Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin

God” to forgive or accept prayers/ardas on behalf of His erstwhile believer It must reflect a very small
god.
Chapter VI Article VII (d) reads:
“Only a Sikh may read out from the Guru Granth Sahib for others. However, even a non- Sikh
may read from it for himself/herself.”
Can someone explain this, please If ‘Only a Sikh may read out from the Guru Granth…’ how does
‘…even a non-Sikh… read from it himself/herself…’
Clearly many of the injunctions were made because the Sikhs of old were still following the practices and
rituals of other religions, especially Hinduism, and it was deemed necessary to wean them away from
such practices. Today many of these appear absolutely absurd and should be expunged from the RM,
whilst others are simply common sense that including them in the Code is laughable.
For the English language version of the Reht Maryada, the language used needs polishing. The translators
of the RM should request the services of those with a sound understanding of the use of the English
language.
If one looks at the current Reht Maryada objectively and dispassionately, it will be abundantly clear that it
needs reviewing and updating and should not be a cause for dispute. But such is our nature as a
Community and our lack of unity, compounded by the current “leadership’s” lack of credibility and their
steadfast refusal to allow common sense and reason to prevail, that the Panth is in for a long haul. A start
has to be made and it is already underway: the Sikh Diaspora will have to lead.
References:
[1] The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Vol. III. Ed. Harbans Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala, 1997. P 426.
The wordings of the English language version of the Reht Maryada, and the reference to Chapters and
Articles have been taken from the SGPC’s website and/or from the Sikhnet website.
Dr Sarjeet Singh Sidhu, MBBS, FRCOG, FICS, LLB (Hons), Malaysia, 25 March 2005
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EDITORIAL
GURDWARAS
[Editorial from June-July 2005 Sikh Bulletin]
Upon receiving the May issue of The Sikh Bulletin a friend called from clear across the country to
express his dismay at the closure of Sikh Center and Gurdwara Sahib Roseville and made the comment
that this is the first time he had heard of a Gurdwara closing down; normally they multiply. Yes, normally
they do multiply; Sacramento area has seven. Before the year was out one Gurdwara that was started to
shut us down split into two. With us out, Roseville still has two Gurdwaras paying $13,300.00 in monthly
rent (we paid no rent because the use of 7,900 square ft building was donated rent free and the donations
were being used to invite those speakers, hold discussions, publish books and this Bulletin, sort of things
that will not be allowed in other Gurdwaras) and doing precisely that to spread the message of Gurbani
that every other Gurdwara is doing, which is nothing. When asked if he knew of a single Gurdwara that
preaches what is actually written in SGGS, after a momentary reflection his answer was no, not to his
knowledge, including one Gurdwara where he was President for one year. That explained to him what
was very clear to us i.e. any Gurdwara that tries to implement reform will self destruct.
At Gurdwara Sahib Roseville we were the first to implement SGPC approved but Jathedars Ranjit Singh
and Puran Singh disapproved Nanakshahi calendar. Jathedars do not have that kind of power or right, so
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