Jan-March 2006 - Institute of Sikh Studies

26ABSTRACTS OF SIKH STUDIES : JAN-MARCH 2006 / 537-38 NSarticles in Khalsa Samachar (These were later published in the form ofa book, Prachin Biran Bare, Lahore, 1947) to show how baseless wereG B Singh’s observations about Kartarpuri Bir in their entirety. Hetook note of the rough language used by G B Singh. He mentionsthat some of the acquaintances of G B Singh told him that G B Singhwas not a Sikh, but an agnostic. According to his own admission, hehad taken baptism thrice, but thrice had become an apostate, and nowhad no intention to take baptism a fourth time. Prof Sahib Singh’swork Aad Bir Bare (Amritsar, 1970 /1990) too makes critical referencesto G B Singh, especially his lack of faith in Sikhism or Sikh Gurus.His agnosticism which caused him to caste aspersions on Sikh Gurusand Gurbani scriptures was the precise reason for his wild allegations.This brings us to another agnostic who started writing on Sikhismin 1960s. This agnostic who started as a Christian Padri from a smallcountry, New Zealand, has had powerful connections, firstly, withWhites working at Baring Union Christian College, Batala, Punjab,and secondly, with ultra Hindu lobby which not only had developed apowerful bias against the Sikhs and Sikhism, but also had the supportof powerful Government of India and its intelligence setup, includingRAW, the external intelligence agency.W H Mcleod has written profusely on the Sikhs with malice. Bythe time he wrote on Guru Nanak for his Ph D in 1960s, according tohis own admission in his autobiography, he had become an agnostic.That showed that he had lost faith in Christianity, Christ and the Bible.These had earlier played a powerful role in framing his mind. Onemay take that at face value. It is surprising that one who loses faith inhis own religion / faith, should claim to understand, much less interpret,another faith or a powerful character like that of Guru Nanak. It wasnot surprising that whenever he sought to apply his mind to Sikhscriptures, his character as a doubting Thomas must have come to thefore, and made him a skeptic and a cynic.Now, we may bring in here the couplet in Rag Ramkali insertedby Guru Arjun Dev in Kartarpur Bir. Some of the handwritten versionsavailable elsewhere spuriously sought to project the whole of hymn,spelling out puberty rites of Guru Hargobind. W H McLeod had earlierwritten that he believed in the version of Kartarpur Bir as spelled outby Bhai Jodh Singh. Bhai Jodh Singh wrote that this couplet stood