Preface
This article will make a happy reading for many Sikhs who feel hurt to observe Brahmanical mist obscuring the real image of the Sikh faith. They will see the truth being uncovered from the mounds of the Brahmanical rituals and beliefs heaped on the Sikh practices. However, some Sikh readers, who follow Hindu traditions, believing them to be Sikh practices, may not agree with some paragraphs. A few of the traditionalists may even get upset with some portions of this article. However, careful examination of the article under the light of the Guru Granth Sahib, would reveal it to be the expression of the Gurbani thought. It may instead raise a question in their minds as to how and why these anti-Sikh rituals could at all enter the Gurdwaras and later become popular among the Sikhs.
Efforts started to get rid of the antiquated Hindu rituals during the Gurdwara reform movement need to be continued by the Khalsa Panth. Mahants of the British Raj period have been replaced by the stooges of the Indian government, the deceptive Nirankaris, the Radhaswamis, and the pseudo-Nihang factions, etc., to meddle with Sikh philosophy and Sikh Rehat. Gurdwaras in the names of Bhagat Namdev, Ramgarhias, Bhatra Brotherhood, Nanak Panthis, etc. are being built with the tacit help of the Indian government to split the Sikh community. Deras preaching Hindu rituals, but controlled by Sikh-looking Sants, are being patronized by the government to encourage their following. Dozens of splinter groups are supported directly or indirectly by the government to create schism among the Khalsa Panth and cause confusion in the Sikh philosophy. They are all working outside the Gurdwaras in collaboration with their associates working inside the Gurdwaras to obstruct the teaching and preaching of Gurmat.
Recently a lot of misguiding matter has been written and distributed free of charge by such people to defame the Sikhs and lower the status of the Gurus. To give credibility and respectability to such baseless and trash writings, some of them have been written as research papers with the direct or indirect financial support of the Indian government, a bribery none the less.
The present crusade of the Indian government directed by the Brahmanical forces is, thus, not limited to just the genocide of the Sikhs but is also intended to corrupt Gurbani thought. History tells us that artificial coloring of truth by falsehood, preached by those in power, gets washed away by the passage of time. The truth ultimately reveals itself. Men like Stalin and Mao now stand exposed. The lie – the Sikhs are terrorists – being preached by the Indian government is getting washed off. The state terrorism against the Sikhs is getting known more and more to the world.
Lastly, be it know to the readers that Brahmanical rituals have been grafted on to the Sikh Rehat to justify that the Sikhs are a sect of Hindus. To be accepted by the Sikhs without objection, it is popularized that Guru Nanak Dev founded Sikh faith by choosing the good principles of Hinduism and some popular thoughts from Islam. The mischief is meant to conceal the truth that Guru Nanak Dev had a revelation and he founded an independent and sovereign faith. Sikhism totally rejects Brahmanical thought and its rituals. This attempt has been made to clear Gurmat from such corrupting thoughts. The purpose of this book will be served if the reader becomes conscious of the ominous shadows of Brahmanism keeping the Sikhs in the dark regarding the teachings of the Gurus.
The Sikhs and their faith are under an intensified attack by the Brahmanical thinkers, who are now holding the reins of power. One can easily understand the severity of the attack if one knows what they did to the Sikhs even when the Brahmans were out of power during the British rule. Mr. D. Petrie of the Criminal Intelligence Department, Government of India, in his report on development of Sikh politics observes:
“The activities of Hindus have, therefore, been constantly directed to the undermining of Sikhism both by preventing the children of Sikh fathers from taking pahul and by reducing professed Sikhs from their allegiance to their faith. Hinduism has strangled Buddhism, once a formidable rival to it and it has already made serious inroads into the domain of Sikhism.”
About a century ago, Macauliffe, an administrative officer of the British Government working in Punjab, got interested in knowing Sikh faith and telling about it to the British and other English speaking people of the West. After spending a long time with the Sikhs in Punjab and learning their language, in 1899 he wrote a famous book, The Sikh Religion. In the preface of the book he very correctly points out, “A movement to declare the Sikhs as Hindus in direct opposition to the teachings of the Gurus, is widespread and of long duration.”
It will not be out of place to mention here briefly how and why this happened. All Gurdwaras, including Harimandar Sahib, Amritsar were managed by Mahants since the 18th century. In 1716, the Mughal Government of India issued orders to kill Sikhs anywhere they could be seen. The Sikhs had to leave their homes to seek safety in the forests. Mahants who were basically Hindus, became custodians of the Gurdwaras and the huge real estate attached to them. They practiced Brahmanical rituals in the Gurdwaras although they read Gurbani from the Guru Granth Sahib. Gurdwaras thus become Hinduised.
The British took over Punjab in 1849. After the loss of power of the Sikhs, Mahants became owners of the Gurdwaras and had none to fear from. Instead of using the Gurdwara income for serving people and visitors to the Gurdwaras, they started spending it on themselves. They lived lavishly and viciously. Sikhs were very much hurt by it and they started a movement to reform the management of the Gurdwaras. Because of the resistance of the Mahants and their support by the government, in 1920 it was declared to be a Gurdwara Freedom Movement. After unparalleled sacrifices by the Sikhs, the British agreed to hand over the Gurdwara management to the Sikhs and passed the Gurdwara Act in 1925.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, elected under the act, published the Sikh Rehat Maryada (the Sikh Code of Conduct) after consulting all scholars and Sants (holy persons) of the Sikh Panth. Unfortunately, the apathy of the Sikh leaders did not let the Rehat Maryada become popular with the Sikh masses. This discussion is, therefore, intended to educate the Sikhs and to help them get rid of the slavery of Brahmanical rituals.
To make the booklet more effective and informative, suggestions are invited for addition or deletion of any material to bring the teachings of Gurmat into limelight for the guidance of the Western youth.
(Dr) Gurbaksh Singh, USA
1991
About the Author
Born in District Ludhiana on September 15, 1927, Dr. Gurbakhsh Singh studied in Lyallpur and Khalsa College, Amritsar. In 1963, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Ohio State University, USA. He served as a Professor and Dean at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. In 1984, he resigned his post and actively began teaching Sikh religion to the Sikh youth in the West.
Read other parts at these links:
Sikhism Under Brahmanical Siege – 2
Sikhism Under Brahmanical Siege – 3
Sikhism Under Brahmanical Siege – 4
Sikhism Under Brahmanical Siege – 5
Sikhism Under Brahmanical Siege – 6