post is also on the FT India page - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5bb5a80e-243e-11de-9a01-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=a6dfcf08-9c79-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html

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Ngayogjokarto, kondang kaloko
Papane budoyo, seniman mrakaryo
Ngayogjokarto, manis esemmu
Renyah guyumu, methukke tekaku
Saiki do ra perduli, ra gelem ngancani mecaki dalan ing wengi
Saiki do ra perduli, ra gelem ngancani ngidung lan nyanyi

Wes sak geleme dewe, wes do ra nggatekke
Wes do ra nggape uripmu, kang sepi jroning rame

Bait diatas merupakan lirik dari salah satu lagu karya SGPC Band yang dikemas dalam musik yang berbeda dari band-band jawa lainnya.

Sebagai salah satu kota tujuan pariwisata, Yogyakarta memiliki culture dinamis yang berbeda dengan kota-kota lain di Indonesia. Wisata budaya dan tradisi yang kental di kota ini menjadi salah satu komoditas pariwisata yang utama. Begitu pula dengan bahasa Jawa yang telah menjadi salah satu organ penting dalam tradisi yang sudah semestinya harus dilestarikan seperti halnya kita melestarikan tradisi lain seperti kuliner, kesenian, pariwisata, dan benda-benda peninggalan sejarah.

Berangkat dari situlah akhirnya para musisi muda ini mencoba untuk mengangkat kembali tradisi bahasa Jawa melalui media yang paling universal yakni musik.

Sekitar akhir tahun 2006 sebuah komunitas musik di SGPC Bu Wiryo, sebuah restoran tradisional yang berdiri di kawasan selokan UGM dengan nasi Pecel sebagai menu utamanya menyatukan mereka untuk membentuk sebuah band yang pada akhirnya kami bernama SGPC Band. Mereka sepakat untuk memberi tema unik pada band ini yaitu dengan memberi lirik berbahasa Jawa pada semua lagu yang mereka ciptakan. Berbeda dengan band-band ber-bahasa Jawa lain pada umumnya, mereka mengemas tema tersebut dengan musik yang lebih segar dan modern.

Tanpa mengesampingkan unsur komersiil pada setiap karya, mereka memasukkan pula beberapa unsur dalam genre musik seperti pop, rock, bossa nova, swing, jazz, bahkan dangdut sehingga para penikmat musik dari orang tua hingga anak muda dengan mudah akan dapat mencerna dan menikmati musik-musik yang mereka bawakan. Untuk itulah para musisi muda tersebut berharap tradisi bahasa jawa akan lebih terangkat dan abadi, sehingga para generasi muda akan lebih familiar dalam menggunakan bahasa Jawa dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Dan bahasa Jawa tidak akan surut ditengah perkembangan jaman yang semakin maju dan modern, dalam kemasan musik yang bermutu.

Silahkan nikmati musiknya disini.

In the morning, when I come into work, checking my emails is something I have to do but wish I could do better. I always feel that if I had a program that could read my emails to me while I’m starting my day it would not only beneficial but more productive. Now, with TalkMail, I can listen to my emails out loud while multitasking. Read Full Text

CATASTROPHE IS COMING – VIA SEHAJDHARI ROUTE 

Time to Raise The Red Flag

Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba

Editor ‘Sant Sipahi’ 

KEEP KESHAS, THIS IS MY MARK –Guru Gobind Singh ji. 

High Court asks SGPC whether a person cutting or shaving is a Sehajdhari Sikh?  

SGPC General House authorized SGPC President to constitute a committee of Sikh intellectuals and religious & legal experts to make the definition of ‘Sikh’ more clear/unambiguous. 

12.05.1938 – Resolution of SGPC says    – No!

26.11.2008 – Expert Panel recommendation says –  No!!

03.12.2008 - Executive Committee of SGPC says –  No!!!

04.12.2008 - Expert Panel again says   – No!!!

But

05.12.2008 – SGPC Affidavit says   –  YES !

It is not a simple resolution or decision of the SGPC. It is a question about the future of the entire Panth and Panthic institutions.  

This affidavit casts a big aspersion on the working of the SGPC.  How one or two individuals can overturn the gurmatas and can take the apex body, its general house and its executive body, for a ride.  

Even the entire Panth cannot change the requirements and requisites of the five Kakars (including kesh) or four Kurahits.  

SGPC or any of its officials is not competent to take a decision on the basic postulates of the Sikh panth.   

But the sad reality is that it has happened. 

29.09.2008 HC directs SGPC to answer, Whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a “Sehajdhari Sikh”?

22.11.2008 SGPC General House authorized SGPC President to constitute a committee of Sikh intellectuals and religious & legal experts to make the definition of ‘Sikh’ more clear/unambiguous.  It further authorized that the definition drafted by this sub-committee upon approval by the Executive Committee or pending its approval,  the President may deem to be the resolution of the General House.

