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SIKHS CONTRIBUTION IN NATIONAL INTEGRATION AND COMMUNAL HARMONY
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lower strata of society : Kabir (weaver) Nam Dev (calico printer)
Dhanna (cultivator) Sadhna (butcher), Sain (barber), though Pipa was
a king and Tirlochan a Brahmin :
The sinner, whom no one offers refuge
If he seeks Thy protection, then immaculate becomes he. 2
ABOLITION OF UNTOUCHABILITY
From one clay has the Creator shaped innumerable forms :
Neither is the clay-vessel defective nor the Potter. 3
EQUAL STATUS FOR WOMEN
Guru says in Asa Di Var :
Within a woman, the man is conceived and from a woman he is born.
With a woman he is betrothed and married.
With a woman man contracts friendship and
With a woman the system of propagation keeps on going.
When one’s wife dies another lady is sought for.
It is through a woman that man restrains his passions.
Why call her bad, from whom are born the Kings 4
The Guru elevated their status in a society which treated them
as door-mats and raised them to the male’s level. Now according to
UN Charter also, their status has been brought at par with men. Our
Gurus had the foresight five centuries back. Almost half of the world’s
adult population is made up of women. Their equal status and
integration in the mainstream of life is not only economically, ethically,
religiously desirable but essential for societal peace.
INTEGRATION OF INDIA/GLOBE
The present chaotic state of the world on the basis of rich and
poor, high or low caste, religions, geography, political polarisation,
requires healing, soothing, integrating teachings of the Holy Granth.
Save by Thy grace, the world in flames;
Save it at whatever portal it may be saved. 5
Here is this integrating message from the Guru Granth :
All are called partners in Thy grace.
Thou art seen alien to none. 6
The Bhagats came from all over the country. The language of
the Granth is Hindi, Prakrit, Braj, Punjabi, Persian and Arabic. Here