05-31-2007, 01:40 AM
Oped in Pioneer, 30 May 2007. Gives one prespective. Not complete picture.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Believers and heretics
Sikhs have no patience for pretenders and charlatans, says Anuradha Dutt
<b>The violent clashes between the Sikh establishment and adherents of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect intimate the constant friction between religious cults, centred upon individual gurus, and the Sikh faith in Punjab.</b> It is not the first time that such a conflict has occurred; nor is it likely to be the last in view of the <b>growing attraction of heresies for a large number of Sikhs, resulting in the mushrooming of deras, led by various gurus, throughout the State as well as other places, with a large Sikh populace.</b>
The quest for miracle-workers accounts for the flourishing gurudoms in present-day India. <b>Punjab, the land of the Khalsa, has also been swept by this phenomenon, with the heads of deras being worshipped as divine avatars and the like by their followers.</b> But, whereas, Hinduism, as a syncretic religion, accommodates such impulses, they are contrary to the <b>basic tenets of Sikhism</b>.
Briefly, these are, <b>one,</b> belief in a line of 10 gurus, beginning with Guru Nanak and ending with Guru Gobind Singh. After the latter, the Guru Granth Sahib was required to be revered as the Guru. <b>Two,</b> worship of deities is forbidden since the Sikh faith rejects the priest-dominated cosmos of gods, their ritual worship and costly expiations. And, <b>three</b>, caste has no place in the egalitarian Sikh worldview that holds entire humanity equal in its aspiration for god.
Over the centuries, the purity of the beliefs has remained unsullied but many of their adherents have shown an inclination to stray from the path. <b>The iniquities of caste and appeal of mystical systems that lie in the realm of heresies have infiltrated the Sikh ethos. The deras, with egalitarian pretensions and headed by charismatic figures, who are credited by their flock with supernormal powers, draw lakhs of seekers.</b> But they are blamed by the custodians of the faith for misleading people. The highly revered Baba Murad Shah in Nakodar is Sufi.
<b>Though much is being made of the perceived conflict of interests between the Jat-controlled Sikh establishment and the largely Dalit-patronised Sacha Sauda sect and similar deras, the reason for such friction is more complex. These cults claim to ascribe to the fundamental Sikh tenets. Yet, by focussing upon individual gurus outside the original line, they are clearly heretic.</b> They want to have their cake and eat it too. A few examples may be cited.
<b>The Nirankari cult,</b> widespread in Punjab in the last century, <b>is blamed for triggering the rise of the Sikh hardliners in reaction</b>. Militancy and the fight for Khalistan in the 1980s was a direct fallout of the violent feud between the two camps, with India's enemies fuelling the conflict for their own ends. The sect was founded by Baba Dayal Singh in the 19th century, and perpetuated by others after him. <b>In 1975, the Akal Takht, the highest Sikh authority, excommunicated the Nirankaris.</b>
Similarly, <b>a massive dera, spread over 100 acres in Bhaniara, and headed by a 'godman' called Piara Singh, was at the centre of a storm in late 2001 after incidents of copies of the Guru Granth Sahib being burnt were blamed on him.</b> The sacrilege roused ire especially because in April that year, Piara Singh had authored a religious text, Bhavsagar Samundar Amar Bani Granth, which he placed upon the altar beside the Guru Granth Sahib.
Piara Singh directed his followers to worship this book as they did the original. His book was burnt, leading to an angry reprisal, with the sacred Sikh text also being burnt by his disciples. The fact that he claimed to be a divine avatar was equally unacceptable for the purists. <b>In 1998, the Akal Takht had excommunicated him. In 2001, he was again excommunicated after the new jathedar failed to induce him to explain his position.</b>
<b>In the present instance, the Sacha Sauda dera head Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh stands accused of trying to impersonate Guru Gobind Singh as much as playing politics. He apparently directed his followers to support the Congress in the Assembly election, a decision that has proved counter-productive, with the Akali hardliners, now in power, said to be wreaking vengeance upon the dera. </b>
Indeed, some of the deras are charged with currying political favour and playing politics. Congress stalwart Buta Singh, for instance, is credited with helping Baba Piara Singh to expand his domain. Other important Sikh politicians also frequent popular babas by turns. The proposed ban on deras may, therefore, be just a fleeting reaction.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is something of a strong undercurrent for change in Sikhism. Now that the Islamic political force threat is no more the fissures are coming to the fore.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Believers and heretics
Sikhs have no patience for pretenders and charlatans, says Anuradha Dutt
<b>The violent clashes between the Sikh establishment and adherents of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect intimate the constant friction between religious cults, centred upon individual gurus, and the Sikh faith in Punjab.</b> It is not the first time that such a conflict has occurred; nor is it likely to be the last in view of the <b>growing attraction of heresies for a large number of Sikhs, resulting in the mushrooming of deras, led by various gurus, throughout the State as well as other places, with a large Sikh populace.</b>
The quest for miracle-workers accounts for the flourishing gurudoms in present-day India. <b>Punjab, the land of the Khalsa, has also been swept by this phenomenon, with the heads of deras being worshipped as divine avatars and the like by their followers.</b> But, whereas, Hinduism, as a syncretic religion, accommodates such impulses, they are contrary to the <b>basic tenets of Sikhism</b>.
