Who is a 'sehajdhari'?
CHANDIGARH: For the past several years, the Sikh community has been besieged by confusion and legal conflicts in the absence of clarity on the term 'Sehajdhari'. The present development arising out of withdrawal of a notification by the central government is all set to create further confusion.
Community leaders point that the original Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 had three basic terms related to Sikhs - amritdhari Sikhs, keshdhari Sikhs and patit. Amritdhari being those who had partaken Amrit, prepared and administered according to the tenets of Sikh religion and rites, at the hands of panj pyaras. Keshdhari were those who were yet to partake Amrit and evolve into the 'pure' form of Khalsa.
The leaders, quoting various amendments in the Act, say that Patit, or apostates were those who being a Keshadhari, trimmed or shaved the hair or beard, or who after taking amrit, commits any one or more of the social evils described in the Sikh rehat maryada (code of conduct) governing Sikhs. It inherently implied that that keeping hair is the basic identity of a Sikh, besides being one of the five 'K', which an Amritdhari Sikh have to maintain).
A similar definition was presented in the HC by the SGPC in 2008, during a case involving admission of a Sikh girl into an SGPC run institution. Her case was eventually rejected after the community leaders and legal experts decided the definition of Sikh, wherein only a Keshadhari could be called a Sikh. "A person born into a Sikh family cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari by trimming or cutting his/her hair, beard or eyebrows in any manner," the SGPC affidavit stated.
"Sehajdhari term came to be included in the Act in 1959, when Pepsu states were merged in Punjab. The word is a combination of two terms 'Sehaj' (gradually) and 'Dhari' (loosely translated as 'evolving'), or someone who evolved slowly as Sikhs,'' says former general secretary of SGPC Manjit Singh Calcutta, citing Mahan Kosh, the Sikh encyclopedia. "It means that persons outside Sikh religion, who want to embrace Sikhism gradually through the phases of Keshdhari and Amritdhari, can be called Sehajdhari. Those who are born in Sikh families, but who get their hair shorn are 'patit' and not 'sehajdharis'."
However, many, including Sehajdhari Sikh Federation president Paramjit Singh Ranu, who had filed the petition in the high court, question this interpretation. "Those born in Sikh families, who had never maintained hair, could not be called 'patit', and only the amritdhari Sikhs, who cut their hair can be called 'patit'.''
With traditional community leaders opposing the entry of those who do not abide by the Sikh rehat maryada, the conflict is likely to continue.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Who-is-a-sehajdhari/articleshow/9830416.cms
CHANDIGARH: For the past several years, the Sikh community has been besieged by confusion and legal conflicts in the absence of clarity on the term 'Sehajdhari'. The present development arising out of withdrawal of a notification by the central government is all set to create further confusion.
Community leaders point that the original Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 had three basic terms related to Sikhs - amritdhari Sikhs, keshdhari Sikhs and patit. Amritdhari being those who had partaken Amrit, prepared and administered according to the tenets of Sikh religion and rites, at the hands of panj pyaras. Keshdhari were those who were yet to partake Amrit and evolve into the 'pure' form of Khalsa.
The leaders, quoting various amendments in the Act, say that Patit, or apostates were those who being a Keshadhari, trimmed or shaved the hair or beard, or who after taking amrit, commits any one or more of the social evils described in the Sikh rehat maryada (code of conduct) governing Sikhs. It inherently implied that that keeping hair is the basic identity of a Sikh, besides being one of the five 'K', which an Amritdhari Sikh have to maintain).
A similar definition was presented in the HC by the SGPC in 2008, during a case involving admission of a Sikh girl into an SGPC run institution. Her case was eventually rejected after the community leaders and legal experts decided the definition of Sikh, wherein only a Keshadhari could be called a Sikh. "A person born into a Sikh family cannot claim to be a Sehajdhari by trimming or cutting his/her hair, beard or eyebrows in any manner," the SGPC affidavit stated.
"Sehajdhari term came to be included in the Act in 1959, when Pepsu states were merged in Punjab. The word is a combination of two terms 'Sehaj' (gradually) and 'Dhari' (loosely translated as 'evolving'), or someone who evolved slowly as Sikhs,'' says former general secretary of SGPC Manjit Singh Calcutta, citing Mahan Kosh, the Sikh encyclopedia. "It means that persons outside Sikh religion, who want to embrace Sikhism gradually through the phases of Keshdhari and Amritdhari, can be called Sehajdhari. Those who are born in Sikh families, but who get their hair shorn are 'patit' and not 'sehajdharis'."
However, many, including Sehajdhari Sikh Federation president Paramjit Singh Ranu, who had filed the petition in the high court, question this interpretation. "Those born in Sikh families, who had never maintained hair, could not be called 'patit', and only the amritdhari Sikhs, who cut their hair can be called 'patit'.''
With traditional community leaders opposing the entry of those who do not abide by the Sikh rehat maryada, the conflict is likely to continue.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Who-is-a-sehajdhari/articleshow/9830416.cms