the idea of the sikh state - gurcharan singh and lal singh gyani
TRANSCRIPT
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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'~int~' by ~ irz_ Mollam~ .' ,S . iq , ,t 'e' ,ipo ,BI .~ II Press
. t i l R I O ' o d J l j Lahore 'loll p u _ ~ I i _ s ed b:y ~ "wall S~, 'DBb" II J i.
'abo -. ek l S op, La ho e,
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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INTROD'UCTOR,Y
This booklet is an attempt to present in a
brief 'rna ner the de mand which the Sikh people
have formulated for being given a State in their
Homeland, the Punjab. This particular ,emand,
h il h i ,I III [I Id hw ncr In its essence c s quite 0-:, nas come ' t e o
be emphasized and. put forth with full vigour
by the Sikhs allover the Punjab and outside,
and is at present the national political oblec ..
tive of the Sf ~h people. The' oackgro nd of
the Dema d its historical and constitutionalbasis and other allied matters w'iU be found dis,-
cussed at sorn length i : the course of the
teatise itself. It need 0 I y be said h. re that the
Sikhs have arrived at the objective' of d,emand ...
ing a State for themselves after 'Making tria, of
safeguards, ccmmunal settlements and various
ki -c ds of g, arantees. W"th the best of inten-
tions, constitutional safeguards and guarantees
cannot be sufficient to protect smaller peoples
thes e days a~'ai.Dst 'powerful and organ ised
majorities. W' are .living in' imes of totalmobilisation of peoples, The press ,re of majori-
ties te lls. The Sikhs ale keenlv alive, IDn the
basis of th experience of the past, to the
dangi , of living in ,I state of permanent depen-
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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. .
dence upon, the rule of any majorltv+-Hindu.
Mus in or 0 her'. Tbcv have, thereof e', made
up their mind nQit 'Q trust to safeguards, ,any
longer but to' carve au. a State for therns .lves,in which they ca .be independent, fee from
int - rference a " suppression and in which they
can develop thei individualit y an strength.
Democrsc as~, political system is goo
within homogeneous societies, but where perma-nent and unalterab e barriers exist, unadulterate'
democracv prove s ruinous '0 s a U g,OUPS" which
are paced permanently in a position of helpless ..
ess, For' the minotr Ies only one -em oct 'anc
safeguard is adequate, and that is that the
..majority agre to shed Its character of maiorit ,and accep a position 0 parity with the ' mu ori ..
ty . Unless 5, ch willingness is fort corning Din
'the part of~h Muslims T n tbe P u jab it ·,8
apparent t rat the Sikhs h:ave no ·eason to feel
'Th 1 ., he c : re ' , ',II! on,y atternative 'to Slue _ an ~ a ; range~me' .t is the spitting up of rne Punjab. and
carving the Sikh Stare out of its presenboundaries.
The S O h demand is not based upon tb _ spirir
of aggre ,ss~ve cor munalism, It is the only
effective' scheme for survival which t ~y can
think of in these critical : days of CO~ munal
bitt erriess a id imn inent persecu Ion an '_a' temp
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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mi anon 0 Tb Si,~
' e : e 0~
f rviv Ia d to give~ .l
•e
I I , t O g , atl s 1 , e, - " e - -
rop that heir sms Il voice i n no . go
mi of I, a ,- , " · f h, b~
e po e', u, g au ' , '
of ne S age in dtscosslo s
•I
enIi .,n -, ~ to-
hie aut: _0 S ta e the oppo :tunJt,
e ~ i~ra i~, e ' 0 S ,_d - "to expres
_r dj
I .C'~
suggestion '. and' or placin vo . ainousIi j., ~
."t· . e' " e C I . l' 10S -
OUR. 'ACHAN SI,NO
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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-
I
M E '. lSA"
~. • I •
Hind1
sta a d P akistIt f the es
n~-
,1 ua
omm alis
S~k" .
char.ged wit
r
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'p
es aced i 3 pas Ion in W .ich
na " ~ ten
ey can 1 0 1
t "
rad po lt ca
!I ii
ell
III
X I ~ce
y for nin y
r h
corn
sen '
of rovincial ,[ITS.•
h
~ II
elV
lab;
• e t a,l ~0] ri 0Ily re r en a · ~I at erin
h pr .sid f1t ship of "lastercomrnen ed to the Shroma i
op t . L, ,. Y1 'a rs n ee5~O]tion 'was
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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SI lA~: ~iPatJi [ii ' i I l h ~ &c I C ~ f l S . 1 1~s'ntl~IVcIMI I_gI~2~[Ef I&1~~;sral i tsIJJ~Jh~BOrg-: ~ 1 0 .1
z
Afte iving mature and thoughtful con ..
sid srat ion to the foregoing, the Panth is
s rongry of the 0 inion hat no safeguards
and gU,3 ant es of a constitutional nature,
no weightage or p .otection, promised to t e
Sikhs by any of the maloriry communities
can be consid ered adequate to protect the Sikhs
an' '-nsu e t aeir free and urihinder , d g ow h as
a nationalitv with a distinct religious, ideo ogical,
cultural and political haracrer :
In order t -c ensu e the free and unfette red
grow - 1 1 t of the S f c h P a n t h , the Panthdemand - the splittin " up of the existing
II f ' th p i l i ' Ii h iiipro'vlnce 0,. r.r 'e . 'unja ~I,W'-_.., Its unn~a,turar
boundaries, so as to constitute' a separate auto-
nomous Sikh Sta 'e in those areas of the ICen tral,
North 'In., Eastern and South- .asn rn .unjabin, which the ave: whelm ing oar 0- he Sikh
,opulatior is concentrated and whic " because
of the propn _tors in it being iostly Sikhs; and
i- 's I, eneral character being distlnctlv Sikh. is also
"he de facto Sf' h, ' ome and the at 3, extent,rhe stat ~s nd cons iutional frame ..wrok 0 such
a Sta e being lefo be, settle '.by negotiation
betwt en the accredited representatives of the
S1h anth and the other Inter sted parties,
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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I C - l n " , ] Si~tli ' l 1 h o a lg } e s t ] P'flntl~l~M . II 9 I !C " ~ &1'" ! : ' .SJi ! lsi, - l h l . c r g, . ~
3
h 'i d
f th~ so .vm h
u c ' n i ' io al a ' S :1 ,
II i t " - '
, ~
h"-
d ms ill,
I
abov •tn s
II!
t 1·S ," pose a
will de" cera ic in cons it - io d wit av
anth a a ' hol .'
. ~
'. S " t _ . ~ 0 1 st I~c '. J ~ 1 e ~
tioi I , .' .he ultu _ a, " , rig" t5 h mii
. .
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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[
THE SIKH srA'TE BA,CK-OROIU, D
The demand for an B ronomous Sikh Sra '
to be carved out of the presently constituted
Punjab, which has bee ~_made by Si hs all over
·he Pun lab from 'hundreds, o f platfo ms fo a
consid table period now, may be' c, U ed r this
stage the united nationa demand of the S'kh
people. The entire force of w H I anc national
passion of the Sikha is acking it up. Th,fV are
determine, to push their objective forward
Irres ective of the sacrifices its achievement may
~ntail,
his demand "8 at [ust a cou ret -blast to
Pakis tan , as, is a leged, for t~re is no condition
attaching to its fu f i lment, ',s the S·.k shave
thought of it: for ',' ICO'- siderable time now, they
have feh hat t _ .e only way in which_.hey can
au vive is 0 have a state in which _ ey c n live
a ' grow as, a na Ion in ccordance with thei
his o leal t aditions, their inn _ 'urges nd their
political ideals. Such growth is im possible for
them SO l long 'as they I ave lying ave them the
burden of any majority Musl im < 0 ._ ,' indu~
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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5
hose weaker p rrners they woulc in any case
have to b e, in a la rger non-Sikh majori ty sta te,
So Pakista ',0 Akhand Hindustan, 3' fe dera ionf ~' ,. h h Id i fr con ederation, w - atever s'i,pe tne Tr» f a 0 J
the f urure is going 0take, the Sikhs cannot
v isuallze themselves in It i ' an y political situation
except one of bei -g organised in a stere of th j[
own, where t.hey can have the pow r '0 sbapethetr U fe without let oni,nd 'ance - frorn a y
commun ·,tv 0[ g -0 up .
