Dear Editor
Recently our Federal Member of Parliament Gurbakhsh Singh Mali presented the Canadian National Flag the Maple Leaf to & Sikh Temple. It was an appreciable gesture of goodwill But it has ensued a controversy in the local Sikh community and leadership. It will be appropriate to consider the criteria for hoisting of a National Flag in a Sikh Temple in the light of contemporary practices Sikh Decorum and historical prospective.
I had the honor of visiting scores of Sikh Temples in the USA UK and Canada and most of the historical and premier Gurdwaras in India ranging from Amritsar to Patna Sahib and from Anandpur Sahib to Nanak Jheera in the South No place had a flag other than the Kaisery Nishan Sahib except however in Amritsar and some Gurdwaras in Canada.
Although Guru Hargobind Sahib (1563-1644) had envisaged that the temporal protection was as much necessary as the Celestial development of a religion he laid emphasis on the Spiritual superiority. In the Darbar Sahib Amritsar nearly halfway between the entrances to the Golden Temple (the seat of spiritual attainment) and Akal Takht (the emblem of temporal accomplishment) two flags are hoisted The one on the side of Akal Takht i.e. the temporal is a few inches lower to signify the spiritual supremacy.
And in the second instance I am sorry to add that Sikh Decorum was disregarded in some Gurdwaras in Canada. Not very long ago under extreme pressures some Gurughars hoisted the flag of Khalistan along with the Kaisery one. Some members of the Community (without any reflection on the movement for a Sikh Homeland) did express their resentment at the time but sadly enough the managements expressed their inability not to succumb to such unethical pressures. Had this practice been continued it would have established a precedent violating the Sikh decorum and given undue leeway to the vested political interests.
Whereas a National Flag in a Sikh Temple which is higher than or even parallel to the Kaisery Nishan will be considered humiliating for the Sikh Spiritual values its hoisting in a lower position will be construed offensive to the National Pride. The preservation of their separate entities and respectabilities would being the best interest of the Sikh Community and the Canadian Nation as a whole.
Pritpal S. Bindra Mississauga Ont. Canada
Article extracted from this publication >> January 21, 1994
