532. The Man in Blue – Should we follow the messengers or should we follow God ?

Recently when travelling to Hasselt by bus I met a man who had served in a major Roman Catholic Monastery on the Dutch-Belgian border. And on the return trip from Hasselt to the Sangat Sahib Gurdwara I met him again.

He was friendly and open-minded. We agreed that the problems that face the Christian churches these days have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Most of the Christian churches have emphasised too much on their structures, their hierarchies and neglected the inclusive spiritual message of Jesus.

On the way back he asked me what role Jesus played in my life. My first reaction was that that I now understand Jesus and his teachings better than before I became a Sikh. I see Jesus as a great spiritual teacher, whose teachings mostly agree with the core teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib.

I love reading the ‘dharmic’ stories (the parables) that Jesus used to teach his disciples (chelé), which like the Guru Granth emphasise Godly behaviour rather than complicated belief systems.

But I also said that I first and foremost believed in God, who is the source of the power, the insight of the great spiritual teachers. I hear God speak through the Sikh Gurus, through the Bhagats, through the Guru Granth Sahib. Similarly I hear God through Jesus and through other spiritual teachers.

I am now staying in Iver, in between Hillingdon and Slough, and I brought a small picture of Guru Nanak which is on the little press next to my bed. So I have a connection with Guru Nanak, and with the Nanak who signs off the shabads by the Gurus in the Guru Granth Sahib.

But the Nanak that speaks to me in the Guru Granth Sahib is the conduit through which I can hear the One, the All-Powerful, Omnipresent.

Many Sikhs do hero worship, and I try to avoid that. Our Guru and famous personalities from Sikh history were heroes, but they were heroes because they walked in God’s way. Their power comes from God, the words they spoke or wrote come from God.

The Guru Granth Sahib stresses this again and again. Be with God, listen to God, try to understand God’s word and apply it in your delay life. We should not follow people, we should follow God. Guru Gobind Singh also explicitly told the sangat not to worship him. Respect for the Guru leads to love for God.

This is what gives me strength, this is what keeps me happy. This is what makes me, in spite of being an ‘old age pensioner’, return from a comfortable life in Belgium to new challenges in the UK.

I also came back to enjoy the beautiful Kirtan that you can daily hear in the Southall Gurdwaré, and which help me to stick to the path, that is as narrow as the cutting edge of the sword, that leads to God.

530. The Man in Blue – Panj Ab = Five Waters

I wrote this article after hearing a lecture at the KU (Catholic University) of Leuven, Belgium, by Christophe Masson, India Desk Officer at the European Commission. He mentioned a water related project in Rajastan, which made me think of the Indira Gandhi Canal, and from there of the ever lower groundwater level in Panjab. Man in Blue

The historical Panjab, from the river Indus in the west to the river Yamuna in the east, was called the Panj-Áb, the five waters after the five rivers that flow from the Himalayas to the Indus.

Panjab is not as dry as Rajasthan, but without the five rivers most of its territory would be a dry steppe, fit for grazing but no good for arable land.

Since the green revolution the standard crop pattern in the Indian Panjab and in Haryana is wheat – rice. Wheat is the early crop and after its harvest most of the arable land is converted to paddy fields. Panjab became the rice provider of India.

Due to the paddy fields the farmers were using more water than the rivers could supply and they started to pump-up ground water to irrigate their fields. This costs money, as hand pumps are not adequate for the job. The Panjab state government decided to supply the farmers with free electricity for their tube-wells.

As the state government has the habit of either not paying or late paying the state electricity provider, one semi-state company has already given up the ghost, and its successor is struggling. Somebody has to foot the bill !

But the most alarming result of this scheme is that the groundwater table is going down fast, the tubes are getting longer and with that the energy use goes up too.

At Harike, in the south-west of the Indian Panjab starts the Indira Gandhi canal, which takes vast amounts of river water to Rajasthan. This water is obviously no longer available for either the Pakistan or the Indian Panjab. How much of this water evaporates before it gets to the Jaisalmer area I do not know.

