Message from Akal Takht Jathedar to Sikhs to get armed is multidimensional

 

Message from Akal Takht Jathedar to Sikhs to get armed is multidimensional

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

 

More than the message from Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to the Sikhs to arm themselves, it is the timing that is significant.

The message seems to be in continuity with his call to the Sikhs to strengthen Shiromani Akali Dal followed by taking up the issue of release of Sikh prisoners in jail in militancy related cases.

It is for the first time that this more than a century old Shiromani Akali Dal has landed itself in such a deep abyss. The people dumped not only this party but also its top leadership  in the electoral dustbin in the last Assembly election.

Shiromani Akali Dal is not just a political party but an institution of the Sikhs after the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, in that order. This party was set up to articulate the Sikh concerns in 1920 by the SGPC leadership created at Akal Takht.

The message from the Akal Takht acting chief has evoked expectedly strong reaction in the political domain questioning the intent.

The message has been delivered on the day when Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Guru, put into practice the concept of synergy of religion and politics. Sikhism is not just a religion but religio-political body corporate. Guru Hargobind created the Akal Takht as symbol of state power and Sikh sovereignty. In the modern times, this unique characteristic of this institution calls for redefinition. That, however, is not the issue here.

The basic issue under discussion is the message from the Jathedar to the Sikhs at large to arm themselves with  licensed weapons.

He talked of the demand of the situation as the logic for his message. However, what he talked about the situation was in vague terms. It is a different matter that an ordinary Sikh can’t afford a modern weapon and it is for the government to issue license.

He should explain the roots of his apprehensions.

Socio-political tension has been on the rise and the target of majoritarian nationalism are the Muslims. The design has been to rewrite history of slavery. This discourse is being witnessed ever since the BJP grabbed power at the centre. However, Shiromani Akali Dal was in political alliance with the BJP from 1996 to 2000.

It is pertinent to refer to the context of Akal Takht as symbol of state power. There was no need to set up another place of worship just in front of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple). The first message from this Takht by the Guru to the Sikhs was to bring horses and weapons.

The Ardas (Prayer) at Akal Takht is performed with unsheathed sword with the beating of Nagara (war drum). Weapons are displayed at Akal Takht and shown to the devotees ceremonially every evening. The regular installation of Guru Granth Sahib at Akal Takht is a much later development. The relationship of weapons to Sikh religio-political dynamics is intrinsic. One has to read Guru Gobind Singh.

The message from Akal Takht Jathedar to Sikhs is in in consonance with this dynamics.

Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who at one level symbolised commitment to the cause used to call upon the Sikhs to get themselves armed. He himself carried a 3-feet alloy arrow and a modern 9 mm Mauser. His memorial is next to Akal Takht in this holiest place of the Sikhs.

However, the issues involved in the message from Giani Harpreet Singh need to be discussed and debated.

Both the highest institutions of the Sikhs – Akal Takht and the SGPC- have not only been diluted but also damaged over the years. This process got accentuated after the Shiromani Akali Dal, the third institution,  started distancing from the Panthic domain in 1996. No need to blame any individual leader as even the will to resist this shift was not discernible.

The role of these institutions in 2015 relating to the cases of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari was the worst manifestation of this degeneration. This includes the exoneration of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim by Akal Takht and defended by the SGPC that had to be reversed under pressure from the Sikh anger.

The degeneration in these three institutions is manifestation of sad state of affairs and must be reversed.

At the time when tension is rising in the country, these institutions must not only be strengthened but also insulated from the vested political interests.

When the credibility of an institution comes under question as happened in 2015 and subsequently, the call or message from that institution loses importance.

The credibility of these institutions must first be restored first.

Akali Phoola Singh was not a priest. He was the chief of Akal Takht at one time.

Context and content can change in accordance with the space and time but not the basic characteristics.

Akal Takht is all the more relevant at the time when the Sikhs have been globalised.

The sovereignty of Akal Takht was not limited by any boundary even at the time of its creation. Its sovereignty is global and the message from its head must conform to this dimension.

Moreover, the Jathedar should not be from the cadre of priests (Granthis). The Jathedar has to be a Jathedar.

And it would not be out of place to mention here that the RSS people worship modern weapons at Dussehra.