The Sikhs struggle for Sovereignty: An Historical perspective written by Dr.Harjinder Singh Dilgeer (Norway) and Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon (Canada) and edited by A.T. Kerr (Canada), published by Guru Nanak Institute of Sikh Studies Norway and The Sikh Educational Trust Canada. Price $30 plus postage. Available from: The Sikh Educational Trust, P.O. Box 60246, University of Alberta Postal Outlet, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2SF.
Dr, Harjinder Singh Dileer has written several books on the subjects of Sikh studies ¢.g. The Akal Takht, History of Akali Dal, History of Khalistan, The Sikh Hijackers, The Constitution of Khalistan, Who are the Sikhs etc, Besides he has written hundreds of essays and papers. Dr. Dilgeer is known as an authority on Sikh studies. Specially his command of Sikh philosophy is unchallenged, Dr, Awatar Singh Sekhon too has contributed to the Sikh studies. This book is the latest by the two authors.
The Sikhs Struggle for Sovereignty is not an ordinary book. On one hand it is a record of the Sikh politics with special reference to the Sikhs’ struggle for achievement of their lost sovereignty and on the other hand it is a philosophic exposition of the Sikh politics. This is one of the few works of Sikh studies which explain the Sikh history strictly according to the Sikh fundamentals. The authors, like Rattan Singh Bhangu, Karam Singh Historian and Sirdar Kapur Singh are cruelly impartial to the leadership of the Sikh nation. Since Kapur Singh (Prasharprashna 1959) no Sikh writer dare debunk (Maharaja) Ranjit Singh for his un Sikh like style of life. The author unambiguously proves that Ranjit Singh was not the hero of the Sikhs, He may be a great bate winner or a ruler but he was not a Sikh Maharaja. (Strangely some Sikhs still want a Sikh state to be run according to Ranjit Singh’s style. Sirdar Kapur Singh calls such leaders as “Stupid Sikhs” and Dilgeer has termed them as “Phoney and bogus Sikhs”).
The authors have intelligently analyzed the causation of various phenomena specially Ranjit Singh’s rule, the Ghadr Movement, Pre-1947 situation, the rule by Akali Party. The most memorable chapters are: Genesis, The Forgotten Path, The Role of Emigrants, The Akalis, The In evitable Betrayal, The Third Phase of Struggle, The Penultimate etc. The chapter “The Last Battle’, too is rich with informative material though it seems to have been written in haste.
This book covers more than 500 years of the Sikh Politics (1469 to May 1992). No other book gives so much maternal. It surpasses most of the earlier books of Sikh history i.e, Khushwant Singh’s History of the Sikhs, Gopal Singh Dardi’s History of the Sikh People etc. Besides it rectifies the errors and fallacies made by the previous writers.
The book is not free from demerits, There are some printing mistakes, To my mind the language of the last chapter is a bit strong.
This is surely a precious book and no student of Sikh studies can afford to ignore the value of this book. This is book of the coming years. It will take a long time to produce a better work.
Review by: Mohinder Singh, Director of National Institute of Punjab
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 28, 1992
