Who is a Sehajdhari Sikh?

BHAGATSINGHDAVEER ji

Take heart! The Gurus would not and do not reject you. Save for the minority of gurdwaras, sangats will not reject you. Vast majority of keshdhari Sikhs do not reject you. In spite of all the flap you have opened your arms. And Guruji has opened His arms to you. Happy New Year!
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aad0002 ji thanks!

i take heart from the fact that all human souls are lit by the same jot of Akaal. My love for satguru will not wane because of the decisions of men (courts/sgpc) In my heart i am and will always be sikh as much as i am human. we are all creations of Akaal. I am but the dust of the feet of those gursikhs who take amrit and give their heads to become Khalsa Singh's of Dasmesh Pita. I can only aspire to reach such great spiritual heights.

Let me ask one more question on this topic, The courts/sgpc has ruled that sehajdharis are not sikhs. Will the next move be to not allow the name SINGH to be used for mone / sehajdhari sikhs as a surname! Part of the Khalsa code is for the name Singh to be used so if we are not Khalsa shall we forfiet this name too?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/23743-who-is-a-sehajdhari-sikh.html

by the way, I had an old paternal aunt in Ludhiana who refused to address Mone /Sehajdharis as Singh but would call them e.g Harnam dass / Ranjit dass in lieu of Singh. She would only address Singh to those who were Full Keshdharis.Sounded real funny at the time but it still raises an important point dont you think?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=23743

Regards and Gur Fateh Ji, may all your ardas be favourably answered in the new year.

Happy new year to all who read this thread!

bul chuk maf!

Veer ji

The question leads the people who care about this issue into a tangled mess. But think of it this way. Who is going to stop them from being Singhs and Kaurs. it is already too late to change that. In truth Singh is a common surname among many peopoles of Southern India and South Asia who not Sikhs. Moreover, children born into Sikh families who are not amritdhari are Singhs and Kaurs for all intents and purposes. Who can take their faith away from them? Then there are stories of Sikhs born in the diaspora: yet some gurdwaras in India will not baptize them. Among 3HO Sikhs everyone is a Singh or Kaur, even before taking amrit.

Really it is only converts who have to face the problem in the more specific sense -- when am I a Singh or a Kaur? Am I a Singh/Kaur only after baptism? Or am I a Singh/Kaur after a naming ceremony? Or am I a Singh/Kaur because I am a Sikh? Questions like that for converts. Of course the answer depends on how one reads the words of Sri Guru Gobind Singh to his sangat. They were collectively the khalsa in the minds of many then and now, and the term was not restricted to amritdhari. Yet, this point continues to be a matter of debate.

SGPC of course is taking maximum advantage of the fact that the question of who is the khalsa has been debated for generations. And this has been a debate largely since the start of the SinghSabha movement at the end of the 19th Century, and in response to political divisions and turbulence at that time in history.

Regards to your aunt in her hereafter - she can hear me -- because she kept her thinking and values clear and simple and did not confuse people. Even though she would not have considered me a Sikh, still I like her.

Breaking news by Newsmaker ji on SPN



Sehajdhari Sikh: SGPC to submit amended affidavit (The Times of India)
Promising to end days of confrontation and confusion, the SGPC said on Friday that it would submit an amended affidavit on the definition of Sehajdhari Sikh in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

More...

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Also if forum members are interested in some of the recent history behind this debate, the links below track the story

Sehajdhari Sikhs float new party, demand recognition-Chandigarh ...
amritsar:the sehajdhari sikh federation, to counter the objections against
sehajdhari voters' participation in the shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.comarticleshow1826661384.c ms

Sehajdhari Sikhs back Cong -Chandigarh-Cities-The Times of India
The SSF is upset over the recent notification of the Home Ministry which has
deprived "Sehajdhari Sikhs" of their voting right in the Shiromani Gurdwara ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/627767.cms

'HC interfering in Sikhs' religious affairs'-Chandigarh-Cities-The ...
29 Dec 2008 ... AMRITSAR: Admitting that the definition of Sehajdhari Sikh submitted by
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in High Court was ...
'HC interfering in Sikhs' religious affairs'-Chandigarh-Cities-The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/654379070.cms
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=23743

Sehajdhari issue: More fireworks likely-Chandigarh-Cities-The ...
... run high among the sikhs. conflicting terms to define a sehajdhari might ...
34 years after it was promulgated. sehajdhari sikh federation president ...
Sehajdhari issue: More fireworks likely-Chandigarh-Cities-The Times of India

