We are always seeking answers to questions relating to maintainig our distinct sikh identity... questions like maintaing our hair and drinking and wearing caps etc etc. And why not? It is our right to seek answers to the questions in our mind and also we have the right to hear the right answers which unfortunately we seldom get from our patrons... Though the masterkey to unlocking the answers to these questions lies in taking out some of our time reading a authentic encyclopedia on Sikh history and our wonderful glorious past. And for that we need to make a sincere and patient effort ourselves... a sincere effort to understand history and incidents which lead to the creation of Sikh Faith... And only then only we would take pride in being known as Sikhs. And the reason that we are here at this forum indicates that we have alrady initiated our journey to seek answers. So best of luck to all of us.
Infact, it is simply not possible to answer these questions in a summarized form because for that we have to read the history of all our of the Gurus from first Nanak to tenth Nanak. Just for example, if we are simply told that Guru Gobind Singh Ji asked us to maintain this Identity then we would not be convinced until we know as to what incidents lead Guru Ji in asking us to maintain such a distinct Identity.
The following are some of the extracts from a discourse by Giani Sant Singh Maskin Ji compiled by Dr. Anokh Singh Ji (Tibbi SriGangaNagar) in a book called "Maskin Ji dae Lecture - Part Two". Hope we find it inspiring...
So, let us listen to what history says about maintaining our Identity... I have humbly tried to translate it into simple English for the sake of those who are unable to read/understand Punjabi... Kindly guide me where I have been wrong...
Quoted from Chapter "pulaavdee puli, pul pul pachotaani" Panna 1111 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji "Maskin Ji dae Lecture - Part Two" Page#45
Quote Page # 45
Translation :
The day ninth Sikh Guru got martyrdom, it is said that the body of the Guru laid there in wilderness till noon, nobody came forward to pick it up, everybody was afraid... Although there were many Sikhs in Delhi, none had the courage to pick the body and perform the last rites. The reason being that if anybody would pick it, his head also would go like the Guru... the Mughal soldiers went from door to door in Delhi to the houses of Sikhs and asked them to take the body of the their Guru... And you know what Sikhs said? They said we are no Sikhs... Janab!! You are knocking the wrong door... Bhai Santokh Singh ji says "Sikhs just refused to be identified as Guru’s Sikh because they knew that if they had said that they are Sikhs then there head too would go... "
Itt marag paer thijae || sirr dijae kann n kijae || Panna 1412 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
...End of the Translation...
Unquote
Quote Page # 46
Translation :
(Maskin Ji further explains the human psychology like this...)
A human does Good only where the equation is profitable and also wants to do Bad only where there is profit. And if there is no profit in doing bad then he would not do bad... But we should not think that he is simple because he did not do bad. He has seen that there is a loss in doing bad... So when a Doctor said that if you take intoxicants anymore then it is quite possible that you may get blood pressure or even a heart attack... But when the Guru was saying that taking intoxicants is bad he did not stop himself from drinking... But now a doctor has confirmed the same thing and he has stopped drinking... Now that he has stopped doing a bad thing because he knows that there is loss in the equation... So, we are only interested in own profit, whether we earn it doing good or bad, it does not matter... Its a matter of only profit... not about good or bad... Human mentality has been restricted to this fact only from day one... Self-Profit...
...End of the Translation...
Unquote
Quote : Page # 46
Translation :
So, the Sikhs of Delhi thought that this is not a profitable proposition if we said that we are Sikhs, the Mughal soldiers would martyr them like the Guru. Well... Now it was a matter of life and death... so nobody came forward to pick up the body... Though In the end Lakhi Shah-a gypsy showed courage and performed the last rites of the Gurus body enflaming his home...