Whether it is useful to infiltrate this water in a desert area I do not know either. I have heard reports of salinization of the irrigated fields, which does not surprise me at all.

But my main issue is with the madness of having paddy fields in a dry area like Panjab. After independence it made some sense as the rice eating states were not able to grow enough rice for their needs. Now these states have become self-sufficient and it is high time for a new green revolution in the Panjab.

The farmers are reluctant to change, but if the Panjab is to survive as at least the main provider of wheat, the paddy fields have to go. Alternative crops, dairy farming, market gardening (growing of vegetables) are the answer.

On the rich clay soils of Panjab many crops will thrive. With temperatures ranging from a minimum of near 0 degrees in December/January to a maximum of 50 degrees in May/June both crops that we know in Western Europe and subtropical to tropical ones can be grown.

In view of the above and the diminishing flow of water from the Himalayan glaciers, continuing with the present practice just is not an option.

529. The Man in Blue – ‘Headscarves’ in Belgium

Many secondary ‘Free’ schools (mostly Roman Catholic) and Community (GO!) schools in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium have measures in place that ban religious symbols or the wearing of head-cover.

The result is a ban on the wearing of turban, patka, hijáb, yarmulk etc. Most primary schools either do not have this type of restrictions or do not implement them.

From the 1st of September of this year the GO! Schools are banning religious symbols from all primary and secondary schools under its jurisdiction.

The Sikh community in Belgium joined a front of 25 organisations formed by BOEH! (boss on your own head) and ‘Justice and Democracy’ to act against this blatant discrimination.

We will petition the Raad van State (Council of State) asking it to declare the ban unconstitutional and against the freedom of religion. Some previous rulings by this body give some hope. But we have learned from experience that going the legal way in this country is often costly and ineffective.

In this case we had not much choice as GO! seems no longer interested in dialogue. Because the BOEH! lawyers are very familiar with the subject and can use previous formats in this case, they decided to charge us 4000 Euro only. Although the Raad van State is slow and unpredictable we decided to take the chance.

The Sikhs have collected 1360 Euro so far, with 200 more promised. We are financially supported by two organisations that help the minorities, which means that the Sikhs only have to collect 1500 Euro. We have also two promises to finance any shortfall.

Why are the people in the Dutch (Nederlands) speaking part of Belgium so afraid of the religious symbols of minority religions ? As the northern Dutch speaking Belgians were themselves a discriminated group in the past you would hope that they would have sympathy for other minority groups.

The nationalist NVA party, which might get up to 40% of the vote in the 2014 elections in the Dutch (Nederlands) speaking region, indulges in negative rhetoric both about French speaking Belgians and about immigrants and descendents of immigrants.

The key-problem in this country is that there is no robust anti-discrimination legislation like we have in the UK. This combined with islamophobia and xenophobia leads to escape clauses like the ‘neutrality’ principle which allows companies and organisations to discriminate the wearers of religious symbols.

The message to the religious minorities is that we have to integrate, but also that we are not really welcome. This does not mean that all Belgians have this negative attitude, but those that do seem to have public opinion with them and other parties lack the courage to oppose the NVA.

528. The Man in Blue – Caste, Gotra, Jaat

Hinduism is a conglomerate of beliefs and practices, some of which go back to the ancient Aryans/Indo-Germanics who trekked from the Caucasus to both Iran and to the South-Asian sub-continent.

Amongst modern Hindus I have found people who do not believe in caste, who do not do rituals, who believe in One God, and who think that you have to look after all fellow human beings. There are even more Hindus who believe in ‘Manuvád’, are very keen on rituals, believe in 33 crore Gods and only work on personal liberation. Just like ‘The Indian’ does not exist, so does ‘The Hindu’ not exist.

Caste is described as the four traditional groups. These groups might have existed before the arrival of the Aryans in India, and be adjusted to the circumstances found in the subcontinent, or might be a product of the South Asian soil. Interestingly Iranian Aryans do not have such a system.

