IN a community which advocates that each of its individual members is equal to a lakh and a quarter mere mortals, there can only be leaders. However, the downside is that everyone wants to be upfront and at the helm. This spirit of oneupmanship and healthy competition is all very well, but the underlying problem is that no one wants to get off a chair he has once usurped. The concept of democracy and infusion of new blood into institutions therefore takes a huge beating. A morass and absolute stagnation is the obvious consequence.

One glaring example is evident in the ongoing imbroglio of the Chief Khalsa Dewan, one of the most respectable organisations of the Sikhs, apolitical to date, and supposedly the intelligentsia of the community.

A democratic welfare society looking into the well being of the Sikh community's affairs such as education, orphanages and old age homes has had no election for the last seven years. Not only have the present incumbents bent all rules, but have terminated the right of membership of nearly 60 per cent of the Dewan, in many cases after collecting their dues for 2004 and also after certifying them as legitimate electorate.

The issue went to the court and the local administration intervened, by appointing an administrator to oversee the election process in a fair manner. Then came the master stroke.

The National Minorities Commission reprimanded the administration and coerced them to hand over charge to a five-member committee appointed by the Akal Takht. The new administrator, member of the 5-member committee, went to the Press stating that the Constitution of the Dewan stood dissolved and that a decision regarding the running of Dewan (read arbitration) shall be made shortly.

This perhaps is the most worrisome dimension of them all. First, what is the locus standi of the National Minorities Commission, in a state such as Punjab where Sikhs are not a minority? To browbeat the local administration into handing over charge, of a democratic organisation registered as an independent institution under the Societies Act since 1860 AD, to anyone defies logic.

Secondly, why the law of the land should not be allowed to prevail, especially when the issue is already sub judice, and the Governing Body of the Dewan be allowed to decide the future course once the legal aspects are looked into by the court of law.

Lastly, but most important of all, is the precedence that is being set here. Are all societies and institutions from now on all subservient to the dictates of the National Minorities Commission or the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and thus can be usurped at any given excuse? Imagine tomorrow a similar institution such as Khalsa College or the Bahi Vir Singh Sahit Sadan falling prey to this new hegemony.

What saddens one most is that these developments stink of vested interests and the formation of caucuses who shall stoop to anything in order to retain power, even if it entails wrecking the basic credibility of the institutions in question.

For a community which is facing many perils, it is time for introspection. Time for a full stop to petty politics and squabbles and also time to think beyond small individuals towards a larger dimension. The Sikhs are an outgoing industrious community and must watch out for this quick sand which is bound to wreck its institutions.

In this new age of freedom and democracy, there is no place for individuals with vested interests sticking on to their chairs without a vision of tomorrow. The challenges today are many, and a new leadership must emerge for the community at every level which can fight the morass of stagnation, corruption and degradation.

The basic tenets of Sikhism are many and what is required is humility. Anyone who considers himself above the welfare of the community is indeed answerable to the good lord himself, since people with Alter Egos cannot be true Sikhs of the Guru.