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/essays-on-sikhism/178-identity-crisis-amongst-sikhs.html
On the other hand there was Rangretta, who picked up the Head of the Guru and brought it at AnandPur Sahib... (There are two Sees Gunj Gurudwars... One is at Delhi where the Guru was martyred and the where the Head of the Guru was cremated that place is in Anand Pur Sahib...). And as soon as Rangretta came with the Head of the Guru, at that time Guru Gobind Singh Ji was just nine or nine and half... Innocently asked "Rangretta, listen, when Guru Ji was being martyred, emotions would have ran high amongst the Sikhs of the Delhi... They would have agitated..." Listening to all this the face of Rangretta went pale... Guru Ji again asked "Why are you quite? At the time of martyrdom of the Guru, the people of Delhi would have been charged up..." Rangretta said, "At that moment the Sikh started saying that they are not Sikhs at all. Because if this has happened to the Guru, then our fate would be even worse... So the Sikh denied their identity and refused to be called Sikhs..."
It’s true that Humans are only seekers of happiness, comforts... Nobody wants to suffer for truth... Even if the Guru is in trouble, a Sikh would say never mind, you may suffer alone, we are not with you... So the Sikh are bold enough to write disclaimers (be-dhavaa) as well.
...End of the Translation...
Unquote
Quote : Page # 47
Translation :
Guru Teg Bahadur Ji has also hinted about this human phenomenon.
Sang sakha sab taj gayae, koyu na nibhiyo saaath ||
Kahu Nanak eh bipat mae take aek raghunaath || panna Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji 1429
Besides being God by my side, the people who were supposed to be friends and followers have easily relinquished the path of Truthness, because every human being is a seeker of happiness, and so when we are in trouble nobody would be with you... So when Guru is in trouble then most of the us would relinquish him...
...End of the Translation...
Unquote
COMMENTS.....>
After the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji and in the course of his battles with Mughals, Guru Gobind Singh Ji had realized that the Hindu people had become mentally so weak that they were unable to give a decisive blow to the tyrannous rule of the Mughals. The Brahmins, the dominating class in the Hindu religion, had made the people so much involved in rituals and superstitions that they could not even think of gathering a courage to raise a voice again the oppressors, just forget about even thinking of fighting a battle against them. They were hopelessly suffering from an inferiority complex and the reason being that they were subject to continous humiliation and atrocities being committed on them by their own people. The great psychologist, as the Guru was, determined to give a psychological treatment to such weak people and infuse in them the new spirit as to enable them to give a tough fight to their oppressors.
<.....COMMENTS
Quote : Page # 48
Translation :
So Rangretta is saying, Sikhs of Delhi even said that they are not Sikhs at all... At that moment the tenth Guru roared that I will make Sikh Faith such a Faith that the followers of this faith would be easily identified even if there was only a single Sikh amongst a gathering of one lakh people. The rest of the them, whether they were Jaines, the Buddhists, the Christians, the Hindus or the Muslims, could easily mingle with each other and hide in a crisis situation and could not be identified but the portrait of a Sikh would be such that he would not even need to tell anybody that he is a Nanak’s Sikh. His face would tell that he is a Sikh. And even if he himself says that he is not a Sikh even then others would say no way, the stamp of Sikhi is on your face. And now that if we erase this stamp, this Identity from our faces then what is the purpose of Sikhi, and what is the use of our such face...?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=178
The Guru said although it is correct that a Swan and a Crane look alike, but still a Swan can not hide in a group Cranes... Likewise a lion can not hide in a group of hare... A horse can not hide in a group of Donkeys... So these examples have been given by the Guru as to what should be the portrait a Sikh. It would be like a lion. It would be like a Swan. If we seek purity in a Sikh then it would like of a Swan and if we seek bravery in a Sikh then it would like a lion... The Guru said "I would make the Identity of a Sikh so wonderous that even if there is only a single Sikh in a gathering of One Lakh everyone would way oh yeah he is a Nanak’s Sikh...
...End of the Translation...
Unquote
... And so, it is only upto us to decide what we want our Idenity to be like...? Like a Swan, a Lion, Horse or like a Crane, a hare, a Donkey...?
Bhul Chuk Maaf
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Identity Crisis in Sikhs... 
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