This feelina of th - .rrcen t need of a 5 parate
state has been growing upon the Sikhs now for
close upon two decades. A,!, long as thbureaucracy was sitting ti zht over the provincial
admirustrarlon, the p' oblern of any polit" cal
futu!le 'ad not come b . rore tbepeople so
clearly as it came when after survey of the
Simon Commission it became evident t at somekind of ccnstitutior 3 1 1 changes werle imminent,
The M uslims began to clamour . or a per ..anent.
unalterable Muslim maj ority in the future
leglsla ut e of the Punjab. In the event of [his
Muslim demand heinz accepted the Sikhs sawfor themselves a, very dark fu.rureJ for they
would never be able to make their voice effective
in the administration of t e province in which
the overwhelming majority 0 their pop lation
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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would reside. Th Sikhs in this situation cast
abou for some way of saf guard' ng their national
xistence ; and ca ving 1 1 n '-V I province out of the
exis lng province of tn unjab W,B the so U' ion
whic oiler d · s I and which they suggest _ , in
19]0 to Mahatma Gandhi, in 193 - 0 the
Viceroy, Lod Itwin~ and in th - same year , to
Lord Willing on. his successor, m plac ing thisproposal for the so ution of the Sikh p rob lem,
and tncide c tal v , the commu. aI p roblem of
India, a U parties arne. 0, the Sikhs wee united,
ater the same suggestion, formulated as the
Sikh demand was resented 10 the Bri ish
Government at the 2nd Round Table Con ..
fe ence by th . Si ch Delegates, Sardars Sampuran
S' , g I. a' d U jJ aI SinC1h.. This demand was
baked u by 115 signatories repres nting all
parties, interests, g cups and view..points among
,'he Sikhs The demand , thr ~fore, was at th
irne it was first made ~t demand of th ~ Sikh
I . eople as a whole,
The demand 31 t at . rase was" iowever, nor
.'0, a sec ara e Sikh Sta 'e i it for he
splitt"ng up of', unjab, so as to aliena e
so e W'est ~ n Distric with an overwh lming
Mus im majority from t _ provinc a" ~ '-0 leave
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a srna ler province, a so more compact and
homog ~n_ous, f _0,. hlch rb,', pressure of a
p e manent M uslim majority 'w ould be lifted.
lt was ,this demand which ater on '.- c ,. to b
the weH"known Azad P unjab D ernand and has
been put, orward at present as the ",ernand for
_n ind .p end _n Sikh Sate.
The Si . . emand was 0 hi '.g ve V OVI IorImpracticable, It was fully in. line wlrh what
both, t ,.e British Government a ,. ~ the Congress
had a mltted in principle and later lr prac ' ice
ln so , ie parts. The Congress had alre dy
visualized the redistribution of '.be existingIndian provinces into 21 , on the basis of
language, whlle the BI'i ish Government iad on
the several DeCI SiODS ac ually shifted the
boundaries of provinces, as when E' ste n Benga l
and Assam were constituted into lone p rov ince__d the Nort ..W'estetn rontier Provin-e
Delhi were separate f om the Pun] .b, Ou
of these the latter wo chan es w e're m ad only
for administ ativ convenience, whl the par i..
ion of Bengal nd - e fo atio of, he pro-vinces of 0 Issa and Si 'were motivated by the
desire to m et t e dern nd of the nationalities
in _abiting the abov e-narned areas for .r e and
unfettt re ' growth in their ho - elands, un , mO l!
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er b y 1 _ 110[ e .
Isr . leal u t
em n d r nd 31 0 [
.0 a t i t f
Th ikh d_ u r n ~
~r In
'~went he de a
· , which addle-
e ~ u a im ajo .y on t
Pu jab" T strongest and hi rer st 0 . ositiono i us p' ce 0 - . · t"' ~
ca - , f om e Sikhs, Oll of all the .0 itic II
n" I
nom 1_ ,8 a . S t ' Ie . I _ 5 l -fl· 0 .-
ated -nionis t Par - y was ins, '3 led in th . s at of
o . nm - n t i h D·, • ,e r ~ .nrial
,-to . Y t _Sik] s s ffe 'f re _i- 1 h a r ships.
T .eir Ii·o s cul u a · hrs zere n onl
-rae J t -I[ ra 0 shar h - . r ic 0 s W __
enied m J t - Y ere th w at- i
ery ltf .. a ima I, u ge,
nlabijwa; 5 ppr sse .n discourage - ; t
admi · t _at" - ' _ f _ 1 1 s si!!
1
he .
y
Mu I' . ,n, i. ·
ni h. if t
civic lghts of the Sikh .', _ .f
i b
ers
e
o
n e' of t h o
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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9
An ..l~ ia M usH n Lea ue. 1 1 5 was only'
symbol of the rising aggressive inten ions of the
Muslims, r hose ambition 0rule over and, 0- i..
nate ot iers was now 0 Iv too manifest. 'On the
othe h nd"he Sikhs ha ' been disiHusio· ed vith
re at '0. the Congress, the p oH ical organiza-
tion with an overwhelming Hindu majoritv in
its tanks. The 'C O gress sou c , h t to appease the
Muslims a - the cost of the Sikhs, and while taking
exception '0 the Sikhs organizing therns Ives
in self-defence, encouraged and accommodated
Musl im C 1 0 J ml nal ism. The Si I h a l t that time
felt r - h t na ional surviv J a n d an honourabl
existence (or rr em were possible only if they
could acquire i dependent po itical power" This
was possible only i. tract where they wou ld
note at the mercy of a 1[0- stitutiona majority
of any other group. In this situation erne' g _d
a fur' he step in the old Sikh demand fo r
split ing up of the Punjab, called he Aza , Pun] b
Scheme. This scheme visualized the constituting
of a new province. out of the Lahore luUundu'[
Arnbala and parr of the Multan Divisions, in
which area the S i kh s would be abl to have an
effective voice in t e :1 _ minisrr atlon. In this
area the Sikhs woul old the b I f, , I W o · - , a a n e e 0 pow r.
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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This scheme was pres .nted as the Sikh demand
to Sir Staflor Cripps: by the Si _h leaders inL
942, whlle reiecrins ,the ..'akistan d __Mand l
S y _ . oathy fo the S·,' aspl a ions w ,- s exp esserl
by Mr. Amry,he th -.' S. cretary of State for
I . I i~ i -ia e,'- t i ' 9 . , "A , l , left" 'r r l e re turn ofl_~ ~ _[_~ ,.1. n 'T- I - ~ -- -~
Sir Staffor Cripps from India.
The All-India Akal i Conf erence e d ~_Vahila Kalan, in Lyal pur District, in .hich Sikh
leaders from aU over India participated, passed on
- the 24th of ju V ', 1912 a esolution demanding
the readjustment of the boundaries of the Pun, ..
jab. The Working; Committee of 'the Shro-mani AkaIi Dal, the N ational political organiza ..
lion of the Sikhs,-e,manded tne establishrn -nt
of Azad Punjab by lrs Resolutlcn dar ". the 7t
J u n e , " 941 .
