Here is the story:
Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, a spiritual cult group) apparently appeared dressed as Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (the tenth Guru of Sikhs) in an advertisement. He asked people to attach the word ‘insaan‘ at the end of their name, just as Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji had suggested the words ‘Singh’ and ‘Kaur’ for Sikh men and women.
Sikh clergy was furious at his actions. How could someone dress as the revered Sikh Guru? The demand for “his head” was made. The government, initially quiet, has now asked the Baba to apoligize, because it will help “maintain peace”.
I am upset. Not at the people in the streets. Not at the Baba. Not at those who felt genuinely offended. But at the clergy, the government. Someone dresses as a Guru. Asks people to use insaan as their last name. All right, that was very similar to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s legendary act. But is that a license to kill a man? The demand for “his head” was made as if it was the Taliban that was ruling us. Where is law and order? If there are grievances, use courts. Incidentally, an FIR was filed against the Baba, but that does not soothe the Sikh clergy.
If one delves a little deeper in to this, it is not hard to realize that the real force behind protests is the combination of clergy with government. Much like the church-state partnership in the earlier European societies, the ruling Akali-Dal government in Punjab has a lot of stake in Akal Takht, the religious analogue of Supreme Court in Sikhism. Baba Gurmeet Rahim Singh had encouraged people to vote for the Congress in the Malwa region of Punjab. So now, instigating masses and provoking religious sentiment political mileage to the Akali govt, in addition to religious approval. What it also does, and much more dangerously, is promote religious fundamentalism. Religion and faith determines all course of action. So much so, anti-nationals are using this situation to the idea of Khalistan – a totally Sikh nation – again. Surely that should ring alarm bells somewhere…
What constitutes hurting a religious sentiment? If an artist draws pictures of Hindu Gods, we throw him in jail. If someone dresses as a Sikh Guru, we throw him in jail. Not only that, we encourage our youth to fight for the “hurt sentiment”. Aren’t these sentiments personal, subjective? In a civil society, who will decide when a sentiment has been hurt? And whose sentiment is more important: mine or yours? And wouldn’t we better off giving our youth other things to do than to roam streets with swords in their hands?
With a religious approach, national issues are very difficult to address. All a government should ensure is that the law of the land holds. We must first uphold the law, and not sentiments, especially in a democratic country. And anyone who’s read the wonderful poetry of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji knows that he would have hardly bothered to give any notice to the Baba’s act if He were here…
P.S. – Doesn’t Sardar Manmohan Singh have a view on this, which may be, for a change, he could share with his countrymen? Or perhaps it is too much to ask a PM to actually express his opinion issues that really need a leader’s perspective…
on a similar note, may i add something.
last year, in calcutta, a swami(forgot his name) wanted to form his own religion which was on the lines nearly similar to buddhism but differed in many aspects of hinduism. the reasopn being that this swami was aggravated with the whole idea of the hindu-muslim conflict. so he wanted to start something (him being a hindu himself) tht was far away from the hinduism and islam. do u know what happened to him in the end…well, he was threatened by the hindu leaders and guess wat, in the end….he left the country for the himalayas or something. no one knows really…..but, the point is…i would have supported him. but i was never given the choice…
um i dont totally agree with yu coz this is what a religion’s particular followers feels and the demand for his head is justified and not justified for we hav been tought to understand a situation properly and then act on it rather than getting all hot headed but still dont yu feel that this baba ram rahim did a wrong thing? what abt when a cartoon of prophet mohammed was drawn? didnt it get a similar kind of response?? what matters is that their are deep strategies being planned somewhere just to provoke the sikhs and this is not fair … and yes when something like this happens dont the people hav a feeling for their own nation where atleast no one can violate and make fun of their religion ? im sure it does occur in a common man’s head ..
sorry if i said something innapropriate but these are my views..
and yes… the courts take too long and as a former resident of india even yu know that how hard it is just to get the so called insaaf there ( no offence ) but this is reality there is no way the courts are going to resolve this matter in the proper way and also it takes alot alot of time .
@cloud minus nine: you’re right. the reactions of religious leaders are not justifiable. individuals are free to choose or reject someone’s ideology, but there’s no reason to threaten anybody who’s ideas are different from those of your religion.
@adina: thanks for your comments. you’re saying that since courts take a long time, the clergy can call for a man to be killed. Imagine if everyone started thinking like this. so many would be out on street to kill anyone who they think has “hurt their sentiments”.
