Just like getting hit with cancer, the beauty of being a “Casualty” in the “Bloodless Ghalooghara” is that, even after being seriously hit by one of its invisible but sophisticated bullets, one likes to stay in the “denial state” even when the truth is hitting one right in the face.
No matter how many. Denials, excuses, Claims or justifications a Sikh tries to hide behind, he or she cannot escape the plain and simple truth that.
“A Sikh, who abandoned the institution of the Sikh identity “the Hair” mandated not by some “Boota, Ganda or Ghooghhie” of Sikhism, but by the very esteemed 10th Master Guru Gobind Singh Ji himself, is on his or her way to the Exit from Sikhism, and his/her family is one of the dying branch of the Sikh tree.
Furthermore, no matter how much sugar coating is done, the act of abandonment of the identity of “Hair™ by the afflicted Sikh is the physical manifestation of the mortal wounds caused by the psychosis of Fear, Lack of faith in the Guru’s teachings, or both, Period.”
Sukhbir Singh’s leuer “Ghalooghara or Renaissance?” (WSN March 19, 1993) is such an attempt. Sukhbir has tried to sugar coat and glorify as “Renaissance” an otherwise act of generational death in the bloodless Ghalooghara. He has tried to glorify this “Sikh cancer” of abandonment of our identity by the so-called nonconforming American Sikhs (identified by Sukhbir as the American Kicheri) as an actor sort of revolt against the old “societal mores,” and an expression of their newfound freedom. From the emotions expressed in his letter, it seems that Sukhbir is trying to find justifications for a massive scale Hara-kiri by the American Kicheri, and advising everyone else to refrain from disturbing the comatose states, the Kicheri is in.
Unfortunately, the intent of my article the “bloodless Ghalooghara” was to disturb the comatose state of the Kicheri in the hope of waking it up in time, so that it could lick its wounds and recoup.
It is a message of hope, not a message of gloom and doom as Sukhbir alleges. It is a message of Chardi Kala indicating that despite our miserable performance SO far, we Sikhs still have the potential to achieve anything we want; we put our minds to it. The only aspect of this message which makes it different is that, it is not wishy washy.
It is just an honest, unwrapped, unsweetened, wake up call to my brothers and sisters
1) Who have been hit by the sugar coated, golden but invisible bullets of pretexts like “Renaissance,” “Sikhee in the heart,” “modernization” etc. thus getting them disoriented and reducing them from the tall and dynamic followers of the Sikh Gurus to become the Gandhian faced Kicheri in this “bloodless Ghalooghara™ setting.
2) Who are trying to bury their heads in the sand by closing their eyes to the unpleasant truth of “Heritage lost” when they look in the mirror.
3) Who in addition have created the dying branches of Sikh revolution in their families by surrounding themselves by bunch of Gandhian faced Bobs, Rogers, or Debbie’s and Amie’s.
Therefore Sukhbir, (I hope not, but) if you are one of my brothers of the type described above, then please do not blame me for calling, things as I see them.
Kirpal S. Nijher
“Hara Kiri ritual suicide practiced by the Japanese.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 9, 1993
