Positive parts were some inspirational speeches by experienced educators such as Dr.Gobind Singh Mansukhani and Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Dr. Paritam Singh Q.C. Et Al. On the other side there is some sad commentary considered damaging to Sikhism.
One such speaker was Gursharan Sidhu who was supposed to show slides on Sikh art but side tracked into Sikh history and philosophy He started comparing Guru Nanak with Maharaja Ranjit Singh Then he got into wars fought by Guru Gobind Singh and totally misinterpreted the facts. Finally he got into the human weaknesses of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as quoted by his mentor Khushwant Singh. He forgot that he was speaking to a group of Sikh scholars and believers. Dr. Amarjit Singh stood up and confronted Sidhu for blasphemy on Sikhism and for using words which were not quite acceptable for any civilized audience. The panel chairperson shielded Sidhu by saying that these were all “comments” and no answers were needed. This pattern of the organizers was prevalent throughout the conference.
However next morning Sidhu came to stage to confess his ignorance and apologize for offending the audience.
Next day started with another debate when Dr. Gurinder S. Mann spoke on Goindval Pothis which was another controversial topic. Dr. Jasbir Singh Mann produced his proof asked the organizers to publish this along with the proceedings.
Dr. Harbans Singh Sraon asked Dr. G. Mann whether he believed that Kartar Pur Bir is authentic scripture which he admitted affirmatively saying that “it is confirmed fact.” Dr. Sukhminder Singh Sandhu emphasized that once it is confirmed that Guru Asjan Dev finalized Kartarpur Bir and there is no scope left for any superficial research. Dr. Ajit Paul Singh Sandhu said once validity of our spiritual father (Guru Granth Sahib) is well known why there is this erosion of Sikh financial resources against other Sikhs? These activities are fruitless and should be stopped. Dr.S.S.Kohli compared Guru Tegh Bahadur with Vishisht. Dr. Pritam Singh QC politely suggested that we should not lower status of the Guru to Vishishat level.
The last paper written by Prof. Abdul Jabbar on the writing of Khushwant Singh led in to serious discussion. Prof Jabbar narrated certain stories written by Khushwant which were on lust greed rape using authors vulgar language to depict scenes from Punjab Some people were shocked to hear explicit language of Khushwant and distorting the culture of Punjab. People were wondering about the relevance of Khushwants writing within the Sikh conference.
Dr. Amarjit Singh questioned the speaker about the portrayal of Sikh culture. Jabbar who is Punjabi himself said that Khushwant has misinterpreted village life of Punjab which is annoying and controversial. Then Dr. Amarjit Singh informed the audience that Khushwant is an Agnostic and he has never lived in a Punjab village and stories are fabrication of his distorted Psyche. At this time he is an anti-Sikh element and roamed in Punjab with K.P.S.Gill a butcher of Sikh youth and Khushwant had planned an advisory role by providing information in the execution of Sikh youth. It was not understood why the organizers were promoting Khushwant.
Provided by Dr.H.S.Sroan
Article extracted from this publication >> December 11, 1992
