It is very amusing and quite mind-boggling to see the distinctions with which Sikhs identify themselves today. American Sikhs, British Sikhs, Canadian Sikhs, Indian Sikhs and so forth. Interestingly enough all these distinctions go a long way in shrouding Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s vision of Khalsa-Raaj, in the mists of ignorance.
The Guru envisioned a society of saint-soldiers which would be a nation in it’s own right. To this end he laid an extreme emphasis on self-determination via weapons, both politically and spiritually. The political weapon which he gave the Sikhs is the sword, whereas the spiritual weapon is the shabad. Alongwith this he gave a distinct identity and way of life to the Sikhs, which makes them unique from predecessor religious traditions.
The Bani of Uggardanti contains many “tuks” (lines) in which he the Guru requests the Aad-Shakti to uproot the mughal regime, vanquish the supremacy of all predecessor religions, and grant the panth power to install itself as the rightful ruler of Waheguru’s creation. Furthermore the sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth Gurus acted as rulers themselves. They wore kalgis (plums) usually reserved for kings and princes of the ruling elite, dressed in the vestiges of royal warriors, carried falcons, adorned weapons, and held courts which rivalled those of the mughals in splendour. All this they did to assert the fact that the panth is to become the rightful sovereign of Waheguru’s creation. It is evident from history that whilst all of India was under the mughal regime’s iron-clad fist, Anandpur Sahib where Guru Gobind Singh Ji resided was an independent territory which sheltered political fugitives and did not adhere to the laws of the regime. All in all it was an independent political state.
When the Guru sent Banda Singh Bahadur to Sirhind, he ordered him to raze Punjab and Delhi to the ground, attack “Guru-damned Sirhind” and create a Khalsa-raaj. A state where the Khalsa held the reins of power and no other faith or political power. Many individuals argue that this seems to be a false tale inserted into the ithiaas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, but what one has to remember is that all manuscripts from the time and after mention Khalsa-raaj as being Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s vision. One only has to look at the 53 hukams of Khalsa rehat to see the validity of this event, whether purataan or vartmaan is one’s wish:
“Do not trust another faith with power in matters of politics.”
At the same time as Banda was progressing to Punjab, the Marathas were in a state of rebellion against the mughals fighting to create a “Hindu-raaj.” The Guru could easily have sent the Dal-Khalsa to make an alliance with the so-called “brothers of the Sikhs” in order to create a secular superpower on the sub-continent. But he refrained from doing so. He wanted the panth to rule and express itself as the rightful inheritors of Waheguru’s creation, he did not want it to allign itself with another power or faith. The Guru was aware that such an alliance, historically and contemporary, resulted in one ally becoming dominant over another.
Banda too was presented with many opportunities to align himself with other religio-political powers. He however stayed away from them, knowing fully well that the panth required temporal power to assert itself as “Akal Purakh Ki Fauj.” His was the first Khalsa-raaj and a truly blessed one. The Khalsa was in power and prevented tyranny from being inflicted on both muslims and hindus via religious and political means.
As time progressed the first Khalsa-raaj fell, but the spirit of the panth was not crushed. It had already tasted the power of the Guru’s vision and wanted more. To this end the Dal-Khalsa was split into 11 misls or confederacies, each with it’s own leader and territory who ultimately united in the face of Mughal, Hindu and Afghani onslaughts. Quite often these misls were presented with the opportunities to allign themselves with the marathas, and/or the Ruhlias. Each time a treaty was formed the misls would themselves break it in order to preserve the Guru’s vision of an independent Khalsa-raaj. This is supported by the misls lack of action in face of the battle of Panipat, where the marathas were mercilessly wiped out by the Afghanis under Ahmad Shah Abdali. Not only did this lack of action bite back at the Marathas, who had treated the Sikhs as non-entities during their short tenure of power in Punjab, but also proved the independence of the panth from other sub-continental faiths and powers.