26.11.2008 Expert Panel meets in Chandigarh and recommends to SGPC that the 1938 resolution fixing qualification of a Sehajdhari  be adopted.

03.12.2008 SGPC Executive decides, “A person cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari by trimming/cutting his/her hair, beard or eyebrows in any manner”.

04.12.2008 Expert Panel meets in Amritsar and confirms the SGPC Executive resolution of 03.12.2008.

05.12.2008 SGPC files affidavit in the High Court saying, “Once a Sahajdhari becomes a Keshadhari Sikh, he under no circumstances by cutting/trimming his/her hair, beard, eyebrows in any manner can claim to be a Sahajdhari Sikh.”

KESH.    Every person keeping hair is not a Sikh but there cannot be a Sikh without kesh. When a Sikh shears his hair he rather breaks his relation and linkage with Guru Nanak Dev ji. 

Maharaja Dalip Singh was very young when he was taken under the tutelage of the Britishers. At Kolkata he was converted to Christianity. Still his turban and kesh were not removed. It was after one year that when his kesh were removed, E. Dalhousie Login remarked, 

He had been long anxious to show that he was no longer a follower of Nanuk, he Sikh Prophet, by cutting off the long tress of hair which he, in common with all Sikhs, wore twisted up into a knot above the forehead and covered with the bright-coloured turban. 

(Lady Login’s Recollections by E. Dalhouse Login) 

But later on realizing what had been done to him, Dalip Singh wrote a letter on 25th March, 1886 from London to the Khalsa of Punjab saying,

My beloved countrymen,

………I now, therefore, beg forgiveness of you, Khalsa Jee, or the Pure for having forsaken the faith of my ancestors for a foreign religion, but I was very young when I embraced Christianity. 

It is my fond desire on reaching Bombay to take the Pahul gain, and I sincerely hope for your prayers to the Sutgooroo on that solemn occasion….

Your own flesh and blood

Duleep Singh 

‘Sehajdhari Sikh’ There is no mention of the term Sehajdhari Sikh in Guru Granth Sahib, Dasam Granth, Sikh Rahit Maryada, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act or even the acts governing Takhat Sri Hazur Sahib or Takhat Sri Patna Sahib. Sikh Gurdwara Act when introduced in 1925 also made no mention of this term. In the year 1959 Section 2(10-A) was inserted in the Act vide Section 3(4) of the Punjab Act No. 1 of 1959. (Law of Religious Institutions by Dr. Kashmir Singh).   

It is a known fact that in every election to the SGPC this term has been misused by corrupt and unscrupulous elements to infiltrate into the apex body. 

In pre-partition days in certain areas of West Punjab there were some people  who believed only in Guru Granth Sahib and Gurdwaras. At that time certain facilities were given to the Sikhs by the Government and Sehajdhari Sikhs too were also entitled for these facilities.  SGPC was issuing the certificate of Sehajdhari. These Sehajdharis were following and observing all the ceremonies according to Sikh rites only and they felt pride in calling themselves Sehajdharis.   

Bhai Kahn Singh in his magnum opus Mahan Kosh defines that Sehajdhari Sikhs are those who do not keep the rahit of kachhahra and kirpan. According to Bhai Kahn Singh the Sehajdharis too are not exempted from the rahit of keshas.

Khushwant Singh aptly notes the requirements of a Sikh,

…………..It proves that the sense of belonging to the Sikh community requires both the belief in the teachings of the Adi Granth and the observance of the Khalsa tradition initiated by Guru Gobind Singh; and that there is no such thing as a clean-shaven Sikh – he is simply a Hindu believing in Sikhism.

(A History of the Sikhs – Khushwant Singh p.305) 

Identity and entity of the Sikhs are interdependent. Five kakars of a Sikh are an inseparable part of his body. A section of the power-wielding elements’ hatred towards Sikhi saroop is blatantly unconcealed

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in its meeting on 12th May, 1938 had the occasion to define a Sehajdhari. It decided that a person claiming to be a Sehajdhari must fulfil five conditions, namely, (1) Should  keep beard, (2) Should not use barber’s razor, (3) Should make at least one of his children a Singh, (4) Should observe all rites in accordance with gurmat, and (5) Should not consume tobacco.

Prior to partition of the country these Sehajdharis used to call themselves Sikhs but immediately after partition these very people branded Sikhs as Keshadhari Hindus. Hatred of this section finds its genesis in the philosophy and writings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of Arya Samaj. Swami Dayanand was candid in ridiculing the kakars given by Guru Gobind Singh ji. He wrote in Satyarth Parkash that “as vaam margees have five makars, namely meen (fish), maithun (sex), madira (wine), mudra (dance) and maans (meat), Guru Gobind Singh introduced five kakars. He did not stop here and went further to offer unsolicited suggestion that these kakars were given by Guru Gobind Singh for that particular time and there is no usefulness or purpose of keeping these now. 

