There is nothing that history can teach Sikhs. It is a nation that stubbornly refuses to learn from it’s Past. On the blunders and betrayals that Sikh leaders committed during the crucial negotiations with the British in 1946-47, late S. Kapur Singh ICS indignantly but justifiably called them “Stupid Sikhs.” History had offered them an opportune moment to extract a Just political settlement from out of the British as was admirably done by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, but that propitious moment was irretrievably lost by them partly out of their infantile bungling and partly ‘Out of this narrow selfish considerations. The stupidity of the then Sikh leaders has become the proverbial albatross that the Sikh nation has been carrying around its neck ever since they were seduced into aligning with India. Sikh destiny was offered on a platter to the crafty and communal Brahmin rulers who have a long tradition of “mocking the meat that they feed upon.” Consequently the cursed albatross continues to hang and takes its toll with ruthless regularity.
- Harminder Singh Sandhu is its latest victim. It is a murder most foul and if S. Kapur Singh had been alive today, he would have in a choking and heart-rending, voice exclaimed, “Whither you insane Sikhs, pause and ponder for even God must have grown weary of your stupidity.” The cold blooded murder of Harminder Singh is not just the loss of a brilliant young leader who in every way qualified to be commissioned as Guru Gobind Singh’s true and perfect soldier, but it is symptomatic of the pathological condition that seems to have seriously infected and damaged the vital organs of the Sikh nation. From the deceitful murders of Kanwar Naunibal Singh and Maharaja Sher Singh down to the killing of Harminder Singh the count is so large and consisted as to make one involuntarily exclaim, “Oh, the reason has fled to the forests, and (Sikhs) have become: beasts.”
The murder of S. Jagdev Singh Khudian followed by an attempt on the life of S. Simranjit Singh Mann unmistakably point to the villainy and debasement to which certain Sikh elements are completely sold out to forces that are determined to wipe out the Sikh identity.
Today, there is no Sikh organization or group, whether in India or abroad which can claim to be absolutely free from the plague of planted agents; some depraved Sikhs have bartered away their souls in return for a handful of silver. Blinded by greed or jealousy, they remorselessly stab in the back valiant heroes like Sodhi, Brahma Harminder and Labh Singh. More Sikh freedom fighters have fallen victims to betrayals than have embraced martyrdom while fighting the enemy. The unprecedented sacrifices of the Sikh youth are being neutralized by the infiltrators who pose as the sole champions of the Sikh cause. To make the Sikh struggle proceed successfully towards its cherished objective of freedom, it is imperative to identify and eliminate the infiltration.
This task is by no means easy. The financial compulsions of the ‘Sikh organizations make them both accessible and vulnerable. The well trained infiltrators operate with comparative ease and confidence. Large funds are put at their disposal by the enemy and they use this money to win their way into the inner circles of the militants. More often than not they succeed in becoming the “trusted confidants of the top freedom fighters, they then, use their privileged positions to wreck the movement from within and also provide sensitive information to their masters. They specialize in creating suspicions and rivalries among the leaders and their followers. They are particularly detailed to puncture the credibility of the Sikh leaders through fabricated stories.
These infiltrators have been doing their job so well that the enemy is no more afraid of guns and automatic rifles. Like the circus Ting master he makes the “Stupid Sikhs” use these weapons to destroy one another. What is feared most by the enemy is the emergence of a credible leadership. It was the charismatic personality and commitment of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale that transformed an ailing Akali agitation into a veritable Sikh national movement, and it was exclusively due to him that the Dharam Yudh Morach was fully poised to grow into a massive popular upsurge. In utter panic the enemy resorted to the Operation Bluestar to destroy the very fountainhead of the Sikh revolution.
The breath taking developments in East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania have further demonstrated that people’s power is far more effective than even the most sophisticated guns. The mobilization of the people depends on the personality and credibility of the leadership. The enemy therefore is determined not to let history repeat itself and would do anything to stop the emergence of a leader who might again mobilize the Sikh masses, who might become the nucleus and steer the struggle to victory. History tells us that no political movement has succeeded or can hope to succeed without a credible nucleus.
- Harminder Singh had all the attributes that are necessary to make one an effective nucleus. With his unambiguous stand on Khalistan and by forging unity in the splintered ranks of the Sikh Students Federation, he was fast moving to the center stage. After his release from long internment he was able to accomplish within a short span what others had failed to achieve in years. It was his growing stature and popularity that made him the prime target and the enemy, as usual, used a stupid Sikh to snuff out the most promising light. His murder at this critical juncture is a national catastrophe and to me it is a gnawing personal loss and sorrow too deep for tears.
The best tribute that freedom loving Sikhs can offer to the dear departed soul is to re-dedicate themselves to the dream they shared with him ‘and also to pledge that they will not be swayed by the motivated rumors spread by the enemy to create doubts about the sincerity of their leaders and comrades. Human ears have a weakness for spicy stories and this weakness makes people dangerously credulous. To satiate their compulsive craving for scandal, people swallow anything and everything without ever raising an eyebrow. No questions are asked, no substantiation is sought and no antecedents are verified. Sikhs need to be extra careful. Instead of becoming a party to a conspiracy of character assassination, they should begin by suspecting the rumor monger himself and go into his motives. This approach will go a long way in discouraging the agents and may help in saving quite a few precious lives.
The militants must also realize that internecine violence will not lead them anywhere, what the nation can hope to achieve when each Sikh with a gun believes he to be the ultimate arbiters of the Sikh destiny and routinely shoots down those who adopt a different strategy. If Amnesty International or some Human Rights or parliamentary delegations were to conduct an in-depth investigation in the Punjab today they might, in all probability conclude that the Sikhs have no longer any quarrel with Delhi, It will also be not surprising if historians were to record “stupidity, thy name is Sikh”. It is a scenario most distressing and disturbing. Will someone tell me where to go to redeem it?
Prof Manjit Singh Sidhu Former Editor WSN
Las Vegas, CA
Article extracted from this publication >> February 2, 1990