When the famous 'Gandhi ..R .ja Formula was
f J ated, according to: hie -, ehe Musl im aspira ..
ion for: kis an WIS to be accornmod ed, after
sepa 3 " ina the n 01n 'iI I,M .'uslim 'rna 0 ~"_ 'U an as from~ - O J _ _ ! L r ~ t:\I - ~ - ~ - ~ - , I " -J _ ~ _ I I " a ~
the ab .olute Muslin majority areas, d e Stkl
, '. t that accordina to this suggestion, t _Sikhs
woulc he divided into two one P It of hem
hotde up in Muslim Pun iab an . 't ae other in
Hindu 1 . ia , _oth dominat : by overwhelming
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non ..Sikh majorities. Such a situation would put
a " end to the' integrity of tl Sikh arion for
ever. s ,y this, rlme the Feeling h' d grown onthe Sl ell ' . , . th t t ,e nation Iexistence of the
Sikhs would be S fecu rded only if they got: :
erritory in whicl th y could buil ", up political
po- er for t .ernse ves, fee both from H ' du and
lusli ,dominafons, So the Panrhic Gathering,hie,' assernb e ' at A rirsar on he 20th c ugus
19 '4' response 0. II call front M,' ster Tar'
Sinah" w Ue rejecting the Gandhi ..Raja Formuia,
made .he demand fo[, the establishment of the.
Azad Sikh State :n th event of Pakistan beingestabli hied" Thus at ast the Sikhs made he
-,rnand acco dlng tow-icb they sought to es..
tablish rnemsetves in power in areas where they
have tne overwhelming majority of their popu-
lation ~where th ir sacred places . are si .~a ed andwith which they hav - indissoluble llstOI'i al
1-
ties an associations. This political objective
caught the imagination ofb,e Sikh peop e, who
saw in this demand the only way in .,hie} ,t he
cou d survive in the midst o aggressive con ..munalisrn. The Sikh aspiration to have an effec-
rive say in the administration of th ~ Sikh part
of the Punjab is very old and roote deep in
history. Throughout the 19th century the Sikhs
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.. .
hay of
e nizati n h po .
I · 01. rno re r IS. ~
1 S
li h erno atlc st te, ·• T I !II ill 1 1 - h I! f ~ 'o art: C IK - J : 0 r r e
I I C h t
em~ ~
as ~'I C l,C •
I •
ice the me ti . o. true Pa hie t] .erlf· es
Si,. . 'tate 1 1 . co. e f om ikh ,~angats '. . 0 I
ndi . h. r g at 1 n,
Th ·1. S' h Stud n ts' F . et .f' in
. . a d m " hit h· s br__.'t dohSa :0 C m O t t . ;~ , , i
demand. . e Shromani Gurdwa a P arb ndhal
C ' ass ' h 9- _ .Ie . 6 t
e d f, - . h . sta blis m " 0 ,£ h S·k
St trt m r.
he Co ,m i ~
v _ '
_.to o~-s :a
he . ,'n. _ 1 1 tl . I
clain 0 a ar
c arne Si hHomeland J
ve 0 nh ·" I tur 11I,
iveI
I-St•
0
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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commun Iism .. It suggests the only way in while
a smal l natio litv, ve V s nsitive and indepe - ,"
dent, can surviv ' in the midst 0 communa l mg..gressiveness wl .ich i on 'he ascendent in lodI , at
this moment of the his 0 y of OUI country. The
Sik s fin ~ that while the Musl im is. hostile a
them witt} all ' he bttter memo ies o f" the Sikh ..
. uslirn ...stru gles handed downro m history,he H indu NatilonaHsm_spc·' ' I y its Punjab
b can " has tried to disrup 'he Sikhs, to break
up their unity I nd to reab orb them into Iindu-
ism. Without political strength ' 0 minority
can su vive, especi U y ln the present ..d __ worldof total organiz tion and mobilization of peoples,
e only way, therefore" in which t' c e Sikhs can
e cape the fate of such almost: extinct- eoples as
t e arsis, the Jws, the [ains and others is tt at
they ca rve out fo r t i c , selves a state in wh"c ',they can make laws and be fret: from aggression,
The Sikhs do not seek to dominate 3 yone.
They want to est .Iish a secular democratic
state, ':in which the bulk of the Sikh poputation
'mal' be concentrated. The economic baSIS oflif in such 3; s -ate is bound to be socialistic, i ll
accordance w ith the traditions of the Sikh
society, and the inner urg, of the hardy J I self ..
r specting Sikh peasantry.
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
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S I l A ~ : S i~ ~i- ' T 1 h ~ &clc~e'!lPI~nt l~ ] rc .~llalllin&lW W W '~ ; s ja f tl tb s ~ 1 1 ~ r a lh ~o r g~ _~! O
II,HIS ORICAL VI_ W ~''F ' HE KHALSA
The d, sire .0 " .•st in a s 'pars te in _. en de . ~t
State is" as w e hay _'se _D in the Pi -vious cha ter,
.he r action against historlcal process of t e
rise and growth of Hindu and Muslim com ..
mu -alisrn in India"~ with whrch it is not possib e
to have any truck in the pr esent . hase of Indian
- istory. It is the natural culmination of that
feeling of distinct nationhoo ~'-",which after hav-
mg rernai .ed arent for a long period has oeen
made, vocal a d self-assertive in the Sikh people.
T e B,ritishrule' has had t .e e.' ect of ki ling the
Sikh aspirarions and of emphasising their division
and sub ..division into' small castes an socia
group I thus fomenting among them petty local
jealousies and ambitions to the exclusion of
a.ny large fe,eUng of ....atlonhood, "he Sf.'. s•.
being small in . umbe shave suffered enorm.o'us ..
I· - - S I I ' · h I h ii b'In ,,·e p .ocess, ' ·,1.~' ru e over _. '_ "'D_ 3 1 .
(or over a centu y an'. a. quarter had welded the
Sikhs "no a strong co pact and ell ..knit
arlen, which f, l' I· ho ght, hoped and ac ed as
one man, '.-h -~Sikhs organi ed as "the K alsa 'I
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SIlA~SI~tJi - ' i l l n a chJ}~S!lP:~Ultl~]~~1181i ! iJ lQl '~~sJa~tts !11~:alh~- -
5
acted as a distinct, separate nation o n the days of
t e Misals and : der Ranjit S i , 1 g b a d after.
The Kh IS.B is the Dame conferrer by Guru
Gobirid Singh upon a people knit togeth r by
faith in a como ron relieious Scripture and reli ..
gious pn ceptors, i a certain way of life, markedb h - iI I l ' " f ' h I!j. 1 . 0 ; hI ,v t -e I.~-stitu non 0,'" e cornrn IIn Ity J .< l tCI en or
l nga,. and a purita rical, military organizationI
and having a su feme se t of authority and
I gislation in t e A kal Takht af A mritsar .. Guru.
Har Gohind, the Sixth Guru and Guru Gobind
Singh, the Ten h Guru, who organized ° he Sikhs
fa fighting Moghal Imperialism, gave them all
the qualities and attribut s of ,8 natlorr=all xh _
makes a peop e active, alive and able to mair ...
rain a rigorous politieal character. They wer
organized as a . commo wealth bound together by
ties of religion a d of a comma , political objec-t"ve I' W 1 1 ich was successi vel y to fig tMogh a- an-
ot er .~ominatlon, to cart'y on the go ernment
in the various parts ,of he Punjab, and tater to
carve out and consolidate the Sikh, Kingdom.
