By: Jatinder S, Hundal

In order to understand the Sikh history it can be commonly divided into easily distinguishable segments, with this assumption in mind we can divide Sikh history into basically four divisions; 1, Guru Period (14691708) 2, Post Guru Period (17081849) 3, Sikh Subjugation (18491920) 4.Sikh Renaissance (1920Present)

Since the question deals with the Sikhs in India, let us take the fourth segment of this history, which can be loosely termed as Sikh renaissance, Even though we are discussing Sikhism in India since 1947 still I think we can safely assume that the history of Sikhism since 1947 is effected a great deal by the events of Singh Sabha movement. Some people like to give all of the credit to Singh Sabha to what Sikhism is today. 1 think that is justifiable, because Singh Sabha really defined Sikhism for all times to come. 1947; At the time of independence of India, many Sikhs thought that the interests of Sikhism could be best served by staying within India. At the time of division of India, the British had plans to divide India into separate countries based on religion, Sikhs being the minority within Punjab did not have much say in what happened to Punjab. The leadership of Sikhs at that time felt isolated because both Hindus and Muslims were busy dealing with the British about their respective future homelands, Sikhs were not considered a major factor in the division plans of India. The lack of foresight and unplanned policy of Sikh leadership left Sikh masses with no credible representative who could talk to British and secure a safe future for Sikhs.

The Akali Dal was formed on December 14, 1920 to raise and train volunteers for the Gurdwara Reform Movement. There were some Akali leaders still left from the early Singh Sabha movement, but most of them were told land could noble ideal with’ British in terms of politics. Their upbringing their career was devoted to’ fighting for religious justice. These were plain village folks who had seen nothing but victories all their lives, and they could not think of talking to the British on equal terms. How could they talk to someone they had defeated in the Singh Sabha movement. ‘These were the leaders who demanded a separate Sikh State and few names for this state were mentioned in the media such as “Sikh Homeland,” “Sikhism,” “Khalistan” etc., The name used today “Khalistan” has been used by Sikhs since early 1940s. Hindus promised Sikh leadership on honorable place in India and even Gandhi had promised publicly that the rights of the Sikhs would not be violated. The promises made by Hindus were not kept and the Sikh community was betrayed again, thus Sikhs had no choice but to wage a war of self-defense, 1950s: In 1947 following the division of Punjab Into Bast and West, millions of people Were uprooted, ‘Sikhs living In the West Punjab were forced to migrate to the East Punjab, An untold amount of loss both olives ‘and property took place on both sides oftener border that divided Punjab, Sikhs that came to India to start a new life had to struggle hard and start all over again to build their families and new lives. During the 1950s Punjab had a relatively quiet but not calm atmosphere, Sikhs who lost everything were busy building new businesses and few had time to think about politics. Even in these times of stress ‘and sorrow, the Hindu government of. India was busy blaming Sikhs for the division and the violence that followed it. Ina memorandum published by the Indian governments, Sikhs were considered a nation of criminals. Sardar Kapur Singh, a highly respected civil servant protested this label being used for the Sikhs. He was dismissed from the civil service. Later on Sardar Kapur Singh became instrumental in the preparation of the rand pur Saheb Resolutions 1960s: Punjab was repeatedly divided again and again by the British. Kashmir was taken out of Punjab and given to Dogras. North West Frontier Province was taken out of Punjab and given to tribes of the mountains, Delhi ‘was taken away from Punjab and made capital of India. Soon after the independence of India, Sikhs had to start a long struggle to give Punjabi (Gurmukhi) a state language status. The historians have described this struggle as fight for “Punjabi Suba.” Master Tara Singh announced his plans for a Punjabi Suba on April 30, 1960. On November 1, 1966, Punjab was further divided into three separate states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. This division of Punjab was unjustifiable and clearly proves the discriminatory policy of the Hindu government which wants to keep the Sikh community weak by divisions.

Even this division of Punjab did not keep Sikhs from working hard and making a name for themselves. The ingenuity and hard work of rural Sikhs. Brought a revolution in Punjab normally described as the Green Revolution. This made Punjab the most prosperous state in India. The relatively comfortable life gave rise to a new generation of Sikhs who were educated ‘and interested in the political arena of Sikhism. This was the time when Akali leadership became corrupt due to the enormous funds at its disposal. The newly emerged middle class Sikhs had enough money to give to the Sikh charity and religious organizations that were setup to safeguard Sikh interests. Akali Dal controlled most of the money held by these organizations. The Akali leadership remained divided and lost most of the elections held in divided Punjab. This does not speak very highly of Akali Leadership in fact clearly shows that.

Akali leadership has failed in safeguarding Sikh interests, 1970s: By the early 1970s it became clear to the Sikh youth that the Akale Dal did not understand the Sikh community’s problems and could not work for the benefit of the community, Because of the prosperity of the state, most young Sikhs in Punjab were educated and were able to understand the Hindu policy of dividing the Sikh community. In October 1973, at Anandpur Sahib the Akali Dal passed a resolution demanding a state in which Sikhs were in a commanding position of power. This came to be known as “Anandpur Sahib Resolution.” In 1977 Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was appointed the head of the Damdami Taksal. This was seen as a challenge by the Hindu government since the only aim of the ‘Taksal was to promote Sikhism.

In October 1978, at Ludhiana during All India Akali Conference, representatives of All India Sikh Students Federation demanded from the Indian Hindu government that Sikhs should be defined as a separate nation within India, Sikh youth demanded that Sikhism should not be considered a part of Hinduism. This slogan of “Separate Nation” has been earlier raised by many Sikhs but Damdami Taksal took up the responsibility of making it a slogan of all Sikhs. The constitutions of India docs not consider Sikhism a separate religion but a part of Hinduism. As is evident from the marriage certificates of Sikhs who are getting married in India even today, (You may ask someone in your family to show you their marriage certificate, and if they were married in India it will say “Hindu marriage act”). 1980s: In April 1978, Government directly attacked Taksal by using Nirankaris (a Hindu sect) and killing 13 innocent Sikhs in Amritsar on the Vaisakhi day. This changed the Sikh outlook towards India forever to come. Sikhs felt as if they are being targeted by the government, Sikhs, especially the youth, felt the need to start armed struggle to save Sikhism: The direct confrontations between armed young Sikhs and the Indian ‘Army became a daily feature of Punjabi countryside. Many teens Sikh is, full of energy saw their brothers in arms as defenders of the community. These armed bands of young men commonly referred in villages.as “Singhs” became a symbol of Sikh struggle for sovereignty. Realizing that situation was getting out of hand, Hindu government attacked the Harimandar Sahib to finish of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who was the only force to be reckon with in Punjab. By the early 1980s, Akali Dal had lost its following among the Sikhs. The Operation Blue Star became a Black Mark in the history of post Independent India. Thousands of innocent visitors to the Golden Temple, as it is commonly known, were killed. This event shook Sikhs to their roots. Along with thousands of innocent visitors, hundreds ‘of young defenders of the faith also dies in the fierce battle that took place around the complex that houses the Harmindar Saheb. This was planned and deliberate attempt to destroy everything that Sikhism stood for. Sikh Reference Library in Amritsar, that had collected old books and manuscripts was destroyed, with the burning of the library we lost many documents bearing signatures of the Gurus themselves. It became clear that Sikhism could not survive as a separate religion in India. Sikhs living outside of Punjab but within India became victims of Hindus when India’s Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by two young Sikhs. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh were outraged at the Golden Temple massacre and decided to punish the individual responsible for this blood bath.

1990s: Oppression and state terrorism by Hindu Government goes on unchecked, future of Sikhism in India remains in doubt.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 14, 1995