When ‘Hinduism’ was making progress amongst so-called tribal people and the people of South India, the approach of the Brahmins was as follows : They shared their knowledge with the ruling class of the ‘tribals’ and South Indians and said : If you join us we will make you Kshatriya and the rest of your people will be Shudras, and they can no longer challenge your authority.

The Brahmins were supplied by the Aryans. The Brahmins had not just knowledge of (useless) rituals and of how to divide and rule, they also knew about irrigation, veterinary medicine etc.

In essence the caste system was, and still is, a racist system, a form of apartheid invented long before this word was used in Suid Afrika. There have always been groups that left ‘Hinduism’ or were on the fringes of ‘Hinduism’ who either did not practise caste or actively opposed to it.

Within Sikhism there is widespread discrimination, not so much in the name of the 4 castes but more based on gotra or jaat. Just as is the case with caste, those looked down on tend to have darker skins than those that are looked up to.

But there is no Jat caste, Ramgharia caste or for instance Mazhbi caste. I do not know if these divisions pre-date caste or not.

I am against caste or gotra discrimination just like I am against racial or gender discrimination. As a Sikh I feel upset when I hear my fellow Sikhs talk in a derogatory way about people of other nationalities, social groups or caste. Honour killings are of course totally abhorrent, but they also happen in our community.

I am a Sikh, I have been taught as a first principle that Humanity is One, but people who also claim to be Sikhs kill their daughters because they are disobedient and want to marry outside caste or gotra. We have to join with organisations like Castewatch UK, and fight the Guru’s fight for One Humanity, for the sister and brotherhood of man. Blaming the Hindus is just not good enough.

527.The Man in Blue – Hounslow 1 February 2013

I was in Hayes, Southall and Hounslow from 25 January till 4 January. I met with Mohan Singh of the Hounslow Gurdwara and he invited me to a domestic violence mock-trial in the Hounslow civic centre.

The mock-trial was to start at 10.00 but I was early and we could not enter the hall as those-in-charge were still busy organising things. Outside the hall were tables for various organisations presenting literature and manned by their staff or volunteers to answer questions. One table had no literature and no staff.

I am good at walking and good at cycling, but standing tires me out more quickly, so I decided to sit behind the unmanned table. A lady organiser of the bossy type who was not willing (able?) to listen to my explanation told me not to sit on the chair behind the table. I decided to ignore here.

Next a high ranking police officer in mufti appeared on the scene, told me that I was aggressive, that I was pointing at him and that he would have me arrested if I did not leave the area outside the hall.

I was upset, not aggressive and I gesticulate when I speak but most definitely did not point my finger at him. And I did not think that he had any real power to arrest me for sitting (very peacefully) on the wrong chair.

But I do at times attract this kind of difficulties because I do not like people who want to exert an authority that they do not really have. This is part of my Dutch heritage, after all there would be no Kingdom of the Netherlands if there had been no insurrection against the King in Spain and the Pope in Rome.

My mother was from Amsterdam and I lived there for about 25 years, and the Amsterdam lot is more rebellious than the rest of the ‘Netherlanders’.

But ….

But if I just had gotten up from my seat it would have saved me from a stupid conversation with a high ranking policeman. If I had gotten up from my seat I could have attended the domestic violence mock-trial, which would have been interesting and would have been relevant for our community.

And …

Does Guru teach us to be meek or should we stand up for our rights, not be daunted by bossy organisers and high ranking policemen ? In Panjab I was told to be meek, but I soon found out that I had to speak up, otherwise my fellow Sikhs would walk all over me.

And finally …

I had no intention to be naughty, I just wanted to rest my legs and as soon as people or literature would have arrived I would have stood up, making excuses.

526.The Man in Blue – Afghan Sikhs in Belgium

Last year we had a scare both in the Netherlands and Belgium when Afghan Sikh refugees were ordered to return to their country. There is now no more talk about returning to Afghanistan, but that does not mean that there are no more problems.