Briefly, these are, <b>one,</b> belief in a line of 10 gurus, beginning with Guru Nanak and ending with Guru Gobind Singh. After the latter, the Guru Granth Sahib was required to be revered as the Guru. <b>Two,</b> worship of deities is forbidden since the Sikh faith rejects the priest-dominated cosmos of gods, their ritual worship and costly expiations. And, <b>three</b>, caste has no place in the egalitarian Sikh worldview that holds entire humanity equal in its aspiration for god.
Over the centuries, the purity of the beliefs has remained unsullied but many of their adherents have shown an inclination to stray from the path. <b>The iniquities of caste and appeal of mystical systems that lie in the realm of heresies have infiltrated the Sikh ethos. The deras, with egalitarian pretensions and headed by charismatic figures, who are credited by their flock with supernormal powers, draw lakhs of seekers.</b> But they are blamed by the custodians of the faith for misleading people. The highly revered Baba Murad Shah in Nakodar is Sufi.
<b>Though much is being made of the perceived conflict of interests between the Jat-controlled Sikh establishment and the largely Dalit-patronised Sacha Sauda sect and similar deras, the reason for such friction is more complex. These cults claim to ascribe to the fundamental Sikh tenets. Yet, by focussing upon individual gurus outside the original line, they are clearly heretic.</b> They want to have their cake and eat it too. A few examples may be cited.
<b>The Nirankari cult,</b> widespread in Punjab in the last century, <b>is blamed for triggering the rise of the Sikh hardliners in reaction</b>. Militancy and the fight for Khalistan in the 1980s was a direct fallout of the violent feud between the two camps, with India's enemies fuelling the conflict for their own ends. The sect was founded by Baba Dayal Singh in the 19th century, and perpetuated by others after him. <b>In 1975, the Akal Takht, the highest Sikh authority, excommunicated the Nirankaris.</b>
Similarly, <b>a massive dera, spread over 100 acres in Bhaniara, and headed by a 'godman' called Piara Singh, was at the centre of a storm in late 2001 after incidents of copies of the Guru Granth Sahib being burnt were blamed on him.</b> The sacrilege roused ire especially because in April that year, Piara Singh had authored a religious text, Bhavsagar Samundar Amar Bani Granth, which he placed upon the altar beside the Guru Granth Sahib.
Piara Singh directed his followers to worship this book as they did the original. His book was burnt, leading to an angry reprisal, with the sacred Sikh text also being burnt by his disciples. The fact that he claimed to be a divine avatar was equally unacceptable for the purists. <b>In 1998, the Akal Takht had excommunicated him. In 2001, he was again excommunicated after the new jathedar failed to induce him to explain his position.</b>
<b>In the present instance, the Sacha Sauda dera head Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh stands accused of trying to impersonate Guru Gobind Singh as much as playing politics. He apparently directed his followers to support the Congress in the Assembly election, a decision that has proved counter-productive, with the Akali hardliners, now in power, said to be wreaking vengeance upon the dera. </b>
Indeed, some of the deras are charged with currying political favour and playing politics. Congress stalwart Buta Singh, for instance, is credited with helping Baba Piara Singh to expand his domain. Other important Sikh politicians also frequent popular babas by turns. The proposed ban on deras may, therefore, be just a fleeting reaction.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is something of a strong undercurrent for change in Sikhism. Now that the Islamic political force threat is no more the fissures are coming to the fore.