ON Sunday, August 16, at a special program sponsored by Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, the Sikh Community of Washington, D.C. area paid tributes to the late Sirdar Kapur Singh, a great leader, scholar and philosopher among Sikhs,
Sirdar Kapur Singh died on August 13, 1986; and was the only Person to be designated as the National Professor of Sikhism by S.GP.C. He had previously served as an Indian Civil Service officer.
The late Sirdar Kapur Singh had secured his Master’s degree in Moral Sciences from the Cambridge University, UK. And had a brilliant academic record, He was well versed in various classical languages including Pail, Urdu, Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. He wrote many books, chiefly among them are his autobiography, Sachi Sakhi, which is an authoritative commentary on the dynamics of Sikh politics, He was also a member of the Indian Parliament,
Dr. Gobind Singh Mausukhani ‘who has himself written 15 books on Sikhism and is a former chairman of the University Grants Commission of India, was the chief ‘guest at the function:
Dr. Mausukhani hailed Sirdar Kapur Singh as one of the best Sikh theologians of his time in the same category of Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Vir Singh!
Dr. Mausukhani further stated that inspire of his western education and exposure, Sirdar Kapur Singh never sacrificed Sikh principles and throughout his life was conscious of doing something for the Sikhs. He added that as a politician and high ranking officer, S. Kapur Singh was not afraid to live by principles of truth. His political actions were always proof of his courage and fearlessness could never be won over through economic or political influence. ‘An example of that, he said, was Sirdar Kapur Singh’s speech on September 6, 1965 in the Indian Parliament on the Punjab Re Organization Bill in which he called the bill a “Rotten Egg” and further added, “it is conceived in sin and delivered by an incompetent and untrained midwife, and it is opposed to the best interests of the Indian nation.
Dr. Mansukhani declared Sirdar Kapur Singh as an intellectual giant among the Sikhs, who devoted 30 years of his life to the development of Sikh studies on an academic and intellectual level. He further added that Sirdar Kapur Singh was an exponent of the Sikh ‘Way of life and shaped the political thinking of the Sikhs. He stood against the discrimination directed towards Punjab and particularly towards the Sikhs. Dr. Mansukhani stated that Kapur Singh’s greatest contribution to the Sikhs was the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, Although people have misunderstood and misinterpreted his resolution, the original is so perfectly worded that even the government of India has not been able to refute or find fault with a single line.
Dr. Mansukhani stressed that young Sikh men should read the writings of Sirdar Kapur Singh to find inspiration, He concluded by saying that the only appropriate way to honor a personality of the calibre of S. Kapur Singh is not to mourn his death, but to resolve to live by his example.
In conclusion, Dr. Mansukhani appreciated the efforts of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation for organizing this function in memory of Sirdar Kapur Singh and he added that more Sikh organization should hold such functions to Greater awareness among the Sikhs.
He further quoted Sirdar Kapur about the contributions of this Singh as saying “A member of the noble personality who dedicated Khalsa is a sovereign citizen by his his entre life in service of the Sikh birth right and subjugation and panth,
Sardar Rajwant Singh, Assistant Secretary of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation said that with S, Kapur Singh’s death, Sikhs in general, Sikh youth in particular, have lost a great leader and model and their best spokesman, He added that it was only S. Kapur Singh who brought clarity in the political thinking of the Sikh nation and through his writings he presented a very clear cut direction for the Sikh leadership,
He further stated that S. Kapur ‘Singh throughout his life exhorted the Sikhs not to succumb to minor personal gains when the destiny of the Panth is at stake, and never to deviate from the path of righteousness and always to remain firm on truth, S. Rajwant Singh further stated that S. Kapur Singh often vehemently criticized the Sikh leadership which was ready to sell the interests of the panth for some petty ambassadorship or other petty personal favors, He reminded the congregation that the criticism of the ignorant or the threats of the half-baked politicians had no effect on Sirdar Sahib for he had contemplated on Guru’s word and was temperamentally so shaped as not to fear even an army of hooligans or spiritual charlatans, even when single handed.
He quoted Sirdar Kapur Singh as saying, “Why must the Sikhs be such simpletons as to recommend for themselves renunciation of political power, against all cannon of common sense, against all lessons of history, against the historical experience of the Sikh community, against the traditions by their ancestors and against the teachings of the Guru”.
He further quoted Sirdar Kapur Singh as saying “A member of the Khalsa isa sovereign citizen by his birth right and subjugation and slavery is antagonistic to his status as a member of the Order of the Khalsa.
Sardar Rajwant Singh said that Sirdar Kapur Singh always had a special message for the Young Khalsa or “Bhujangi Khalsa, the cosmic oiled representative power of the Rider of the Blue Horse” as he used to address them. An example of that, he said was Sirdar Kapur Singh’s speech on Aug. 23, 1968, addressing the annual meeting of the All India Sikh Students Federation in which he asked them “to join together, without fear, to transfer themselves into what the Rider of the Blue Horse intended them to be. “The sword in the hand of God, and a fit instrument of the Divine Will”.
Secondly, the young Khalsa must organize itself with an aim of emancipating of the Sikh masses from the slavery of spiritual charlatans, called the Sants and the Sikh panth from the ruinous leadership of incompetent thugs and uneducated hooligans, called the Jathedars.
Thirdly, they must come forward to take up and hold aloft the abandoned flag of Guru Gobind ‘Singh under which the Khalsa must secure for itself a just and rightful place for the Sikh people.
- Rajwant Singh further added that Sirdar Kapur Singh always stressed on the education and general knowledge of the Sikhs in general and Sikh youth in particular, He quoted Kapur Singh as saying: “It was for this reason, Guru Gobind Singh had called upon the Sikhs to master the ancient Sanskrit language so that the Sikhs might truly inherit the cultural heritage of their ancestors.
It was for this reason that he called ‘upon the Sikhs to learn the Persian and Arabic languages s0 as to remain in touch with the cultural trends and diplomatic arts of Central Asia which determined the fate of India during those days. For precisely these reasons I exhort the Sikh young men not to make the mistake of thinking that their religion or their destiny is tied up with the Punjabi language. It is for this reason that I ask you to uphold the cause of English in the cultural and administrative life of India, for which there is a particular and additional reason also. Sikhism is not a religion meant for a particular country, age or people. It is a universal religion, Lastly, I exhort that in so far as the Sikh educational institutions are concerned, in India or abroad, the study of Persian and Arabic should invariably be encouraged there, s0 as to keep the Sikh religious temper not only in touch with Islam as it inspinged upon it historically but also with the latest cultural thought of Semitic Muslim Asia”.
At the end of ceremony, Dr. Surjit Kaur, Secretary of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, thanked the Sadh Sangat for attending the function. She further stated that efforts will be made by the foundation to publish the works of Bhai Sahib Sirdar Kapur Singh to disseminate it throughout the Sikh community in America and to keep alive the memory of this great son of Punjab.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 25, 1987
