Sat Sri Akal. I am more accustomed as a Muslim to the greeting of Asalam Alaikum. However, the greeting used in my family in Luc know was Adab Arz, a nondenominational, supra communal greeting which could be used without regard to people’s religion.
You have been so far greeted by the representatives of various governmental agencies and ethnic organizations. I represent no organization, group or community. I, therefore, bring you my personal greetings, which are Just as warm and sincere on the happy occasion of Vaisakhi.
The Sikh community is one of the oldest from South Asia in Canada, almost a century old. In Alberta Sikhs have lived as long as Alberta has been a province, they could be called one of the founding communities. Among all the people from South Asia, the Sikhs stand out not only in their very distinct looks but as extremely hard working and indeed very enterprising.
Alberta and Canada are immigrant societies. Their attraction is so great that if possible %4 of the world’s population would like to come and live here. This can only be so because the Canadian social, political and economic systems have the ability to remove the impediments that afflict immigrants in societies of their origin and enable them to become full participants in the Canadian system. I would therefore, not want the Canadian system to become like a system that so many of us have tried hard to leave because Canada has a unique system; Canada represents a unique opportunity for the newcomers to realize their potentialities and rise to the top of their abilities.
On the other hand, it has to be accepted that immigrants may migrate physically, they do not forget their past or erase memories of societies that they were born in. The Sikhs are not the only ones who are keenly interested in extraterritorial affairs, affairs beyond Can a and sometimes beyond Canada’s reach, because every group and community has tried to use its’ Canadian resources to influence affairs in the old country.
As Canadians the Sikhs, like any other community have the right to demand that their governments represent them and reflect their views and aspirations. So long as these demands and aspirations are expressed in the context of Canadian laws they are very legitimate and proper.
Canada enjoys a very strong and favorable standing in the world community. I have seen the respect that has been shown to Canada during my travels from Peru to Indonesia and from Morocco to Uzbekistan. Canada has taken, usually a strong stand and usually on the side of human rights, whether they be denied in South Africa or Cambodia, Afghanistan or Angola. Often Canadian stands have fallen short of the expectations of some Canadians. In that case I will say to the disappointed to redouble your efforts. After all Canada is a democracy, the channels for communication are open.
To the government of Canada, I will say that our representations in World bodies and with foreign governments will carry greater weight if Canada were seen
“Your future is even more promising than your past, glorious as it has been for the unique opportunities that Canada makes available to you.”
as a champion of human rights regardless of where they are violated and however mighty be the government that violates them.
The freedom of speech is not possible without tolerance, tolerance of that we do not agree with and do not like. Sikh community has every reason to celebrate this Vaisakhi as a glorious expression of the Sikh cultural heritage. The Sikhs are an integral part of the cultural
fabric of Alberta and Canada, They have contributed in every area of endeavor and made Alberta a better place for all of us to live and share the blessings of life. I would say to the Sikh youth that regardless of the vocation or profession you pursue you must remember the values and qualities that made your ancestors and your community so glorious. The best tribute that you can pay to
“Since different people have different vantage points their perspectives differ, which does not mean that one is telling the truth or the other is falsifying it.”
A your ancestors your elders and family, your community is by incorporating and personalizing the Sikh values of valour, charity, equality, community service. Your future is even more promising than your past, glorious as it has been for the unique opportunities that Canada makes available to you.
I think I have sermonized too long. It is a bad habit in which old professors like me are prone to fall.
Let me now turn to some subjects which I as a professor teach and in which you as Sikhs are deeply interested. And that is the eplitics in India as it relates to the Sikh community.
Every speaker has vantage point and what he says reflects his perspective. Since different people have different vantage points their perspectives differ, which does not mean that one is telling the truth or the other is falsifying it. In politics it is sometimes difficult to establish what the truth is. So let me introduce what my vantage point is and for that let me introduce myself to you.
I am a Muslim though not a ritualist. My ancestors went to India from Central Asia, not as soldiers but as mystics,. thought that was several centuries ago. My religion is contained in a Persian Couplet. ‘Translated, it means; don’t hurt anybody and do whatever else you like, because in my religion there is no sin other than this.
Tam also a secular, liberal, humanist a professional political scientist and a Canadian citizen.
My view of civilization can be best summed up in Voltaire’s famous words: “Sir, I don’t agree with you, but I will defend with my life your right to disagree with me,” Le., fundamental to civilized life is the freedom of speech. And freedom of speech is not possible without tolerance, tolerance of that we do not agree with and do not like.
The great ideals of tolerance, accommodation and secularism were incorporated in the constitution of India which was drafted by a committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and included Nehru. Somehow, somewhere, that great ideal has been lost sight of and there is a problem in India. The Sikh community, and lam not the one to say whether a few or many or all in the Sikh community, is unhappy with the way political developments have taken place in India, especially since 1956. It cannot be denied that there is a lot of unhappiness among the Sikhs with the way things are in India.
To understand the Sikh unhappiness and the current political crisis we need to look at the Sikh view of politics and the place of that politics in an Indian polity which proclaims secularism as its guiding principle. lam not a Sikh and not a scholar of religion so my perspective is that of an outsider and I apologies if my words do not convey the viewpoint of a believer.