Sadly this was not a remark in isolation. On 25th June, 1963 while speaking in Kolkata. Vinobha Bhave, the bhoodan leader had the audacity to ridicule kirpan, by challenging its significance in today’s world.

On 11th November, 1963 while speaking at a gurpurab at Delhi, the then Union Health Minister Dr. Sushila Nayyar mocked at the very identity of the Sikhs and said the purpose for which Sikhism was created had been fulfilled, and asked “what is the need of the Sikhs now?” Master Tara Singh’s strong rebuttal at that time had silenced her.

Mahatma Gandhi’s oft-referred remarks against Guru Gobind Singh ji that he was a misguided patriot left deep scars on the psyche of the Sikhs.

These remarks and observations may be innocuous or innocent but the subjects of this great nation atleast expect from its rulers that their feelings and sensibilities are honoured.

Remarks of Sardar Saran Singh, Editor of ‘The Sikh Review’, are pertinent and echo the feelings of the panth that our only demand is that we be allowed to live in this saroop.  

At the time of partition in 1947,  visionary Master Tara Singh lamented that “now that the Britishers are leaving, I am frightened.” He said till now any Sikh, even the worst type of a traitor could not claim to be an angrez, but now it would take only two minutes for him to join the bandwagon of ruling class.  How prophetic he was has been proved beyond doubt.

It is also well known that during the British period observance of the Sikh Rahit was mandatory. Giving reference of this SGPC on 22nd February, 1941 demanded from Punjab Government to ensure that thisrahit was observed by the Sikhs in Punjab Police too.

But after partition everything was reversed and trimming and desecration of the keshas became so copious that SGPC on 28th March, 1965 demanded from Government of India that trimming or shearing of keshas be strictly prohibited in the Army too. This demand of the SGPC was finally accepted by the Government of India and a notification to this effect was issued by the Army Headquarters in the year 1973.

It is a matter of fact that the tornado of Partition brought one big change.  This  was noted and recorded by SGPC in its General House meeting of 1973 which said that at the time of enactment of the 1925 Act, there were some Sehajdhari Sikhs in some districts of Punjab who fulfilled the required qualifications laid down in the Sikh Gurdwara Act.

However, after partition of the country this institution ofSehajdhari Sikhs has virtually ceased to exist. Of these Sehajdhari Sikhs some have become Singhs and some have fallen back to the fold of Hindu culture. It further noted that this route is now being misused to enlist non-Sikhs as voters for the Gurdwara elections.  With this introduction, SGPC demanded from Government of India that since there are virtually no Sehajdharis that exist, the Sikh Gurdwara Act be amended to include only ‘keshadhari Sikhs’ as voters. 

So much so that Khushwant Singh, the renowned Sikh scribe who himself does not follow rahit, writes truthfully about the importance of hair. He simply echoes the traditional views of the SGPC,

The absorption of the sahajdhari Sikhs into the Hindu fold adds weight to the argument that there is no such thing as a clean-shaven Sikh. At one time sahajdhari Sikhism was – as the meaning of the word signified, “those who take time” –the half way house to the hirsute (keshadhari) form of Khalsa Sikhism. Now the process is reversed, and it has become a halfway house to Hinduism.

(History of the Sikhs – Khushwant Singh  p.305) 

The 1973 General House resolution of the SGPC was pursued vigorously by SGPC and ultimately Government of India concurring with and accepting the demand of the SGPC disfranchised Sehajdharis by Notification No. S.O.1190(E) Dt. 8th October, 2003.  It took thirty long years and efforts of the entire Panth which brought fruits and long-awaited demand of the Panth was accepted. 

At the time of enactment of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, SGPC itself contributed its mite in getting the definition of Sikh adapted by the Parliament which made it mandatory for a Sikh to be Keshadhari. While accepting the draft of All India Sikh Gurdwara Act, SGPC General House adopted the Delhi definition of a Sikh.

Playing its pivotal role in protecting the kakars world over, SGPC had been sending delegations all over the world and raising its voice vociferously. But it is intriguing as to what new facts have dawned on the SGPC now that they have filed an affidavit reversing their own stand and nullifying their own achievement of disfranchising the so called Sahajdharis. 

Khushwant Singh in his book A History of the Sikhs had analysed and suggested the way to maintain the entity and identity of the Sikhs,

……….the only chance of survival of the Sikhs as a separate community is to create a state in which they form a compact group, where the teaching of gurmukhi and the Sikh religion is compulsory, and where there is an atmosphere of respect for the traditions of their Khalsa forefathers.

This was the reason of the demand for the state of Punjabi Suba. But tragedy is that not only both the parameters analysed and suggested  by Khushwant Singh have not been achieved even despite getting the state of Punjabi Suba, rather motion has been set to reverse the process of negating the gains achieved with great sacrifices of our forefathers.