The Sikh people were 3'°
first th ocratic iheir political organ iaation, submi tin' later
to the monarchical dis ensation, and now
they are organizing their na ional life
on a democratic basis like the othe Indian
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7
The Sikh de moc raric way of U fe w - s suppr .5S d,
and the Gurdwara's" cen tres of the Sik 1 1 . national
life, \ ere . laced in the hand 0" hereditarypriests" \ J V 1 Q tried as far as practicable. to dil r te
this Sikh f eling, Th Ak91 Tak]: t was no
longe' the Sf. t of the Sikh national '. iH and
Powe r . symbolized by the Panth,ut a m r,
.altar wher oflerines W·Ie n1a e. , The esul t
W,;)S that the Sikhs, became divided and disrupted
and lost all consciousness of their historical past
as a na ion. The Panth was no longer a living,
vigorous nation, but a herd of uno, ganized
people led by corrupt p Iests and hereditaryaristocrats. se Ifish tools of British Imperialism,
L he Sikh revival from this state c E prostra-
tion dalles from the gr a.t days of'the Gurdwara
Reform Movernen t. which made the Sikhs
aware after' nea I . y three quarters of a centuryof atrophied national existence, of their great
and sp lendid heritage 0' being the Khalsa" the
Pure , the' E I. c r , the band of Guru Gobind
Singh, Lord of the Hawks, It a roused in the
Sikhs the f cling that th y were me nt for ahigher destiny than that which appeared to b ,e
marked au. for them under the two ..fold
do' i ' ation of the British rule and tl eir own
p r iest-c raft, So they resumed in those critlca I
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· ays the er tire consciousness, organization and
arap hernalla of co'~ plerely developed nation ..
I ood, They were running ,3 kind of p arallel
Government in the form of the Shrornani
Ourd, ara P,arbandhak Committee. which issued
commands and or inances, 0 ganized [atha ~
fought the bureaucracy and through its actions
galvanized the entire S~kh people with a powerfu]
feeling of their aroused nationhood. The Sikhs
recalled and revived the ent ire .atrern of their
national Ufet which had been given to them
when Guru Gobind S i gh h d ere" re the
K halsa.
The Kl' Is is ssei i l t v ; a olitical con ..
c priori, a fusion of the people, into a nation
on t e basis of re igion a conquest not political,
but: spiritual, .hrough conversion to faith. Assaid above, < h e Sikhs were kept busy through
bureaucratic and i perial stic tactics '\ Ith petty
objectives and little 1 0 c @ 1 and clannish disputes,
so that they almost complete ly lost sight of their
conce p ion from the sword of Guru GobindSingh as a separa tel inde end en t natio n ~'and of
th ," r glorious istory as ,[I conqu r ing , dominating
people, once a t suprernelv important facto' n the
aisro y of ndia. A great ieople began to look
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upon Yhems lv s a s , : sect, a ' 'fI'f off-shoo of
Hinduism, a r form move men. , I and ' rus for a"
long period the p ople e I" Iost ir the
wildern 'ss Such , E l l I', t· ,I 5 ' range p anks pi v eby history, hen grea movements sweeping
along with the majesty of rivers 3. e suddenly
lost in the sands of arrested riatlonal growt t
The _, indus of th .9th cent- y turn' d the
defeat a d misery 0 Sikl s to thei ow . acco nt.
Hindu propaganda spread t' e view rr t the Si ths
we -e Hindus, an so great w rs the confusion of
hought that so m ~ny Sikhs lost along with theirfeeling of na tionhood, even the f ai t of their
ancestors, Lit L _ '3 .S d ne at t h e time by the
Sikh 1, aders ''0 co ibat 'this evil, L , - te r J i: '. the
20th century, wi h the ns of the C ong ess as
th dom inant fo rce on the Indian politic 1 scene,emerged rh cone p jon of the ,~India Nation"
of which all Hindus" Mu~U ,.s, Sikhs an others
were component groups and WI re to be styled as
mere ~'conlmun'ti s ' '. rom this feeling of
ein --, a com ._un ·ty the Sikl,s h rve take n v', I Ylong to emerge, The KhnJ sa of Guru Gob' c d
Singh the Co rnonw alth 0 the Elect, the
e .stwh ile conquerors and rulers of the Punjab ,
Ka hmere , Peshawar a. d ower Ttbcr , tl e people
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20
\V 0 alon in]n ia 1 ad deve oped all he
disi lnct atr: ibut '5 of na io l ood, rind bad l ived
3S It! ration "'Iere con' ent ro be sty led as a U com ..
01 nitv l' and fie ega e '0 a very back seat in deed
O n this group of communities. The Sikl shaves
however, now emerged from the illusion of
beins B community, foster e d by t'lelust or
domination of Hindu : ajo "ity and have formed
the true conception of their status and have
accordingly demanded a National State for
_hernsel yes.
Thi ' the Sikhs are demanding only in the
areas in which they ar as a matrei of fact
already serr ed for centuries, in which the land,
the cultura and educational ent rp Ise is
predominantly rhcits, and over which thl Y
would also be rul ing had not an a " en bureaucracy
urnped up so '_ any distinct nationality areasO n t o one admini trative unit called 'the Punjab.
,such is t' e historv of t o fortunes of t '
Sikhs as a na (on. Their history marks them our
as a sepa. at . nation who ,I '. .loped and stamped
hemselves on the pages of history i n . 3l manner
alto ether differen J v from any other people, for
example, the Marhatas. The history of nations
is a contin ious process, arid national conscious ...
eS5, suppressed sometimes has been known '0
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2
ii
In
•ihma . . . . 0
hII S~1 !I i
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ill 1111
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l ' 1 n " l 1 ,_iPfl~1~1 ~I c~d:est 'P,a:nt~jutM 1B O lW - t l G f ' 'W 'W 'n [S~9nL:5l1fh~'org." ~ . ~
2 ,1
even after hundrec s of years of foreign
do inatton a id disn emb ~rment. That i s , what
is happening at ... sent to the Hin .us, who afterabout a thousand V I a s of f oreig domi nation
are emerging as a Rashtra or Nation. Th
nationf}l~IOW h of the Sikhs has remai ed
suppressed only fo r abou - 7 5 , vears, w en ,they
allied under the impulse of the GurdwaraReform Movement, an, revived the submerged
pattern 0 their national U fe and aspirat on.
At prese t to a Sikh there' never i any doubt
that he belongs to a difierent nationlity from
that to which" for example, a Hindu belor gs,
As soon as one UI s Sik] ~ one is a changed
person, His group ..consciousness undergoes a
change. Conversion to Sikhism i s , nor a mere
incident ln his life; it is a comple e transform ...
arion of outlook and pcrsonaliry, One's hot es
an aspi ati ns, one's enti -e p : ttern I O f life, on's
political ideals- wal acquir a new synthesis ,o f
which the componen elements are the istinc
five Si!kh way of lif and the Sikh feel ~na of
onenes ; 5 a arion all over he world, irres-
pective of the country where any Sikh may at
the mo . ent be residing. Every Sikh. and every
Sikh atone, is a member of the Commonwealth,
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IIH1~: i P 4 1 til - 'iIlh~ecIC~=~!l.s~ntl~]Vc~llaliliJl&l '~mSJantl l lprafh~ B o r g~ I I oO j
z z
t_e Khasa, subject to the social, religious and
. olitica . i eals issued from che Akal Takht, the
Sikh sc: of spiritual and temporal authority.
