During the month of July and August, stalls with colorful 'r~KVIAw' (rakhris) can be seen everywhere throughout India.  These rakhris range from simple threads to expensive gold-plated jewelry.  Many people have a wide belief in this festival and a lot of enthusiasm is generated in this celebration.  People of Indian origin all over the World believe that Rakhri  is the celebration when brothers and sisters share their love and respect for each other symbolized by sisters tying rakhri on their brother's wrist.  And for those families in which the relation of brother and sister is missing, they recruit 'brothers and sisters' amongst family friends and relatives just for the sake of taking part in this celebration.  Another interesting facet of this celebration is the giving and receiving of money.

 In the past, the festival of Rakhri was more commonly known as 'rKSw', 'rKSw bMDn' and 'r~iKAw' (rakhsha, rakhsha bandhan and rakhiya) and only the Hindu priestly caste was given took part in the rite.  For a priest to have the sole rights to participate in  this rite and extended the exclusiveness of his already his high status within the community. This makes sense when one prods deeper into the historic past of the Indian caste community.  Back then, when someone felt any kind of fear, particularly from ghosts and evil spirits, he would be taken to the priest, who would then perform some rituals on a string of thread and tie it on the wrist of the person who desired help.  This was the main reason why a string of thread was given the name of 'rakhsha', 'rakhiya' and 'rakhri'.  Innocent people believed that the thread tied on their waist contained power from the 'mantars' that the priest read and that it would act as a defensive tool.  It is still believed in the Rajput community that tying a rakhri on the full moon day or on the first day of the month would lessen the influence of planets and orbits.  It would be interesting to mention here that some people have starting to do similar things in Sikhi as well such as reproducing some printed shabads from Gurbani and given to others to wear in objects such as amulets and charms again for protection. 

 Today when the priestly caste has lost the sole right of turning a mere string of thread holy, they have now started rituals of many other kinds to "protect people from ghosts and evil spirits".  The 'authority' of tying this thread has now shifted to the women class instead.  With this move, the significance of 'rakhri' has also changed.  Women who then had no status in India started tying 'rakhri' on the wrist of their brothers to seek protection from them.  When a women ties 'rakhri' on her brother's wrist, she not only expresses her love, but also pleads to her brother that in times of need, he will provide any defense and protection that she might need.  Behind this desire, is programmed the veiled belief that women are weak and that they do not have equal rights in the society is once again reinforced.

 In India, it has always been considered that the women are lowly and a weak part of the society.  The Hindu community gave the status of 'shudar' (untouchable) to  women and according to them  women are a feeble class of society which is unable to engage in self-defense.  Many clever Hindu kings used the tradition of 'Rakhri' as a defense tool to protect their kingdoms from other strong emperors by having their wives send 'rakhris' to them.

There is no doubt that 'Rakhri' is actually a celebration of the Hindus.  Even though there have been changes made in how this celebration is carried out today, regardless, the standards of 'Rakhri' do not align with those of Gurmat.  The Sikh nation has always fought for human rights and is committed to serve mankind.  The step of uplifting the status of women was taken by the Sikh Guru because it was important for  humanity that women be given equal opportunities.  For this, Guru Nanak preached:

ਸੋ ਕਿਉ ਮੰਦਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਜੰਮਹਿ ਰਾਜਾਨ ॥
so kio mundhaa aakheeai jith junmehi raajaan
So why call her bad? From her, kings are born.

Guru Sahib preached that it was a serious mistake to think lowly of women, as it is the woman that gives birth to others. Kings and mighty emperorslike all of humanity take birth through women.

Sikh women played equal roles during the struggles of the Sikh community.  Where they wielded swords and fought in battlefields, they are now also taking part in other matters of the Sikh community.  It has already been mentioned in part 1 of this article that behind the tradition of 'Rakhri', the belief that women tie rakhri on the wrist of their brothers is symbolic of them seeking protection and defense during hardships.  Men in return pledge to provide help in such times.  However, when Guru Gobind Singh Ji administered Amrit, he pledged that he would care for rights of all of humankind.

During the 18th century, the Pathaans and Mughal oppressors would abduct Indian women and at that time, Singhs would fight and lay down their lives to get these women released and also to protect their honor.  For the Singhs to save the women of India from such oppression was not under the influence of any commitment of the rakhri.  To engage in such conduct is already included in the life style of all Sikhs for we are made to follow the commandment of:

ਦਾਖਿ ਪਰਾਈਆਂ ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਮਾਵਾਂ ਭੈਣਾਂ ਧੀਆਂ ਜਾਣੈ॥
dhaakh puraaeeaa chungeeaa maavaa bhainaa dheeaa jaanai

So to call the tradition of 'Rakhri' a symbolic of brother to sisterly love and respect is opposite to the traditions of nature.  Ever since humannity had engaged in societal living,  human relations such as mother-father and brother-sister were understood.  Different cultures of the world accept this understanding and have the desire to upkeep their respect and love for their relations.  And this desire is not given birth by a mere tying of a knot.  Just like how the parents have affection for their children, so do the brothers and sisters do for each other.

There is a need for the Sikh women to become cautious.  A tradition which arose to degrade the status of anyone should never be accepted.  And those that accept it as a cultural celebration should be encouraged to understand the background and true sinister meaning.  For us, the memory of those great Sikh women who sacrificed themselves for the sake of Sikh nation is influential.  These women of the Sikh nation made equal contributions to the well being of the Sikh religion.  Their character and ideals motivate us to walk towards the path of rising spirits.

Oh women of the Sikh Nation! Guru Sahib blessed you with honor and status. He made you equal amongst men and gave you the order of donning Shastars  (weapons) to defend those oppressed. Do you still feel the need of 'Rakhri'?