* TODAY WE CELEBRATE VAISAKHI – BUT HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MESSAGE? * At the time of his father, Guru Teg Bahadur’s shaheedi, Guru Gobind Singh asked were there no Sikhs present to stop the injustice?’ The answer was, ‘yes, but no Sikh stepped forward and no Sikh could be recognised from the others’. In 1699, with great foresight Guru Gobind Singh garnered the strength of the Sikhs in the form of the Khalsa - a universal brotherhood, casteless and country less. At the same time, the Guru created a sense of unity among the Sikhs and their supporters. This unity and the resulting strength in the Sikhs, did not sit well with the local Hill Rajas. Firstly, it disturbed their system of discrimination and division; secondly, they could see that the forces of the Guru were becoming stronger in number and in armaments. The Guru encouraged the Sikhs to become a martial race while at the same time introduced us to the concept of ‘Saint Soldier’. From that day forward, being a Khalsa meant you should have no fear to raise a voice against wrongdoing and not turn a blind eye. The Guru regarded himself as the servant of the Khalsa, to serve them pleases me the most; no other service is so dear to my soul. Together, the Khalsa became the spearhead of resistance against tyranny. On this day, we also bow our heads to the memory of the 125 Khalsa’s who in 1978 showed us again, this tradition of the fearless Khalsa. Bhai Fauja Singh led the Jatha of Singh’s, barefooted and reciting Gurbani against the Nirankaris, whose blasphemous insults and actions were a direct attack against the Gurus. The Police and Nirankari’s opened fired on the unarmed Singh’s resulting in the death of 13 and wounding of 75 others. Today, we need to ask ourselves if we have abandoned the message of our Guru? If we remain true to it, Punjab would not be on the slippery slope towards self destruction.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 08:54:46 +0000
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