Sir,

in an article “mostly old material with many inaccuracies” (WSN Sept 22) commenting upon the misconceptions of Dr. Mcleod, Dr. GS Mansukhani wrote, “the Tight terminology is not available for explaining the important concepts of Sikhism” Gurumukhi has the right terminology but the people who tried to translate to interpret Punjabi terms in other languages did not have the extensive knowledge about the other language (English in this case) and vice versa. To further confuse the picture the rulers Muslims, English and now Hindus and writers of the area were biased and tried to corrupt or draw wrong interpretations from Gurbani and Sikh History in their efforts to dismiss the true Dharma.

 The Sikh Hindus said that Guru Nanak was their Guru and protrayed him with tilak (caste mark) when the Guru rejected the Hindu Juneau. On the other hand the Muslims took the Guru as theirs and portrayed him in Muslim topi. The English ignorant as they are about Sikhism identify Sikhism with Hinduism. The concept of God (Waheguru) in Sikh faith is unique and radically differs from all the established religions of the world.

The terminology in Sikh faith and its translation usually reflects the ignorance of these people. For example the word “amrit” as translated to baptism is wrong. The word baptism as used in the Catholic faith means that a child when born is sinful and to make him holy the holy water is used to make him pure. On the contrary no Sikh infant takes “amrit” and in Sikh philosophy an infant when born is sacred and not sinful. In Catholic religion there is a ceremony called “confirmation” that could be more or less equated to the term Amrit but again the concept is different. So the best solution is to use the word Amrit as it is and explain rather than translate the meaning. Simarlary the word Gurdwara is being translated as “temple” or “church” etc. The mere connotation of the word temple is statue worship, whereas in Sikhism statue worship is condemned. We must use the Gurdwara as it is and let others know that Gurdwara is Guru’s door and then relate its functions that are entirely different from any temple church or mosque.

To confuse matters further, the co-conspirators of Dr. Mcleod ata Sikh religion and history conference at the University of Toronto (Feb. 1987) were asking “if the translation of Guru Granth Sahib ji can be installed as a Guru, in a Gurdwara where people are mostly English speaking and do not understand Punjabi. The appropriate answer to this question at that time was given by Dr. Amrik Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar. The answer was “no”. Sikhs must watch while translating Gurbani or Punjabi words into other languages or interpreting these terms so that the Sikh philosophy is not distorted. There is already a great push by the Hindu Govt and its agents in Sikh garb to distort Sikh religion at its teachings. The example is the book “Golden Temple” by Patwant Singh, where he is explaining Sikhism as a mere synthesis of Hindu and Muslim thought. He does not know that this is the ORIGINAL THOUGHT by the Gurus and is unique in all respects.

Ajit Singh Sahota

 Nepean Ontario

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 13, 1989