506.The Man in Blue – Sants, Deras, Sant Samaj

I am against institutionalised Sants, Deras and abhor the dominant position of the Sant Samaj on the decision making process of those in Amritsar who claim to be our leaders.

Institutionalised Sant Babas : Of course there are sants, people who are more holy than most, who have come very close to God. These sants might be free of maya and might have overcome the cycle of birth and death in this life.

As the Guru writes in Sukhmani Sahib, these sants are characterised by utter humility. They do not have to wear white clothes, they should not own big buildings adorned with marble and gold and have no need to travel in chauffeur-driven luxury motorcars.

I met wonderful humble people in Panjab, whom the scholars in Chandigarh would call ignorant villagers, in whom the light of God was clearly visible. I have not met too many Sants, but the ones I have met have a tendency to be rude, to have no loving bond with the Shabad, the word of God, and who direct you to themselves instead of to God.

Apart from the fact that these self appointed holy men have souls that are often not as white as their spotlessly clean white garments suggest, they are also in direct contradiction to Guru’s ‘Guru Granth – Guru Panth’.

Both the world wide Panth and local Gurdwaras and Sikh organisations should be run by ‘sarbat khalsa’ style open forums, not by Jathedars, authoritarian Pardhans or ‘men in white’. Sants, real ones, would be part of the Sarbat Khalsa and would have a natural authority, but not an institutional one.

Deras : There should be no deras owned by individuals, only Gurdwaras run by the sangat under the guidance of the Guru Granth Sahib. See above.

Sant Samaj: In a democracy people are free to set up their own organisations and as such I have nothing to say against this trade-union of self appointed holy men. But even the Badal controlled SGPC should know better than to give this organisation a voice in the running of the Panth.

Our leaders in Amritsar : According to the Sikh Rehat Maryada a Sikh is she/he who believes in One God and who follows the teachings of our Gurus. Guru Gobind Singh ordained us to follow Guru Granth and Guru Panth acting under its guidance.

Neither the SGPC nor the DSGMC are even near to being Guru Granth – Guru Panth.

Panj Piaré made up of SGPC employees are very far removed from Guru’s Panj Piaré. Jathedars making decisions without any say of the Guru Panth, political style elections where votes are bought by drink and drugs and where voters are judged by who their parents were or the length of their hair, it is all a mockery in the light of the teaching of the Guru Granth. Sádh Sangat, take your direction only from our eternal Guru, which shines God’s Light in our spiritual darkness.

The Tribune – Challenging path ahead for newly formed SGPC House

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 4. Even as the new SGPC House is expected to formally begin its tenure this month, it faces the challenge of dealing with various Panthic issues that await to be resolved for years now.

Ashok Singh Bagaria of the Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, said the biggest challenge before the new SGPC House would be to bring in consistency in “maryada” (code of conduct).

“It has been an unholy election wherein the SAD forged an alliance with the Sant Samaj, which comprises of various deras that follow different ‘maryadas’. Many constituents of the Sant Samaj don’t follow the Sikh “maryada”, but they contested the polls for the SGPC, which is the mini-parliament of Sikhs,” he said while wondering that if somebody doesn’t follow the norms of a religion how he could be a part of its premier body. He said sculpting idols of gurus for worship was another key issue.

“Earlier, there were photographs of Sikh Gurus, but now even their idols have hit the market, which is against Sikh tenets,” he added. “Ensuring that the alliances in the state politics do not have any impact on the SGPC will also be a challenge,” he opined.

Gursharanjeet Singh, Head, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, GNDU, felt that the SGPC has inducted those having political backdrop in its Dharam Parchar Committee, which has diluted the panel’s role in evolving strategy on key religious issues. “Earlier, the committee had non-political people and Sikh intellectuals as its members,” he said, adding that the panel should be given back its position of prominence. He also felt that “rehat maryada” is a key issue, stating that the SGPC must ensure that consistent “maryada” is implemented and there is no tinkering with it.

“Apostasy and mushrooming deras in the state are also huge challenges before the SGPC. The SGPC should come up with world-class educational institutions as it will not only help curb apostasy but will also check migration of Sikh youth to foreign shores for higher studies,” he said.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said the ruling SAD will prioritise the challenges before the SGPC keeping in view the forthcoming Assembly elections. “It will take up only those issues on priority over the next few months which will benefit the party in the polls,” he added. Apart from these, there is the issue of Dasam Granth. The SGPC has failed to evolve a consensus regarding the authenticity of certain portions of the Dasam Granth, which was penned by the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Also, the SGPC is yet to formulate rules and norms for the appointment, removal, tenure and working sphere of the Jathedars of all the Takhts, the directions regarding which were issued to it by the Takht during the tenure of ex-Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111005/punjab.htm#8

415.The Man in Blue – Damdami Taksal and Sant Samaj

I still have not got my head round the recent close cooperation between the Taksal and the Sant Samaj, with Baba Harnam Singh heading both groups.

Of course the Taksal and the Sant Samaj have things in common. They both do not believe in Guru Granth/Guru Panth as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh. They both think that the 1945 Rehat Maryada that came about after wide consultations of various Sikh institutions is no good.

They both believe in the story of Luv and Kush as the forefathers of the Gurus, they also both believe in rules not based on the Rehat Maryada and which are not based on the teachings of the Guru Granth.

The rituals of the Taksal and of the Sant Samaj differ, but both groups tend to emphasise on how to do things, instead of Guru’s emphasis on the intention with which you do things.  

Sants tend to tell their followers to give them the money and they will do the spiritual work for you. This does not agree with Taksal practice, unless ‘Baba Harnam Singh’ has changed that too.

The biggest difference between the two groups is in the political field. Most members of the Sant Samaj have been faithful servants of the various Delhi governments, while the Taksal was always a thorn in the side of Delhi.

That makes you wonder what the struggle between Bhai Ram Singh and Baba Harnam Singh was about. Was this new political direction behind the question of who should be the next Taksal Jathedar ?

I knew Bhai Ram Singh when he was one of the Granthis of Darbar Sahib. He was the only person of any weight there who helped me. That agrees with the way I was welcomed by Baba Thakur Singh when I came to take Amrit.  But Bhai Ram Singh seemed more open to Sikhs of other traditions, while in Mehta Chowk it was made clear that the Taksal way was true Sikhí.

The most amazing aspect of these new developments is that this Sant Samaj/Taksal combination works together with the Akal Takhat Jathedar and other puppets of the Badal Dal/BJP state government. That this  combination is powerful in Panjab I understand. But that educated people in the UK support this unholy alliance does surprise me.

Some groups in the UK think that a difference of opinion is an excuse to use violence. The Sikh Federation should realise that being seen together with violent groups and individuals will be used to justify the Indian anti-Khalistani propaganda. They also should realise that being together with the Sant Samaj and the Badal Dal is not a Panthic stance.       

Stop the use of violence

All Sikhs, Sikh organisations and Gurdwaré should undertake never again to use violence as a means to settle differences of opinion. There is no precedent from Guru’s days for this bad practice, the Guru taught us to stand up against injustice, not against opinions that we do not agree with.