On the Baisakhi day of 1999, the Khalsa Panth will complete 300 years of its eventful life. We can take genuine pride in this short span of history. Ours is the latest among the higher religions of man, and is eminently suited to the modern age of Science. Those who have studied this religious system, have wondered why the Sikhs have not made efforts to share their great heritage with the rest of the world, since is it a universal religion for all mankind that knows no racial, ethnic or geographical boundaries. Its founder, Guru Nanak not only propounded a new philosophy, but also demonstrated it in practice himself and through his nine successors who carried the divine light he received from the Creator.
Some of the salient features of the Sikh faith, in the Guru's own words, are briefly recalled below :
The tradition of Martyrdom was unknown in the history or mythology of India before the Guru period. No such word exists in the vocabulary of Sanskrit or any other Indian language. It was the Fifth Nanak who courted martyrdom to teach this lesson. A single case of such supreme sacrifice could perhaps be mistaken as an accident of history. Therefore, the Ninth Nanak confirmed the tradition by offering his head for the cause of righteousness, human rights and freedom of faith, to leave no doubt in the minds of people that martyrdom was an essential component of Sikh tradition.
The Baisakhi of 1699 was the last great lesson from the Tenth Master on martyrdom. Simultaneously he presented to the world the unique form of the Khalsa. After that historic event, the Khalsa went through an unprecedented test of extreme rigour. During the period 1699 to 1705 the young soldiers of the Khalsa Army had to confront the combined forces of Hill princes and the Moghul Empire and become martyrs. Guru Gobind Singh fully availed of the situation to impart training to the young initiates in the Khalsa organisation. The Guru did not fight these battles to establish a kingdom for himself. His object, instead, was to see how farthe mighty efforts of his predecessors, extending over a period of 200 years in the game of love which demanded total commitment, including offer of one's head, had succeeded. Above all, he wanted to put the spirit so generated to the service of the oppressed and dispossessed - thus to carry out the Will of the Lord. The Guru blessed his two elder sons also along with other Singhs to fight and lay down their lives for the noble cause. His two younger sons also became child-martyrs, upholding the same principles. Thus the Guru completely identified himself with disciples, just as he had earlier demonstrated by taking the amrit pahul himself from the panj piyaras.
The loss of Anandpur, his entire family, large part of his army, bulk of his literary works, his hearth and home did not daunt Guru Gobind Singh. Any mortal would have broken down under such extreme hardhips and suffering, and written an instrument of surrender. But the Guru's spirit was triumphant. He wrote a letter to the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb, the famous Zafarnamah, or Epistle of Victory, itself a masterpiece of Persian literature, exposing the treachery of the imperial Forces,symbolizing the ultimate moral victory of the forces of Truth. He was jubilant because the movement launched by Guru Nanak, and nurtured by the succeeding Gurus involving concerted efforts and unprecedented sacrifices, had reached such a successful conclusion. The spirit of sacrifice - courting death for the cause of the weak and the downtrodden and upholding the truth - had been kindled, never to die. the Guru was so pleased with the performance of the Khalsa that, in ecstasy, he showered blessings on the True Soldier of God. Sample in following :
The Khalsa earned such a treasury of blessings, when it measured up to the test of Guru Nanak in his 'game of love'.
History of the Sikh people during the last three centuries is replete with sacrifices. They are a part of the histrory of Indian subcontinent. Although they account for 85% of the total sacrifices in the cause of liberty, they have been ignored and relegated. The repression let loose on the Sikhs after 1947 is subtly aimed at the roots of Sikhism, so as to destroy their faith by the turn of the century. There are hardly any means at our disposal by which we can place the true picture before the world. The assault on Harmandir Sahib in 1984 (Bluestar Operation) was a great setback, and its aftermath still continues. This is indeed one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. The world scarcely understands its implications. The truth of the matter is that, while the rulers in Delhi embarked upon the army assault after a preparation of 1 to 1 1/2 years - a single Sikh leader prepared 40to 50 Singhs during the same period. All of them followed the true Sikh tradition and became martyrs, defending the Darbar Sahib for three days against a full-scale invasion, which employed armoured carriers, tanks, and other artillery and military hardware. Not one of these brave defenders surrendered. The world history does not offer another example of such dedication, valour and fearlessness. The adversary had hoped that these handful of Singhs would be overawed by sheer superior numbers and armaments and surrender. Their expectations were belied. A complete assessment of the fall-out of Bluestar attack is yet to be made. However, it has aroused the curiosity of the people everywhere. The world eagerly wants to know more about Sikhs and Sikhism.
