(By: Prof.J.T.0’Connell)
Note: Prof. O’Connell did not give a title to his article. This title seems to be appropriate, ‘especially in the light of his own Statement in the beginning of the article, Editor)
As I was the associate supervisor of the thesis in question, my perspective should be quite relevant. That will also help to balance what has been till now heavily one sided coverage of this matter.
According to a Press Note over the signature of G.S. Tohra, President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), dated Noy.24,1992, the Dharam Pracar Committee of the SGPC (or the SGPC itself) decided that “the Sikh Sangat the world over and the Gurdwaras should boycott and not extend ay cooperation, whatsoever, to S. Pashaura Singh.” Moreover, in the same note he was accused of “blasphemy” and implicitly, it would seem, of “subversive attack on the Sikh Gurus and Gurmat.” There have been further developments in the same vein according to recent newspaper reports.
This action by the Committee, which Seems to be based on woeful misunderstanding of the aims of contemporary scholarship in religion, is grossly unfair to Dr.Pashaura Singh. It is not for one of the most promising young Sikh Scholars to be treated so harshly, Moreover, there are no grounds for viewing scholars of Sikh religion (such as ourselves at Toronto) )) as hostile to Sikh Gurus and Gurmat.
Pashaura Singh, combines the ‘strong piety of the Sikh, the traditional learning of the granthi, and the scholarship of the modern university professor, Attacking him individually for doing scholarly research along the lines that we in the University of Toronto observing standards generally observed in the academic study of religion require of him and other doctoral students is unfair and misdirected.
Pashaura Singh is poised to make a decade’s long contribution to knowledge of Sikh religion in universities in North America and beyond. One would hope that Sikh leaders and ordinary Sikh men and women would commend him for his courage and dedication to Sikh Scholarship, even if some aspects of his thesis might occasion scholarly debate. Young Sikh men and women growing up outside India today especially need young Sikh scholars like Pashaura Singh who can present the Sikh heritage to them in modem terms which they can understand and appreciate.
Pashaura Singh, like any scholar, may Or may not err in construing particular historical evidence, It in error— or on arguably weak ground he should be so informed and advised to make corrections, if the evidence calls for it. But to denounce his efforts outright and abuse personally, as some critics have done, is mean spirited and shortsighted.
A network of vocal critics whipped up an unnecessary and potentially divisive public agitation, They moved quickly to influence Sikh public opinion through denunciatory letters and” ‘reviews” in community newspapers and periodicals, They then sought legitimacy for their campaign by involving the prestige of the SGPC, not an altogether surprising tactic for a pressure group in such a situation.
The reputation of the SGPC as competent to address sensitive matters of religion and scholarship with fairness and discernment could be adversely affected, if a dedicated young scholar were to be victimized by SGPC procedures, The credibility of the SGPC as speaking for Sikhs as a whole especially those of a younger generation living outside India could be compromised, if it is perceived to be serving the interests of one or another pressure group.
Accordingly, I have written to Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the SGPC, urging him to see that hostile action Pashaura Singh is stopped before it gets further out of hand. At the very last, the SGPC should rescind any judgments and withdraw any penal tics against Pashaura Singh until he has published his revised findings. By that time a more discerning and credible way of addressing such research may be available.
I have also proposed to the President of the SGPC that if the SGPC is prepared to explore the more substantial issues raised by Pashaura Singh’s thesis both strictly academic issues and issues of the relationship of modem scholarship to religious faith and practice of Sikhs it consider the following. Instead of addressing its concerns to that one young scholar individually, the SGPC should address the academic institution (of which I am a member) responsible for training him, the center for the Study of Religion in the University of Toronto.
The kind of research that Pashaura Singh has done is not something peculiar to him (nor peculiar to his thesis supervisor), It is what we in this university (and, I think, most universities around the world) would expect of any student in the area of textual scholarship on sacred documents, whether Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish or of other religious tradition. Scholars of religion do such research with no hostile intentions. We consider it no way disrespectful (what to speak of being blasphemous) to inquire into the history and meaning of sacred tests as far as historical and textual evidence allows. One could argue, indeed, that the better one understands a sacred text and its historical context the better a man or woman of faith might hope to live in response to its message.
It should be seen as a sign of respect that a student, Sikh or none— Sikh, does research to learn ever more accurately what in fact the Gurus did and said and meant. Neither the Sikh Gurus nor the Guru Granth Sahib is end angered by such research, It is only in ad equate stereotypes outdated and insufficiently supported ways of thinking about Gurus and Granth that are brought into question and may have to be set aside in favor of more adequate knowledge of the facts and more perceptive ways of interpreting the facts, [again refer to the Press Note of Nov.24, 1992. It mentions the recommendation of a” Standing Committee of Gurmat Scholars with a view to monitoring and taking timely preventive action to avoid in the future any subversive attack on the Sikh Gurus and Gurmat. Just what the committee may intend by this is not clear. But the Statement as it stands is rather ominous, the last thing that those of us striving to build up Sikh studies in Canadian and American universities are trying to do is launch “subversive attacks on the Sikh Gurus and Gurmat. Surely there is a better way of communicating between Sikh spokesman and professional scholars than by imagining nonexistent “attacks” and threatening “timely preventive action.” Editor Motet his is an edited version of Prof. J.T.O” Connell’s article that appeared in the Toronto Sikh News & Views, May 1993.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 25, 1993