We have a growing Afghan Sikh community in Belgium and many of them live in the Antwerpen area. In the ‘ethnic minority’ neighbourhoods of Antwerpen you find more and more shops run by Afghan Sikhs.

But there are Afghan Sikhs who’s application for asylum have been rejected, who get no or little government support, and whose future is uncertain. I have studied a few of the files, and although I am not a lawyer I think that I understand what is ‘wrong’ with these families from the legal point of view.

Many Afghan refugees do not travel directly from Afghanistan to Europe, but often go via Pakistan, India or Russia. In India there is little risk of being sent back to Afghanistan, but the Afghan Sikhs usually do not get any kind of resident status.

Thus frustrated by the lack of progress in their case and their lack of opportunity to start a business or to get a real job, they decide to go to Europe, North America or even to Australia or New Zealand.

Many European countries use any excuse to reject refugee status applications, the refugees know that their case has been weakened by a stay in Pakistan, India or Russia and think to improve their chances by making up stories.

The authorities in charge of refugees do not have detailed knowledge of the situation in Afghanistan. The position of religious minorities (Christians, Hindus, Shia Muslims, Sikhs) and of women in that country is not improving.

The security situation is not good either, not even in the Kabul area. It is far from easy for Afghan Sikhs to go back to their traditional shops in the bazárs of Afghan cities like Kabul, Jalalabad, Gardez, Ghazni or Kandahar.

Many of the Sikhs in Kabul and in other Afghan cities live on the Gurdwara premises due to lack of housing, many rely on irregular handouts from various sources.

This is the situation: I think I understand why European governments refuse refugee status to some of the Afghan Sikhs. But I also understand that sending members of religious minorities back to Afghanistan is not an option.

Sending people to Pakistan, India or even Russia is not a valid option either. The Russians usually send the refugees straight back to where they came from, and in Pakistan and India most Afghan refugees will not get any secure status, and therefore will not be able to build a future for themselves and their children.

Please Belgian and other European governments, show compassion !

525.The Man in Blue – The Turban and the 5 Ks

I have earlier written about the notion propagated by the SGPC that you are a Sikh when you have uncut-hair (keshdhari), and that you are not if you have not. This division of Sikhs ignores the Sikh way of life as taught by the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Gobind Singh told us to be different, to behave different and to look different, to follow the Sikh way of life and to wear the Khalsa uniform of the turban and the 5 Ks. Amritdhari is a valid category in Sikhí, keshdhari not. Wearing the Khalsa uniform without having Khalsa behaviour is meaningless.

A Sikh is somebody who seriously tries to live according to the teachings of our eternal Guru, a Khalsa is somebody who does the same and has offered her/his head through the amrit ceremony.

I am at the moment reading ‘Guru’s Wisdom’, a book written by Madan Singh of Birmingham (UK). I found some useful information in the book, but when writing about hair he creatively interprets Guru Granth Sahib.

He writes that Sheikh Faríd must have uncut hair as the sheikh writes in a slok on pana 1380 : ‘your hair has turned grey, your beard has turned grey and your moustache has turned grey’. This indeed suggests that Sheikh Faríd had a moustache and a beard, but does not prove that he was ‘keshdhari’.

Guru Arjan writes on pana 749 in rág sohi : ‘I make my hair into a fan’. This is of course a poetic image, and does not prove that Guru had uncut hair. It is very likely that he did, but this verse does not prove it. The same applies to : ‘with my hair I dust the feet of the Guru’ (pana 387, rág ásá, M 5).

In a different vein Guru Arjan writes in rág maru (solhé) on pana 1084 : ‘Let your total awareness be the turban on your head’. I have earlier discussed the full verse and its context in Man in Blue column 468, which can be found on the ‘Maninblue1947’ blog (search 468.).

