Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

Appendix A
Misinterpretations
The militarization of the Sikh movement is an historical fact
which cannot be ignored and has got to be explained. Failing to
understand that the militarization of the Sikh movement was an organic
growth of the Sikh thesis, some historians have invented hypotheses,
although it involves some repetition, is necessary; because the process
of elimination shows that the militarization of the movement was a
logical development of the Sikh view of religion.
Some writers believe that the militarization of the Sikh
movement by Guru Hargobind was a departure from the teachings of
Guru Nanak and his four immediate successors. This misunderstanding
arises out of two premises. One, that the first five Gurus were opposed
to the use of force even for a just cause, and second, that the Sikh
religion is not concerned with the solution of social and political
problems thrown up by life. We have already dealt with both of these
issues.
Another view, mentioned casually by a few writers, is that Guru
Hargobind militarized the Sikhs for the personal consideration of taking
revenge for his father’s death. This view, in a way, begs the question. It
ignores or misses the fact that Guru Arjan deliberately chose the path
of martyrdom. He warned his Sikhs not to pay the fine on his behalf,
and told saint Mian Mir that he was suffering the torture to set an
example so that religion could be defended by the ‘open profession
thereof’. If he did not do it, ‘God would deem him to be the enemy of