Mansur-Al-Hallaj was ordered to be stoned to death. Every inhabitant of the town was asked to throw a stone at him. When stones were hitting Mansur, he was laughing.  Shibli, one of his closest disciples, got frightened and instead threw a rose at his Master.  When the rose hit Mansur he started crying. Shibli ran to Mansur and begged that he had simply thrown a rose at him.  Mansur told Shibli that the others were innocent and ignorant but he was not.  “Others’ stones have hurt my  body but your rose has hurt my heart.”

SGPC’s present stance of voluntarily agreeing to grant status of Sahajdhari Sikhs to those who continue to shave and trim is much more heinous than this proverbial act of Shibli.  Shibli was under threat and compulsion. What is the compulsion of the SGPC is a matter of intrigue.

If at all the SGPC’s latest stand with reference to Sikh Gurdwara Act that a person who continues to shave and trim is a  Sahajdhari Sikh is not foiled,  the future of the panth is anybody’s guess.

editor@santsipahi.org

Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba

Editor ‘Sant Sipahi’

“A person cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari Sikh by trimming/cutting his/her hair, beard or eyebrows in any manner.” – SGPC Expert Panel Report

“Can a Sehajdhari Sikh continue to shave and cut his kesh for the whole of his life?” Going by the gurmat, rahit maryada, hukamnamas and SGPC’s own gurmatas the answer is a clear ‘NO’.  But wittingly or unwittingly SGPC, the supreme body of the Sikhs, does not think so and has declared ‘YES’. However much confusion has been created and the real issue has been lost in the din.

The Panth is at the crossroads now.  It is also not the time for indulging in petty politics and initiating blame game or hurling accusations. It is a grim and grave situation requiring each and every well-meaning Sikh to contribute his mite to set the things in right perspective. Failure or indifference at this occasion will prove to be a blunder for the Panth and Panthik institutions. 

The all-powerful apex body of the Sikhs, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, was to answer this simple question “Whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a “Sehajdhari Sikh?”  It was an awfully simple poser.  But this awfully simple question became simply awful for them to answer.

A Sikh is a Keshadhari by birth and has to keep and preserve the Kesh for whole life. Any transgression on this count is a self inflicted stigma earning for the transgressor the abominable label of a patit or an apostate.  

A Sahajdhari on the other hand is a person who, though born in a non-Sikh family, adopts the road to Sikhism. However the day he becomes a Sahajdhari the first and foremost condition is that he is not to defile his Kesh in any manner. Like when American Sikhs adopt Sikhism the first thing they do is that they start keeping unshorn hair.

As such, though both a Sikh and a Sehajdhari Sikh Sikh cannot defile kesh or trim, the only difference between the two is that while a Sikh has the kesh by birth, a Sehajdhari Sikh comes from a non-Sikh family and has to grow keshas. While the former is a Sikh by birth the latter is a Sikh by volition. But trimming or shaving in both the cases is an anathema. To put it simply,  while a Sikh cannot shave, a Sehajdhari Sikh cannot continue to shave. A Sehajdhari Sikh is on his way to becoming a Sikh but a Sikh cannot become a Sehajdhari Sikh. A Sikh transgressing this diktat will become a Patit. A patit or sirgumm has been defined by the SGPC as,

‘SIRGUMM’ – If a keshadhari whose birth and naming ceremony has been solemnized in accordance with gurmat, and under the influence of debauched company,  discards the holy kesh he is,  a ‘sirgumm’ (patit)

Sikh Rahit Maryada makes no mention of the term Sehajdhari Sikh.   Section 4. (Chapter X). (Article XVI)(i) of the Sikh Rahit Maryada, which is applicable to all Sikhs (including Sahajdharis) makes  it mandatory to keep the Kesh of his children intact. 

Living in consonance with Guru’s Tenets……..A Sikh should, in no way, harbour any antipathy to the hair of the head with which his child is born. He should add the suffix “Singh” to the name of his son. A Sikh should keep the hair of his sons and daughters intact.(p.24)

So much so that Khushwant Singh, the renowned scholar who himself does not follow rahit, writes truthfully about the importance of hair.

…………..It proves that the sense of belonging to the Sikh community requires both the belief in the teachings of the Adi Granth and the observance of the Khalsa tradition initiated by Guru Gobind Singh; and that there is no such thing as a clean-shaven Sikh – he is simply a Hindu believing in Sikhism. (A History of the Sikhs – Khushwant Singh  p.305)