When you read the sixteen verses of this shabad you will discover that a) the shabad addresses Muslims, not Sikhs and b) that the Guru is not suggesting in this shabad that either Muslims or Sikhs should have uncut hair or wear a dastar.

Madan Singh also thinks that the description of God as ‘He/She with the beautiful hair’ means that Sikhs should have uncut hair. Does describing God as ‘She/He with the dark skin’ mean that Sikhs should have a dark skin ?

The Guru Granth Sahib does not tell us to wear the Guru’s uniform. The Guru Granth Sahib teaches us the ethical values that are the core of the Sikh or the Khalsa way of life.

Guru Gobind Singh fully supported the Gurmat teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib. The Sant-Sipahi is practising seva, selfless service to all. Additionally the Sant-Sipahi follows the discipline of wearing the Guru’s uniform as a sign of her/his commitment to the teachings of our eternal Guru.

524.The Man in Blue – Turban problems in Belgium

Many have written and spoken about France and its laïcité policy and the resulting ban on the wearing of religious symbols in schools. Not many people seem to know that there are similar problems in Belgium.

The anti-discrimination laws in the UK are based on EU directives, but in Belgium the interpretation of these directives is ‘creative’. Here the excuse for discrimination is neutrality. To give an example: as part of a neutrality policy religious symbols are banned for all those who work for the city of Antwerp.

Of course the neutrality principle also applies in the UK: whether you work for a local council, a police force, a supermarket or whether you are a judge, those wearing a turban should not show any preference for people of their own tradition.

This is how creative Belgium works: a store employed a lady who wore a híjáb, and she was dismissed because of it. The lady took her employer to court and won her case. Since then store has adopted a neutrality policy which makes it legal to discriminate people who chose to wear religious signs.

Trying to explain that neutrality is in behaviour rather than in the presence of religious signs seems to be a waste of breath.

The situation in primary and secondary education is pathetic. The community schools in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium have adopted a neutrality policy and from 01/09/2013 new students are not allowed to wear hijábs, turbans or patkas.

Many of the Catholic schools have an anti head-cover policy, which was meant to stop pupils wearing hats or caps in schools. This is now also used to ban the wearing of híjáb, turban or patka. Although these religious symbols also ‘cover the head’ they clearly do not belong to the same category as caps and hats.

Although both in the community schools and in the Catholic schools we have found good people who are against discrimination of people who wear religious symbols, they are powerless to stop the widespread islamophobia/xenophobia that seems to be at the root of the problem.

We have been campaigning together with other groups asking schools to allow people to wear their religious symbols under the condition that all students fully take part in the school curriculum.

Many of the Moroccan and Turkish Muslims in Belgium are villagers like many of the Sikhs that live here. They are natural conservatives who do not like their girls to go swimming or take part in school excursions. This is less of a problem amongst the Sikhs, but some Sikh girls in secondary schools also opt out of the swimming lessons.

There is one little light shining in our darkness: those that want to wear a turban or a patka on their ID cards or passports can do so if they produce a letter from their Gurdwara stating that they are part of the Sikh community.

522.The Man in Blue – Violence in Southall

This is not a discussion about whether we should follow this ‘professor’ or that ‘kathakar, baba, pardhan, jathedar’. My subject is the fact that many Sikhs seem to be unable to discus differences in a respectful way ! Why do we have to fight over agreeing or not agreeing with Professor Sarbjit Singh Dhunda ? Why can’t there be a peaceful demonstration ?

I am inclined to the Singh Sabha way of thinking and I also try to develop my love for God and to open myself to the Love that The One keeps giving us. The Singh Sabha types usually have the right basic, more or less intellectual understanding, but are often not receptive to the ‘mystic’ side of Sikhí, which we share with the bhagats of the Bhaktí movement and with Sufi pírs like Sheikh Faríd.

There are different ways of looking at Sikhí. This can be annoying, but it is allowed. As long as people do not claim that Sikhs should believe in caste or that another Granth/Holy Book should be put at the same level as the Guru Granth, Guru leaves us a lot of freedom.

