By Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon

Often it has been said, especially after the Operation Bluestar of June 1984 or the Indian army’s brutal assault on Sri Takht Sahib and 39 other gurdwaras (houses of God; Sekhon, A. S. 1989. The Sword 5: 1011), that the Sikhs living in Canada have brought their problems to their chosen land of residence. Many a time, the author has thought about this question is it true regarding those Sikhs who have been living in Canada for more than SO years or who are Canadian by birth? The present Minister of External Affairs of Canada has gone to such an extent to advise at least seven first ministers and Canadian legislatures that they should refrain from attending functions organized by various Canadian Sikh organizations (The Edmonton Journal, 11th April,

1988). Therefore, one must critically examine the entire issue of Canadian Sikhs in particular and the question of the Sikh nation as a whole before these questions are answered.

A historical analysis reveals that the Sikhs are peace loving, law abiding, hardworking, God fearing and patriotic people who have always been present on the front line to stand against persecutions, injustice, unfairness, inequality to all regardless of creed, culture, face, religion, sex, etc. Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, was the first to condemn injustice with regard to the status of women in Punjab during the Mughal period of Babar. Guru Amar Das strengthened the institution of the free kitchen (the Langar) where followers of any faith may sit together and eat. Even Mughal Emperor Akbar sat like an ordinary person and enjoyed his food in the langar before receiving an audience with the Guru. The fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, accepted the challenge not to submit to persecution and sacrificed his life ‘without uttering a word against the ruler of the time. When the so-called high class bigots of the Indian society, the Kashmiri Pandits, were being forcibly converted to Islam during Emperor Aurang zeb’s time, it was no one else but the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadar, who sacrificed his life to protect their sign of the forehead (the Tilak) and the sacred thread (the Janeau), The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, fought against the injustice of the Mughal ruler and spent his life attempting to unite the dis united Hindu rulers

(To be continued)

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 17, 1989