SGPC had the occasion to discuss this issue many times in the past and had conclusively decided it in the light of the Rahitnamas, Hukamanamas, its own Gurmatas and numerous accounts by Sikh scholars of repute.  Enriched with such scholarly and authentic backup there was not even an iota of confusion or contradiction. But surprisingly the matter was allowed to linger on for long and instead empty rhetoric has occupied the centre stage of the issue. The Executive Ignoring the unanimous report of its own Expert Panel, the SGPC came to the conclusion that “Once Sehajdhari Sikh becomes a Keshadhari Sikh, then he can not cut, trim or shave.”  The SGPC by this has declared that till the Sehajdhari Sikh becomes Keshadhari he can continue to cut, trim and shave his kesh. And the Sehajdhari Sikh can remain ‘clean shaven’ his whole life. This, needless to say, is a patently dishonest reversal of the long-standing panthic stance on this most vital issue.  SGPC’s own resolution of 12 May, 1938, reads,

Qualifications of a Sehajdhari Sikh:

The desired qualifications of Sehajdhari Sikh were discussed by the Dharmik Salahkar Committee which decided that the following conditions must be fulfilled by a Sehajdhari,

(i)                 He should grow beard

(ii)               Should not expose kesh to the barber’s razor.

(iii)             Make at least one of his children a Singh.

(iv)            Should perform all ceremonies according to Gurmat.

(v)              Should not consume tobacco.

In 1973 General House meeting of the SGPC while demanding that the so-called Sehajdhari Sikhs be disfranchised from Sikh Gurdwara Act, adopted the resolution that,

“At the time of enactment of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, in the year 1925 there were Sehajdharis in some districts of Punjab who fulfilled the required qualifications. But after the partition (1947) except for negligible number this sect has virtually become extinct. Of these Sehajdharis some have become ‘Singhs’ and some have become part of the Hindu culture.”

This stand of the SGPC was accepted by the Government of India and on 8^th October, 2003 by Gazette Notification No.S.O.1190(E) disfranchised the Sehajdhari Sikhs and provided that only keshadhari would be entitled to vote in the Gurdwara elections.

In this background to answer the latest poser “Whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a “Sehajdhari Sikh?”   Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in General House Meeting held on November 22, 2008 decided to form a seven member Committee of scholars, legal experts and S.G.P.C representatives to give opinion, based on historical, theological and philosophic perspectives. SGPC President Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar was authorized to nominate the committee members and he nominated the following individuals:

(i)                 S. Sukhdev Singh Bhaur

(ii)               Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, Member S.G.P.C.

(iii)             S. Dilmegh Singh Secretary

(iv)             S. Jasbir Singh Sabar, Director Correspondence Courses, S.G.P.C.

(v)               Prof. Anurag Singh, Director Sikh History Research Board, S.G.P.C. Amritsar.

(vi)             S. Suba Singh, Principal Shaheed Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar.

(vii)           S.Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba (Advocate), Editor, Sant Sipahi, Jalandhar.

On November 26, 2008 the seven-member Expert Panel assembled at Kalgidhar Niwas, Chandigarh and considered the whole issue and decided, with six opinions to one, that the issue already stood  resolved by SGPC resolution of 12 May, 1938 that a Sehajdhari Sikh has to be sabat soorat (with unshorn kesh).

Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra had once quipped that there are only two qaums (nations) in the world, Sikhs and monas (clean-shaven). But going by the latest stand of the SGPC there will be two quams in the world, Sikhs and Sehajdhari Sikhs. Every non-Sikh or even an anti-Sikh now can infiltrate the panth and panthic institutions using the cloak of a Sehajdhari Sikh, courtesy SGPC.   

To set the record straight and save the Panth and Panthik institutions from further embarrassment and irreparable damage the Panth desires and demands that the SGPC should understand its religious obligation and without mincing words should declare in absolutely unambiguous terms that It honours its own gurmata of 12 May, 1938 and in the light of this a  person claiming to be Sehajdhari Sikh has to grow his kesh and beard  and under no circumstances can cut, trim or shave,  if he wants to remain a part of the Sikh Panth.

As a matter of fact the difference between a Sikh and a Sahajdhari Sikh has been well explained by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, that a Sahajdhari does not keep the rahit of kachhahra and kirpan.  Thus he is to grow and keep unshorn Kesh. A picture of Sahajdhari is given in the Mahan Kosh, Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Languages Deptt. Punjab. 

A Sikh has his Kesh by birth whereas a Sahajdhari, though he earlier might have had shorn Kesh, has to grow these to become keshadhari.   A Sahajdhari is to adopt Sikhism gradually but cannot remain a Sahajdhari his whole life.

Picture of a Sehajdhari Sikh as given in 'Mahan Kosh' by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha

Though the SGPC Executive Committee in its meeting of 3^rd December, 2008 accepted the report of the Sub Committee in toto yet the reports in the Press suggested that the SGPC did not prohibit a Sehajdhari Sikh to continue to shave and trim. This was quite contrary to the recommendations of the Expert Panel. On 4^th December, the members of the Expert Panel brought this to the notice of the President of SGPC who was on a tour to Bihar. Jathedar Avtar Singh expressed dismay and categorically stated that he had accepted the 1938 resolution and the anomaly if any would be corrected. He then ordered another emergency meeting of the Expert Panel, which was held the same day at Guru Nanak Niwas Amritsar. Here in this meeting the Expert Panel endorsed its recommendations given to the SGPC on 26^th November and reiterated in signed statement that “Hence a person cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari by trimming/cutting his/her hair, beard or eye-brows in any manner.” Here the resolution adopted by the Expert Panel was signed by all the members except one.