This exclusiveness, ar d this strong ie~Jing of
oneru ss as 3 grou . \-vl lch overrides al] distinc ..
tions of irth , on icile, social status e c. J is
. hat has given (he Sikhs t at fe ling of na ion ..
hood which has characterize their outlook and
be' .aviour all through the', history
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I'V
THE KHALSA A ~.ATION
Modern pol i t icn theory Iavs owna number
of t ests fo judging o a t group whether it is
genuinely a nation or not. In 8 , c l m atters. as
t .Iedete: 'mination of the nationhood of a groupof people, ulti rnatelv no Ja\V5 can be of any avail,
-
be cause the appea l in such cases U . . s sol, If to the
force of rh w in ,of the roup to be accepted in
a certain character by the rest of tl e world. Inhe las r sort the ap eal lies to the inherent
st ength of co . ic r i onin a group a d its p owe
to 1 ave its claim admi tted One st eng nation
or group of na ions might accord recognition to
the natio al character of One group and might
withhold the same ecognirion from ano her,
t]ough sim ilar g roup , accordingly as it might suittheir conv nience. S O t the ~. I .re fac t t at the
nationa character of a group is dispured I y some
n: tion or nations, does ot necessarlly invalida _ e
the c laim of he former ; it only shows that such
claim might be inconve ient to ot ers. Ulti-
rna -ely streng t ~ and will alone wiU , e errnin .
the issue, The rebel provo rices of North
America wer recognized as a save' fg nation
by the F rench K i gc om irnmediar I, after the
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51lA~Si~ t J i - ' i I lh~&IC:~~11~llntl~11;M I I- 9 1 1 2 i - Ii l& ' [~~;5jl~tSJll~3Jh] B o r g
24
(0_ clusio 1 of the \Va" 0 .ependence wlrl
Great Bri am, whi! such recognirio has belen
wirh held by the Allied nnrions uptil the pr sent
ti I r 0 1 1 1 1 the eople o f Indonesia who aT. a
. istinct nation. situan I - ' "way fr th main
Ian in r e s a, and .isro r ically nO I p arr of any
larger nation. Whmch proves rhar sue, recov-
nition 'is a '3 tt er of conve ni nc and force.
Law s and principles rniht be interpreted anapplied in this or that way accordingly as it 'may
suit: the big er ,of the partner" as almost all the
rules of international law are.
But even accord ing to 'he recognized princi ..
pes of political theory, tie Khalsa is anation, and few lean be proved 0 be such w·, h
a better or his.toric I y sounder claim, I-de-
termini g what constitutes a nation Doctor 'Ii .: •
Ambedkar has analysed the nation 1 feeling very
pointedly and lucidly, t h u s : 1 I I I I i i I I I I i i i I
I , j Natioriali 0 y is a social feeling. It' s a fee ..
in ' o f a corporate sentiment of oneness which
makes those who are charged ~rith it f·el that
~hey are kith nd kin. This ationa] (eel' g is a
double ..edged feeling. I is at once ae,el·fig 0
feUowship or 01 e S own kith and kin and the
ti..f ellowship feeling fO I rhos w ho are not
one's own kith '8nd kin. t is a feeling of ,~~on ..
I ciousness of kind" which 0. tl e one hand binds,
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581n~Si~tJ i om , c T 1 h ~ &h J } = S ! l PI~ntl~l~M I 1 9 1 1 I iJ tR l c ~ ~ ; s ja ~ b S J I 1 ~ l a i h ~ B Q r g
)
togethe those who have it, so st onglv that lt
o .erri des all differences arising out of economic
conflicts or social gradations and, on th other
severs them {rom those who are riot of th . 'j
kl d 1 ! It is a longing or .0b · I O 'n to any 0 h c
This is the essence of wh t is . ailed :'
n tioriality and national feeling "'
Ifwe app ly his
veryclear and
indisputablv
correct est to t.e S 'kh pee 1 e , - . e D _ n d chat the
c aim . of the Sikhs [0 be considered a distinct
nation or national group J disti _ct both {rom the
'indus and the Mus ims, carmot be disputed,
T," e Sikhs feel as one, 9S belonging one to an ..
other, and as being dis tirict from every othersocial group, Hindu, Musl im, Christian or other.
This feeli g is S,Q strong that in the most solemn
moment of their life, a _ the time of offerie g. . d i l l ' " Imorn.ll·n - an _ evell1n~g p,_.a.yers l In congregarton,
a n Sikhs everyw _ ' e all over h world recallt _ c sacrif ices and bra v ' deeds of a I Sikh martyrs
an ' sufferers in rh caus of their fai[h~ and callmoreover, Divine Grace on all unernbers of (he
Khalsa everyw he-e. ,hes,e a _' th noble words
oft he Sikh ,ria yet :__"""",.
uMay Divirie protection ext nd wherever
the Khalsa esides :
May the supplies and swords of the Khalsa
be in the ascendant;
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May he sraytng p lac sand - anners of the
Khalsa be er rnally I I ssed."
he Khalsa f .els as one ~ the Khal '3, has a
con' iOUSl ess of kind. which m kes lim call to
ind in his dailv ravers not only his feHows
livins in h" present, but also thos of' he ast,
aer I~S thus cementing feeling of 0 eness
among all Sikhs, which has existed 11 t rough
history a f eling which.xclues effecr.nvely allorhe s rOI beinz mernbe -'S 0 the Khalsa Com-
monwei Ith, unless they get iniriation into it
, hrough conversion, an I which rna es th Sikh
on to be of his own g cup and iot of any a hie.
This feeling"s so strong that two Sikhs, how ..
ever dissi HaT in tl eit outlook, soc ia l glade an -
habits , win be drawn to each othe 'much more
powerfully than ei her of them would eel
drawn to a t non-Sikh of his ow n cl~ss, pro: inc
or orofession, This'eHng is powerful and
vocal, and it stamps t r e Sikhs, ,ffectively as a dis-tinct social group, efusinz ' ,<0 be merged inro any
orhe grou ',.0 to be co ~sider d as a ar er
arger whole in which hey might fig re as a
at re com' u[ ity.
Why the distlnct and separate national charac ..ter of .he Sikhs ls so often los. sight 0 , is be...
caus racially most of the Sikhs ielong to the
very sam e cast's and sets into hicl he Hindus
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are d iv ided, Ther is :1 . s' mblance, i,some
cases C ose, between cettain Sik] am I' ndu cus ...
toms, bu t this esern bla .c .e an . E I p p a en t affi n i t v
is '. ue to .h. ope arion of sev r 1 SOCi9 and
econornic factors, which due to th difficult cit..
cumstances through which the Sikhs ha>~_to pass
r ight f om the incept ion of the Khalsa, could
r ro t ]» effecrtvely C hecked. A s the Khalsa had tOI
fight the Musli i who was he co mon enemyboth of the Sikh and Hindu, th . re remaine
a sy - pathy and feeling even of kinship betwee
= h e Sikl ana the I· i.U J which tended very
of en to emphasize the points of resernbl: .nce
between the two peoples. As he Sikhs have had
o 60'ht for their very . 'istence since the founda ..
tion of the Khalsa, conversion ·0 S' ..- ism re-
mained very often incornple tie and all the ariel s
and social laws of t c Sikh Commonwealth, en...
ioined by Guru Gobi ~_"~Singh, could not be
I.
nfo rced . In the confusion that e . .isted allalong since the 18th century" many of the Sikhs
earned on a pre arious existence, and l ived o '
the safe border ..I nd between being taken for
Sikhs 'OI Hindus as the occasion might require.
Thus occurred that state of affairs in which the
.,xc usiveness of the Khalsa. W3.S VI - y often not
emnhastz ed in emote villages and by semi ..lgno-
ran' preach ['5 of Sik :lLSn1, But t. e awakened
Sikhs always acted as he Khalsa - a dis .inc
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people~ an .'he mar orr l odox among the
Hindus hay _ -alw ys . irher fo ' ghthe Sikhs, as
an alie n people. O[ have tr ied to induce th em to
revert to Hinduism on the specious plan _hat
they are only a sect or a _ form movement within
Hinduism -, othing provokes the Sikhs so
mUC"1 as t .is description of the Sikhs as merely
Hindus. Sikhism in its origi . ~ far from b eino a
move. ent within Hinduism W; 5 , revoit againsti t. T osc who have atte pted [his l ine of argu ..
meat) have always receive ,a stern rebuff at tl e
hands of the Sikhs, 'The Sikhs r ig ,tly regan
any Hindu atte npt t a . erger as a subtle and
extremely dangerous attack on their integrityand autonomy as a people, superficial resernb-
anee earn p r 'O v,· the S ikhs to be , ind . c any
more' " an such esernblance can, prove the Nazi-
ryans to be such .