Sikhism, like Islam focuses on the unity of God who is almighty, eternal, formless and indivisible. Again, like Islam Sikhism has no human representation of God and does not acknowledge the dichotomy of the spiritual and the temporal. To Sikhs God is spiritually present in the
“Sikhs believe that there can be no justice without political power and equally, justice must be the foundation for any political rule,”
holy scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib and God is temporally present in the collective body of the Sikh people the Panth or Khalsa. The Guru Granth Sahib is sovereign and not the state. This is the doctrine of Miri Pin.
The Sikhs believe that there can be no justice without political power and equally, justice must be the foundation for any political rule.
The Sikh culture has been centered on the Punjab. The Punjabi culture was broken up with the partition of the Punjab in 1947. Again in 1951, the declaration of Hindi as age of the Indian Punjab was a set back. This led to an against for the establishment of a Punjabi speaking province and it was only in 1966 that the new state of Punjab was created.
Under the British the notion of martial races had played a major role in army recruitment with the Sikhs along with other Punjabis and Pathans enjoying a privileged position. This was changed by the 1974 regulations which assigned quotas to the various states on the basis of the recruit able male population. The effect of these regulations was a drop in Sikh recruitment with a direct economic apes on many, Sikh families.
“The centralizing policies emanating from New Delhi have, instead of soothing the Sikh fears, further exacerbated therm.”
“The Sikhs are very small minority in a very large India, much smaller than Muslims even after the exclusion of half of India’s Muslim population resulting from the establishment of Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is the feeling of being overwhelmed by a very large Hindu population and the fear of losing their identity that has sparked the Sikh concerns and led to their politics of the preservation of the distinct Sikh identity and culture. The centralizing policies emanating from New Delhi have, instead of soothing the Sikh fears, further exacerbated them.
The central government’s policies have added to Sikh fears and exasperations. It was the context of these developments that the Anandpur Sahib resolutions were enunciated which included (a) the recasting of India’s constitution to call for greater state autonomy, (b) the transference to Punjab of Chandigarh and certain Punjabi speaking territories lying outside Punjab and (c) the adoption of an industrialization policy for the Punjab. No one should have been surprised with the Akali Dal’s endorsement of these demands when it returned to power in Punjab in 1978.
The lack of any serious consideration of these issues, and any movement to deal with them made it inevitable that conflict should arise if legitimate demands especially over irrigation power and financial autonomy were neglected. The purely secular demands of the Akali Dal leaders were never seriously discussed by New Delhi sar
“The centralizing policies emanating from New Delhi have, instead of sooting the Sikh fea further exacerbated them,”
by the mass of rural people for whom. Sant jarnail Singh Bhindranwale spoke.
June 4, 1984 may perhaps go down as a monumental turning point in Hindu-Sikh relations for it was on this day that the Indian Army mounted Operation Blue Star and stormed the Golden Temple. The entry of the Indian Army in the Golden Temple may ultimately have decided, perhaps irrevocably, whether or not the Sikhs would continue to consider themselves as Indians. The attack on the Golden Temple and other shrines decisively communalized the conflict.
June 1984 has set in motion a chain of events that may eventually determine the fate of the Sikhs and perhaps of the Indian Union. The Blue Star it may be argued, exploded on October 31, 1984 in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards which in turn resulted in the anti Sikh carnage in which between two and three thousand Sikhs were butchered. More than 50,000 Sikhs fled their homes across North India to the safe refuge of Punjab. And the carnage continues in the random killings of Hindus and Sikhs in Punjab and elsewhere.
Officially the accused Sikhs have been labeled as “terrorists” and as “terrorists” they need to be hunted down or surrender themselves. What the label of “terrorism” does is to entirely criminalize the struggle, removing it from the political arena. In the political arena you have to negotiate with your enemy because as political adversary he has to be persuaded and convinced; whereas a terrorist as a criminal need only to be prosecuted and convicted. You don’t have to make any concessions to a criminal and a convict.
Where will all this lead to? The fate of nations is decided by a complex of domestic and international factors. The protagonists on each side believe in the justice of their cause and the eventual victory of justice over oppression. There are examples of people who have struggled valiantly for their cause and paid heavy penalties in life, limb, and liberty, but freedom has eluded them see the Kurds, the Palestinians the Biafrans, the Eriterians, etc. But then there are those who have fought against very heavy odds and somehow have been able to wrench their freedom from the jaws of oppression: see the Afghans the Vietnamese and most of all the Bangladeshish.
As a foreign scholar of the politics of South Asia, though not as one totally unconcerned with the peoples of the Indian subcontinent, I wish and hope fora solution that both sides can live with. As a Canadian I can offer a typically Canadian solution a solution to a similar conflict in Canada, I refer to May 20, 1980.
Prof. Qureshi was born in Bareilly, U.P. in India, did his B.A and M.A. from Agra University, and obtained his LLB degree from the University of Lucknow, After completing his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, he came to Canada nearly 28 years ago. Former Associate Dean & Acting Dean from 1982 to 1985, Dr. Qureshi specializes in South Asian and Middle East politics and Islamic Studies.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 12, 1989