AMRITSAR , DECEMBER 6. Glaring difference of opinion on the definition of “Sehajdhari Sikh”, prepared by the SGPC executive committee and panel of experts may put the Shiromani Committee in the spot.

The panel of Sikh experts have clearly con cluded , “A person cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari by trimming/cutting his/her beard or eyebrows in any manner”. The meeting of the panel, held here on December 4 was necessitated when objec tions were raised on the definition of Sehajdhari, passed in the executive committee meeting of the Shiromani Committee, held on December 3 at Chandigarh. However, some members of the   panel alleged the SGPC ) ignored the suggestions e made by them at the meeting held under the

presidentship of Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, SGPC gen eral secretary and neces sary amendments were not made in the resolution passed by the executive committee meeting on December 3,.

Bhaur, Kiranjot Kaur , G.S.Lamba , Prof Suba  Singh and Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar- all members of the expert panel of the SGPC said they stood by the definition pa sed by them on December 4.

To a question, Kiranjot Kaur , an SGPC member, said the resolution of the SGPC executive commit tee about the definition of Sehajdhari was contrary to the one passed by them (Sikh expert panel). Edi tor of Sikh monthly, Sant Sipahi, G.S.Lamba , one of the six members also expressed shock the executive body had ignored the recommenda tions , made by the experts.

The SGPC executive committee had reiterated the definition given in the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, according to which the Sehajdhari Sikhs are those who are born in non-Sikh families, but follow the tenets of Sikhism. A Seha jdhari Sikh is thus a non Sikh who performs cere monies according to Sikh rites; who does not use . tobacco, does not con sume halal meat in any form; who is not a “patit” and who recites the mulmantra of Guru Granth Sahib.

Picture of a Sehajdhari Sikh as given in 'Mahan Kosh' by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha

In the resolution passed at a meeting held this evening, the SGPC point ed out the definition of Sehajdhari given in the Section 2 (lQ-A) of the Gurdwara Act states the word “sehajdhari” con sists of two words “sehaj” (slowly) and “dhari” (adopt a religious path) and hence these are those novices who slowly move on the path of Sikhism to aclopt its doctrine, ethics and tenets.

A Sehajdhari, therefore, is one who has entered the path of Sikhism and he will continue to be a Sehajdhari Sikh till he fully accepts the moral and spiritual vows of Sikhism, to be called a practising Sikh. The SGPC resolution also made it clear that when a Sehajdhari Sikh becomes a keshdhari Sikh, but he chooses to trim.his body hair, he will not be a Sehajdhari Sikh. Similar ly, if a person born into a Sikh family (and is a Sikh), but chooses to dis respect his keshdhari roop he will not turn into a Sehajdhari Sikh but become a “patit”.

However, Lamba and Kiranjot Kaur alleged such a definition passed by the SGPC executive body would have far reaching effects .

Sabar, another member of the expert panel said the definition of Sehajd hari, passed by the experts should be accept ed in toto.

News Courtesy : Varinder Walia, Tribune News Service

Resolution on the Definition of Sehajdhari passed by the SGPC appointed expert committee (Dec 3, 2008)

RESOLUTION NO …………… PASSED IN THE EXECUTIVE BODY MEETING OF S.G.P.. C., HELD AT SUB-OFFICE, CHANDIGARH ON DECEMBER 3, 2008 IN RESPECT OF TERMS SAHAHDHARI AND PATIT.

The Hon’ble High Court vide its order dated September 29, 2008 has directed the filing of an affidavit, based on a resolution passed by the S.G.P.C., Amritsar, as to whether or not a person who cuts/trims/shaves his/her hair, beard, plucks his/her eyebrows is a “Sahajdhari Sikh,” ifhe performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Kutha (Halal Meat) in any form, and can recite Mulmantra : Proem to Sri Guru Granth Sahib in terms of Section 2(IO-A) the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925. This order necessitated the consideration of this issue by the S.G.P.C. The issue was taken up in the General House Meeting of S.G.P.C. on November 22, 2008 in Teja Singh Samundari Hall, Amritsar, and it was resolved to form Committee of scholars, legal experts and S.G.P.C. representatives to give opinion, based on historical, theological and philosophic perspectives. The house authorized the newly elected President of S.G.P.C., lathedar Avtar Singh, to nominate the Committee and seek approval of the Executive Committee on the recommendations of the Committee on or before December 5, 2008. Accordingly, President S.G.P.C. nominated seven member committee to submit the Report on or before December 2,2008.

