Confusion about Sikh identity abroad betrays failure of SGPC, DSGMC

Tuesday, 10/09/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/punjab/confusion-about-sikh-identity-abroad-betrays-failure-of-sgpc-dsgmc/86439

CHANDIGARH: The confusion in USA and other Western countries about the exclusive and distinct Sikh identity reflects the total failure of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee to create awareness about the most nascent religion of the world. And this despite the fact that the Prime Minister of this biggest democracy in the world, Dr. Manmohan Singh, happens to be a Sikh.

As per the findings of the study “Turban Myths” conducted jointly by the US based Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF) and Stanford University as reported in the media, 49 per cent of the Americans believe Sikhism is an Islamic sect. What is all the more alarming is that majority of the Americans associate those donning turbans with assassinated al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Even before Osama bin Laden hit the headlines, Sikh turban used to be confused with the Islamic head gear in US and other western countries.

When Dr. Manmohan Singh took over as the Prime Minister, it was expected that this confusion might get dispelled. However, both the SGPC and the SSGMC failed to create awareness at the global level about the Sikh religion using Dr. Manmohan Singh as the poster boy.

Separate Sikh identity is one issue that had been dear to the Shiromani Akali Dal for years.  The party had adopted resolutions hammering this point over the period. This issue was at the core of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution adopted by the Akali Dal working committee in 1973. The SGPC too had been adopting formal resolutions to this effect. It was this issue of separate Sikh identity which in a way provided legitimacy to the militant struggle initiated by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in which thousands were killed.

Creating awareness about Sikh religion is the basic job of both the SGPC, the most powerful elected body of the Sikhs based in Amritsar and the second most powerful Delhi based DSGMC. It may be mentioned that only a few days back, Akali Dal President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had taken strong note of the failure of the SGPC to lay greater emphasis on the propagation of religion. He had given a dressing down to SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar and other members of the executive committee. The survey in the US only reinforces what Sukhbir has said. The functioning of the SGPC needs to be toned up in the corporate framework using modern techniques.

It was perhaps for political reasons that the SGPC failed to cash upon the image of Dr. Manmohan Singh to spread awareness about Sikh religion at the global level.  The election of Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister was welcomed by then SGPC Secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta, also a senior Akali leader and a longtime associate of Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra who had lorded over this institution for more than a quarter of a century.

However, then Akali Dal President Parkash Singh Badal took a strong note of it and Calcutta had to resign both from the office of the Secretary  of the SGPC as well as the Akali Dal. He is one of the few Akali leaders who understand  deeper nuances of Sikh religion.

Beard and turban are the most important  outward symbols of Sikh religion and the Sikhs have been facing lot of problems at the foreign airports at the hands of the  security men.  The SGPC and the Akali Dal take the protest route whenever such incidents of harassment of Sikhs are reported. France banned Sikh students  wearing turbans. It is the Government of India which is approached to take up such issues. But then it is the primary function of the SGPC to educate the people about separate identity of the Sikhs and it calls for a sustained campaign.

Ironically within the country, the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh  has been describing Sikhs as partb  of the broader Hindu stream to which the community has been strongly objecting. Even the Akal Takht, the supreme religio-temporal seat of the community, had to come out against this line of thinking of the RSS.