Mind you, many Sikhs ignore ‘One God – One Humanity’ or ‘Guru Granth – Guru Panth’. For reasons that I cannot understand many Sikhs value the writings of Bhai Gurdas more than the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Even in discussions on the internet we cannot agree to disagree with respect. Very soon participants in discussions get personal instead of trying to convince others using arguments.

I have in the past repeatedly written about the thugs who broke the legs of Jasvir Singh Hayes Wala and I publicly challenged those who threw stones through the windows of the Miri Piri Gurdwara because Professor Darshan Singh was inside.

Now we have similar or the same misguided ‘Sikhs’ who created mayhem and behaved in the worst possible way outside Southall Singh Sabha Gurdwara.

Everybody has the right to disagree strongly with others, be they Babé, Jathedars, Professors or whatever. They have the right to demonstrate and shout slogans to make their opinions clear to all.

But Guru taught us to use violence only as a last resort and not to act in anger or because we want to take what is not ours. Tenth Guru made peace with Rám Rai, earlier Guru’s came to an understanding with Sri Chand.

We are not only allowed, no we have to resort to violence if other means are not available to fight against injustice, against oppression. But nowhere did Guru use violence because individuals or groups had different opinions.

The breakers of legs, the throwers of stones and creators of general mayhem ignore Guru’s teachings. They deny freedom, they oppress and they commit injustice. Let us join the fight against this kind of anti-Sikh behaviour, let us try to liberate their minds from un-Sikh notions.

521.The Man in Blue – Sat Nám

On the ‘Sikh News Discussion’ yahoo group some members are discussing Nám and although the participants are meant to be ‘learned’ gentlemen, they all seem  keen to narrow down Nám to either one word or to specific texts.

I am only a sixteen year old Singh and do not claim to fully understand God and his or her nature. I also do not have a handy exact definition of what Nám means, just like I am not arrogant enough to even try to define God.

But I will explain my understanding of Nám without entering in the dialogue of the deaf that goes on in the ‘Sikh News Discussion’ group.

Nám is introduced to us by Guru Nanak on page 1 of the Guru Granth Sahib and is the third word after the figure one, the word Ongkár and the word Sat. This opening line, which Bhai Gurdas named the Mul Mantr, contains nine words/ combinations of words that all point to God.

Seven of those highlight aspects of God, but I think that the first two are more comprehensive. Ongkar is often explained as highlighting God who is both All-pervading and Almighty, both Imminent and Transcendent (inside all and over and above all) or Nirgun and Sargun (no qualities and all qualities).

Sat Nám is an even more all compassing statement. Sat of course means true, but it has been explained to me that in this context it is as if you are saying with much emphasis: Nám IS. So What or Who IS ? There is of course only one possible answer in a spiritual context: God IS, God IS the Absolute Truth.

I think that Nám is something like the Godly essence, the Godly principle and/or the Godly constitution of the Universe. Nám is present in all Gurbaní and in all other truly spiritual writings. Like God Nám is infinite and all-pervading, present on and in the planet Earth, in our solar system, our milky way and other milky ways, in the entire universe.

You and I are part of that system and therefore are part of Nám, and equally words like Vahiguru, Nirankar. Saibhang, Mukande, Paramatma and other descriptions of qualities of God are part of Nám, but they are not Nám.

You can do Nám simran using such words, you then do what is also mentioned in Gurbani, you sing God’s qualities. As we are only humans it is highly unlikely that we would come to a full understanding of all that is contained in Nám, or of all the different qualities of God.

Instead of trying to restrict God to one word we should be happy to have in the Guru Granth Sahib a guide that shows us the awe inspiring greatness of The One ! In the Gita Krishan showed Arjun the image of God, but God has such radiance that Arjun could not see God, just like you cannot look straight at the sun.

Our highest authority is the Guru Granth. This article reflects my understanding of our Guru. I hope I have not made too many mistakes.