The Rise of Sikhism in Pakistan

http://www.newtosikhi.com/profiles/b...-of-sikhism-in

Some of the Sindhi Sehajdharis who joined the Khalsa Panth recently would meet the Jathedar of Akal Takht in Amritsar to seek guidance for maintaining “maryada” in gurdwaras in Pakistan.

Amritsar - While the Sikh leadership in India, especially in Punjab, is worried over rising trend of ‘patitpuna’ (apostate), a large number of [Sindhi Sehajdharis] in Pakistan, have joined the Sikh fold by getting themselves baptised.

[At least 25 per cent ‘Sehajdhari Sikhs’ from the Sindh province have entered the Khalsa Panth, by taking Amrit, in the recent past.]

It sounds unbelievable that persons who introduced themselves as Jawahar Singh, Vijay Singh and Parkash Singh with blowing beards were Jawahar Lal, Vijay Kumar and Om Parkash, respectively, only few months ago. As compared to the Hindus, the Sikhs are considered more safe in Pakistan. Many Pakistani Hindus, who had come to India, in the past had never returned to their country, due to their continuous persecution.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/general-discussion/36794-the-rise-of-sikhism-in-pakistan.html
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794

Talking to The Tribune, Mr Vijay Singh said there were more than 15 lakh Hindus in Sindh province itself, who were devout Sehajdhari Sikhs. He said most of the Sindhis could easily read Sri Guru Granth Sahib in ‘Gurmukhi’ script without any problem. Mr Darshan Singh (previous name Prof Darshan Singh Ji Khalsa) said the ‘Gurmukhi’ was being taught in Hindu temples and Gurdwaras to the younger generation, so that they could remain devout Sikhs.

These temples, schools and Gurdwaras include Baba Hardass Ram School, Gurdwara Nanakwara, Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh, Guru Arjan Dev Pathshala and Baba Bhoj Ram Temple. Raja, a student of class VII from Dehrki district (Pakistan) said he would be baptised as per the wishes of his parents (Sehajdhari Sikhs) shortly.

Baba Amir Singh and Baba Amarjit Singh from Peshawar said the Pakistani Sikhs got disappointed when they saw ‘patit’ Sikhs accompanying the Indian jathas, who visited Pakistan every year, to pay their obeisance in Gurdwaras there. They said the government of India should not give visas to the ‘patit Sikhs’ to visit Pakistan as their appearance hurt the sentiments of the Sikh Sangat in Pakistan. They said the SGPC should not recommend the visas at ‘patit Sikhs'.

Baba Amarjit Singh, a Granthi of Gurdwara Joga Singh (Peshawar) said the Sikh pilgrims from Pakistan would like to meet Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Akal Takht for seeking his guidance to maintain ‘Maryada’ in gurdwaras of Pakistan.

Though the SGPC or Akal Takht object to the performance of akhand path in temples in India, Sri Guru Granth Sahib is placed in a number of temples in Pakistan. A number of Pakistani Hindus including Mr Jai Ram and Mr Jaipal said they perform path of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in temples every day.

 
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This is an amazing article. So many twists and turns to it. Lot's to debate here. Hope it goes well.

Sometimes it is hard to know what to believe in the Sikh/Pakistan scenario

Here is another take on how well Sikhs are doing in Pakistan, from the ground.


Abduction of Hindus, Sikhs have become a business in Pak: PML MP

AMRITSAR: Incidents of abduction of Hindus and Sikhs, especially of girls, for forced conversion and marriages to Muslims, and for ransom have increased in the recent past in Pakistan, said Punjab's ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League (N) member parliament Dr Haresh Chopra talking to TOI here on Saturday.

Chopra has also sought Indian parliamentarians to take up the issue of plight of Hindus and Sikhs as it did in case of illegal transfer of gurdwara lands in Pakistan so as to put international pressure on Pakistan government to protect minority communities.

Chopra, who is also member of standing committee on human rights, was here on a personal visit on the invitation of Nankana Sahib Sikh Yatree Jatha president Swaran Singh Gill. "I receive information of at least two cases of abduction of Hindu and Sikh girls in a week," he said. There are organized gangs of mullahs and terrorists, who even abduct minor girls of minority communities and procure their age certificates with Muslim names from madrassas proving them adults. "In such cases we can't do much to save the children," he added.

Chopra, who is MP from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province, said, "Being a soft target, many Hindus and Sikhs are abducted from the province for ransom, but cases of forced conversion are more in Sindh province. Those who can't bear their persecution anymore often think of migrating to India as they are not financially sound enough to shift to European countries."

"Being a minority MP, I have always been raising issues in the parliament and demanding protection for minorities, but that's all I can do," he said.

Chopra squarely blamed Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB) chairman Sayed Asif Hashmi for doling out gurdwara and temple properties. "PETPB is acquiring the properties, selling them to builders at higher prices and there is no one to stop all this," he added.