You know, it is one thing to say that your sentiments have been hurt and to express your disapproval. I approve of that. But I am totally against using violence, and calling for young kids to come out on streets and aim for “the head” of some person. Do you think any of the Sikh teachings preach that?
Regarding Prophet’s cartoons… I share the offence that the Muslim community felt. And they are entitled to protest. But violence is again not warranted. You might now know, but recently in India, an artists Chandramahan was thrown in jail because an political leader did not like his drawings of Indian Gods and Goddesses. This is totally insane… to throw anyone who’s views are different from ours, in jail… If you don’t like someone’s views, don’t subscribe to them. If you want, you can go one step further to publicly oppose them. But you have no right to create violence, or to kill a human being, no matter how different his ideas are from yours.
It is not a matter of concern only in the religio-social scene. The King was behind Galileo(?) for mentioning that earth is round. Its beliefs that clash, and the tangible forms of beliefs are religion, politics, ideologies, and even Deras!
It is easy to criticize than to be a part of it. It is up to you, how close you are to something. You love yourself more than anything, somebody tries to attack you with a dagger, your first move is going to be to save yourself, and then attack him back to save yourself from any further hits. Agreed that the issue here is too small to commit to an act of such magnitude, but its not a game for everyone to realize. Think it over, with a non-revolutionary, non-trying-to-change-the-world mind.
and just to jack-up your thinking, the baba has rape and murder charges against him… law?order? Bah! Sir, its not amreeka, rise up to the reality; where widows have spent 20 years to get a ten thousand buck govt help to raise their kids…when you may have got all the luxuries of life. its just easier because they were not mine and your family members.
@got it: thanks for your comments.
yes, people were against galileo – and for that matter, copernicus – when they revealed truth which religion did not support. that is not an example of any wrongdoing on the part of galileo or copernicus. On the contrary, it is a lesson to learn against religious fundamentalism.
also, please note that i am not supporting the baba in any way. what i am against is instigating violence, creating enmity between people of different religions.
at the risk of repeating my argument, let me reiterate that if we start murdering people on the basis of “hurt sentiments”, then we are only going to end up with destruction, bitterness, and chaos. and civility is not something important only in amreeka, it is needed just as much in our own country.
the point is- Nobody is above the law. Let the court decide what right and what is wrong. if it is left to the people to decide, what will follow is confusion and chaos.
Manmohan Singh … he needs permission from 10 Janpath, even to visit restroom!!
@lavanya: you hit the nail right on the head!
@Prashanth: Surely we deserve better than that from a PM.
But… is the court really givign justice…My family had a very personal experience with the high court where the justice wasnt given .. the chief jsutice peacefully got bribed! I think there is nothign like absolute justice and all justice is prone to human sentiments… Of course this does not mean i support the curent act.
Use the courts? The courts of the same government that is behind the 84′ attacks? The same government which fueled the anti-SIKH riots? The same filthy government that re-wrote the constitution and is the worlds largest hypocrisy? By claiming to be the largest democracy but in reality is the largest dictatorship.. Fuck the courts, “When all other means fail, it is righteous to raise the sword”. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is my code of conduct, that is all I follow. The demand for that cult leaders head is just, Khalistan Zindabad.
The courts of the same government,,what the doing court kuch be nahi kuch be nahi kar sakti court
lets we doing only 5 KHALSA of GURU
only we sikh
finish gurmeet THE END
@singh: I respectfully disagree with you. Our religions have taught us that God is One, we are One. And our nation is founded on secularism. You may have forgotten, but the Prime-Minister of India is a Sikh, and a proud one at that. Yes, problems will come in every society. But principled beliefs think about solving it, not making it a permanent scar. To tell you the truth, I have lived in Amritsar my entire life, and Punjab is as much mine as anyone else’s. In fact, Punjabis – whether Hindus or Sikhs – are all very loving people who do not discriminate amongst each other on what religion they label themselves by. If you are a true Singh, then work for strengthening unity and happiness, not the other way round.
