Latest Update on Sikhs and Dera SachKhand from the Punjab

My last post was about what we knew at that time.  Since then, there are new updates.

After the attack in the Vienna temple (actually a dera of the Sach Khand group), there are news confirmations that Sant Rama Nand has passed away from his injuries, while the Dera head Niranjan Das is in stable condition.

There are also reports of violence in Punjab.  IBN live reports the death of 2 people in the Doaba region and also one should note that it seems that the army has been called in to parts of Punjab.

One person was killed and four others were injured as Army jawans opened fire in Lambra village, 30 kms from Jalandhar. Another person was killed after the police opened fire on protesters at Jalandhar Cantonment railway station.  [link]

In some ways I believe that this is a tragedy of the 80s and 90s.

Although caste consciousness has long plagued the community, despite the clarion call from our Gurus, those that ideologically joined the movement forged a true brotherhood (Singhs) and sisterhood (Kaurs) (for anecdotes, see Fighting for Faith and Nation) that went beyond caste.

However, there were still those vestiges in rural Sikh society that downplayed the heroic role of the Sikh Dalits (or as Guru Gobind Singh once said, Rangretas).  The Indian State (represented by KPS Gill) completely tried to negate the role of the wider Sikh community and label the movement as only an intra-Jat Sikh affair.  The reason for this is completely understandable on the side of the Indian State.  The revolutionary potential of Sikh Dalits could shake all of South Asia.  The Gurus understood this and thus channeled the rebellious spirit of the downtrodden into a Gurmat-based revolution.  What is truly a travesty is that the Indian State’s story of downplaying the contributions of other groups within the Sikh Qaum has largely been bought by the Sikhs themselves.  Many Sikhs even view the movement as some Jat movement, thus losing its revolutionary nature and becoming nothing more than a peasant uprising.

Since the 1990s, various Deras have been successful at dividing the Sikhs amongst castes.  If Dera Sach Khand is successful, the Sikhs should not point the finger at none other than themselves.  True, that others may play roles and others may have interests, but if I can borrow a term from another religious group – the “original sin” lies with us.  Giani Dit Singh was a shining beacon of the Singh Sabha movement.  The Singh Sabha’s success and in some way that of the Sikh Revolution, in general, lied in its ability to end caste-consciousness and forge a community of true brothers and sisters.  In so many ways the Singh Sabha is attacked today by many different sides, but they are blind to its truly revolutionary nature.  If Sikhs take up the call of equality again, then as a community we have a future.  I strongly urge for Sikhs to join their brothers and sisters at Bhagat Ravi Das Sabhas, other “caste Gurdwaras”, etc.  and begin the conversations for us all to begin a new revolutionary movement in Sikhi.  If this conversation can begin in the face of this tragedy, then maybe as a Qaum we can all be better.