Every few years, Indian courts receive petitions from some mischief makers and some apparently aggrieved people questioning the definition of a Sikh or a Gurdwara or even challenging the juristic persona status of Guru Granth Sahib. Sometimes the courts are quick to adjudicate in these matters and in some cases they take years.
Presently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court is seized with the matter of the definition of who is a Sikh and who is not. It is not the first time that it has to face such a petition. It has happened in the past too, though many a time, political developments have overshadowed or superceded the slow judicial process and the petitions have either become infructuous or have been simply filed in the labyrinths of the judicial systems of the country.
In a recent interim judgement, delivered this week, without giving reprieve to the petitioner Gurleen Kaur, who was denied admission to the Guru Ramdas Medical College for trimming her hair, the court has asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to explain as to “whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a ‘Sehajdhari Sikh’, if he performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Katha in any form, and can recite Mool Mantra, with reference to Section 2 (10-A) of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.”
The Constitution bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court is treading on a dangerous path. This kind of intervention is generally the forte of politicians, particularly misinformed ones. The line of questioning is disturbing for the term Sehajdhari Sikh has practically been removed from the statue in the last elections to the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. All votes registered in separate forms for the so-called Sehajdhari voters, running into lakhs, were rendered null and void.
The definition of Sehajdhari Sikh has no religious sanction as far as the fundamental tenets of the Sikh religion are concerned. One is either a Sikh or not a Sikh. Just as one is either a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or one is not.
This nomenclature was added to the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 under a particular set of circumstances, which too are questionable per se, but without going into the details of those times, the circumstance ceases to exist.
Let us take the reverse logic. If one performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Katha in any form, can recite Mool Mantra, and cuts ones hair, if he is to be called a Sehajdhari Sikh, so that he gets all the social benefits the Sikhs per se are entitled too, then the importance Sikhs attach to the Kesh –unshorn hair as one of the Five Ks would be abandoned and this would be striking at the roots of the faith.
Given the enlargement of the community beyond the shores of Punjab, given the rise of apostasy amongst the community and particularly its youth, given the lack of knowledge amongst the religious leaders running the SGPC affairs in handling such issues, given the lack of adherence to the requirements of unshorn hair by Sikh boys and girls, such questions are likely to arise and the situation is likely to take an ugly turn when some individuals want to reap the benefits of being a Sikh –say admission into institutions where Sikh students have a preference and at the same time keep away from those requirements which are compulsory to the faith.
Anyone using this ruse to question the universal message of the Sikh religion, the social and secularist ideals of the Sikh Gurus, the path of Sarbat da Bhala, is making a private lapse a public outcry. Irrespective of what the state authorities do while recognizing the religion of an individual who strictly is no longer a part of his original faith, the ideal is too strong to be weakened by it. And that has nothing to do with social, economic or educational concessions.
WSN-Editorial-Meddling With ‘Who is a Sikh’ Question
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Presently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court is seized with the matter of the definition of who is a Sikh and who is not. It is not the first time that it has to face such a petition. It has happened in the past too, though many a time, political developments have overshadowed or superceded the slow judicial process and the petitions have either become infructuous or have been simply filed in the labyrinths of the judicial systems of the country.
In a recent interim judgement, delivered this week, without giving reprieve to the petitioner Gurleen Kaur, who was denied admission to the Guru Ramdas Medical College for trimming her hair, the court has asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to explain as to “whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a ‘Sehajdhari Sikh’, if he performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Katha in any form, and can recite Mool Mantra, with reference to Section 2 (10-A) of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.”
The Constitution bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court is treading on a dangerous path. This kind of intervention is generally the forte of politicians, particularly misinformed ones. The line of questioning is disturbing for the term Sehajdhari Sikh has practically been removed from the statue in the last elections to the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. All votes registered in separate forms for the so-called Sehajdhari voters, running into lakhs, were rendered null and void.
The definition of Sehajdhari Sikh has no religious sanction as far as the fundamental tenets of the Sikh religion are concerned. One is either a Sikh or not a Sikh. Just as one is either a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or one is not.
This nomenclature was added to the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 under a particular set of circumstances, which too are questionable per se, but without going into the details of those times, the circumstance ceases to exist.
Let us take the reverse logic. If one performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Katha in any form, can recite Mool Mantra, and cuts ones hair, if he is to be called a Sehajdhari Sikh, so that he gets all the social benefits the Sikhs per se are entitled too, then the importance Sikhs attach to the Kesh –unshorn hair as one of the Five Ks would be abandoned and this would be striking at the roots of the faith.
Given the enlargement of the community beyond the shores of Punjab, given the rise of apostasy amongst the community and particularly its youth, given the lack of knowledge amongst the religious leaders running the SGPC affairs in handling such issues, given the lack of adherence to the requirements of unshorn hair by Sikh boys and girls, such questions are likely to arise and the situation is likely to take an ugly turn when some individuals want to reap the benefits of being a Sikh –say admission into institutions where Sikh students have a preference and at the same time keep away from those requirements which are compulsory to the faith.
Anyone using this ruse to question the universal message of the Sikh religion, the social and secularist ideals of the Sikh Gurus, the path of Sarbat da Bhala, is making a private lapse a public outcry. Irrespective of what the state authorities do while recognizing the religion of an individual who strictly is no longer a part of his original faith, the ideal is too strong to be weakened by it. And that has nothing to do with social, economic or educational concessions.
WSN-Editorial-Meddling With ‘Who is a Sikh’ Question
More...