A major corollary of his system of truthful living which is its central element, is man’s duty to participate in social life and accept total social responsibility. For that end he suggested that for the religious man, work, production and equitable distribution are essential, as also the responsibility of confronting or resisting injustice and oppression, Because he calls God to be the Destroyer of evildoers and the demonical. In order to enable the religious man to discharge the responsibility of resisting oppression, he rejected the doctrine of Ahimsa or pacifisms, which had been an integral part of all Indian religions, And it is in this context that he gave the call that his system, being a game of love, whoever wanted to join his society, should be willing to sacrifice his all, For that end he Organized a society, and created the institution of succession to enable his successors to develop and mature the Punjab. Finally it is that society which the Tenth Master created as the Khalsa, again giving the call for total sacrifice, and breaking completely from the earlier religious systems, traditions, customs, etc. Hence it is sheer ignorance of the Guru Granth and its system to relate it to something of the kind of Christian fundamentalism in order to create a prejudice in the minds of those who have no knowledge of Sikhism, The Guru Granth or its ideology can be summed up as was done by Guru Nanak thus: Give up egoism and live a life of love, virtue, equality and justice. Accordingly there is no obscurantism or pluralism in the ideology of the Guru Nanak. As to the Miri-Piri doctrine, it is the fundamental of Guru Nanak’s thesis to combine the empirical life with the spiritual life of man, It is the same principle as was accepted by Moses and Prophet Mohammad, both of whom were simultaneously religious and political leaders. As to the Nirankar is he has again completely misrepresented the position either out of ignorance or otherwise, The Nirankar is are neither a Sikh sect nor a break away group, nor do the Nirankar is themselves make any claim to be Sikhs, The clash between the Nirankar is and the Bhindranwale group might well have been a created problem in order to sidetrack the Sikh political struggle for its rights . In any case such a conflict could be between the two ideologies. Further, it is a misstatement that the death of Gurbachan Singh was followed by mass killings in the Punjab. Nothing of the kind happened and Oberoi has not given any evidence to support this unfounded statement. Inany case, the alleged clash has nothing to do with the political problems of Punjab and the issues involved therein. A minor clash between two communities can hardly be a relevant reason either for delaying autonomy to a state or for sidetracking the real issues of injustice we have discussed above.

Oberoi has also incongruously introduced the point of Green Revolution, which is chronologically a baseless assertion. The Sikh agitation for Punjabi Suba and autonomous status, is a political issue of pre-Independence days and even the demand of Punjabi Suba and its autonomy arose in the life of Sardar Patel. Long before the Green Revolution, the agitation for the Suba had started, Over fifty thousand went to jail and suffered imprisonment and other hardships. All this happened before the onset of Green Revolution. A seven a student of Punjab agriculture is aware, the first import of high yielding seeds from Mexico took place in 1966, and the impact of the Green Revolution was not felt before the mid seventies’. By that time the agitation for Sikh demands including the fasts of Sant Fateh Singh and Darshan Singh Pheruman, as also the death of the latter, had taken place, Second, the occurrence of Green

Revolution in Punjab is an accomplished fact. But the important question is why it took place in the North West comer of India among the rural Sikhs and not anywhere else in India or Asia, which had been deficient in food. It is the life affirming ideology of Sikhism that is the sole explanation for it as has been explained by Upinderjit Kaur in her publication. Oberoi’s difficulty appears to be his complete ignorance of the spiritual-empirical life combination or the Miripiri system of the Guru Granth. That is why he seems to be unnecessarily beating about the bush. As to the subdivision of holdings he has again made an irrelevant contradiction; subdivision is a natural consequence of the system of succession. Green Revolution has not in any way accentuated it, but it has made small holdings more productive and life sustaining than before. Higher yields and greater production have relieved the economic situation, and this is supported by no less a person than Subramanium, the Agriculture Minister of India,

Oberoi has harped a Jot on modernity and secularism, and has only displayed an ignorance of the broad forces that are involved in the Current century. It is Toynbee who laments that for the last three hundred years religion has been driven out of the cultural life of man and instead parochialism of the worship of the national state as a goddess has started. He also laments that the Western technologist has lost his self-confidence and is in confusion, whether the technological genii which he has released would not destroy all human culture and whether his “professional success may not have been a social and moral disaster.” For him “ the great world religions have been replaced in modern times by three post Christian ideologies nationalism, communism and individualism, All three are equally impersonal and dehumanizing.” Similarly, Pierard believes “Secularism in the nineteenth century aided by Marxism, Darwinism and Positivism chipped away the Christian underpinning of Western thought.” This thinking considers that secularism and nationalism eventually give rise to militarism, imperialism, racism and despotism. The history of the current century hardly seems to suggest that secularism leads to cultural or moral progress. In fact, the indications, both historical and current, seem to be quite different. For, in Europe and the USSR millions were destroyed by Hitler and Stalin both of whom were secularists without any belief in religion, It is in this context that the American Churches have raised the voice that Secularism is. a major danger to life and that Christianity should co-operate with other religions in order to avoid the present decline in moral values of the culture. It is doubtful, whether Hegel as Oberoi Suggests, can be associated with the thinking of divorce between religion and politics, But whatever be his belief he is certainly associated with German militarism and is considered to be the precursor of Kaiser, Hitler and despotism. In fact it is the postmodern thinking of men like Huston Smith that suggests the recognition of the role of religion against the limitation and potential harm that is contained in the power-Over nature approach to life that governs much of our modem culture. This philosophy appears to lead towards “only a dead end; annihilation of mythology, religion, all value systems, all hope.”

REFERENCES

  1. Harjot Oberoi: “Sikh Fundamentalism: Ways of Turning Things Over “ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Anaheim;
  2. “Popular Saints Goddesses and Village Sacred Sites: Rereading Sikh Experience in the Nineteenth Century “ Read at a Conference held at Berkley, USA, Feb. 1987.
  3. Young India Bombay, March 1931,
  4. The Statesman Calcutta; July7,1946.
  5. Kapur Singh: “Sachi Sakhi’ Navyug Publishers, 1973; pp3233.
  6. Young India Born bay; March 1 91931.
  7. Duggal, Devinder Singh: “The Truth about the Sikhs “Amritsar, N.D.; Page 14.
  8. The Council of Sikh Affairs, Chandigarh: “The Anguish of Punjab “. Sikhs Demand Justice” , N.D.; Page 5.
  9. Dhillon, G.S.: Researches in Sikh Religion and Illusory; Chandigarh, 1989; Page 134-135.
  10. Illustrated Weekly of India, June 10-16, 1984: The Man Every one Loves to Hate.
  11. Machiavelli, Niccolo: The Prince; Page 46; Oxford University Press; Repnnt; A Mentor Book: New American Library; A Division of Penguin Books, USA, New York; Revised Trans. 1935
  12. Dhillon, G.S.: Researches Sikh Religion and History; Chandigarh, 1989; pp. 1 14-115.
  13. The Council of Sikh A Chandigarh: “Punjab River Waters Dispute Page 12.
  14. Los Angeles Times LA Feb 1988; Pages I and 32.
  15. The Tribune Chan dated Aug. 3.1990,
  16. Govt, of India: The Report of the Narmada Dispute Tribunal Vol, 111, Pages 25, 26 and 30; New Delhi 1930,
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  18. Huston Smith: Beyond Post-Modem Mind: The Sophical Publishing Ho Wheaton (111.), USA; A Book 1985.

Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 21, 1992