By S Paul
My heart weeps when I learn about a certain faction of the glorious Sikhs of Bharat calling themselves ‘Khalistani’ and demanding a separate nation for themselves. Being born and brought up in that part of our nation where I have a bit of my ancestry in this version of our Sanatan Dharma, I never felt that the Sikh is different from us in any ways of our faith and culture. In fact, they are the refined (Khalis) and more cohesive Bharitye than many from the other parts of our nation and race. Their supporting of ‘Kesh’ and ‘Pugh’ has only been an improvement in this discipline brought about by Guru Govind Singh, who himself and his family were the most ardent sons and daughters of the soil and the race we now call as Bharati (Indians). I grew up in that community where every Punjabi believed in the divine through the spiritual wisdom of the Gita, Ramayana and Guru Granth Sahib. I knew of the great pride a Punjabi Hindu family took to make their eldest son support the 5 Ks (Kesh, Kada, Kanga, Katchha and Kirpan), a traditional responsibility of the eldest son to be the protector of the entire family. Sikhs have always been the strong arm of the docile Sanatani (Hindus) of this land of Bharat. They have repeatedly been exposed and thus honed by the onslaught of barbaric Islamist invaders from the west.
They have been our national leaders in politics, our military hierarchy, our scientists, our doctors, engineers, writers, artists, teachers and entrepreneurs. They have been the most versatile and industrious members of our society in all parts of our vast nation. They are well known as the improviser (Jugaadbaz). All the other Bharatiye, be it those of South, the far East, the West or Hills of the north of Bharat always accepted them with respect and these Sikhs mingled so well by adopting their language and their regional ways.
So, how and why did this faction calling themselves Khalistanis start thinking that they are a nation apart? I would say that, being human, some of our Sikhs who ventured out of the country and have done financially very well because of their diligence acquired the fungus of human ego and vision of self grandeur. A state of euphoria bloated by political ambition and fanned by anti-Indian elements of the world has made them believe that they can break away from their roots and establish themselves as a separate entity. It is very paradoxical for this community that, on the one side, through centuries they so generously served the needy through their ‘langars’, with even the poorest among them volunteering to do ‘kar seva’ and, on the other, they are developing this divisive urge to form their own nation by vicious and subversive means. Well, why not those who are no more ‘Khalsa’(Pure) feel that they can become a nation, buy an island somewhere in this world and create an imitation of Pakistani Punjab by isolating themselves from their own origin and rest of the world? I implore them not to start the decline of this noble discipline of this race known as Bharti; not forgetting that the Gurubani ‘Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ has been contributed to by many sons of the soil belonging to the region of Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar and Madhya Pradesh. The Guru Granth Sahib was composed predominantly by six Sikh gurus. It also contains the traditions and teachings of fourteen Hindu Bhakti movement saints, such as Ramananda, Kabir and Namdev among others, and one Muslim Sufi Saint, Sheikh Farid. Therefore, it is not the inspiration and exclusive possession of those who support the 5 Ks. We still have faith in the patriotism of our Punjabi Sikhs by whom we are recognised as Bharatiye (Indians) all over the world. Those who claim to be Khalistanis are the most impure and not worthy to be called the Khalsa anymore. They are puppets in the hands of the anti-Indian caucus, particularly the Pakistani ISI. Let us await the return of these, our prodigal sons and daughters, to the reality that we are a nation after all and must honour and defend its integrity against the jealous world.
