The Sikh Bulletin
BwdON-A`sU 537
August – September 2005
The Sikh Center Roseville, 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 957622
GUEST EDITORIAL
TELLING TRUTH CREATES CONFLAGRATION(
s~c AwiKAwN BwNbV m~cdw h)
Sikhism stresses truthful living probably more than any othermajor world religion so much so that God is called Truth
(scw).
The message of Guru Nanak conveyed the need of truth andcontentment (
sq, sNMqoK)
for a successful spiritual journey of life. He advised that only with an offering of truth, one obtains aplace to sit in God’s presence. If a prayer is offered with truthand contentment, the Lord God will hear it, and call the devoteein to sit by him. No one returns empty-handed, such is the courtof the True One.
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However, truth seems to be in short supply in the political andreligious life of the present day worldwide Sikh community. It isan accepted fact that deceit is a heavily traded commodity in thepolitical market place. It is often said, “Show me a politician, I’llshow you a liar”. This had been accepted as part of the systemlong ago.
Why then, the Sikhs have placed their religiousaffairs and religious institutions in the hands of thepoliticians?
The Sikh community has long been witnessinglumpen leadership of self serving politicians unwilling to admiterror or take responsibility for mistakes.
Like the primitivesocieties Sikh political or religious power comes from beingclose to the religious Ayatola or a political mafia Don andnot from the high position one occupies.
The public expects ahigh degree of competence and integrity from those entrusted tolead. Through out Sikh history a Sikh’s turban reflected hisintegrity and he would never leave home without it. Today’sSikh leaders both religious and political have turbans, but manyleave integrity at the wayside. Only sound we hear from them isthe sound of integrity bar falling to the ground. The situation hasdeteriorated to the level which Guru Nanak observed andlamented to Bhai Lalo that falsehood struts around like a leaderand modesty and righteousness is no where to be seen.
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The Sikh community deserves better.
Today the falseassumption of appearance of virtue and religion is every where.Guru Nanak strongly condemned this type of religioushypocrisy. One can not help being conscious of the fact that thetruth hurts. A famous Punjabi saying expresses it as,
(
s~cAwiKAwN BwNbV m~cdw hY)
“telling truth creates conflagration”
.
Sikh takhat high priests (so called Jathedars) and their masters,Akali political leaders, mostly consider fabrications, lies, makingscapegoats, intentional perpetration, maligning and assassinatingthe character of their opponents as their die hard mission. Theyuse namby pamby approach to issues of great importance to theSikh community. Their words carry little weight and can not berelied upon. This is not just a simple deviation from Sikh ethos;it is a culture in which their behavior is incompatible with Sikhethos. They are experts at bamboozlement of public to line uptheir own pockets. Gurbani says those whose intentions aredifferent than what they promise are judged as false in theDivine Court.
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We were nourished by our rage over Operation Blue Star, (anunjustified attack by the Indian army on Darbar Sahib and 38other historic Gurudwaras) to strike at any one. However, themilitant element didn’t just conjure up in our midst suddenly; itwas a product of a society that produces extremist fossilizedminds that are easily controlled. The consequences for the Sikhcommunity of this ill controlled militancy were disastrous. Thepublic still remembers the legacy of the militancy, if you wantit, take it, if anyone objects to it, kill them. This is a nihilisticgeneration produced by a nihilistic leadership.
Words and deeds
The Akalis under the present leadership are so deranged bytheir inability to compete in the arena of ideas and their failureat the ballot box due to disunity, they are reduced to creatingpseudo scandals. These are the diversions created purposely todistract the public from real issues and problems. Under theleadership of Sardar Parkash Singh Badal they have lacked agenuine program or plan and have allowed the Congress to takeinitiative to lead Punjab into the 21
st
Century (hopefully). Hepoliticized the police and the bureaucracy, and made the pliableofficers his henchmen. He did nothing against corrupt officersdespite explicit promises made in the Akali election manifesto.He is a one man show with the entire power concentrated inhim. The Sangat Darshan Program with entire cost to the statetreasury was a typical Akali act to divert public attention fromthe rampant corruption. He completely failed to get any specialpackages and loans waived by the central Government despitebeing a partner in the NDA Government headed by BJP, hisally.
It is sad that this crafty Sardar now wants to build amemorial to the ones who died during Operation Blue Star(unjustified attack by the Indian army on Darbar Sahiband 38 other historic Gurudwaras in Punjab) but is onrecord to keep the ones captured during this operation in jail indefinitely.
The glaring moral issue for the Sikhs today is the challenge tothe supremacy of SGGS. The Sikhs have always been zealouscrusaders at the forefront of almost every meaningful nationalmovement or cause. The present Jathedar enraged at personalcriticism behaved like a pit Bull and claimed Kala Afgana,Joginder Singh and Professor Gurtej Singh as his victims bydrumming up false political innuendos. Yet he has ignored theinstallation (Parkash) of a book, so called Dasam Granth, asrival Guru side by side to Guru Granth Sahib Ji at two of themost revered Takhats, Hazoor Sahib and Patna Sahib. This is abetrayal and a probable act of highest form of blasphemy.
On April 15, 2004, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti Ji urgedthe Sikhs to follow Guru Granth Sahib and shun self styledGurus (sants, babas daredars). Yet he continues to visit andpatronize such deras in UK and Chicago, USA.
He editedthe book Gurbilas Patshahi chevin and forcefully advocated itskatha in the Gurudwaras. He got SGPC to pay for thepublication from offerings of devotees
. The Akal Takhat isthe most revered Sikh institution and every Sikh looks to itfor spiritual guidance through correct interpretation of Gurbani. He has issued many edicts/Fatwas in the name of Akal Takhat that nobody pays any attention any more.
Hehas completely depreciated the moral authority of Sri AkalTakhat Sahib. He has excommunicated many good Sikhs, but
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