P.S. – a lot of the bitterness that I have come across lies in the hearts of people outside India, and they pass it on to future generations here… these young people here are totally unaware of the fact that actually, in the modern Punjab, people do not make enemies with those of different religions. And the issues and challenges are technology and entrepreneurship, not fundamentalism or Khalistan.
i’am from punjab and watched this “drama” made by the punjab congress with help of “nakli baba” who is actually a killer and rapist(which has been proven in the court and FIRs in this respect were lodged against him. akali govt came in power and that was the only reason congress took “help” of (as majority of ppl think that akali govt is attached to sikhs, where as it is not as political leaders have no religion) congress wanted to bring bad image to akali govt which akal govt handled tactfully. rest about PM, illrespective of his being a Sikh by religion, he is not that free to share his comments on such small dramas by some repist in some corner of India. Though he is a Sikh, he understands his duties to his country first and religion second as every Sikh does,be it be the battle field of Tigris,Italy or Ipper in Belgium or Kargil in India.
so much said ! nothing left..
I am just losing hope of seeing a day in my life..with..peace around.
at any level..
sect.. dera ..sikh
states… north.. mumbai..raj thakrey..
country… india..pakistan.. korea.
next thing left is some aliens coming,,
where are we headed..
only thing that comforts.. my life time will be over before the worst !!
Sauda-Giri in Punjab!!….really poor choice of words. It’s actually quite offending.
First of all, what this sacha sauda guy, gurmeet did was totally wrong. Imitating a religious person is morally degrading for the religion and the whole country itself.
The demand for his head was dumb. Some people go get over emotional during these situations. Let me correct you, Akal Takht never asked for his head in the first place. A few people here and there did. Their opinion doesnt really count.
Now, youngsters drawing swords was a protest and a threaten towards this dera guy. There was no violence of any short. Just mere protests. So you cannot compare it to 1984. And importantly, in 1984 sikhs were targeted against, sikhs did not target other communities. A genocide was commited against our people. We were refugees in our own country. No one spoke about a civil society then.
Now, we draw swords as a sign of threaten to anyone who tries a similar act and you come along and talk about a civil society.
About Khalistan, do some research first and then talk about these topics. Half knowledge about anything is your worst enemy.
Punjab at the time of the partition was divided in two. We had to give up our mother land. Half of india did not do so. Then there was the worlds biggest immigration more pakistan punjab to indian punjab. Then again atrocities were commited against our people.
The indian government promised us a separate state till haryana. But at the time of the constitution was formed we were cheated, and we go part of what we demanded. They simply brushed us off saying that we did not have a majority till that state. Which was totaly wrong. We were promised, that if you join India, u will have a state till haryana. So, we were cheated there again.
Sikhs are only trying to protect their religion in a Hindu dominated society. They kill muslims when they want and so do they kill sikhs. The attacks in 1984 were planned, the mobs were organised. They did not catch random people walking on the streets, they knew were the sikhs lived and then attacked them while the POLICE WATCHED THE SHOW.
And now again when, dera sacha sauda guy GURMEET comes along and threatens are religion, we cant even protest haaan.
Civil society is what u want. After killing Muslims in Gujarat and avoiding states of sikkim and other eastern states.
A civil is society is what punjab has always been my friend. We have grown food for the whole of India, laid down our lives in world wars, the freedom struggle and are still doing so in wars like kargil. More than 50% people in the army are sikhs. And ur trying to show a picture that we are rebels and not civil in any way. INDIA… Is Indeed GReat….
@anonymous: You do not need to be anonymous.
I disagree with your viewpoints. You tend to make every issue a reason for war between Sikhs and Hindus, and you use your arguments to breed hatred.
That is the opposite of where I stand. I come from a family which has both Hindus and Sikhs. First, I do not think “all those who are corrupt or wrong because they are Hindus or Sikhs”.
I believe that the answer to our problems, be it the neglect of North-East, the poverty or illiteracy, lies in the possibility of young and educated people rising above petty divisions. To unite for what is best for us as a nation. To move forward and beyond the crutches of past that want to keep us divided, and hateful.
Finally, like so many from my generation, I have friends from all religions. We consider poverty and corruption as nation-wide problems. And as Indians, we all share the anger and responsibility to set things right. I do not go about saying “you did this in Sikkim” to a friend who wants to bring about change, just because he belongs to a certain religion.
Please free yourself of the notions of hatred against people who are from another community. Nanak’s first lesson was universal love, and I hope you embrace it
saurabh
i agree with all ur peace views. but dont u think if this baba so & so had made a mistake of representing himself as Guru Gobind Singh Ji. If he is little bit guilty he should desolve his religion.
as he is not a true Sikh and i think he is Sick at heart & Soul who is fooling the people around and under him.