.,' tem p ts, i~ht be made to be ittle rheSikh clam. to b,e co nsidered a ation 'y .oint-
ing our that. the Sikh have so far not c la imed
vocal y that they are' nation. Such arsuments
are f utile, fo r the fact that up till a p ar ticu] r
moment a g oup did ot ha e sufficie t con ..
sciousness of tts exclus iveriess a d was co er t
to be described as a co rn m uni [y} is no bar agai nst
· ts c iJU ing itself a t nation a te hat. Histo y
shows that the Sikhs were conceived as a no ton
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~the Khalsa ·by Guru Goind Sin'gh, and have
acte " an '. orzanized themselves as such th .euah..
out ,t'he two and a half centuries of t 1 1 eir
us tory, Th e form of Sikh addres to th e oeop l
congregated for social put poses is nKha~sa , j ' [ , ' ,
or (lOY e of the Eh~(:t". In th is very form of
address, there is that feelins of exc IU ' iveness,
that feeling of oneness Uas a people ,. distinctfrom any others, that deterrn ins ticn to remain
one) which stamps and characterizes a nation.
What is lr, we may ask, that constitutes 3
om tion in the final analvsis ? Race? language?
A continuous stretch of territoryi AU these p., r-
h'e \IiJ but no aU these alone .. There are separate
. atioris in existence, belong! g to the same
[ . c ia l stock. There are distinct nations speaking
the same langu3, e a- surely as there are nations
of which the varlous component parts, speak
different languages, T\\10 or more nations can
live in a state of pet petual conflic within the
same te .ritotY!I and many ultimarely br ak up
to found separate states (or therns .Ives.
Ultimately what makes of 3 group a nation
is the will to be one" Win in man is son thingsupreme, which ri es above lW$' , divisions and
barriers. This will is a splritu I urge, an impulse
to form a wholev a union. '[1 def iance of the
whole worl - on the basis of common history
and a certain way of l i f .
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30
W'hen the K ' , halsa t _ o ' 01: iii S ris !lIto ...- Q -~ " J. , I!L was not
merely that a new sect was added to the large
number of .ell ious sects already i existence
in India. What happe led v 3S that c new out-
look, a new way of life, were -OIn he founda ..
tions of ,3 . iew nution were la id. which was to"
play important part in the history of the
. u njab an of its neighbouring Jands..t doesnot detn ct from the charact r of the Khalsa as
a t nation hat it took its rise as the result o fconversion to 3 religious doctrine. Nations are
not formed only on a secular . 1 gal, geographical
or econo mic basis. What makes a nation. i.s the
con tin uatio n . of a tr clition, W aich keeps the
eopl e one, But sometimes in history the will-
of one man forees a new unity, a - ew group,
which . ight cut across already xisrtnc tOU ,S
an t svste . . 5 As a resul t o· a ew idea an orga ...
ruzntion may come to . xn . e , and nligb,t O' ive bh hto a nation. Of I.. OU se, son1e ideas rove still ..
born, at d the organizations sle t up as at suit of
- em r laps int ... the g DUpS out of wh ch they
are bar 1. This is what happen d to th - sect or
K bir and to v .rious other sets in t· e" istorvof . ndia. But the idea of Guru Gobind Sin
\lV3S living, and it took root, t be arne the SOl tee
of .. w life, a new organization an· a new people
who became one so ffectively thar the y would
e··use to marc: with any other group. A Sikh
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when he gets converted to Sit hismv vows a
renounce his previous a. C . strv, his lineal ties"
his cast .. and his previous faith. Thus, h .beco es
m rnbet of a n w ati n, the Khalsa, and lives
and ac ts as such. Thus we have i .n the Sikh c o - -
version an instance of the creation of a new
nation, w hich is as s u o ely a genuine nati on '· S
any w hich might claim to be sue] on geographi ..cal , ethnic 0r ot her basis.
Convlcrions and faith are the greates ties
which bind rna . to man. A na ion h ld roger ,eI'
by bond of a common f f . ith and outlook is a
nation in virtue of ve y strong and natural f es
indeed and, ust be taken to be such I . spe ciallv
if i ts unity has stood the 8tresses 0 history,
Re nan, the Or a . Political hilosopher describes
th recess which welds a people together
into E l l n atio ,and this process is 3~ plica - 1·. so
close! y 0 the . ikhs as if it 'lad been enu ncia tido urpose to prove their claim to nationhood.
Says Renan :
UA nation is a Iivl n sou J a spi ritua] priociple.
wo hings, which in trut h ..r but one, consti ..
ture . is sou', th is sp ir itual p r inc ip le . One is inthe past, the o t her i. the present, One is ,1 e
co . mon posses" ion of a t·ch hcrit ge of e' 0-
ries ; the: other is the- actual consent, t e desire to
l iv together , the . i ll 0 pres rve worthily the
und 'vide inheri (nee w icl has I een hand-
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e
0\'
ant ~ glory.-
+ thes for h
al i - : r J ay b
g l it thv c
com ttl ' t c r - 'n t ;
do 0 et r, 0 ,0
ik .ain, sue t l 1 con (fa
fort
m 'k i'g0
e " . ~u •.
n has t 3 in eri ta C 0 flo a' ·- , r r, 0 e
h ted, i e futu "__lik ideal t ·alizec ·
ve u ff' red, I[ _~ -I j0i.:,.,a d 1 0' e
I these hinzs ar r 1 . ri· re
S'-0 1~los · a .' '] n" , ~, '.".
a, 0 onde this -. s· g. The Sikhs r aa ion ' r ci e y of os ssi: a r
heritag 0 10-ies ,h II ,r.i.:' th ~-
s n to ' 1 1 r, or : ; I - om and of fight
for 1 e fa ith of t c_ ' G ut ,_ " t : is " vi teo" S ' -h
tnar a U he S " _ 's eye 'h : - . om n
ne uniti 0' . h 0, h r such as the au
0 hey put in ·
v 0 t "OU P or go. s n r [
T'o 1 1 a e 0 ~-0 ~ , l 0 ,.·e ill tea,s t c 1~."~' '
" l in h l' e ent ; _IV on.e tit "1~gS
10 e t er , to' iII t 0 _ 1}2.1 _ ~
B " " .. -ch aret~ asi hi'__nat 0 n y I " S I •
he i h ~ have erno _5 of - hi ir _orl 5
o .hul a _ r ec tlon, 0
I0' . a i . t ion
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lf~tog -~,
at· ]
h
I
U liviii
tn, . II!
Ion ! 3 S 1 ro II ,
.- II
-0 1 c r [ V e r -w I eII
-
10 ~IO'g t
S . ong e I • of. '. iona
, cc pit .0 " the '. 1 a l s o ~ r 'hi b ls I _ I ie ut a
ow d an in. a me fa .
~tic .
- o liti 1 SC '
, at .h.c , 0 ,I
will
(Vi I V [0 ,_ S .
m _ e ev
li~
-wh ,e , : a '
ath r
_- g, f veca
'om
as, ' ses
st tus .f oeing
Is . ih iIi
CIO .
h -
i is ultlmat I y
'nc' _" _ Y
peo] I
h.' 1
O. 5 C a .mc,
son nd aug ter of Gu
a
hom i A n dp
on lit ca
C IV ' to
conv ted ih of 30 her' as e i n at
. .
r!l rill
. ut ' Ir l _ 3 ,
0, oirit
be 0 b n
Go inc s · ~gh a
() ty s
ill
1
han
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ilJn~;·Siplltli ' [ 1 1 1 1 0 Gld}_,~l~ , I ; n t h j ~ . c tM,qllli~IJ~t',"w.ww~~S!l l : ts ! l l~a11~
34
Hindu of his ow . caste would be. This is a
very revolutionary fee ing in Indian society.
