Jan-March 2006 - Institute of Sikh Studies

WORLD SIKH CONVENTION97cause.Dr Gulsher Singh from Malaysia was brief in his comments. Hestressed the importance of ‘Gurbani’ in all our organisational activities.He felt that the draft Constitution was too brief and we need toelaborate it with detailed bye-laws.Prof Charan Kamal Singh of the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle,Ludhiana, spoke as a representative of this prestigious organisation.He wholly supported the ISC and exhorted scholars to get involved inthis visionary project. He felt that we should re-think the inclusion ofelections in the ISC. His own organisation believed in selections ratherthan elections.Sardar Gurdev Singh, President IOSS now intervened to give hisviews on the issue of elections versus selections. He agreed that duringthe period of our Gurus selection of leraders was the order of the day,because of the prevailing situation and the compact and limited spreadof the Sikh population. With our global expansion, advance of scienceand technology, diversity of thought, advanced communications andincrease in literacy, selection by a few alone will not be an acceptedmode of appointing managers/leaders. We have to resort toparticipation by all in the selection process, i.e., elections. Here, youngProf Bibi Birendra Kaur suggested that we adopt a via media of electioncum-selection.She exhorted women to take more active part and alsofelt that the voters need to be bold and forthright in electing leaders.Well-known international lawyer Dr M S Rahi, who was closelyinvolved in the working of the world Sikh Council, felt that ourcommunity’s failures are mainly caused by lack of commitment, withoutwhich nothing can work. He offered to work for the ISC nationally aswell as internationally.At the end of the morning session, the Chairman Dr SukhmandirSingh gave an impassioned closing address. He did his Civil Engineeringdoctorate at Berkeley and is, at the moment, a visiting Professor atCambridge, besides heading a department at Santa Clara University inUSA. He is based in San Francisco and was the first Sikh GurdwaraPresident in his area. He stressed the need for an organisation tochannelise all our assets and tackle problem areas with a very asuteand mature dictat. He felt that existing Institutions do not seem capableof achieving these and other objectives. Leaders of many nations