The meeting of the Committee Members was held at Kalgidhar Niwas, Chandigarh (S.G.P.c., Sub Office) on November 26, 2008 at 3 p.m. After careful consideration of all the facts, historical records. (The Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, Sikh Rehat Maryada, published by the S.G.P.c., Resolution passed by the S.G.P.c. on May 12, 1938., Notification fo Govt ofIndia, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, Dated October 8, 2003.). the Committee resolved the issues of Sikh, Sahajdhari and Patit (Apostate) in its Report dated November 26,2008.

The report of the Committee is accepted in toto, and after careful consideration of the same, the Executive Body of the S.G.P.C. in its meeting held on December 3, 2008, at Chandigarh Sub-Office passed the following Resolution in respect of Sahajdhari and Patit to be filed by way of an affidavit in Punjab and Haryana High Court on or before December 8, 2008.

(iv)             The definitions of various words and phrases, used in the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 are provided in Section 2 of the said Act. These definitions are relevant for the purpose of the interpretation of the substantive provisions of the Act.

(v)              As per Section 2 Cl O-A) a Sahajdhari Sikh is a person (i) who perform ceremonies according to Sikh rites; (ii) who does not use tobacco, Kutha (Halal Meat) in any form; (iii) who is not a Patit (Apostate), and (iv) who can recite Mulmantra : Proem to Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Hence a person cannot claim to be a Sahajdhari by trimming/cutting his/her hair, beard or eye-brows in any manner.

Secretary,

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sri Amritsar. 

Sd/-

JATHEDAR S. S. BHAUR

DR. SUBA SINGH

DR. JASBIR SINGH SABAR 

GURCHARANJIT SINGH LAMBA

KIRANJOT KAUR

DALMEGH SINGH

Definition of Sehajdhari given by ‘Dharmic Salahkaar Committee’ of SGPC in 1938

ਸਹਿਜਧਾਰੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਦੇ ਲੱਛਣ: ਸਹਿਜਧਾਰੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਦੇ ਗੁਣਾਂ ਸਬੰਧੀ ਮਾਮਲਾ ਪੇਸ਼ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਵਿਚਾਰ ਉਪਰੰਤ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਨ ਹੋਇਆ ਕਿ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਸਲਾਹਕਾਰ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਦੀ ਰਾਏ ਵਿੱਚ ਹਰ ਇਕ ਸਹਿਜਧਾਰੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੇਠ ਲਿਖੇ ਗੁਣ ਹੋਣੇ ਜ਼ਰੂਰੀ ਹਨ-

(1) ਦਾੜੀ ਰਖੇ, (2) ਕੇਸਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਉਸਤਰਾ ਨਾ ਲਾਵੇ, (3) ਆਪਣੀ ਔਲਾਦ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਿਸੇ ਨਾ ਕਿਸੇ ਨੂੰ ਸਿੰਘ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ ਸਜਾਵੇ, (4) ਸਾਰੇ ਸੰਸਕਾਰ ਗੁਰਮਤ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੋਵੇ, (5) ਤੰਬਾਕੂ ਨਾ ਪੀਵੇ।

ਸਹੀ ਹਰਨਾਮ ਸਿੰਘ

12-5-1938 – ਆਫ਼ੀਸ਼ੇਏਟਿੰਗ ਸਕੱਤਰ,  ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ, ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ

S. Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba

(Editor, Sant Sipahi)

Both, the entry and exit of Jathedar Joginder Singh to the post of Akal Takhat Jathedar was very dramatic. Sardar Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and Rajinder Singh Mehta carried out the duty to collect the resignation of the Singh Sahib and removing him from the esteemed post.

Contrary to the Sikh philosophy that ensures equality of Religion and Politics, this decision was a ”hat-trick” where Politics was again used to suppress the status of Religion. Even before this, the position of Jathedar Ranjit Singh and Giani Puran Singh was sacrificed to the panthic politics. None of them had a respectable exit from his post and no moral norms were used for their removal.

During his tenure as Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh saw many ups and downs. Many times after his decisions as Jathedar of Akal Takhat Sahib, it felt as if he would now be shown the door from the esteemed position. But before any harsh decision was taken, every time a new panthic controversy germinated and his ”exit” seemed to be deferred indefinitely.

Though he had his Gurmat education from The Damdami Taksal, he never let Taksal Maryada influence Akal Takhat Sahib or the Panthic Maryada.

When Giani Joginder Singh Ji was appointed the Jathedar it was decided that guidelines addressing the functioning and rules & regulations of Akal Takhat and its Jathedar be formulated. But it never happened. If this would have happened then perhaps this current situation could have been avoided.

Though Jathedar Ji has been forced to submit his resignation, but in the nation of ”Satyamev Jayete”, now the SGPC will try to deny any involvement in this and will declare that his resignation was voluntary. And the Shiromani Akali Dal will give its regular statement that it does not interfere in the functioning of either the SGPC or the Jathedar Akal Takhat.

