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EDITORIAL
Two Disturbing Developments
There
are many a problems that are exercising the minds of well-wishers
of the Panth. But two recent developments are really very
disturbing. One is the open confrontation among Jathedar
Sahibans of takhts. The other is the recent de-reservation
of 50% seats for Sikh students in the SGPC-run educational
institutions by the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High
Court.
The confrontation among the Jathedar Sahibans is unfortunate,
particularly during the year when we are celebrating the
third centenary of conferment of Guruship on Sri Guru Granth
Sahib. In times of crises, the Sikh community has always
looked to the five high priests for guidance as they have
been representing the wishes and sentiments of the Panth.
Since there was cohesion among them, no differences ever
arose. However, things seem to have changed and the desire
for personal aggrandizement has overtaken the interest of
the Panth with one of the Jathedars. Besides the present
incumbents, a couple of former Jathedars have also joined
the fray. The Jathedar of Takht Patna Sahib has been issuing
irresponsible edicts so that the Akal Takht Sahib had to
take notice of these and issue a decree that those edicts
were not valid and were liable to be ignored. He has challenged
the authority of Sri Akal Takht Sahib and further claimed
that Takht Patna Sahib was supreme and that it could issue
edicts against the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib as well.
There is a historical record to show that Sri Akal Takht
Sahib is the only takht established by the sixth Sikh Guru,
Guru Hargobind Sahib. Neither he nor any one of the succeeding
Gurus established any other takht during his lifetime. Sri
Akal Takht Sahib was established to look after the temporal
affairs of the Panth. In fact, there can be only one takht
for the Panth. Multiple takhts working at counter purposes
to one another can only lead to anarchy.
The Panth has added four more takhts during the course of
history. Panth certainly has the authority to do that, but
none of these takhts, despite their being connected with
the life of Guru Gobind Sngh, was established as a takht
by the Guru himself. The Guru left Patna Sahib while he
was still a child. He stayed most of his time at Sri Anandpur
Sahib and created the Khalsa at this place. He spent some
time at Damdama Sahib and later moved to Hazoor Sahib, where
he left this mortal world giving spiritual authority to
Sri Guru Granth Sahib and temporal authority to the Khalsa.
Guru Gobind Singh continued to regard Sri Akal Takht at
Amritsar as the real throne of the Immortal Lord. He did
not accord this status to any other place. There is no harm
in having more than one takht, but these have been created
by the Panth to cater to the regional requirements, and
not as rivals to Sri Akal Takht Sahib.
Thus, the arrogance of an individual, occupying a position
of trust, challenging the Supreme Authority of Sri Akal
Takht cannot be ignored. The Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht
Sahib has rightly taken a firm stand against this and needs
the support of the Panth to uphold of the authority of Sri
Akal Takht Sahib.
We learn from newspaper reports that Jathedar, Takht Patna
Sahib is bringing out a White Paper ‘exposing’
the alleged misdeeds of the Jathedar, Sri Akal Takht Sahib
so that the SGPC would be compelled to remove him from the
Jathedarship. This means that the former has no scruples
about washing dirty linen in public that will sully the
character and image not only of a Sikh personage occupying
the highest Sikh seat but also that of the most sacred Sikh
institution. It also does not behove a Jathedar of a Sikh
takht to challenge the decisions of the Jathedars taken
collectively with majority of the representative Sikh religious
organizations. The Nanakshahi Calendar, based on irrefutable
scientific calculations and facts, has been adopted by the
Sikh Panth after the issuance of an Akal Takht edict to
that effect. Regarding the Dasam Granth controversy, it
calls for restraint against all kinds of hawkish postures
on the authenticity or otherwise of this work till Akal
Takht Sahib takes a final decision on it. In the last Editorial
of April – June issue, a mechanism was suggested to
sort out this raging controversy. Now, this belated raking
of one already settled issue and another under-the active-consideration
issue to settle personal scores amounts to an act of blasphemy
that needs to be dealt with sternly. The entire Sikh Panth
must rally round the Akal Takht Jathedar Sahib.
The situation has risen apparently due to the fact that
SGPC has no control over either Takht Patna Sahib or Takht
Sri Hazoor Sahib so that the possibility of such an unpleasant
situation cropping up has always been there. This had been
realised as early as 1950 when the leaders of the Panth
like Master Tara Singh, Giani Kartar Singh and Sardar Hukam
Singh started a move for having an All India Sikh Gurdwaras
Act. They managed to persuade the ruling parties to pass
this legislation and Sikhs were invited to propose a suitable
draft of the Bill for approval of the Parliament. The Institute
of Sikh Studies has been following the history of this case.
It organized a seminar on this issue in order to expedite
the execution of this legislation. As a result, a Drafting
Committee was appointed with Justice Harbans Singh as the
head. This had the approval of the Akali leaders, the SGPC
as well as the Government. The Draft, which provided for
the redressal of all these problems we are facing today,
was prepared and referred finally to the Punjab Govt. It
is still resting with the Govt for more thought. In the
meantime, the damage continues. Haryana is asking for a
separate SGPC. In this situation, a humble request is made
to the present Akali Govt to return the Bill with suitable
amendments, if any, for a formal legislation in the Parliament.
