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MCLEOD & FENECH AS SCHOLARS ON SIKHISM AND MARTYRDOM
79
Bhagat Singh or Udham Singh. He would certainly have been
acclaimed as a martyr from Indian viewpoint even if India had
continued as a British Colony for another fifty years !
Fenech thereafter narrates Sikh Ardas rejoicing martyrdoms, but
maliciously observers that these were “intended to magnify the heroism
of those who stoically died these deaths.” Fenech brings in “popular
art” and “bazar poster” as a means to depict 18th century Sikh martyrs,
especially Baba Dip Singh. He is aware of the work of S. Kirpal Singh
who drew various paintings, including that of Bhai Mani Singh, in
1950s, showing “Khalsa fearlessness, bravery, loyalty, and endurance.”
This was motivated by an oral tradition, which did influence Bhagat
Lakshman Singh’s work, The Sikh Martyrs, published as early as 1923.
He mentions numerous works since published to draw two conclusions.
One, “such interpretations have gained a much firmer foothold since
the events of 1984,” and, two, “an attempt albeit an unconscious one,
at charhdi kala, to uplift and inspire Sikhs and non-Sikhs in this current
time of crises” Both those conclusions to Fenech seem farfetched and
irrelevant. Similarly, his mention about “Sanatan Singh Sabha of
Lahore” seems inapt while his talk of “the descendants of the Gurus,”
enjoining Sikhs to view the Panth as simply “one among the many
panths which make up the Hindu mosaic”, to say the least is a highly
stupid interpretation imposed upon the author by the Indian intelligence
set-up. His talk of baptismal water (amrit) prepared by the doubleedged
sword (Khanda), at initiation ceremony (pahul), “believed to have
originated with the tenth Guru” is highly suspect and demeaning to
Fenech himself. The attempt to misinterpret is quite glaring.
V
As stated earlier, the first paragraph of chapter III, “Popular Sikh
Martyr Tradition: Theology and Personnel”, contradicts the opening
lines of Chapter I of the thesis.
The second para of chapter III starts with the author’s conducting
a series of interviews near Batala in 1980s before coming to the howler,
and one of the most stupid statements made in the thesis. “According
to the interviews, the struggles the Panth underwent and the
persecution to which its members were subjected since the seventeenth