Fundamentalism and the Sikh Religious Tradition by T.N. Madan

which in the Hindu systems were considered pariahs. He never punished anyone with
death sentence, not even those who had made murderous attempts on his life.
In the same century Shivaji and Mahrattas made a strict revival of Hindu
ideology including the Caste system. As is the Hindu tradition, he kept Brahmin Peshwas
as his Ministers. A Hindu King in his administration has to see that all social and civil
rights and practices, are strictly in accord with the Caste rules." Accordingly, the
appearance of the Scheduled castes like Mahars and Mangs on the streets of Pune, was
banned before 9 A.M. and after 3 P.M., because their long shadows
defiled the higher castes, especially Brahmins." Shivaji's circular letter enjoined on all
members of the society not to make any innovations in Caste practices, but to follow the
traditional path prescribed by the Shastras.
Another significant achievement of the Sikh Revolution is reflected in the
sacrifices the Sikh community made in the struggle for Indian freedom. Among the 121
hanged, 2646 imprisoned for life, and 1300 killed at the Jallianwala Bagh, 93, 2147 and
799, respectively, were Sikhs. Further, in modern India, a major encroachment on Indian
freedom, was made by enforcement of Emergency in 1975 by Indira Gandhi. Whereas no
organised protest was made by any section of the Indian community anywhere in India, it
was the Sikhs who conducted a morcha (an agitation) from the precincts of the Golden
Temple, involving imprisonment of over 40,000 volunteers. This is what Vijayalakshmi
Pandit, Jawahar Lal's sister and former Indian Ambassador to U.S.A., stated:
"Punjab which had always been in the forefront of resistance to oppression kept
its colour flying during the EMERGENCY also. It was in Punjab and Punjab alone, that a
large scale resistance was organised against it. The worst thing that happened during the
emergency was that a
brave nation was frightened into submission, and no body spoke, except in hushed tones.
In Dehra Dun, where I was, I hung my head in shame, and wondered if this was the
Bharat for-which we, the freedom fighteres, had suffered. Even those, not actually in
prison, were no less in jail. Only in Punjab the Akalis organised a morcha against this.
Punjab's lead in such matters should continue."
All this is to emphasize that making sacrifices for the love of freedom or
confrontation with injustice in the socio-political field, is a fundamental objective in the
Sikh ideology, and for that matter, in any whole-life religion. It would, thus, be a
misslatement to call it Fundamentalism. The struggle of the Sikhs for their own rights
since 1947 or during the Emergency for the suppression of human rights in the country as
a whole, has, thus, been a part of their sanctioned ideology, which is far from being in
any sense fundamentalist or anachronist.
III. INDIAN SECULARISM
Indian Secularism has nothing to do with what is known as Secularism in the
West. Let us see the realities and its history. The Indian problem is the problem of the
Hindu society. The undisputed scriptures of the Hindus, the Vedas and the Upanishads,
give sanction to the Caste ideology. The great Bhagwad Gita, which embodies the
philosophy and guide of most Hindus, clearly sanctions castes (varnas) as the creation of
the Lord, and prescribes rigid immobility of caste divisions. The religious goal in
Hinduism is personal moksha. The Hindu system, except for the Caste norms and duties,
prescribes no social duties or general morality. Maitra, as stated already, finds that all
Hindu ethics is super-moral. The distinguished framer of the Indian Constitution,