0-· e of the two tests of nationhood is whena nation conti nues to hold together as one in
spite of being subjected to a political and other
cr isis. Says , Sidgwick , in a passage which applies
verv comp let - l y to SOl e of the 'g rea te st suffe rin gs
in Sikh history" I' What is reall y essential to
the modern conception of a state which is alsoa nation is near y that the persons (omposing"t
should have, generally speak ing , a consciousness
of belonging to one ~nother, of bein - members
of one body, over and above what tbey derive
from the fact of being under one Government,
so that if their Gov'ernment were des tro yed b jJ
war ' or revolu tion . they would s tiii tend to hold
firmly together, When they have this cO,l$cious ..
t1,ess., we' regard them as [orming a UNation Hi
whatever else the,Y lack."
Consider carefully the last words of th e above
quo arion. Holding f irmly together, in spite of
the destruction of their Governmen t is the test
by which we (9. conclude the exis renee of the
stron g indissolu ble bond of na no nhood. The
Sikh people have stood this fierytrial"n thecourse of their history. Tyra n r a f t e I tvra n r in
the 18th century attempted to ex erminate the
Sikhs. to break up rhei r cen tral organiaatton
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30_
•
.he
~- r
the
I d
ati J peri I
n orde the ac of the Sik ~8 bell- g
1 1 . uot h, ' g
.' a ve ty cornprehe , Ive p ra ·ng
o h sur 0 n ti nahty,' or
e ' n Ii l' I( , re g ' '
dra n tog ' [h. l in ' d togc tl I r byy c
of mII
c -
r t ' - I In s ghe ' i se d r t,·o S
ther is also hat ense of com. uni ty wof ~ '.
. .I
I
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tio . of ~co m ' ' nts or suffe •ngs
t S J - C 0 c n
ha~ts 0 ho h commo id aIs
an
II
a ' ' . ese '1' el ~i _ ,ts are
nd hoi the member, of the, gre e
er : 1 e m es 01 OTe ",.- jJ absen
e ch cas I th < test. i at m srel» m ny
re J ho.s 1~D ' ac
I
lh c 'cludi11 0
s t s ~e
e r y cleat I nIi
IC O on
g part of the above uoration,h ie .ikh ~ F , 0
impl .•
om on 0, l~
commo lit rature,c l ' - _ : 1 1 co r b ~ eom . o~ rg ta
make the Sikhs into wh r acco din' t. Sta ,",
_ C ' O 1 e ,: tien, at i ~' -i c i C ' _ n y I 0 " ,
S 8 Ico uni ty of Ian '_g. r tend ory J 1 e - ,I. 0 ·
li' _- ad" sychologlcal m e..up man if es ted ·n a
f 1 "ommunitv I C l'
The Sikh ·s, own .0 posses" a character
raIii III
g _
a e11 1
"I'
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3 7
i'.,ibed a great sp ir i ual gospel , ight be
expected to posses · Of th various ingr edients
o nationhood the S ilhs possess quite a large
b ,~ d ~h d~ ~n m e 1, sa stro n~ a)e } 'ree t· at . tsruptrve
orces 0 arlous kinds have ' not succeeded i"
making the Sikh sentiment of nariont ood
unstrung, The Sikhs still think, fee and spire
as one, visual ize t emselves facing the future asa sin le unit, anxious to preserve their sin loess
and " nity i'a world which ' rhey feel us ostile
.0 1 : : ieir way I f life. To de yo t e Sikhs,
ther fo 'e, the right to call hemselves a nation
on the groun .. 0 - their nOI: posssesing patch of
rerritcry, wnere they rtu ht be aving an
overwhelmi g ..iajority in,e popula iori,
and on the score of heir resembling the Hindus
in ce ta in r es _eets, is u nj ust and only strengthens
'he suspicior 0 t e Sikhs t. at the rnaiorities
want to k eep them mder t~.eir thumb somehowo other.
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v
TH ~HOME FOR] THE KHALSA
~.he Sikh nation han been roused .a natlona
cor sciousnes and now claims rerritory O n whichit may be able to live in peace, free from
poli1l:i'caI pressure and inti rf rence and to develop
in accordance with its own id als and u . 'f::;,.
The Sikhs are numerically a small nation. about
six miilions, and of these about four and a half
millions reside in . he P njab. The four million
odd Sikhs have expe ienced that to ive with
_..onour and self ..re peel has been rendered impos ...
slble (0 them by their nei hbours, The Muslims
who wish to do inate the unjab, have a tacked
. he reliaion. cult: r and the civic an' political- ights of the Sikhs through [be Muslim domi ..
natec Gover' merit 0 the Unionist Party which
ulec over the Punjab {or 9 years fro. 1937 to
19,.6 . The Sikhs f eel that under Musl i
dom i . a ' ian they would find life intolerable asth,ey found i t ear' ier under the Moghuls, and so
they have expr ssed their .i1 not to go into he
projected akist n of t 1 e lv t uslim League con-
c pti 0 I nor 11:0 remal inside the f ron' iers of
the present Muslim ..dominated Puni b.
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The Hi dU5~ on the at -r hand have tri""
to absorb the Sikhs. They have let .Ioose a
terrific vo urn _ of p op aganda 'to coerce . heSikhs into eff ci_. the separat. and hlsro jcally ..
evo ved f atures of their n ..tlonhood, an have
tried to make the" lose rl eir Sik consciousness,
A small p eop le such as the SIkhs are, fir d that
in the face' of-his dou.ble atta k, one Trorr the.
the Mus im sid _ ad t e other ft'orn he Hin '-,
aide, their very ' su vival is t eaten ·c , in these
tim s when the technique of propaganda is so
well. develop ed, an, the pr ssure of majorities
tells so heav I y U 0-- the existence of the
minorities. So, in s ,,',talarm of being suppressed
and disintegrated, the Sikhs have fo r the firstII d d f II III iIttme rna: e B . .ernan ..~ rot aer , - R given a territo
ir which t ey lea . Ive safe from at ck, and
were··h y cat maintai -, th eir national exis ..
renee and self-re p, ct. The Sikh cas: fo r
self-preservation I as so far . 'one l b y efault in
at b,e"n clearly and] properly C" esenred, It Is a
ve V ' serious isue" A small people a'· dy, sel ...
reliant, superb in character, sp e d id in ideals
= ls in a . danger virtually' of _eing effaced. A nappea is made to 'the nations a ake up the
cause of the Sikhs and to arbitr: te . nd arrange
t .ings so as to guarantee t e tkh a tolerab e
existence in the' corner ahe globe which e
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has occupied for centurf s, a d whieh Is is by
Ighr of domicile) associa Ion : nd development.
The' robl m of doing ju tic to the Sikhs is
, very urg nt proble · Th'e Sikhs are a highly
ener iric and vir ile eopl v hose contribution in
war an, ~pac _ is many imes heir ' umer ica
s rengtn, I f you look for a people reso rceful,
fea ess, se lf- sac r lfic in .un h]ghly self ..respecting,
here you have one. The Sikhs have fougbt a dwi hstooc the mighty power of the M U D ' h a I s ;
hey have stuck to the faith of trie i ances-
tors in f ce of the blocdiest religi ous pe secution
the world as known; they have fought a hand-
ful of the', -gains ,'f3VY odd in the 18thand 19th centuries an not: only orotected the
lives and honou'r of the people of ,ndia from
Af,han violation but a..so es ablished a powerf u]
rule dispenstn ood Goverrn enr in accordance
with the standards prevailing that time. InBri'[i ' h .ines tn e S : 'k ns have _on the, hig I 'a t
praises and none higher than they+-fcr their
p rowess ln th - fie . They ave t u V ' ived i the
pirit of t '~'pro .necv of their Guru, '-.'-'0 said
"hat 'h e ha . m de them in' 0 hawks, w ~Owoulc
fig] .. a d as i ,hig'· 'Tl ey a~ a people" w ho oro-
duct; in spite of their small num ,IS, th e major
p ar" of the tic' harv 'sts < 1 0 he P unjab. The'
S' hs are by f 3' he b st agricul urists in Indi
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SIlA~ SlpatJ i <iii 'iIlh'a ~hJ}~S~l;I~ntl~]Vc~1191l!in&l'~~;SjaRbs!11~~fh~BQr- .
and the most enterprising coloni rs. 'T ey have
esta blis ied more schools and col! _ges than the
Muslims who are numerically so many tirnestheSikhs, Thy have overthrown, the fi st in ndla,
a corrupt priesthood, a dege ner te aristocracy
3 .d the obsolete medieval apparatus of social
Iife~ such as pu dah an, other baneful customs"
They are a people among whom the vices of civi ..
