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source: WSN-Editorial-Sikh Protests: What next?
Sikh Protests: What next?
For the last one year or more, the cultist baba from Sirsa in Haryana is having a free-run of India, in full view of the Indian population and with full co-operation and assistance of the government of Haryana and India.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is an enigma. In a country which is professedly secular and just, he is the blue-eyed boy of politicians who want to use the caste and religion card through him to establish, expand and strengthen their support base. He is working overtime to ensure the victory of that party who bids the maximum for his protection and growth.
Turning a blind eye to court proceedings against him for rape, murder and extortion, mocking at the judiciary and the Sikhs against whom he has indulged in blasphemy, the Haryana government has provided him Z-security cover, the kind of cover provided to the prime minister of the country! The Indian media deliberately avoids learning about the genesis of the conflict or restricts itself to highlighting the fallen turban of a Sikh or the Kirpan-wielding youth.
Political leaders, uninformed mediamen and drawing room intellectuals are still calling the agitation either as a conflict between two Sikh communities or between one sect and mainstream Sikhs.
This is a typical situation which the Sikhs faced in 1978, when the pseudo-Nirankaris, with full blessings of the State murdered 13 Sikhs in broad daylight in the holy city of Amritsar.
What is different from that time is the kind of protests that Sikhs have launched all over the country. Tired of the ugly behaviour of the state, disgusted with the lackadaisical attitude of the Sikh leadership and totally annoyed at the patronage of various governments to the cultist baba, Sikh youth lost control of their balance and heavily inconvenienced the common man, in some places holding a chunk of the population to ransom, evoking unnecessary reactions from rabidly communal leaders.
The battle that was being fought with the baba was turned on the head of the Sikhs by the media due to such behavior and the established Sikh leadership, hitherto silent went on the defensive. The radical Sikh leadership had the choice to do something different –to educate the masses, to pursue the political masters and to define the contours of social ramifications of the struggle. Instead, they too joined the bandwagon and brought rail traffic to a halt in Punjab.
There is no doubt that Sikhs are angry. There is no doubt that the state is pushing Sikhs to a wall. There is also no doubt that the state agencies will continue to support the cult.
So what should the Sikhs do? Should the Sikhs convert themselves into mobs and indulge in vandalism? Should Sikhs go all around town brandishing swords and burning effigies?
Should the Sikh leadership not show sagacity and statesmanship? The Badal leadership, always ready to flaunt their Punjabi imagery, has suddenly turned Panthic on this issue. They have “used the good offices” of the Damdami Taksal to indulge in a Rail Roko stir in Punjab without being officially involved in it.
As always, they are playing with fire to further their political ends. The plight of the Sikhs, the progress of the proceedings against the baba and damage to the Sikh image has all taken a back seat. None of the leaders who visited Mumbai –Sukhbir Singh Badal and his entourage, Avtar Singh Makkar, Paramjit Singh Sarna and Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma had the time and good sense to visit the 27 boys in detention and counsel them.
The entire Sikh leadership of all hues has failed the Sikhs in this hour of crisis. It is unSikh like and uncivil to harm public property. Our fight is with a rapist-murderer and his supporters not with the common man. Let the proud Sikh community ponder over the Sikh protests so far and ask, “What next?”
25 June, 2008
Sikh Protests: What next?
For the last one year or more, the cultist baba from Sirsa in Haryana is having a free-run of India, in full view of the Indian population and with full co-operation and assistance of the government of Haryana and India.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is an enigma. In a country which is professedly secular and just, he is the blue-eyed boy of politicians who want to use the caste and religion card through him to establish, expand and strengthen their support base. He is working overtime to ensure the victory of that party who bids the maximum for his protection and growth.
Turning a blind eye to court proceedings against him for rape, murder and extortion, mocking at the judiciary and the Sikhs against whom he has indulged in blasphemy, the Haryana government has provided him Z-security cover, the kind of cover provided to the prime minister of the country! The Indian media deliberately avoids learning about the genesis of the conflict or restricts itself to highlighting the fallen turban of a Sikh or the Kirpan-wielding youth.
Political leaders, uninformed mediamen and drawing room intellectuals are still calling the agitation either as a conflict between two Sikh communities or between one sect and mainstream Sikhs.
This is a typical situation which the Sikhs faced in 1978, when the pseudo-Nirankaris, with full blessings of the State murdered 13 Sikhs in broad daylight in the holy city of Amritsar.
What is different from that time is the kind of protests that Sikhs have launched all over the country. Tired of the ugly behaviour of the state, disgusted with the lackadaisical attitude of the Sikh leadership and totally annoyed at the patronage of various governments to the cultist baba, Sikh youth lost control of their balance and heavily inconvenienced the common man, in some places holding a chunk of the population to ransom, evoking unnecessary reactions from rabidly communal leaders.
The battle that was being fought with the baba was turned on the head of the Sikhs by the media due to such behavior and the established Sikh leadership, hitherto silent went on the defensive. The radical Sikh leadership had the choice to do something different –to educate the masses, to pursue the political masters and to define the contours of social ramifications of the struggle. Instead, they too joined the bandwagon and brought rail traffic to a halt in Punjab.
There is no doubt that Sikhs are angry. There is no doubt that the state is pushing Sikhs to a wall. There is also no doubt that the state agencies will continue to support the cult.
So what should the Sikhs do? Should the Sikhs convert themselves into mobs and indulge in vandalism? Should Sikhs go all around town brandishing swords and burning effigies?
Should the Sikh leadership not show sagacity and statesmanship? The Badal leadership, always ready to flaunt their Punjabi imagery, has suddenly turned Panthic on this issue. They have “used the good offices” of the Damdami Taksal to indulge in a Rail Roko stir in Punjab without being officially involved in it.
As always, they are playing with fire to further their political ends. The plight of the Sikhs, the progress of the proceedings against the baba and damage to the Sikh image has all taken a back seat. None of the leaders who visited Mumbai –Sukhbir Singh Badal and his entourage, Avtar Singh Makkar, Paramjit Singh Sarna and Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma had the time and good sense to visit the 27 boys in detention and counsel them.
The entire Sikh leadership of all hues has failed the Sikhs in this hour of crisis. It is unSikh like and uncivil to harm public property. Our fight is with a rapist-murderer and his supporters not with the common man. Let the proud Sikh community ponder over the Sikh protests so far and ask, “What next?”
25 June, 2008
Thanks Soul_Jyot for keeping us informed and staying on top of this ongoing story.