The above brief account has been given to draw the attention of the reader to the great Sikh heritage. We can justifiably feel proud of it. The approaching Baisakhi of 1999 has raised the question :"What can we offer as a token of gratitude to the Guru for his countless blessings?" The bani says:"surrender all your body, soul and wealth unto the Guru and submit to His Will, thus shall you obtain the Lord."
It is an occasion for every Sikh - man, woman and child - to think what services and sacrifices have been offered by us to express our gratitude to the Guru for his innumerable blessings. Everybody cannot become Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Baba Ram Singh, Sant Attar Singh, Bhai Vir Singh, Professor Puran Singh, Bhai Lachhman Singh, Bhai Dalip Singh, Baba Gurdit Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Udham Singh, Sant Jarnail Singh, Beant Singh, Satwant Singh, Bhai Sukhdev Singh, Bhai Harjinder Singh, or Bhagat Puran Singh. But is it not possible for us to make some small sacrifice, or render some service, however insignificant it may be, in the name of the Guru and our people?
Today we are surrounded by adversaries and we face heavy odds. We are victims of disinformation, vilification and character assassination all over the world. This has a demoralising influence, and has seriously affected our image as a community. It is the duty of every Sikh to make every endeavour to restore the true image of the Khalsa. We have to demonstrate that Sikhism is not just a philosophy, it is a way of life in perfect harmony with the Altruistic Will of the Lord. It is what Guru Nanak calls the "game of Love" which demands total commitment and sacrifice. It is only the Sikh character and conduct which can bring about universal understanding and ascendancy of the Khalsa. for spreading the message of the Gurus and to improve the image of our community, the writer ventures to make a few practical suggestions for consideration and adoption by the Khalsa in the following paragraphs.
The Khalsa Fund 1999
Every Sikh who has a bank account, should open an exclusive Daswandh account in his/her name, e.g., "Manjit Singh, Dalbir Kaur, Tejwant Singh - Khalsa 1999 Account", in which maximum possible amount should be deposited, taking into consideration all members of the family (from grandfather to grandsons) and the amount of tithe (daswandh) due during the last 50 years. The intention is to make an offering to the Guru in this fund. On this basis there should be about 100,000 Sikhs in a position to offer Rs.100,000 each in the Guru's cause. In fact there should be at least 1,000 Sikhs who can afford between Rs. 200,000 and Rs.1,000,000 or even more. In this way the Panth can have at its disposal Rs.2,000-3,000 crores for collective projects to be formulated for all states in India, and all countries abroad, wherever there is a population of Sikhs. Information on the collections made can be gathered and made available at a central place for planning purposes. This will take the form of a movement, and people will begin to think of projects and determine priorities. Some of the projects which appear urgent, are listed below:
1. Gurmat Academy
The Shahid Sikh Missionary College at Amritsar has produced some top scholars of Gurmat and missionaries. The Sikh population is now estimated at twenty million and there are thousands of gurdwaras the world over. For these we need qualified missionaries, well-versed in Gurbani, Sikh history, world history, philosophy and comparative religion. We need to train at least 500 such missionaries every year. All the existing Missionary colleges like the Shahid Sikh college Amritsar, Sikh Missionary college at Ludhiana, Gurmat College at Patiala, Gurmat Mahavidyalaya at Guru ki Kanshi, Bathinda, Gurmat College at Chanta Kalan Ropar, Missionary College at Budha Jaurh, Guru Granth Sahib Vidya Kendra at Chandigarh, etc., can be affiliated with the proposed Academy. All these institutions should take up plans for their expansion, and should have students hostels, residences for teaching staff, libraries, etc.. and provision for stipends that would attract talented students. These missionaries will bring about a new life among the Sikh community and carry the message of Sikhism to all corners of the world.
This Academy will also undertake translation of selected bani in all recognised languages of the world. There are many Sikhs who have a good command over foreign languages, but are not adequately acquainted with gurbani. Some of them can be trained to work as missionaries in foreign lands. More immediately, we need missionaries who know Arabic, German, French, Bengali, Tamil etc.
