The Sikh Bulletin

The Sikh Bulletin &`gx 535 February 2004
the blood of Sikh masses through a system of bribery and
corruption. As then and now they employ threats of
excommunication to terrorize Sikhs who dare to question
their hypocrisy and out right dishonesty.
The succession of these so-called Jathedars or high priests
since 1984 brought nothing 5ut henchmen of the leader of the
Akali Dal Party. A slight mistake by these puppets in catering
to the wishes of the political boss gets them packing and
banished. The present Mukh Granthi at Akal Takht, Joginder
Singh Vedanti, has topped the list in his willingness to
become the tool in the hands of various interest groups to
terrorize their opponents by summoning to Akal Takht and
declaring them guilty of unknown religious offenses while
honoring others who show blatant disregard to panth
approved rahit maryada. The Sikh Bulletin declared him a
Trojan horse at the time of his appointment as Mukh Granthi
at Akal Takht. His tenure has been marred by scandals
caused by his excessive greed, partisanship, and hypocrisy.
Such actions can only be attributed to a person of low moral
character and not from the one holding an esteemed religious
position.
Recent excommunication of a pious Sikh writer of at least a
dozen books on gurmat, Gurbax Singh Kala afgana of British
Columbia Canada, is the most condemned decision of his
tenure. He was declared guilty for his opinions calling Guru
Granth and Guru Panth as supreme and rejecting the spurious
books so called " Dasam Granth, and Gurbilas Patshahi 6"
which are championed by the priests and fake sant babas as
true renderings of Sikh principles and ethical values.
Once again to serve his political masters he has summoned
Sardar Joginder Singh, chief editor of a popular magazine
'Spokesman'. He is accused of criticism of the decision of the
Jathedar to excommunicate Sardar Kala Afgana. This issue of
the Sikh bulletin has numerous articles and letters from Sikhs
from all over the world protesting and condemning this latest
outrage of this unscrupulous granthi.
Anti gurmat traditions carried over from the Mahant period
are considered supreme and cannot be violated. Thus Sikh
women are denied right to perform kirtan and seva at Darbar
Sahib in transgression of specific injunctions of Guru Granth
Sahib ji. Professing reverence to spurious books and
installing them equal to Guru Granth Sahib at two of the five
Sikh religious Takhts is wrong. To this date Jathedar of Akal
Takht or the president ofSGPC, two premier institutions of
the Sikhs, have not uttered a word of protest. Further none of
the leaders of the many Akali Dal parties have protested to
the Takhts concerned or sent any letter of complaint to the
Akal Takht. Forgive me for calling it Sikhi by Hypocrisy.
Gurpal Singh Khaira
*****
ON FUNDAMENTALISTS AND FANATICS
At least since the Islamic Mullahs overthrew the Shah of
Iran, and even more so during the past year, there has been a
rising crescendo of the talking heads on television telling us
of the dangers of religious fundamentalism. They warn us
and alarm us: the rising tide of fundamentalism poses a
danger to human survival and to civilized society, as we
know it. Religious fundamentalists all over the globe are
fighting to carve new boundaries and new nations, and they
stand ready to destroy anyone who blocks their way. The
religious fundamentalists, it is alleged, are the least tolerant
of any people.
But the media pundits talk primarily of Islamic
fundamentalism and its intolerance. They rarely mention
Christian fundamentalists, who are also intolerant of all
other religions, and even of Christians who do not believe in
their particular brand of Christianity. This differential and
deferential treatment often stems from the fact that many of
the pundits identify personally with the Christian
fundamentalists. In addition, the Christian fundamentalists
seem to operate primarily in countries with nominally
secular governments and thus can do only limited harm to
government and society as a whole.
History tells us that this, of course, was not always the
case, and even now such obsessively single-minded
believers are not entirely harmless. The television pundits
rightly condemn the second-class place of women in
orthodox Muslim society and the precarious existence
therein of all non-Muslims, as well as the lack of free
discussion and debate in such closed orthodoxies.
What these pundits forget is that the Inquisition
stemmed from dogmatic Christians. Lynching of Blacks was
often done in the name of Christianity, and that was not so
long ago. I remember Cardinal Spellman painting the sign
of the cross on the helmets of young American soldiers on
their way to Vietnam. Even today the debate over a
woman’s right to abortion usually gets obscured in religious
doctrine and dogma. Keep in mind that even in these days of
enlightenment President Bush uses American financial
might to impose his religious beliefs on poorer nations when
he vetoes any funding for programs that might provide
education or technology for birth control.
My purpose here is to cast a jaundiced eye on the
whole concept of fundamentalism. To me the examples of
Islamic and Christian intransigence that I have cited are not
really examples of religious fundamentalism at all but of
fanatic intolerance.
Literally, fundamentalism means to be in touch with
the basics, the fundamentals — in this case, of a religion. I
think such fundamentalism should be the minimum
expected from anyone who professes a religion, be it Islam,
Christianity, Sikhism or any one of the wide varieties of
religious experience. I am an anatomist so, one hopes, I
know the fundamentals of anatomy. If I am a Sikh, I should
be similarly comfortable with the fundamentals of my faith.
The Sikh Center Roseville, 201 Berkeley Ave, Roseville, CA. 95678 2