- Jan 31, 2011
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Gurfatehji
Last week, I did a repair for two Indian lads, they were here studying. One was softly spoken, fair, his friend was bigger, darker, scowly, and arrogant. I took an instant dislike to his friend, but I found the softly spoken one fine.
After we had finished discussing his laptop, Mr Scowly looked at me and said 'Happy Independence Day'. I looked at him, 'Happy??' 'what the hell is happy about that?', I could feel the anger rising within me, ' I don't think my grandfather found it happy, losing all his lands and watching his family get butchered', 'and in any case, I am not Indian, I am Sikh'
At this they looked at each other, looks can say a thousand words, and the unsaid words being said were 'oh oh another angry Sikh trying to ruin our fun', at which they both left.
I thought nothing more of it until reading about the incident where a group of Sikhs disrupted a celebration by ripping down flags and evicting some celebrating Hindus.
It made me think hard about myself, I still cannot read anything about 84 without starting to cry, I find it difficult to watch Amitabh films, I find it difficult to move on, such is destructive behaviour, and in my view completely against the principles of Sikhism. I decided to read of the Hindu accounts of 84, the bravery of Hindus that sheltered Sikhs, some sheltered my own family, the opposition parties that took to the streets to try and calm the mobs down, but more than that, the disinformation.
India had just had its premier killed, most people would not have expected it to be an isolated incident, you don't just kill the premier and leave it at that, logically, you would expect a planned and sustained attack with the killing being the start, as it happened, it was not, it was an isolated single killing. The problem is that masses, fed on lies of more attacks, trains full of dead bodies, poisoned water, were ripe for the picking, they were scared, they were angry, and they were manipulated.
I forgive every Indian that was manipulated, I forgive every Indian that was scared, I do not forgive the cold calculating politicians that fed them, that fuelled the hatred, that planned, that organised, they must face justice, India must clear out the rot and show the world that it can bring justice to the masses.
The next time I am wished 'Happy Independence Day' I intend to reply in kind. The people that deserve my hate will get old and eventually die, I refuse to carry that hate to the next generation, to use it to divide, to use it to warp what my Guru tells me is the right thing to do, such happened in Sirhind, it is a blot on an otherwise clean sheet of Sikh behaviour.
There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim, we should never forget those words, they were written for times like this. We cannot condemn an entire race for the actions of a few, be it the 84 murders, partition, whatever, or we run the risk of loss of Consonance and connection with all Creation
Last week, I did a repair for two Indian lads, they were here studying. One was softly spoken, fair, his friend was bigger, darker, scowly, and arrogant. I took an instant dislike to his friend, but I found the softly spoken one fine.
After we had finished discussing his laptop, Mr Scowly looked at me and said 'Happy Independence Day'. I looked at him, 'Happy??' 'what the hell is happy about that?', I could feel the anger rising within me, ' I don't think my grandfather found it happy, losing all his lands and watching his family get butchered', 'and in any case, I am not Indian, I am Sikh'
At this they looked at each other, looks can say a thousand words, and the unsaid words being said were 'oh oh another angry Sikh trying to ruin our fun', at which they both left.
I thought nothing more of it until reading about the incident where a group of Sikhs disrupted a celebration by ripping down flags and evicting some celebrating Hindus.
It made me think hard about myself, I still cannot read anything about 84 without starting to cry, I find it difficult to watch Amitabh films, I find it difficult to move on, such is destructive behaviour, and in my view completely against the principles of Sikhism. I decided to read of the Hindu accounts of 84, the bravery of Hindus that sheltered Sikhs, some sheltered my own family, the opposition parties that took to the streets to try and calm the mobs down, but more than that, the disinformation.
India had just had its premier killed, most people would not have expected it to be an isolated incident, you don't just kill the premier and leave it at that, logically, you would expect a planned and sustained attack with the killing being the start, as it happened, it was not, it was an isolated single killing. The problem is that masses, fed on lies of more attacks, trains full of dead bodies, poisoned water, were ripe for the picking, they were scared, they were angry, and they were manipulated.
I forgive every Indian that was manipulated, I forgive every Indian that was scared, I do not forgive the cold calculating politicians that fed them, that fuelled the hatred, that planned, that organised, they must face justice, India must clear out the rot and show the world that it can bring justice to the masses.
The next time I am wished 'Happy Independence Day' I intend to reply in kind. The people that deserve my hate will get old and eventually die, I refuse to carry that hate to the next generation, to use it to divide, to use it to warp what my Guru tells me is the right thing to do, such happened in Sirhind, it is a blot on an otherwise clean sheet of Sikh behaviour.
There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim, we should never forget those words, they were written for times like this. We cannot condemn an entire race for the actions of a few, be it the 84 murders, partition, whatever, or we run the risk of loss of Consonance and connection with all Creation