2. Sikh Missionary Centres
There are outside India several big Sikh Gurdwaras where such centres can be established, with lecturers and professors on attractive scales of pay, who can take up missionary work. They could organise teaching work at the Universities in Sikh Studies. For a start, there may be only one centre in a country. Gurmat Seminars and summer camps at different places should be planned. These centres could maintain computerised memory banks about Sikhs living in the country, as also disseminate literature. There is need for such Centres in different states of the Indian Union, where the staff should be able to impart information on Sikhism in the local language. Production of literature in the respective languages should also be a responsibility of the Centres.
3. Use of Printed Media
In the present age of television, children in most homes occupy themselves with VCR films and video games, while womenfolk are busy with their kitty parties. There is hardly any time for the parents to educate their children in Sikh traditions, gurbani or our rich heritage. Even senior Sikhs are completely blank as far as the knowledge of basic doctrines of Sikhism is concerned. They often talk against the Sikh way of live and question rehat-maryada. Psychologists tells us that children grasp only what they learn with their own effort. If we want our children to understand the Sikh thought, the correct way is to provide right kind of educational matter in the house. Sikh parents spend thousands of rupees to educate their children in expensive public schools. Yet it is difficult to persuade them to spare a small amount of money to subscribe to religious magazines. This task needs to be taken up as a movement, so that every Sikh household subscribes to the following magazines to provide a favourable environment in the house for school-going children. There can be no better way of propagating Sikh values.
This is a six monthly research journal of the Institute of Sikh Studies, a must for understanding the basic doctrines of Sikhism and current academic issues.
Sikhs living in India can ensure, with a meagre investment of Rs.2,500/- or so, that their children take genuine pride in the Sikh faith. Every reader should propagate this view vigorously among his friends and relatives, so that circulation of each of these magazines rises to 100,000. Such expenditure could be met from the Khalsa 1999 Deposit Account. In fact this should be the first charge on that account.
4. Khalsa Sports Academy
According to a report in a September 1993 issue of the daily Ajit, some enthusiastic Sikhs want to establish a Sport Academy at Khadoor Sahib. Their aim is to prepare Sikh athletes for winning Gold Medals in the Olympics 2004. This is a worthy objective, and deserves the support of the entire community.
Hockey Stadium : Sikhs used to be the life and soul of the national hockey team. It is deplorable that this year's team does not have a single Sikh. All over the world hockey is now played on Astroturf. It is necessary to have at least three Astroturf Hockey fields in the Punjab immediately, so that Punjabis can win back their glory at the world hockey stage.
5. Hospitals and Health Activities
6. Education
7. A National English Daily Newspaper
Need for such a paper is recognised by all Sikhs. In case the movement for Khalsa 1999 Deposit Account picks up, launching of such a newspaper will not be a problem.
8. The Blessing of Amrit
Without Amrit a Sikh is spiritually incomplete. The Guru says, "Rehani rahe soi sikh mera, of sahib main uska chera." (He alone is my Sikh who follows the prescribed Rehat or code of conduct. Nay, he is the Master, and I am his disciple.) Since the Rehat starts with amrit pahul, we should so plan as to have every Sikh become a Singh with Amrit by the year 1999.
9. Monthly Khalsa March
Since 1982 we are victims of disinformation and slander. We have done very little to highlight the universal message of Guru Granth Sahib, or the richness of the Sikh tradition and history. We can no longer afford to look to the central organisations. It is the duty of every Sikh brother and sister to become a missionary of Sikhism. One simple way of doing this is to organise a nagar kitran march from every gurdwaras on the first Sunday of every month, for one hour over a distance of 1-2 kilometers. This is an activity in which all the twenty million Sikhs can participate. It will bring about solidarity and infuse a new spirit of hope and charhdi kala. Every participant in this procession should carry placard with selected Sikh doctrine written the local language. One of the verses translated in the beginning of this article or hundreds of others could be adopted for this purpose. Every Sikh, except invalid or hospitalised, should join this march. This will go a long way in conveying to the world community the message of the Gurus and the concerns of the Khalsa Panth.
Conclusion
The above views are offered for serious consideration and collective adoption by the community. This is a practical programme which will rehabilitate our self-respect and restore the pristine image of the Khalsa. This is also the way to move to the centre-stage of the world.