At the just-ended International Conference on Sikh Studies, which was cohosted by the Canadian Institute of Sikh Studies and Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, the resolution was proposed and passed unopposed.

It said, “Whereas the chains established in some universities with the object of projecting an authentic image of Sikh religion, its doctrine and history, have not only been unproductive but have also been damaging to the objective;

Whereas, there is a need for the international coordinating body, and accordingly, this House calls upon the Canadian Institute of Sikh Studies to set up as early as possible a full-fledged centre of Sikh Studies. An appeal is made to the entire Sikh community of Canada to lend their full support to this endeavor. An ad hoc committee of the Sikhs may be constituted to draft a proposal for the establishment of an International Sikh Centre.”

Nearly 200 leading members of the community attended the two day session held at the University of Toronton. Prof. Hew McLeod attended it but had refused to answer any of the questions for distorting the Sikh religion in his books. Prof, Harjot Singh Oberoi in University of Vancouver is another scholar who is following the line against the religion.

The controversy of the allegations and accusations against the above scholars has been continuing for the last three years. It was brought to the notice in a very systematic manner by the Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, in close association with the Sikh Community of North America, and in particular by Dr. Jasbir Singh Mann, Dr. Harbans Singh Saraon, Dr. Kharak Singh Mann, Daljeet Singh LA.S., Dr. Darshan Singh Bains, Dr. Gobind Singh Mansukhani, Dr. Jim Lotz, Dr. Gurbax Singh, Prof. Surinder

Singh Kohli, Dr. Madanjit Kaur, Dr. Himadri Bannerji, among other Sikh and nonSikh scholars in Canada, India, U.S.A. U.K. and New Zealand. The Toronto meeting was organized by Balbir Singh Nijjar, Sulakhan Singh Hundal and Gurdish Singh Mangat. They were aided and funded privately by the leading Sikh companies, and after London, U.K., the meeting in Toronto was second; other meetings are to take place in Vancouver Dec 2, Berkeley Dec 5, Chicago Dec 6, Washington Dec 89, and New York Dec 15, 1990.

The idea behind these unique conferences, which are free and independent in their structure, is to improve the image of the Sikhs and community in the world. They reject very sharply the baseless, dangerous, harmful and libelous contributions of Hew McLeod, who has said that:

  1. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikh religion, made no new contribution to the Indian religious thought, and in this sense he could not be considered to be the founder of Sikhism as a new religion. His system being just a combination of “Nathism and Vaishnavism” of the Hindus;
  2. The original Sikh scripture, Kartapuri Bir, stands tampered with and suffers from motivated deletions. (Dr. McLeod has not examined the aforesaid scripture);
  3. The Sikh faith originally did not sanction militancy but militartion appeared as the result of an influx of Jats (the domination and majority of all the Sikhs in the world) in the Sikh fold, and the Jats being violent in character;
  4. The story of “Amrit” or Sikh baptism, ceremony and the creation of the “Khalsa”, the Pure Ones, on the Baisakhi Day in 1699 AD, is not correct;
  5. The sacred five symbols of the Sikhs, or the “kakars” were not prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs, but those are Jat cultural symbols, which got slowly adopted by the other Sikhs;
  6. The Sikh Gurus were never serious or sincere in removing caste differences, and that the Jats lament that the Gurus made no Jat as a Guru;
  7. It is incorrect that Guru Gobind Singh appointed the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ Holy Bible, as the Guru, and even till the rise of Sri Guru Singh Sabha movement, the acceptance of Guru Granth as Guru was an unestablished convention; (Sri Guru Singh Sabha movement of the beginning of the century played a significant role in the socio-religious regeneration of the Sikh community, and made the Sikhs aware of their spiritual and cultural heritage. It was founded by Thakur

Singh Sandhanwala in 1873 and many other leading Sikh scholars and leaders of the time);

  1. The Sikh scripture, (Kartarpuri Bir) has been changed or forged, particularly to suit the Sikh discipline, “rehat maryada”, of keeping the hair, by deleting from the Kartarpur recension, a so called hymn which referred to the alleged Mundan (shaving) ceremony of the sixth Guru Har Gobind;

The above distortions by Dr. McLeod, who had repeated them and regards the lack of independent ideological identity of Sikh religion, and the doubtful authenticity of the Kartarpuri Bir, are considered libelous and blasphemous, incorrect and fallacious by a large majority of the Sikhs and new generation.

In a recent interview with LP.S. Babra, Dr. McLeod refused to give notes, take pictures and denied all the allegations. He does not wish to clear the controversy against him. “Sikhs are not malicious”, he said.

Dr. Milton Israel, director of Centre for South Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, do admit that some of McLeod’s work is controversial, and subject for further consideration. However, Dr. Israel finds the attitude of allegations “confrontational” and defended McLeod of profound respect for Sikh religion and tradition. Dr. Harjot Singh Oberoi, the Sikh scholar and chairman of Sikh Studies at University of British Columbia, is also considered of antiSikh opinions. Dr. Obedroi said, “Until the 19th century, the Sikhs had shown little collective interest in distinguishing themselves from the Hindus. Both are “quintessentially” the same, and what is referred to as Punjab crisis will disappear as did in the eyes of some, the chasm that emerged in the 19th century.”

A number of guests, speakers and dignitaries were invited, including J. Robert S. Prichard, president of University of Toronto, Dr. Hew McLeod, Milton Israel, and Joseph T. O’Connell of the South Asian Studies. Dr. Hew McLeod, 59, is a New Zealander and a former Christian missionary in Batala. He is currently the chairman of the Sikh Studies at the University of Toronto, and on contract from New Zealand.

It baffles too many Sikhs that how come the man who is supposed to teach and develop the Sikh religion in the world has so unashamedly written against the basic fundamentals of the religion? The same is true in the case of Harjot Oberoi, who has not written any single book on the Sikh religion and do not qualify to be a Sikh scholar, together with McLeod, are occupying the important Positions in the universities? They continue to write against the religion which must stop now.

The Sikhs in this regard have been very tolerant of their behavior. They have been playing an average of $60,000 per year for continuing the good work at the universities but the result is against them. It is surprising that some Sikh students are knowledgeable than their professors are silent and continuing their studies incorrectly. They are taught by McLeod and Oberoi who are not in agreement with the Sikh religion at all. They offer no apology for it. McLeod has ceased to be a Christian, and together with Oberoi, must learn to be wisher and healthier in thought to teach the Sikh religion and history. Their silence is mischievous and unethical, as they see no separate identity of the religion.

Under such circumstances, the Sikh Conference passed the resolution, and challenged these scholars in particular.

A new book, “Advanced Studies in Sikhism” by Jasbir Mann and Harbans Saraon has come out at a time which really caught their faults and suggests to correct the situation, It is believed that not another Christmas is needed to improve the situation and it is corrected now. ‘ *1990 World population: 5071-883320

*World Sikh population: 1718-7390

Article extracted from this publication >> December 14, 1990