DEAR EDITOR:
NEED OF UNITY IN SIKHS
Aprops WSN 8/28/87, Amarjit Singh Buttar has done well to trace back the history of “disunity” of Sikhs, but has stopped just short of advising means to avert the curse, I think one single factor responsible for this evil trend, almost right from its inception is the majority of “JatSikh” element, ‘who consciously or unconsciously does not tolerate to share the laurais of his dauntless sacrifices and glory with non Jats, His ambition and will to dominate by himself is sure to give rise to the same ugly hypocrisy that he is now trying to get rid of. We are not willing to confess that though our chivalry should be ranked par excellence and our sacrifices second to none, we have miserably railed to match the opponents in the game of politics and diplomacy — in fact we have been outwitted for the past four decades or more. But, still united we can withstand their crafty maneuvers. United alone we can stand and divided, as we are, doomed to perish. As a matter of fact, if we cannot learn this basic principle from the experience of the world, and under the ‘worst crisis of the Sikh history, we have no right to survive.
The least we can do is to give up the co called celebrated “sir names” which we so fondly adapt the end of our names sub easts, the legacy coming from our Hinds ancestral traditions, reminding us that we are but a third grade outcast “vaish” of the notorious Hindu cast system, which our Gurus condemned in no uncertain terms. This plea has been advanced by a number of modern Sikhs consumed with the upheaval perpetuated by the disunity amongst the Sikhs, but, alas, to no avail, so far.
A.S. Khalsa San Francisco, Ca.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 11, 1987