When Master Tara Singh Ji was in the Almorah Jail every inmate had to sing ”Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram..” in the morning prayers. Master Tara Singh told the Jailer that there are Muslim inmates too, so why are they forced to sing this. The Jailer replied that everyone sings by his choice. To this Master Ji said, ”Then announce that those who want to sing this should sing and those who don’t should not”. The Jailer replied, ”If we give such an order everyone will leave”.

Looking back at what had happened during the previous Centenary celebrations too, it seems as if on the Panthic level someone is determined to taint the environment during every centenary celebration by behaving with the Jathedar of Akal Takhat in the same way as a local Gurdwara Committee does to its Granthi.

During his tenure as the Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh had taken some historic decisions and issued important hukamnamas. Some of the historic Hukamnamas are as follows:

1. Issuing a hukamnama, during the quad centenary of Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib in 2004, declaring RSS as an anti Sikh organisation.

2. In 2006 appreciating the role of Sant Sipahi Magazine in exposing the fake letter of RSS in the name of Akal Takhat. This was another serious blow to the RSS.

3. Hukamnama against Deras where persons (Saadhs) are given more importance than Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

4. Hukamnama declaring the detractors of Sri Dasam Granth as mischievous miscreants.

5. Hukamnamas excommunicating, Joginder Singh (Spokesman), Kala Afghana, and his supporters.

Persian scholar Sheikh Sahdi once said, ”You have got a short life. Say what you want to say, before the God says ‘Shut-up”. Every Jathedar should also realize that his life as a Jathedar is short. And before the ”political masters” say ‘Shut-up’, he while addressing a panthic issue should use his powers considering what Guru Hargobind Sahib would have done or said.

Removal of Jathedar is not distressful, but the way he has been removed is indeed sad. Before his removal he should have at least been given a chance to express himself in the court of the sangat, and should have taken the permission of the sangat before his respectful exit.

                 Shame on you Badal and your corrupt political family. The Sikh panth is not a mere puppet and the Akal Takht is not just another political podium from where political agendas are announced. No wait a minute, nowadays it has become just that. The Badal family has high jacked the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs for political purposes, and to be honest no one is shocked anymore. The Sikh sangat is becoming numb to gurdwara politics, and shrug it off as nothing new. It is a disgrace that these “bhandar politicians” who openly display long white beards and bristling silver kirpans can so seamlessly meddle with the very religion they fiegn to follow. They can allow a genocide to occur in Punjab while they are reassured their political seats, and will sit silently as the golden temple is attacked and many killed. How can we trust them? We cannot.

                   I live thousands of miles away on the other side of the planet in California. Every night I do my paath and try to understand the universal scope and vastness of God intertwined in religion. No one can take away my right to learn, understand, and comprehend the majestic and infinite teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, so I continue trying to live as a Sikh. The happenings in the Takhts and gurdwaras make me distraught and they are the least inspirational aspect of modern day Sikhism. These acts are sucking the blood right out of what Sikhism could be, and that is the saddest reality of the whole situation. Mainstream Sikhism is being jerked and tugged by numerous self-interest factions – political parties, radicals, khalistanis, cults, branches, and so on. Let there be unity of Sikhi and then pursue it in humanity.

                   Vedanti had his faults as the Akal Takht jathedar, and these faults had their foundation in political links then too. He began asking for justice in the 1984 incidents in New York, and other locations. Being a Sikh and not in any way a politician, I have a hard time finding anything wrong with pleas for justice after a devastating genocide. However, our little money sucking politician chors in Punjab feel otherwise, because their buddies over at the RSS and BJP do not like Sikhs demanding justice. Come on, the Sikhs do live in Hindustan so demanding justice and rights is a little far fetched. Then Vedanti decides that strict and stringent action should be taken against the Dera Chief who has killed numerous Sikhs now. Hold on, big Badal does not like the sound of that either, he gets votes from that Dera. It is a powerful sect and friendly diplomacy could mean an election, right? So he tells Vedanti to calm down Sikh sentiments and display his heroism somewhere else. Finally our jathedar of Sikhs in the Golden Temple praises Manmohan Singh for winning the reelection. Now Vedanti has gone too far, because Badal, an Akali, voted against the Prime Minister. How dare Vedanti bite the hand that feeds him. Goodbye. Badal owns the SGPC and now jathedars apparently, so he just hired a new puppet. Now its perfect because everyone is happy especially the central government, the BJP, and our best friends over at the RSS.

                     Sikhism was not meant to be corrupted and slaughtered by its own men. We fought the Mughals and invaders for centuries, but today we have a much more dangerous enemy – our leadership. We will overcome with the kirpa of Waheguru, and in His grace and mercy I trust. Badal shame on you for pretending to be a Sikh.