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The Sikh Bulletin m`Gr- poh 544 nwnkSwhI November-December 2012everybody sits in the chairs or stands in a row topartake Langer? Do we believe in Guru Granth Sahib orJathedars which are humans and are replaced afterevery few years? This is in fact against the OccupationHealth and Safety Act in Australia (OHSA). It isunhygienic, and any person working in a kitchen mustwear steel toe shoes, and Gurudwara authorities can becharged or fined if they do not comply with the Act.These floor sitters, even insist and deny the right of thesenior citizens, who have age related knee and hipproblems, to listen to Kirtan Deewans while sitting in achair or on the bench in the Gurudwara. This fanaticismand disparaging attitude towards those senior citizens,who are unable to sit on the floor is inhuman and un-Sikh. SGPC and Jathedars are antagonistic to social andcultural changes and remain frozen in time wherepropagation and acceptance of our religious philosophyby others is concerned. They are still in the dormantstate and there is a need to poke them out from theirdead end religious burrows, to come to life to see thatthe world has changed ever since they went intohibernation. I marvel at the attitude of these people, wehave progressed from horse back to cars and rockets,put man on the moon, created life in a Petri dish, splitthe Atom and can send a letter instantly around theworld, but we cannot change the century old viewsabout our culture and traditions they are holding on to.Human equality and segregationGurbani supports gender equality and we proudlyadvocate and announce at the interfaith conferences, “InSikhism women have all the equal rights with men”which no other religion has accorded to the women.What a hypocritical statement. Why then women arenot allowed to do Kirtan in Darbar Sahib?In most of the Gurudwaras in Australia, especiallythose controlled by the Amritdharis, a clean shavenSikh is not only not allowed to do Kirtan he cannoteven sit behind the Guru Granth Sahib or help in thepreparation or distribution of Langer. TheseGurudwaras will not perform the marriage of a Sikhboy to a non Sikh girl or a Sikh girl to a non Sikh boyeven if they are willing to embrace Sikhism because ofthe commandment of the Jathedars. Instead ofoutstretching their welcoming arms to whosoever wantsto embrace Sikhism, the stench and pungent smell oftheir hypocrisy, and caste system is repelling them. Ifthese traditions and rules are not modified soon, time isnot far away when the Sikhs who trim their beard willnot be allowed to enter Gurudwaras to pay theirhomage to Guru Granth Sahib. How far can we allowthem to poison the roots of his noble faith? Theyshouldn’t be allowed to cross the boundaries of theSikh faith as enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.Questions such as, why do you cut your hair, whydon’t you take Amrit, why do you put lipstick,powder etc, are still being openly asked and discussedin these GurudwarasQualification for a Sikh Preacher.If you don’t have any educational qualification andwant to start a business, set up a Dera and becomeSant Baba or Bhai Sahib, your business will beboomingEvery other organised religion in the world isregulated but Sikhism is not. Preachers of other faithssuch as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism etchave at least one if not more theology degrees in theirown religion and comparative studies and they areoften multi lingual. Every profession in the world isregulated and nobody can become Engineer, Doctor orTeacher without the necessary qualifications andproficiency in the profession and must adhere to theprofessional ethics and codes set by the profession.‘Sikh preacher” the profession of these Sadhs, is theonly profession in India that doesn’t require anyformal educational qualification or proficiency and isnot subject to any religious or ethical codes. Even aboy as young as 22 years can setup a Dera, becomeSant Ji and the gullible worship him like a semi God oreven as an incarnation of our Guru. You have seen itall here and it has to be stopped to Save Sikhi.Causes and CureGuru Granth Sahib used to belongs to humanity, butno more. SGPC and Jathedars have made it theirpersonal property; you cannot take it overseas withyou, to keep it in your home or in the Gurudwara. Youcannot take it in a Function Hall to perform a Sikhmarriage ceremony, only in the Gurudwaras controlledby the SINGHS. Most Hotels rooms all over the worldhave a copy of the Bible, Quran, even Gaeta and bookson Buddhism, in English, but nowhere to be seen a“Nit Name Gutka” in any Hotel room and theirargument in defense is worthy of dustbin only. We aremore concerned to pay respect to the paper on whichGurubani is written rather than what is written on it,forgetting that paper and the printed words are not theK. T. F. of N. A. Inc. 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762 28