Meanwhile, Swaran Singh, who often takes Sikh jathas to Pakistan, asked him to press Pakistan government for increasing the frequency of jathas from India.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow/9763515.cms

Actually What is written in Article is right.Muslims consider Hindu's as enemies,***** ,idol worshippers moreover few repoirts on attack on muslims in India could provoke to attack Hindu's .On the other hand apart from UK there is no Sikh muslim dispute going on

Also Historically One of the main reason of rise of Sikhism was Fear of muslims in area's of Pakistan ,there was a time when I was very much interested to know when and why my ancestors embraced Sikhism,were they warriors ? I found no evidence that they were warriors ,infact it was my 7th generation that embraced Sikhism.I used to ask lot from my late grandmother about her childhood life village and she told me that there were no hindu's in her village or nearby village the only minority was sikhs ,so the possibility of all hindu's embracing sikhism because of faith is small.The possible reason could be that Sikhs were either feared or respected as my grandmother told me that her family was very much respected in the village

So much of local politics is grounded in deeply ingrained Hindu hatred. It seems then that almost any political choice or political sentiment might rise from hatred of Hindus, rather than from some other motivation.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794

Sometimes Sikhs are the object of muslim terrorism and political suppression in Pakistan. We have tons of examples of that posted here. Is it possible that hatred of Hindus is so great that it blinds us to other ways in which Sikhs and the quom are being tormented. Almost a case of "identification with the agressor." By that I mean, the inference can be that Sikhs willingly accept the Hindu hatred of their Muslim majorities in Pakistan.

Maybe they have to do that in order to survive.

I am not seeing any connection however between wanting to eliminate "patits" from visiting the gurdwaras, and Hindus. Per the first article that is.

Actually many of reports on attacks on Sikhs come from Indian media who is very much anti pak. Pakistani community was silent for 50 years but now slowly they are making it into mainstream pakistani society

The emergence of the Sikh community within Pakistan

After the creation of Pakistan the Sikh community's rights were diminished.[9] Recently the Sikh community within Pakistan has been making every effort possible to progress in Pakistan. For example Harcharan Singh became the first Sikh to join the Pakistan army. For the first time in the 58 year history of Pakistan there has a Sikh been selected into Pakistan's army. Prior to Harcharan Singh's selection in the Pakistani army no individual person who was a member of the Hindu or the Sikh community were ever enrolled in the army, but there are reports which states that the Pakistani Christian community has served in the army and some had even reached into to the ranks of a Brigadier in the army. Moreover, members of the tiny Parsi community have some representation in the Armed Forces. [10] First time in the history of Pakistan as well as in the history of Lahore a Sikh person has been appointed as a traffic Sub Inspector. Dr. Gulab Singh who is just 25 years old, is a practising homeopathic doctor and he is from the same place as Harcharan Singh (Nankana Sahib). Gulab Singh is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Seraiki, Sindhi, and little bit of English.[11] In yet another contribution to the Pakistani Sikh community, Pakistan Government enacted the Sikh marriage act, Anand Marriage act, in November 2007. This Sikh marriage act allows not only the Sikhs in Pakistan, but also Sikhs living in anywhere in the world to register in Pakistan with the Sikh marriage act. [12] After the success of Harcharan Singh in Pakistan's army and Gulab Singh as a traffic inspector, now it's the turn of Kalyan Singh Kalyan who is the first Sikh Province Assembly Member in Pakistan and Kalyan is a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[13] The first Sikh musician also emerged on the music industry in 2009, Jassi Lailpuria, launched his first song on independence day entitled, Sohna Pakistan.[14] Rupinder Singh Magon (Rup) from the band Josh is also a superstar in Pakistan and is very popular among the youth of the country although he lives in Canada but travels to Pakistan a lot for Concerts and TV engagements. He, along with his band mate Qurram Hussain, was part of Coke Studio as well which is a big achievement.


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The question of safety of Sikhs in Pakistan will remain how much Tolerance of Sikhs will be left in Pakistan as we know that there is major infighting in Pakistan

I think I will stick with my previous comments.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794

Still unanswered is the question of why "patits" should be prevented from being included...as per the first article.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36794

It seems to me that Sikhism has no such inclination toward exclusion. So something else must be unstated and in the background. As expressed in that article, it sounds as if the Sikhs making appeals have internalized some exclusionary tendencies of their muslim brethren. That is how identification with the aggressor can work. One takes on the emotional coloration of the very ones who torment you.

Survival may depend on it.

Or, perhaps the story was hatched, this time not by GOI or the Indian Press but by some other influence peddling body with a scheme of its own. The article mystifies me.

Actually Sizeable numbers of sikhs in Pakistan as well in India don't believe in any such concept of sehajdhari or clean shaven Sikh.Either you keep your hair or be sikh or just call yourself a Gurdwara going Hindu.I have famiily members will never talk to their nephew or neice who cuts his/her hair

I am aware of what you report... for years aware. That does not however answer my questions. For that matter, why are hair cutters permitted in sangat, in gurdwara, on pilgrimages, etc. in India?

This idea of gurdwara going Hindu is not new and also a personal opinion ... though perhaps defining one sort of Sikh mindset.

I know there are gurdwaras that exclude Dalits.

I am asking really about the growing trend of Wahhabism among Sikhs. Seems to me that goes counter to the idea of inclusiveness. Seems to me that the Sikhs in the first article have made some perplexing demands.

And actually the article is about Sikhs in Pakistan...so we should direct our attention to that.