Sehajdharis say irregularities in SGPC electoral rolls-Chandigarh ...
Ranu said that while the Gurdwara Commission voters’ list carried no name of
sehajdhari Sikh in Tohra, Talwandi and Badungar villages, the survey found that
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/144425.cms

Those who trim hair, beard are not true Sikhs: SGPC-India-The ...
28 Dec 2008 ... Sehajdhari Sikh includes people born in a Sikh family but not adhering to Sikh way of life and symbols. They should recite moolamantra path ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3905621.cms

SSF to challenge electoral rolls-Chandigarh-Cities-The Times of India
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=23743
LUDHIANA: The Sehajdhari Sikh Federation (SSF) has decided to challenge the
electoral rolls as many of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/43098582.cms

SGPC general election process kickstarts-Chandigarh-Cities-The ...
CHANDIGARH: After the Centre notified deletion of "sehajdhari" Sikhs as voters
... This year about eight lakh "sehajdhari" Sikh voters were enrolled along ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/246204.cms

Gurdwara panel invites SGPC for talks on `sehajdhari'-Chandigarh ...
the sgpc, by a resolution adopted on march 30, demanded that the all-india sikh
gurdwara act be amended to debar "sehajdharis" from voting in the general ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1860539019.cms

HC admits writ on voting rights for Sehajdharis-Chandigarh-Cities ...
chandigarh:a fresh writ petition seeking to deny the voting right to sehajdhari
sikhs in the next general elections to the shiromani gurdwara prabandhak ...
HC admits writ on voting rights for Sehajdharis-Chandigarh-Cities-The Times of India

Respected forum members, when following this story this evening, it occurred to me that the nature and the origins of the controversy were not clear. After googling a bit I found a good article that describes how the current concerns over the High Court ruling and the affidavit submitted by SGPC started back in November. It helps to know the sequence of events, as reported on Work Sikh News. Story below,

How the sequence unfolded
WSN Network

The WSN has conclusive evidence that such clever maneuvering and drafting has not happened by any chance or mistake or legal goof up, and was the result of a sustained effort to corrupt the definition of the Sehajdhari Sikh.
Consider the sequence of events:

1. The issue came up when an SGPC run college refused admission to a girl saying she cut her hair and therefore cannot be considered a Sikh. Once someone took the plea of being a Sehajdhari and claimed that unshorn hair are not essential in Sikhism, and once the neo-Sehajdhari lobby also intervened, the High Court, vide its order dated 29.9.2008, directed the filing of an affidavit "based on a resolution passed by the S.G.P.C" asking whether or not a person who cuts his hair and/or shaves his beard is a 'Sehajdhari Sikh' if he performs ceremonies according to Sikh rites, does not use tobacco or Kuttha in any form, and can recite the 'mool mantra', with reference to Section 2(10-A) of the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925.

2. The SGPC general house empowered the president to set up an expert panel and respond to the High Court directive on the basis of the expert panel's view.

3. SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar set up the expert panel of seven members, headed by SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur. These members were to formulate the definition of Sehajdhari Sikh and recommend it to the executive committee.

The members included, apart from Bhaur, Anurag Singh, Kiranjot Kaur, Gurcharanjit Singh Lamba, Jasbir Singh Sabar, Principal Suba Singh and SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh.

WHO SAID WHAT
Kiranjot Kaur: What the SGPC has stated in the High Court is not what the experts’ panel has agreed to. It was verbally agreed that the 1938 formulation would be drafted and shown to the panel before it is sent to the SGPC executive committee for approval. The draft was not shown to them, nor was it signed.

G S Lamba: The affidavit does not reflect the view of the panel; in fact, it is an instance of religious, academic, legal and intellectual corruption. Those who allowed such an affidavit to be submitted should be held guilty of perjury and should be made accountable to the community

Sukhdev Singh Bhaur: The affidavit is problematic. I did not submit the affidavit in the court, it was someone else.

J S Sabar: I find no contradiction in the experts’ view and the affidavit.

Anurag Singh: What do these experts know? They know nothing…As for December 4 meeting, it was only called so that the experts can understand things, but obviously they have not understood anything.

4. The seven member panel met on November 26 at the Kalgidhar Niwas in Chandigarh. Before the discussion started, one of the members, Anurag Singh, circulated an unsigned two para note, in the form of a resolution which was of course ignored at that point but one of the sentences in the note should have been a dead giveaway of the intentions of at least this one member.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=23743

Even before the discussion could start, Anurag Singh had written that the note was a result of "a detailed discussion on the issue amongst members and other intellectuals present" and that "there is no statutory requirement as per the aforementioned definition in 2(10-A) for a Sehajdhari Sikh to keep unshorn hair."

