Are Sikhs across the globe, including in India, drifting away from their roots? Worse, are they drifting towards Khalistan? Unfortunately, a new branch of Khalistan was witnessed in the last few decades especially after Operation Blue Star. However, its seed was sown almost one and a half centuries back when Singh Sabha in 1873 was organized.
In 1849, British annexed Khalsa Raj, an independent Sikh kingdom in the Punjab founded in 1799 by Ranjit Singh. In central Punjab, Christian missionaries increased their activities and converted many prominent figures to Christianity. In 1853, the last Sikh ruler Dalip Singh converted to Christianity. He was followed by Harnam Singh, a Sikh aristocrat from Kapurthala. Sikhs like any other religion perceived conversions as a threat to local religious traditions.
As an effect, Singh Sabha was found as a defense against the proselytizing activities of Christians. Also, many Sikhs joined Arya Samaj (a sect of Hinduism). This also led to concern among many other Sikh communities. The lower strata of the British administration in the Punjab consisted of English-speaking Bengalis, who were mostly Brahmo Samajis (members of a Hindu reform movement). In the 1860s, they established their branches in several cities of Punjab. In 1869, Punjabi Muslims founded the first Anjuman-i-Islamia in Lahore. All this led to concerns among Sikh society which ultimately became the reason for Singh Sabha to come into being.
The prime objectives of Singh Sabha were the revival of the teachings of the Sikh Gurus (spiritual leaders), the publishing of religious literature in Punjabi, and a campaign against illiteracy. Singh Sabha also emphasized that Sikhs were not Hindus which is strange as the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak was a Hindu, teachings of Banda Singh Bahadur, Guru Teg Bahadur and other Sikh gurus also considered themselves no different from Hindus.
In the Guru Granth Sahib, the word Ram has been annotated over 2,500 times. Guru Nanak preached many facts pertaining to Hinduism as part of Sikhism teachings. He gave the concept of ‘Ik Onkar’ , considered similar to Om. Sikhism describes Ram as a character for inner peace and inspiration. Dasam Granth Chapter-13 talks about Ram Avtar. During his historic pilgrimage journey, Guru Nanak visited Ram Janmabhoomi in 1520 for the Darshan of Shri Ram. When Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed and plundered the Ram Mandir of Ayodhya, Guru Gobind Singh rebuilt the temple with the help of his army who were on their way to Delhi from Patna Sahib.
What led this Sabha to think that Sikhs were not Hindus?
In December 1920, a Sikh organization Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee was established to help guide the quasi-militant Akali movement of the early 1920s. Shiromani Akali Dal, the political wing of SGPC, from the mid-1920s became a part of
the Indian independence movement. Its primary mission remained the promotion and protection of the rights of the Sikh minority. In 1937, SAD first contested elections as a political party.
In 1956, Sikh groups demanded for a Sikh majority state which was rejected by the State Reorganisation Committee (SRC) in 1956. In later years, struggle for irrigation resources and water disputes led to their demand for autonomy.
For the Punjabi-speaking and largely Sikh populace of northwestern India, SAD led the movement to create a separate state. In 1966, the movement finally achieved its goal after the creation of Punjab state.
For the newly created Punjab state, the first legislative assembly elections were held in 1967. SAD won only one-fourth of the total number of seats. Despite this, it managed to form a coalition government of non-Congress parties. However, the incessant power struggles led to the fall of government within a few months. After presidential rule of more than one year in the state, assembly elections were held once again in 1969. This time SAD got more seats than 1967 still it fell short of a majority. BJS became its alliance partner and made the government. However, nothing really changed and the power struggle continued leading to the dissolution of the government in mid-1971. assembly elections of 1972. INC got a clear majority and formed the government in the state.
Anandpur Sahib Resolution
On December 11, 1972, Shiromani Akali Dal constituted a 12-member sub-committee to draft comprehensive policies and programmes for Sikhs.
The manifesto promised to help the propagation of the “Sikh way of life” and removal of atheism and un-Sikh thinking. It also exerted force on maintaining the feeling of a separate independent entity of the Sikh Panth. From here, we get to see the desperate attempt of a political party to create rift between Sikh and other non-Sikh communities especially Hindus. Hindus never saw themselves as a separate community but SAD was doing everything it could to create a rift between the Hindu and Sikh communities.
