Hindus And Sikhs: Bonded By Blood, Vested Interests Attempt To Drive Wedge
Feature Image Credits: OpIndia
The Hindu Sindhis and the Sikhs have always had cordial, mutually respectful relations based on common roots and culture. While the Sindhis are originally from the Sindh province of pre-partition India, a significant number of Punjabi Sikhs are from the Punjab province of pre-partition India. During India’s Partition, both the Sindhis and the Punjabis lost their ancestral lands. Both communities were deeply impacted by the horrors of Partition and both communities share common roots and traditions. Both communities feel the historic pangs of separation from their ancestral, native lands that were given away to Pakistan.
Both these communities, as well as other Hindu communities, share a painful historic past of centuries of religious persecution under Islamic rule. Sindhis, Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus share close and common cultural and religious ties. While the Sikh gurus and their Sikh followers respected and paid obeisance to Hindu gods, gurus and scriptures (including Sri Krishna, Sri Rams and Mother Durga), the Hindu Sindhis respected and paid obeisance to the brave Sikh gurus and their spiritual texts.
But this beautiful, long standing, inter faith, syncretic religious tradition between Sindhi Hindus and the Sikhs, is now under threat with recent reports of several Sindhi Temples in Madhya Pradesh, returning their temples’ copies of the Holy Book of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib, to the local Gurudwaras (Sikh temples).
Since last week, Sindhi Hindu Temples (Sindhi Tikanas) in Madhya Pradesh, which display and honour the Sikh Holy Book in their temples, have returned close to a hundred copies of the “Shri Guru Granth Sahib” to the local Gurudwaras. The local Sindhi community in Madhya Pradesh says, these unfortunate events are happening on account of what they claim to be a misunderstanding. It had started when some Nihang Sikhs (the revered Akali warrior sect of the Sikh community) alleged that the sanctity of Shri Guru Granth Sahib was not being upheld in the required manner, in the Sindhi Hindu temples, after they were informed of a ‘Mundan’ or hair-cutting ceremony that allegedly took place right outside the ‘Darbar’, where the holy book was placed. The temple administration has denied any intentional wrong doing and has stated that they had not performed a hair-cutting ritual.
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It appears that the temple authorities were not involved in the ritual which begs the question. Who are the real culprits behind the incident and what kind of mischief is being played, resulting in a religious misunderstanding between the two closely related Indic religions? If such an incident did take place near the space respectfully allotted to the Holy Book in the temple, was it conducted with a malicious intent? The Nihang Sikhs have not accepted the temple administration’s explanation about their non-involvement in the hair-cutting event. Cutting of hair is against the tenets of orthodox Sikhism, likely based on the circumstances under which Sikhism was born, leading to their courageous defence of the native faiths against the tyranny of the fanatic Islamic rulers of the day. “Kesh” or hair is part of the Five Ks (Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachera, and Kirpan) in Sikhism. They are considered to be auspicious symbols in Sikhism. It is being reported that the Nihang Sikhs have also expressed displeasure at the placement of Hindu idols next to the Sikh holy book, something they had not fussed about in the past.
Is there a possible link between the spread of extremist views in certain sections of Sikh society under “secular” political parties and the unfortunate disruption of a lovely, religiously-syncretic tradition between the Sikhs and Sindhi Hindus? It is a well known fact that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been encouraging and providing covert support to a section of the Sikh community, for the idea of a separate statehood for Sikhs, distinct from the rest of India. Anytime, a “secular” party takes over the political reins in Punjab, the state seems to experience a rise in extremist/separatist activities, fuelled by the “Khalistani” movement, whose top pay masters are reputed to be from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Over the past few months, Punjab has seen an alarming rise in extremist activities, claimed by members of Sikh separatist Khalistani groups. It is not surprising that such activities are happening under a “secular” AAP government. The Khalistani movement was at its peak under the various Congress-led governments at the Centre. The radicalisation of Sikhs, indoctrinated and brainwashed by those who receive training and attractive financial packages from their Pakistani handlers, is worrisome for India, already forced to fight a never-ending Islamist guerilla war, fuelled by the Pakistanis. Vulnerable Sikhs are encouraged to think of their religion as having closer ties to the tenets of Islam rather than the Sikh’s strong and unmistakable roots in Hinduism. A twisted, distorted, perverted version of Sikhism’s history and principles along with a Pakistan-encouraged and financed sikh-statehood narrative, has led to dangerous separatist ideas, among some sections of Sikh society. An increase in incidents of Sikh separatist extremism, is good news for Pakistani Islamists who are playing the old, tried-and-tested card of dividing the Indic, dharmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, other native, tribal faiths) on the basis of trivial differences.
Sikhism was founded in the 15th century in response to the religious extremism and cruelty of the Muslim rulers of India. The Sikhs fought for themselves and their Hindu brethren. The tradition of respectfully keeping, displaying and honoring a copy of the Sikh holy book- the Shri Guru Granth Sahib, in many Sindhi Hindu temples, is a good example of unity and common cultural roots of all the Indic faiths. A vast majority of Sindhis as well as Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus, had immigrated to India from Pakistan during and after the Partition of the Indian subcontinent. Both Sikhs and Hindus of various communities, chose to immigrate to India out of fear of a Muslim majority Pakistan which had already declared itself an Islamic Republic even as India chose not to adopt Hinduism as a state religion.
It would be a shame if certain Sikh groups now fall prey to the false propaganda spread by Pakistani Islamists. Coincidentally, around the same time that the Sikh separatist ideology/Khalistani movement, is causing incidents of violence in Punjab and Hindu-Sikh ‘misunderstandings’ in India, there appear to be unfortunate incidents of temple vandalism in far away Australia by members of the Khalistani movement.