5. Anyway, the November 26 meeting, which barely lasted ten minutes, decided to stick to the 1938 formulation of Sehajdhari as per which the day and the moment a non-Sikh decides to become a Sehajdhari, it shows an intention to embrace Sikhism and signifies that he has started on his way towards becoming a complete Sikh. From that day and that moment on, he cannot cut his hair and should start observing all Sikh rites and continue on his Sehaj path to become a Sikh.

6. There is thus no time gap between someone becoming a Sehajdhari Sikh and then becoming a Keshadhari Sikh.

7. Anurag Singh blatantly, and Punjab Advocate General H S Mattewal behind the scenes, were pushing for the line that a Sehajdhari Sikh does not necessarily have to be Keshadhari Sikh. Anurag Singh's stance was that a Sehajdhari Sikh can take an indefinite time before becoming a Keshadhari Sikh, and only when he once becomes a Keshadhari Sikh, he should not cut his hair.

8. Interestingly, there was no written resolution passed by the November 26 meeting, it was verbally agreed that the 1938 formulation would be drafted by Dalmegh Singh as unanimously agreed, and would be sent to the SGPC executive committee which was to meet on December 3.

9. The drama happened when the SGPC executive committee was presented a strange formulation in complete denial of the unanimously agreed position and created confusion. It was drafted by Anurag Singh. It said Sehajdhari Sikh, once he becomes Keshadhari Sikh, cannot cut his hair. This implied that a Sehajdhari may decide not to become a Keshadhari all his life and thus can keep on cutting his hair and be counted as a Sehajdhari Sikh.

10. When the media reported this on December 4 morning, many members of the seven member panel were furious and Makkar buckled under this pressure and convened an emergency meeting of the panel on December 4 itself at Amritsar in Guru Nanak Niwas at 2 pm. It was here that the real face of the entire conspiracy was unveiled. Members like Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, Prof Suba Singh, principal of Shaheed Sikh Missionary College, Dr Jasbir Singh Sabar, G.S.Lamba and even SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur were themselves angry about how the recommendation of the expert panel was subverted.

11. After many verbal duels, a formulation was drafted. This was signed by all the members of the expert panel except Anurag Singh who refused to sign it because it made sure that a Sehajdhari Sikh can in no case be permitted to cut his hair on the grounds that he has so far not become a Keshadhari Sikh. With this, the cat had come out of the bag. The WSN is in possession of a copy of this December 4 resolution signed by all expert committee members except Anurag Singh.

12. It is not known why the expert committee members did not expose or take upon Anurag Singh and why they did not make him state his reasons for not signing the resolution despite being present? Also, why he was not asked his reasons for not signing particularly because the December 4 resolution of the expert committee was in consonance of the November 26 meeting's outcome of the same committee and he had participated in both?

13. On December 10, on the day of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the SGPC counsel went ahead and submitted an affidavit that violated the rights of an entire community to even keep an eye on its gates. Filed by SGPC Secretary Harbeant Singh in response to the HC's directive in C.W.P. No. 13282 of 2008-12-10, the affidavit said that a Sahajdhari is prohibited from cutting his hair only after he becomes a Keshadhari Sikh. It also added that any Sikh born into a Sikh family cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari if he cuts his hair and he is to be considered an apostate (patit). While the SGPC affidavit indeed defines a 'patit' correctly, the HC had not asked for any such explanation. On the single point which the HC had raised, the SGPC had messed up badly.

14. Further, the SGPC affidavit in the HC claimed that the SGPC Executive Committee considered the expert committee report in its meeting on December 3 and the affidavit was being filed after such a consideration.

15. The fact remains that the Executive Committee simply could not have considered any report of the expert committee on December 3 for the simple reason that no report of the expert committee was drafted or signed by any member. Also, the affidavit does not even talk about the December 4 meeting of the expert committee where the issue was discussed again, and where the written report was drafted and signed by every member except Anurag Singh.

16. Even more interestingly, this signed document was presented as the Resolution of the Executive Committee meeting of December 3. So, technically, it is this document that can be called the Resolution of the executive committee since it is signed by SGPC general secretary Bhaur and secretary Dalmegh Singh besides all other members of the expert panel except Anurag Singh. The affidavit submitted to the HC is clearly different from this formulation.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=23743

17 December 2008