Sikh Conference on Art & Literature

SAN FRANCISCO: A Sikh conference on Sikh Art and Literature was held in the Asian Museum of Art’s Golden Gate Park San Francisco California on Nov.28-29, 1992. This conference was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sikh Foundation in USA. It was jointly organized by the Sikh Foundation them Asian Art Museum and Center for South Asia Studies UC Berkeley. The Sikh art exhibit will continue till December 27, 1992.

On the first day the conference it was attended by more than 300 People. On the second day the crowd was actually much smaller (perhaps 100 people). Many Sikh and non-Sikh scholars and enthusiasts of Sikh art and literature came to attend the conference from India UK Canada and USA Some of them were well-known Sikh scholars such as Dr.Surinder Singh Kohli Dr.G.S.Mansukhani Dr.Preetam Singh (Queens Counsel the first non-white turbaned and bearded Sikh to receive this very high professional title) Dr.W.Owen Cole (UK) Susan Stronge (of Victoria and Albert Museum England) Prof. Bruce Pray (UC Berkeley) Dr. Nikky Gunninder Kaur Singh (UK) officials of the Asian Museum of Arts and many others.

Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany is the founder of Sikh Foundation in USA. (Kapany is also known as the father of fiber-optics.) On the first day of the conference he made a very impressive speech and showed many colorful slides relating to the Sikh history and art. Kapany mentioned that about90% members of the Ghadar Party in USA were Sikhs and they fought for the freedom of India long before Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru. Kapany happened to have two old Janam Sakhis in his art collection which were also on display and still are on display. He showed several slides showing the names of some prominent people who have made a significant contribution to Sikh arts history and literature.

Dr.Gursharan Sidhu (of Apple Computer) was also one of the speakers. He presented a good slide show. He showed some excellent Sikhs paintings. He sort of tried to compare Guru Nanak Guru Gobind Singh and Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He also made some unwelcome remarks about the battle records of Guru Gobind Singh Banda Singh Bahadur and Sikhs and used word fanatics for the Sikhs in a negative way. He was then questioned by Dr.Amarjit Singh. According to Dr.Amarjit Singh it was a blasphemy to compare Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Gunus as the latter was only a king. Seems like that Sidhu had read too much of Khushwant Singh The next morning Sidhu said that he did not mean any disrespect for the Sikh Gurus and he did not mean to compare the maharaja and the Sikhs Gurus. He apologized for any mistakes that he might have made.

Susan Stronge presented a fairly detailed paper on Sikh Art and heritage most of which is now in England. She also showed some excellent slides which also included the golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh which has not been seen before by most Sikhs In addition she talked about the jewelry and many other aspects of Sikh art. She also described the Kohinoor diamond the largest diamond in the world which is now part of the British throne. It was the property of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his family before it was acquired by the Great Britain.

Dr.Henry J Walker (Colby College) described a compared the Roman and Sikh architecture and highlighted some differences and similarities. Dr.Narinder Singh (Canadian Sikh Studies Institute) presented paper on the Sikh Architecture and showed some very interesting points about the Sikh architecture. The main focus of discussion was the architecture and design of the Golden Temple.

Dr.Gurinder Singh Mann (Columbia University) was also there and presented his paper. Before he could do that Dr Jasbir Singh Mann had already distributed a rebuttal to the motives of his thesis His paper was not well-received due to the controversial nature of his topic. However his calmness and professionalism under tremendous fire was quite commendable. He was interrupted by several Sikh scholars and dignitaries such as Dr.Ajit Pal Singh Sandhu Dr.Sukhminder Singh Sandhu Dr.Sunder Singh Saluja Dr.Jasbir Singh Mann and Dr.Preetam Singh Queens Counsel (UK) Mr.Mann was reminded that research on his topic is useless because the Sikhs already know the Truth.

S.Preetam Singh Queens Counsel reminded Mann that regardless of what the scholars find tomorrow the Sikh belief in Guru Granth Sahib is unshakable and firm. Mann was also told that anything outside Guru Granth Sahib is “kachi bani” and should be ignored and there is no need to further study the Goindwal Pothis (his research topic). With all fairness Mann did say without any reservation that the Adi Granth is The Authentic Sikh Scripture and there is absolutely no doubt or question about it and his research are not directed at questioning the authenticity of Guru Granth Sahib in any manner whatsoever. His said that his research is directed towards the history of the Goidwal Pothis and how they changed hands over the last several centuries.

Dr.Mansukhani (a very learned Sikh scholar) also brought up some good points about Guru Granth Sahib. He talked about different aspects of Sikhism and Guru Granth Sahib. Dr.Iqbal Singh (Rtd.Brigadier from the Indian army) presented a well-researched paper on the Dasam Granth.

Prof.S.S.Kohli presented paper on Guru Teg Bahadur the Poet. Kohli mentioned that Guru Teg Bahadur Dev Ji had written a very large volume of Bani before and after he was summoned to Delhi. His scribe was Bhai Sati Dasa a well-known scholar According to Kohli a lot of Gurus Bani was confiscated and destroyed by the Muslim rulers He said that the Baniof Guru Teg Bahadur Ji which is part of Guru Granth Sahib represents only a small fraction of Bani that the Guru had composed Dr.Nikky-Gunninder Kaur Singh was a marvelous speaker. She teaches at Colby College in London. She possesses a vast knowledge of the Sikh scriptures and Punjabi poetry. She presented a Paper on Bhai Vir Singh’s collection of poems “Mere Saian Jeo.” She mentioned that Bhai Vir Singh’s poetry is written in the back ground of Guru Granth Sahib.

Other speakers were Prof.Nirvikar Singh (UC Santa Cruz) grandson of Bhai Mohan Singh Vaid (a noted Punjabi/Sikh scholar and Ayurveda doctor). He mentioned that Nanak Singh Novelist and some other Sikh scholars were greatly influenced and inspired by Bhai Mohan Singh Vaids writings. Other scholars were Dr.Surjit Singh Dulai (on Prof.Puran Singh) Prof.Abdul Jabbar (on Khushwant Singhs short stories an ill-received topic by the audience not due to Jabbars fault but due to controversy over Khushwant Singhs horrendous statements about the Sikhs) Prof. Steven Poulos UC Berkeley Prof.Harbans Lal (of Univ of North Texas on The Western Gateway to the Study of Sikhism) and Prof.Mark Juergensmeyer University of Hawaii (on Sikhism in the Western World).

S-Inder Mohan Singh and Dr.A.S.Marwah (well-known Sikhs) were the panel chairs on Nov.28-29 respectively in the morning sessions. Dr.Ajit Pal Singh Sandhu chaired the lunch Session on the first day of the conference. Jasjit Kaur was the chair in the afternoon session on the second day of the conference.