The most surprising thing is that the very Hindus for whose welfare Guru Gobind Singh was bearing all kinds of hardships were not only fighting shy of helping him, but were adding to his cup of miseries by fighting against him. The Hindus were so much consumed by selfishness that there was no hope of their ever rallying under the banner of nationalism. In the heart of Guru Gobind Singh was lit the spark of nationalism which all earlier Hindu reformers including Krishna, Ramachandra, Shankracharya and Ramanuja had lacked.
The spark was there but material needed for stoking it was lacking. The Guru was only fifteen and had his Herculean task before him. No fierce wind of fear and danger, no cyclone of cowardice, no hurricane of hurry and selfishness, no currents of carelessness could extinguish this spark. Great wisdom, patient awaiting of opportune time and the knack of feeling the pulse of the time were needed for such a task. So Guru Gobind Singh retired to the hills in order to nurse the spark of nationalism into a blaze and devise means to utilize it to good effect. Another reason of his seclusion could be his desire thereby to cool the opposition of Ram Rai, a strong contender for Guruship. It is said that the Guru stayed in the hills for many years and the hill chieftains did all they could to harass him.
During this sojourn, he added a lot to his knowledge. He learnt Persian thoroughly, acquired some understanding of Arabic and attained proficiency in Sanskrit. He heard and went through the chronicles of great kings and warriors of India and studied the lives and philosophies of great reformers and leaders of other religions. He ruminated over the ups and downs of his country and listened raptly to the ballads on the bold exploits of the doughty warriors of India, sung by the bards. When his Sikhs gathered around him, such recitals were a regular feature. The idea was to infuse valour into them. He spent some of his time in hunting tigers and other wild animals. All along, his mind dwelt on the task before him devising ways and means to be put into practice in the time to come. During this period the claim of Ram Rai to the Guruship proved hollow and lost bite. In due course the Sikhs started rallying round Guru Gobind Singh. He would daily listen to the tales of woe inflicted by Aurangzeb which steeled him further in his resolve and kept the spark burning in his heart.
The might of the Mughals was evident as also the helplessness, sad plight and inherent weakness of the Hindus. He fixed his priorities and decided first of all to remove the causes responsible for disunity, despondency and debility among Hindus. This required sweeping reforms in the religious field, alongwith social reforms like eradication of cast system and untouchability. Needed also was the inculcation of upward looking among the Shudras. And last of all he was to turn to political reform. All these involved considerable difficulties.
GuruJi also read about various Great Kings, Warriors, Reformers etc but didnt dressed up like them, just read to gain Knowledge.
last but not the least
The Moral Philosophy of Sikhism is Sab Sikhan Ko Hukam Hai Guru Manyo Granth
Two pathans Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg pursued Guru Gobind Singh Ji secretly and overtook him at Nanded, where one of them stabbed Guru Gobind Singh Ji in the left side below the heart as he lay one evening in his chamber resting after the Rahras prayer. Before he could deal another blow, Guru Gobind Singh struck him down with his sabre, while his fleeing companion fell under the swords of Sikhs who had rushed in on hearing the noise.
As the news reached Bahadar Shah's camp, he sent expert surgeons, to attend on the Guru. Guru Gobind Singh Ji's wound was immediately stitched by the Emperor's European surgeon and within a few days it appeared to have been healed. Soon after when the Guru tugged at a hard strong bow, the imperfectly healed wound burst opened and caused profuse bleeding. He then opened the Granth Sahib, solemnly bowed to it as his SUCCESSOR, saying 'Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh', he walked around the Guru Granth Sahib and proclaimed," Let him who desireth to behold me, behold the Guru Granth. Obey the Granth Sahib. It is the visible body of the Gurus. And let him who desires to meet me, search me in the hymns."
Guru Gobind Singh had fighted all his life to save oppressed Hindus or u can say Humanity but he has been cheated from those whom he was fighting and for those he was fighting.
It means just he was the Great Human Being and no one else ever could be. As all the Human race is hypocrit whether its me or dear U. If u dare to go deep at ur heart u can think the sins u have done in your life. or somewhere inside u r selfish or not.
just like that this dhongi Baba is nothing in front of Guru Ji.
again i agree u are right in ur views but we arent GOOD PEOPLE at all but trying.
CONFUSED??
I don’t get it.
First of all, who are ‘our people’, what is ‘our religion’?
