To contend with heavy odds has always been the distinctive destiny of the Sikhs. Stronger and more oppressive the adversary, greater the Sikh determination to topple it. Mighty Mughals dreaded them and the Imperial British discreetly avoided risking their ire. But for their internal wrangles and quarrels, none can subdue them. Valiant in battlefield, they are most complacently careless in coping with shrewd political manipulations. No wonder they continue to be in wilderness even after forty years of Indian independence. With each passing day, they find themselves drifting deeper in the mire of slavery.

It can be more than academic exercise to examine the reasons for this sad state of affairs which, perhaps, may not be far to seek. These can be identified partly in the circumstantial compulsions of Sikhs living outside Punjab who are being used as hostages to defeat Sikh aspirations and partly in the clever exploitation of ambitious degenerates who are more than willing to barter away their conscience and honor for a few silver coins.

There is another category of Sikhs who are seduced through a flattering propaganda into believing that Sikh redemption lies in indistinguishably dissolving its identity in the so called national mainstream. This category consists of the self-styled rational and no communal persons who, in their idealistic enthusiasm for secular values, turn a blind eye to the realities of the situation and fail to detect the sinister design against their own religion.

Delhi rulers are aware of these divisions and have perfected the art of exploiting each one of them. Most Sikhs are conscious of the divide and rule game but surprisingly continue acting in a manner that only serves to further Delhi’s vicious plans. They know that Delhi is most allergic to the development of a credible Sikh leadership nucleus and would do anything to destroy it. Yet they would be in the forefront in undermining the prestige and credibility of a Sikh leader on the basis of motivated rumours spread by the government agents. Curiously only such leaders and organizations as are making materially important contribution are targeted to frustrate them into inaction.

Sikhs know that political objectives cannot be achieved without sufficient financial’ resources, yet they are easily beguiled into dissipating their resources on no priority projects. Dissensions and discords are created in the Gurdwaras to bog down the activists at the local level so as to make them ineffective or unavailable for broader and larger issues. Delhi is sending out teams of well-trained saboteurs who act as uncompromising diehards and try to bulldoze others into following their line of action. The purpose is to create reaction and scare away the common Sikhs from participating and contributing to the ongoing struggle.

Innocent Sikhs and Hindus are being killed to defame and alienate the Sikh freedom fighters. A stray incident of routine violence in Punjab is blown out of all proportion while gruesome acts of State terrorism are summarily dismissed and nothing is done beyond a passing reference in the press to punish those guilty of killing innocent Sikh youths at the Pakistan border or of beastly outrage against the simple folks of Brahmpura village.

 

Entire Sikh community is living a besieged life and its national pride is being systematically destroyed. They have been pushed to that point of the precipice where they must either rise above their personal or local issues or perish and\go down in history unsung and unwept. The choices theirs and the victory or the blame will also be exclusively theirs.

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 27, 1987