Description

Sardar Gurbakhsh Singh ‘Kala Afghana’ is a retired police inspector from Punjab living in Canada. The attack on Golden Temple in 1984 and what happened in its aftermath to Sikhs all over India shook him so badly psychologically that he started pondering over the problems faced by the community. He asked, “ What happened to the Sikh community which was so vibrant and had sense of honor and dignity before 1947, has degenerated so fast and sunk into the pit.” After speculating, debating and thoughtful analysis, he came to the conclusion that it is a self- inflicted wound. The Sikhs have abandoned the teachings of the Gurus and fallen into the trap of Brahmanical practices. He found support for his conclusion in the statement, ‘ As long as the Sikhs follow the distinct path of Guru Nanak, I will support them with all my power. However, when they start following the Brahmanical way, I will lose my trust in them’, attributed to Guru Gobind Singh [2]. Whenever, he discussed his views with the Sikh clergy, he was told, “ Whatever we are preaching or the conduct of Sikhs in general is consistent with Sikhi (Gurmat, Guru's way).” Like any lay Sikh, his knowledge of Sikhism and Hinduism was not sufficient to distinguish between Brahmanical and Sikh practices to understand how Brahmanism has crept into Sikhism. Therefore, he made an in depth study of AGGS, Sikh traditions and history and Hinduism for several years. The steady persuasion and encouragement by friends, well-wishers and his wife prompted him to undertake this monumental task of separating the chaff of mythology and falsehood from the kernel of Sikhi (Sikhism).