Second of all, agreed that Gurmeet’s means may not have been ‘ideal’ but when you are saying that people can not dare imitate ‘guru’, isn’t all of the nihang singh clan or the Gursikhs at fault here too. And exactly what is the guru’s existence for? To be feared? To be placed high above our selves so that it can never be reached.
And as far as the verdict on Gurmeet is concerned, who should decide? The law that is sans ‘religion’ or a group that is trying redefine the concept of Sikhism. To me that’s a greater crime than what Gurmeet did. When our ‘gurus’ have already mentioned in the ‘holy’ books what a ‘Sikh’ means, how can these people change it? Now don’t you think they are considering themselves equals or even more, if that’s what the argument is all about?
And another thing, the purpose of every religion is to bring the self closer to the higher being. Nowhere does it preach to achieve it at the cost of fellow beings.
As far as the cartoons etc are concerned, yes one needs to practise artistic restraint. But there were people like Ghalib who made fun of Allah in mushaiyaras. Yet he is considered as the greatest Urdu poet- one who never went into a mosque beyond the entrance steps. Why are Ajanta-Ellora sacred?
Somebody here also wrote ‘I was never given a choice’. Its nobody’s business to give you the choices. If you don’t understand that a choice is the most important thing that you own the I believe those who didn’t give it you were quite intelligent.
And since we are talking of religion and Sikhism, have you even read what Gurbani’s definition of a guru is? Sikh means a ‘lifelong student’. When you stop learning, you stop being a Sikh. If you are always learning how can you say you know more than what somebody else does, how can you say what you believe is right and what others believe is wrong. Talking of which, I may be wrong here. A Guru is 1. The Almighty 2. The texts an scriptures 3. The self.
Somebody also mentioned ‘political leaders have no religion’- you are contradicting yourself. I am a journalist. I was there when one of Gurmeet’s trial was supposed to happen. I know which party used what kind of tactics to prevent/ provoke ‘hulchul’- even though ‘political leaders have no religion’.
Talking of Khalistan- ‘Khalis’ means pure. look into yourself and think what is the kind of purity needed within each of us to claim that we are the followers of people like Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Gobind.
Before talking about what is going on today, get back to Guru Granth Sahib and decode the messages that those handful of poets wrote for us. They do not belong to a religion, or a language, or a clan.
noor vir ji,
no one take action about gurmeet,no one,every people saying what we doing with gurmeet ,,he is bad person,but on action about gurmeet,
but sikh ko kuch karna para ga,with the help GURU,,bus kuch nahi,,
i really talk u with my mail
THE END of gurmeet finish
Hi,
People should use their brains before going into any of these deras. If people think that they are right and this guy is right, let your sisters, moms, and wives sleep there for one night and see what happens after nine months.
Thanks.
Hi,
You need not be anonymous.
I find the tone of this argument very flawed. The same could be used to say “People should think before going to these gurudwaras. If people think they are right, let your sisters… sleep with the Granthi for one night.”
I hope you learn to argue in more constructive ways.
i really want talk u
why u said dera sacha soda sant to .. Guru Gobind Singh Ji . He is Sant but not guru gobind singh ji.
Hi,
sikh can watch his house burn, but not a temple, and especially not the Golden temple.
We sikh love everyone but we love india. 75 % punjabi was freedom fighter.Most of Much Sikhs. But this is not issue. Guru Gobind Singh Ji is oue Father and no one can make like our father .Ram Rahim is a wrong person.
Tell me if some one say bad words to ur father then but u do.
Sikh is indian no one said khalistan but when before 84 . Ok 84 is close. Why hindustan govt. never give hang till dead to Jagdish Titler and Sajjan Kumar. This type of thins make difference between Hindu and Sikhs . I have many friends hindu friends . But it is true hindu killed sikh in 84.
hi………..
Mr. sharanjit singh i m fully agreed with ur statement u r write i m not saying this because i m from sikh family but only because it is truth These types of people are insulting the sikh religion so i m requesting to the govt. that these types of persons should be strictly punished because they are the black spots on the name of the religion………..
WAHEGURU JE KA KHALSA
WAHEGURU JE KI FATEH
He should be killed ,
no margin for forgiveness…
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA
WAHEGURU JI KI FATHE
as Sikhs, if you are talking about killing and murders, out of the rule of law… you should be ashamed, my friends. The Guru has shown us the way to enlightenment and peace, not to kill anyone who we disagree with.
He should be killed ,
no margin for forgiveness…
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA
WAHEGURU JI KI FATHE