SAD also believed in the superiority of Khalsa. According to SAD’s manifesto, the authority of the Centre should be limited only to the defense of the country, foreign relations, communications, railways and currency. It didn’t want the intrusion of the center in the state government.
According to SAD, all men and women who had not been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude by a court of law, possessed the right to have small arms, such as revolvers, pistols, guns, rifles or carbines.
Major General Shabeg Singh
Major General Shabeg, on April 30, 1976, one day before his retirement was dismissed from the Army on charges of irregularities and corruption. He built a house costing Rs 9 lakh which he claimed was worth only Rs 1.75 lakh. Later on, he was acquitted of all the charges from the Supreme Court of India. Major General Shabeg Singh believed he was victimized because of his religion. He reared a deep sense of anger against the Army.
Around 1978-79, the ideology of SAD’s altered politics based on Anandpur Sahib resolution fascinated him. Later on, he met the terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale and his desperation to take revenge against Indian Army knew no limits. Bhinderanwale was an advocate of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.
A war hero, Major General Shabeg Singh was not only a part of the independence movement but had also participated in WWII, 1962 Indo-China War, 1965 Indo-Pak War and 1971 India-Pakistan war. He played a crucial role in the training of guerilla warfare to Mukti Vahini.
During 72 hours of Operation Blue Star in June 1984, Major General Shabeg supported Bhinderanwale and personally trained all armed terrorists which cost many casualties for Indian army. Indian forces were left with no other option but to launch an assault on Golden Temple in Amritsar in order to flush out the terrorist Bhinderanwale and his fellow armed terrorists.
He also guided the Sikh defenses at the Harmandir Sahib. His aim was to cause as many casualties as he could. He succeeded. Major General Shabeg Singh acquired mastery of guerilla warfare from Indian Army and ended up using the same skill to serve the fearless terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale as his Military Advisor and Chief Operational Planner of Golden Temple’s defenses against the India Army. Going by the official figures, 83 army men were martyred. On the other hand, the number of civilian deaths was 492. On June 6, 1984, his dead body was found with his boots on after the operation Blue Star ended.
Sikh community was enraged and wanted to take revenge which came in the form of the murder of erstwhile Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was slaughtered by her Sikh bodyguards.
The Sikh massacre that followed after the slaughter of Indira Gandhi became a major incident that alienated Sikh community and filled them with hatred. It is suspected INC played a very crucial role in planning the atrocities against Sikhs in Delhi.
Other cultural and social factors such as chopping of hair strands, inter faith marriages drew them further away from Hindu communities. In the early 2000s, Santa Banta jokes became controversial due to the fact that it made fun of Sardars. Sikh community has a big heart and most of them weren’t offended however it is very subjective when humor gets involved. We can never predict what would strike a nerve with anyone.
The incidents over the years causes worry and makes me wonder whether we will be able to go back to the things the way they were. Sikh community has an enormous contribution in Indian society. Before the Independence struggle, Sikh families raised one of the sons of the family as Sikh and another one as a Hindu.
Sikh Contribution to India
Today, Sikhs make up 25% of all ranks in the Indian Army and 30% of its officers, whilst Sikhs only form 2% of the Indian population, which makes them over 10 times more likely to be a soldier and officer in the Indian Army than the average Indian.
The Sikh Regiment is one of the highest decorated regiment of the Indian Army, with 73 Battle Honours, 14 Victoria Crosses, 21 first class Indian Order of Merit (equivalent to the Victoria Cross), 15 Theatre Honours and 5 COAS Unit Citations besides 2 Param Vir Chakras, 14 Maha Vir Chakras, 5 Kirti Chakras, 67 Vir Chakras and 1596 other gallantry awards.
At one gurdwara in Punjab, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, 3,000 free meals are served to visitors every half hour.
Khalsa Aid has been working relentlessly in India as it provides free of cost emergency medical services to patients of coronavirus.
The organisation received a generous donation from author JK Rowling’s charitable trust, The Volant Charitable Trust for their Covid Relief work in India.
It's time we trust Ik Onkar and stay united!
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