Soon the winds changed in Punjab, and as the democracy of the misls fell through. A vacuum was created which was readily filled by Ranjit Singh. After intensive campaigns a new face was given to Punjab as the Sikh kingdom, and “Sher-e-Punjab” as Ranjit Singh came to be known became a power to be reckoned with. After stepping onto the soil of Punjab the British realised that here was a race, a religion which if it wished could eradicate the Christian power from the world. To this end they set about placating the Khalsa and making an alliance with it. As long as the panthic sarkar, consisting of Akali Poohla Singh, Gyani Sant Singh Ji Damdami Taksal Wale, Hari Singh Nalwa and other eminent Sikh saint-soldiers acted as advisory’s to Maharajah Ranjit Singh the Panth was in chardi-kala. But slowly as the sarkar dissolved due to death and otherwise the Dogras took over. Thus the raaj of the Guru soon became a Dogra raaj and ultimately in 1849 the Khalsa-Raaj became a part of the extended British-India raaj.
The British capture the battle standard of the panth from Baba Bodh Singh Ji Akali.
It was during the “gora-raaj” that the future of the panth started looking grim. By aligning themselves with extremists such as the Arya-Samaj many Sikhs suffered a great set-back whereas the atheist movement claimed other unsuspecting Sikh youth. Slowly, but surely, the Singh-Sabha movement helped the panth recover although at what cost is still being debated today. However the main aim of all jathebandis at the time was an independent Sikh state. Unfortunately the power to decide soon went into the hands of senile fools such as the Shiromani Akali Dal, and the SGPC. In cohorts with the British and Indian government factions both parties became instrumental in distorting panthic rehat, goals and above all Gurbani. The real jathedars of the panth, the Akali Nihungs, were slowly replaced by these fake Akalis who were far from the image of panthic leaders which the Guru had envisioned. Naturally deprived of the backbone possessed by such great leaders as Nawab Kapur Singh, Baba Deep Singh and Maharajah Ranjit Singh these new leaders instigated factionalism in the panth and ultimately when offered the chance to establish an independent Sikh state refused it and joined hands with the Brahimn regime of India. At the time it was not known, but the panth had just jumped straight into the lion’s jaws.
The period from 1947-1960’s saw a massive abuse and distortion of Sikh rights in India. The Brahmin regime wanted to crush the spirit of the panth whose founder had refused the sacredness of the janeu. To this end new labels were created Khalistani Sikhs, who were apparently in cohorts with the muslims; and Indian Sikhs who were proud Hindus. Such interference in panthic matters, by the Indian state gradually weakened it until the rise of Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale. Here was a leader who did not give a damn about his own image, whether he was presented as a hero or terrorist. In his capacity as head of the legendary Damdami Taksal he urged the Sikh youth to stick true to the tenets of the Gurus and recognise Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s political vision. Whether by diplomacy or violence depended on the Indian state.
In an effort to quell the recognition of the Guru’s vision Sikhs were blamed for random and often non-homicidal deaths of the Hindu residents of Punjab and elsewhere. The media undertook an extensive campaign against Sikh rights and presented Sikhs as being the “nation’s gravest problem.” On one hand the Indian government was staining the Sikh image, on the other hand fascist Hindu organisations were urging Hindus to arm themselves in order to finish off the Sikh faith. Ultimately matters came to a collision when the Indian-Hindu state presented a sad face to the world, and gleefully attacked Harmandir Sahib under the pretext of “flushing out terrorists.” In order to prevent a Sikh response mass human rights violations were inflicted on Sikhs nationwide, with thousands being randomly burnt alive inside their own houses. The Sikh response came nonetheless but it was presented as being “terrorism.” Though the world knows that what the Hindu-state labels as terrorism is only but an excuse for it’s own terrorism.
While the panth was going through dark times, the pygmy Akali leaders were sitting in Air-conditioned offices celebrating their promotions and new positions of power under the state’s patronage. Ultimately by 2000 the Sikh militancy, as the response was labelled, gradually weakened and went to sleep. But the biggest blow inflicted by all this was that the vision which the Guru had for the panth was archived away and ultimately left to fester in the depths of ignorance. And it is this which is hurting the panth the most today. Once again a challenge has been presented to the panth in the form of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, a man similar to Bhai Tara Singh Vaan and other glorious shaheeds who were declared terrorists by their regimes but still struck true to their faith. It is now up to the panth to decide whether it wants to lose the Guru’s support by aligning itself with worldly powers or whether it wants to bring about Khalsa-raaj.
Sikh Unity ਸਿੱਖ ਏਕਤਾ 