Let’s hope our Sikh brethren, choose not to disassociate themselves from the true origin of their brave, resilient religion. Let’s hope our Sikh brothers and sisters do not buy into the lies and incitement for a separate statehood, spread by Islamic extremists, who were responsible for countless horrors experienced by both the Sikh and Hindu communities, both of which, share a history of common cultural and spiritual roots. We must continue to stay united, defend and support one another against the onslaught of the common enemy, the fundamentalist Islamic state of Pakistan!
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The Scandalous Kerala Communists And The Stoic Silence Of The Media And ‘Progressives’
Recently, Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress President Adv. Jebi Mather wrote to DGP of Kerala insisting to take action against CPM Alleppey area committee member AP Sona on his alleged sexual predatory behaviour. The incident marks one among plethora of incidents which points out to the continuous anti-women attitude of the left but what is more interesting is that many sections of media are being silent about this incident. Playing down magnitude of a news to please certain sections having particular political affiliation seems to be the ‘modus operandi’ here. In this context, this article will look in to the misogynist attitude of the left and understand as to why certain sections of media are silent about it.
The Scandals Of The Left
Following the controversy, CPM expelled Alappuzha south area centre member AP Sona from the party for allegedly capturing obscene visuals of women on his mobile phone. The accused member has been dismissed from the party following the district committee finding his actions violating decency of the party. Meanwhile, police have deployed security in the area where AP Sona’s house is located. Officials were stationed in the area considering the possibility of a clash between two factions inside the CPM. Controversy has also surfaced over the complaint against the CPM leader not being forwarded to the police. Organisations, including the Youth Congress, have come forward criticising the CPM. A section inside the CPM also demanded the party to forward the case to the police.
The action was taken by CPM due to pressure from their voters base itself and also due to pressure from other political parties. It is pertinent to note in this situation that this is not the first time that CPM in Kerala is spreading their venomous misogynist fangs. In fact, this follows a pattern adopted by left in Kerala. Not so long ago, former minister MM Mani sparked a controversy in the Kerala Legislative Assembly by his unsavoury remark on Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader KK Rema, close on the heels of incendiary speeches against her by CPM central committee member Elamaram Kareem and Kozhikode CPM district committee secretary P Mohanan. Speaking on the issue Rama said that, ‘CPM want to insult political rivals with unsavoury comments rather than taking them on politically’, she further stated that violence and misogyny are typical nature of CPM. One must understand that Rama is a victim of CPM violence, widow at an early age her husband who was an ex-CPM worker was hacked to death by the party for not walking along party line. In another instance in the past, Kerala Police did not file a case against Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) Thiruvananthapuram councillor DR Anil even after several BJP councillors complained that he insulted women councillors. Anil is also the LDF parliamentary party secretary and passed disgraceful remarks while the lady BJP councillors signed the attendance register. He said that if they wanted money, they might as well do ‘other’ jobs. If you think this is heinous, one cannot comprehend the extent to which CPM workers will go to take advantage of women. Couple of years ago, a special POCSO court in Kerala’s Palakkad district acquitted three persons in connection with the rape of two minor Dalit sisters in Walayar, a region on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, dating back to the year 2017. The two girls, aged 13 and nine, were found hanging inside their one-room home 52 days apart and post-mortem examinations had confirmed that the minors were subjected to sexual assault before their deaths. The girl’s mother states that accused belong to CPM and police is showing leniency towards the issue due to intervention by local CPM leadership. The bestiality by party workers created a blot which cannot be removed on the face of ‘cultural Kerala’ and ruling left dispensation continues with its misogynist attitude unbridled by these instances.
The Media Silence
‘There won’t be a change, not until common people realize the venom spread by mainstream media in Kerala ‘
Left is supposed to be the forerunners of rights of the downtrodden and flag bearers of equality but in Kerala the situation is different. It is the oligarchic attitude of the left which prevails in Kerala and disappointingly the liberal media is silent on the issue. If we look at an instance in which Kerala Governor lashed out against media, we could see the situation unfolding on the ground. Governor made a remark in response to CPM’s statement that it will ramp up attacks against him for misusing his post to create ‘a constitutional crisis’. Replying to the questionnaire from media Governor stated that, “I’m not afraid. I’m simply performing my duties. The government is in the wrong here,”Khan alleged, but not before making sure that Media One and Kairali (two channels which he labelled as ‘cadre media’) were not among the crowd of reporters. “I will not speak to ‘cadre media’,” Khan said, implying that the two channels were pro-Left and catering to their agenda. It’s not only the political affiliation which creates this bias, it is also the fear against the left government who are known to hack their opponents to death in case of differences in opinion. The left also tries to take legislative route to silence the media. One such example was introduction of media regulation bill. The Bill proposes to introduce a new sub-Section 292 (A) through legislation after amending the IPC Section 292, with an objective to curb the printing, publishing, and distribution of ‘grossly indecent or scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail’. It also provides for the amendment of certain sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in line with changes in the IPC. Even though the move failed, it sounded alarm as to the intention of the left in silencing media.
Even though it’s not a forced silence many sections of left liberal media are keeping itself out from criticising CPM or pointing out to the instances of misogyny by CPM. This is wrong and it goes against every inch of ethics in journalism. As conscious citizens we must not be misled or misguided by these venomous media outlets and shall realise the truth behind the facade of these news outlets.
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