The Sikh Bulletin m`Gr- poh 544 nwnkSwhI November-December 2012Guru, they are only a vehicle to realise God, to getsalvation, the Guru is what is contained in it; what oneimbibes by understanding the Shabad/ word.These days you can get the whole Guru Granth on a CDand the question then arises; since it is the same GuruBani do we give the same reverence to that CD---. Nowe don’t, and then why not, what is the difference?And if the CD gets scratched we throw it away in therubbish bin, it does contain the same Guru Bani. ThankGod these Jathedars are not aware of this technologyotherwise they will ban printing Guru Grant on CD’s.We cannot be true Sikhs and faithful to each other inisolation, as we are today and in the present castesystem these people have created. Sikhs will remainself serving and cocooned in their own world with littlevalue to others. Sikhism shouldn’t be opposed tosocial and cultural changes in a country we call ourhome. History is the witness that our Gurus did change,followed the culture and traditions of the region andcountry they travelled to propagate the Sikh philosophy.But we, in the name of manmade SRM feel indignantto part with them. We have become slave to ourtraditions, which explains why our youngsters do notattend Gurudwaras. We still walk with some age oldcustoms and traditions which have no spiritualsignificance or relevance in the modern age. To bindbody to the wheels of centuries old socio culturalmachinery is a form of slavery and Sikhism doesn’tcondone it.We are approaching spiritual doom as we havemisguided men guiding us. They are woodworms in theSikh Nation and are destroying the roots of the Sikhfaith from within by propagating misinformation aboutthe Sikh faith and have destroyed the lives of manyyoung girls, ruined many families financially and westand helpless unable to help the victims. Imagine if ithappens to one of you, would you remain silent? Weare spineless and the fact remains that at this moment inhistory and time Sikhism is ruled by these pseudo“Sadhs” and if we the silent majority did not speak upuntil it was too late, one day we will wake up to findthat these religious fanatics own us all, and the end ofthe Sikh faith will have begun. We don’t want to watchthis scenario unfolding in front of our eyes. Sooner weneutralize their influence on the masses and get rid ofthem, better it would be for the Sikhs and the Sikhreligion. Otherwise there won’t be any Sikh left to tellabout it. Sikhism will become a Dinosaur and posteritywill read in the history books that there used to be anoble faith called Sikhism which was annihilated bythe self appointed Sant Babas and their blindfollowers because they refused to accept the definitionof the Sikh and asked their government of the day, todefine it for them and the government declared thatthere was no religion such as Sikhism it was anoffshoot of Hinduism and these Sadhs/ Sant Babas areactually Hindu priests in the guise of Sikh priests andit slid back into Hinduism.There is nothing wrong with the Sikh Faith buteverything is wrong with the religion of these Sadhswhich has produced in them the false notion of theirspirituality and holiness. The real issue facing the SikhNation, if Sikh religion is to survive the onslaught ofthese people, is to do away with 21st Century Mahantsin the garb of Sant Babas and Dera Walas andneutralize their influence on the gullible. It is simply areminder for us that relative truth is constantly shiftingin the hands of those who desire to control us. Wehave to make ourselves free of religious hierarchicalcontrol of these pseudo preachers. We have to take upthe stand and we must, to deny their authority tomisinterpret Guru Bani and stop their regular visits,under the guise of religious preachers. There is a needfor us to shake off delusion that we are sheep; we areLions when it comes to save our faith.Greatest Sin of the SikhsI will end this presentation by quoting BertrandRussell’s views on Sikhism. Talking about the thirdWorld War, Russell said that “ if some lucky mensurvive the onslaught of the third world war of atomicand hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be theonly means of guiding them.” And when asked thatisn’t this religion capable of guiding mankind beforethe third world war, Russell said, “Yes, it has thecapability, but the Sikhs have not brought out in thebroad daylight the splendid doctrines of this religionwhich has come into existence for the benefit of theentire mankind. This is their greatest sin and the Sikhscannot be freed of it.”Bawa Singh Jagdev, JP, OAM, Australia*****A MAN OF GOD SANS RELIGIONDr. Bhai Harbans LalMany a dear friend has encouraged me in recent yearsto begin recording my memories and memoirs. Myresponse began with the series, Tales of Haripur, firstK. T. F. of N. A. Inc. 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762 29
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