There is no other way. Once this Bill becomes an Act, we
will have a Constitutional mechanism to deal with all these
problems. It will not only streamline the functioning of
our sacred Sikh shrines but also define the rights and duties
of their functionaries. The earlier the Sikh Panth accomplishes
this task, the better.
The other disturbing development is, as mentioned in the
beginning, the de-reservation of 50% seats for Sikh students
in the SGPC-run educational institutions by the Hon’ble
Punjab and Haryana High Court. Punjab Govt had allowed this
reservation through a proper notification. The Punjab and
Haryana High Court, however, struck it down presumably on
the plea that reservations are meant for minorities and
that the Sikhs are not a minority in the state of Punjab.
The SGPC has rightly approached the Hon’ble Supreme
Court for reversal of this order. We have not been able
to lay our hands on the arguments that the defendants have
taken in the court. We learn, however, that effort is being
made to prove that the Sikhs are a minority in Punjab because
a large number of Sikhs go to deras, which profess by a
personal, dehdhari Guru and not Gurbani Sabad as the Guru.
It has also been pleaded that there are many Sikhs who have
not completely adopted the Sikh Rehat Maryada approved by
the Panth and issued by the SGPC. According to 2001 census,
the Sikhs constitute 59.2% of the Punjab population as against
a 37.5% of the Hindus. The Census figures do not provide
any information on whether a particular Sikh sect or an
individual followed the Rehat Maryada or not. It is enough
that he enrolled himself as a Sikh during the Census Operation.
Now at this time, after about eight years, it would not
be appropriate to deny that status of being a Sikh to any
individual who had enrolled himself as a Sikh in the last
census; rather, nobody is in a position to do that. Even
if the Court accepts this plea that some people are really
no more Sikhs, it will be difficult to provide any reliable
numbers. Moreover, this plea will not serve the purpose
of the SGPC.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that assessment of
a particular community as a minority or otherwise has to
be done at the national level, and not at the state level.
The Constitution of India leaves no doubt about it. The
Government of India has listed Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists,
Jains, Muslims, etc., as minorities in a notification in
the year 1992. Thus, a Sikh remains a member of the minority
community wherever he happens to be living in the entire
state of the Indian Union. Indian States are not states
in the real federal sense; these are only administrative
units of the Central Govt with very limited powers. Thus,
this innovation to determine minority/majority status of
a particular community at the state level is against the
spirit of Indian Constitution and is designed to deprive
the Sikhs of their legitimate right in the Indian Union.
No other community is affected by this. The move appears
to have its origin in a recent judgement delivered by a
Division Bench of the Supreme Court in a case that has absolutely
no relevance to the present issue. The Hon’ble Judges
have remarked that the list of minorities should be gradually
reduced and ultimately completely done away with. This unconstitutional
policy has to be resisted at all costs. It might necessitate
an action on the part of the Sikhs on the political front
also.
The move to prove the Sikhs to be a minority in Punjab is
likely to be counter-productive. It was after a prolonged
struggle and countless sacrifices that a State of Punjab
was reorganized and demarcated with a predominantly Sikh
population. To lose that status now will raise a number
of other unpleasant issues detrimental to the interests
of the Sikh Panth. The convention of having an Akali Ministry
and a Sikh Chief Minister will be open to question, besides
disturbing several other power-sharing norms. Such a situation
should be avoided at all costs. Our religious and political
leaders and legal luminaries spearheading this mission must
take a farsighted view of the issue and insist that Sikhs
are a minority in India, and that determination of minority
or majority status taking state as a unit is unconstitutional
and untenable. Such an approach will not only uphold the
already existing constitutional provision but also keep
all the existing splinter Sikh sub-sects under the umbrella
of the Sikh Panth for garnering more political benefits
for the Sikhs in the State of Punjab. By claiming to be
a minority in Punjab, we shall be opening a Pandora’s
box of fresh complications, which we may not be able to
resolve. Such a shortsighted approach will prove suicidal
for us. Thus, wisdom and commonsense demand that we do not
lose sight of the larger perspective, while trying to score
a singular point of reservation in Sikh institutions. Being
pennywise pound foolish may suit an individual, but not
a community and a nation which carries the burden of history,
past, present and future.
In the view of the situation explained above, our main emphasis
in our case against de-reservation should be that determination
of minority status of a community has to be done at the
national level rather than at the state level, as has already
been provided in the Constitution. That should be the main
thrust and direction of our defence and struggle against
the High Court Judgement.
For resolution of such complex challenges confronting the
Panth, we need an organization of well-informed, enlightened
Sikh scholars and professionals committed to the welfare
of the Panth. Fortunately, some panthdardis, enjoying international
repute in their fields, are dedicating their expertise and
time selflessly, and are working collectively under the
banner of International Sikh Confederation (ISC). This organization,
with its Headquarters in Chandigarh, is an apolitical think-tank
of Sikh intelligentsia devoted to the propagation and promotion
of Sikh ideology, and social, economic and educational advancement
of the Sikhs all over the globe. Its sole aim is to complement,
supplement and strengthen the central Sikh institutions
so that these may deal with the emerging challenges effectively.
It is in a position to provide inputs to the SGPC as well
as Sri Akal Takht Sahib after thorough deliberations and
well-thought-out formulations. Services of this Organisation
should be utilized in dealing with these challenges so that
the Panth may always put up a united front at the national
as well as international level, and advance towards its
destined glory.
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