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SIKHISM – PANACEA FOR ALL ILLS
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UNO in 1948 is a
happening of recent past. Sikh Gurus were pioneers of philosophy of
non-violence. At the same time they were not against use of force,
but only when all other means to achieve a noble goal fail. The idea
of non-violence as preached by Gandhi was not new. In practice,
however, it was a policy of timid people who wanted to serve their
nefarious ends, but could not face violent forces of falsehood and
tyrants. They were never sincere about what they preached. They
wanted to beguile the innocent illiterate people. Events which
happened in India in pre- and post-Partition period are testimony to
this. The problems of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, and North East
India are largely their creations and they are not sincere to solve them
judiciously. There are disturbances in almost all parts of world either
on account of racial or ethnic discrimination or because of class hatred.
There is no end in view, and such happenings continue to cause
tremendous loss of human lives and natural resources.
So far the teachings of gurbani, the practical solution of all the
ills, have remained largely confined to the boundaries of Punjab with
a small trickling to other parts of India and in some parts of UK, USA
and Canada. In this electronic era, the people of the entire globe have
come very close to one another, and the information technology has
facilitated the dissemination of knowledge to every nook and corner
of the world. It is the most appropriate time now to take advantage
of the electronic media to spread the message of Sikhism in every
part of the globe. Religious leaders of Sikh community, the SGPC
and Sikhs living abroad can and should play a major part in this respect.
SGPC
Persons well versed in at least two foreign languages should be
trained in gurmat in order to convey the message of Sikhism to the
people in other countries in their language. Learned scholars should
be engaged to write small books in foreign languages, faithfully
describing the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. These books should be
published in a beautiful getup. Their cost should be subsidized where
necessary. Efforts should also be made to publish small tracts for free
distribution abroad, as is done by the Christian community. More
funds be made available for Dharam Parchar which is more important