Iization are at [he minimum, a people among
who th'f're ate no beggars, no prostitutes! no
parasites and among whom, the state of general
physique ismuch . igher tha arnon any' other
people of In" ta, They a 'e extremely liberal and
tolerant in their outlook and have never perse-
cuted for reli .Ion in the c ays of ti eir rule. I I : is
o preserve this fine peop e f om effacement that
appeal is made to recognize their status as 3 nation
an to admit thel - claim to a land w hich is already
in their possession as its principa inhabitants.Not to admit their .demand would be the height
of inju ice; it wou be to imperi] 'their' v 'ry
existence as a people. Such, an act would have
rhe eff c t of forc i - g a bitte r , d5pe r.a~fight for
existence on the Sikhs against those under whos
rule they might be sought to b'e place d.
The Sikhs are getting veryday more appre ..
hensive that the question of 'heir future might
be hrown overboard and Great Brlra in and the
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- 2
. ~ ~
.l~ri y r
s tt'I, m n
for h m .,
in In
Ii ill
_ i o J _ nsir -
l y .
..: ,",' 0'. d r 0 a·
II
1 sra ces
isme b ..
of 0,'
a of
e st n ". t r in tion -0
te .0 _ ' e1v s
11
e
II
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43
t
what ,. re aU h ' bee. giv n to a . [a geu be
of nationalities,though
unl app i ly anumber"
I
illremain w itch ore suppressed uncle the name of
co .imunities, colonies, trusteeships ee,.
Some people in our count ' ' ' I talk of safe ..
guards, guaran ees and welghtsge (0 protect
the culturaland othe f"ghts of [he minoritf s.
Th: Sikhs have no illuslona abou t the value
and fate of such" safeg ards ' given by a power-
fully orga :lised majcritv. ,.hey C O " , be violated
at will, a . d the minorities are helpless atth,e
me - c y of t- e rna ~oritv lw hie with its resourc 51
ca ., always disrupt and disunire the minority,and render it Incapable of concerted actio ~
Therefore, the Sikhs have dec ided once fo r all
not to rely on ny C safeguards ' guaranteed by
wharever powe r II
Mode r n nolitlcal the ry has, recogniz ed in
practice the pr inciple of provid L g na ional
States to .he v rlous nationali ties ' f tei the
first world war rhegr,ear Aust ian} , Tu .kish and
Russian em - ires were broken up, and a large
number of national stat ~S created ir order togive an opportunity to ,t e various nationalities
composing Europe to ive in acco dance \v:th
their best interests and traditions. Some of the
riew national s ares [ user at \ ere ~Po and,
Cz e c ho ..Slova k i J Y ugos lovi a, Rumania , A 1JJst[~,
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44
Hungary and Bulgari I. On an ertimate it is
found that whe eas in 'he pre ..war Europe of
191', t ere were alrogether 23 states, the Trea y
of Versailles divided Europe into 65, States, The
J ews , wer prornissed a nat ional home in their
sac red land . ,I,estin,. Th under yiog idea of
all these c- anges and declarations was to give to
every nat ion a fair opportunity to dere m 'C 1 ,
lrsown d .sti y and to ive in accordance with "ts
best interests. The S"khs demand nothing more
t an se f-derermination ; no hins more than tha
th ,-'conscience of the war d be wi h hem in
implementing' heir declared will,
The e are other insta ces of 'the oundaries
of the states and province's havirig'been changed
in t Ie Interest of giving 5 1 If-determination and
.iving space ,-'0 various narionaliti eS[I Tile Union
of Soviet Socialist ." public is a confederation
of Natio . a t States, each wi h its own language,
culture and traditions, developin~ free fom
outside inter! erence a or g , t e line Q - the
genius of its people. The Sikhs have a culture
a , said earl ier, 3 way of life and attachment for
.heir hearths an . hot ., ·n th· Punj ab ,a Ieelinaof deep revere ce fo, their sacred sh .ines which
are sea ttered all over h ·sa· All c h i 5-
vari OUlS features of their nat ional . life neec to be
protected . . preseT" ed , and the only' way to do
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SlAt ~ipalilJi 11h8G~~;~$t : a ~ n t l m l ~ cM il l,almtte1''~li[SI~rlft5ill~~~~org- -
so is to a low to the Sikhs a 'homeland a .d
a state in the ,8 . ems '_ here they ore already
se ttled.
."'hat air - :5 do he Sikhs claim as their
homeland and state ] The answer to such a
question Is V(!''[y s imple and ned not cause any
detail d controversy, Th Sikhs do not clai '
fori
hernselves : ,ny area, like the Jews claimiogP 'al'E :s ine, where they ar as a matt r 0 fact
not settled, and into whicl they are to be
introduced as irnrnigran S :~nd tnt u ers The
Sikhs on the othr band, make a very ' fair and
e uitab ,e c aim, In the i ' - iterest of sel f-preser-
varion and r u n order to escape the fate D a
helpless people g - aduaUy ffaced .rom the face
of 'the earth ' hrough 'the pressure of pe securing
, aio ities, th dema d the right to .atablish
themse 'vies as th,e gO Y erning group, along with
other groups T n a democratic, syst:em~, in suchareas as .hev are already occupying and wh lchhave a vital relation with Sik] History and UPOQ
which the Si ch cnarac r is s amped. The
question will natural y be asked, is here a Sikh
Zone or a Sikh Ia,ndJ
and if so.W
aere ? Theanswe I S , U Yee, there' is one, and it is a broad
and compact area of which the C -, tal Punjabis the nucleus" ,'I
The C ntral P, njab with he Divisions of
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Lahore and jullund 1[", with p arts of the Ambala
and Mul tan Div! ions, wl tb tl e area comprised
. ~' the Sikh State- and M a erkotla and with cer ...
rain of the HiH Areas in be No th an i North-
East is what may be caned (he " Sikh Zone ".
T ie grea teachers ~nd martyrs, the great heroes
and nation..builders of this area have een [he
SIkh Gurus and the Sikhs. This area has bee"
devel op ed by the Sikhs through ag icultutaenter arise ~,the land- owners and p rop erty ..owners
of tilts area a e Sikhs; the educat ional institu-
tions in this area are Sikh; the Iiterature and
language of this area is Sikh; about more than
80 per cent of the total Sik h population of tie
Punjab' centred in this area.
The traditions, culture and, hie most charac ..
reristic feature's of this area. are unmistakahly
S i k h j B S , anyone can see. The historv of this
area tor the past .hree centuries, is the historyof the Sik s.. There is 8 1 chain of sacred Sikh
Gurdwaras studded throu hout [his area, Q' jQ
standing at i ts frontiers, almost gird" n it
a ourid, and prole airnin ~ it to be the Sikh cradh
and ho neland, Towards ne e of ~t, in tue
north is Gu:dwara Babe di Be . i ' Sialkot, towards
the west is Nanka a Sah b J the birth place of
Guru Nanak, the founder of the S" h eligicn :
towards the sout ..west is Mukatsar, h i r , e Guru
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-idea-of-the-sikh-state-gurcharan-singh-and-lal-singh-gyani 57/58
Gobind Singh fought his great battle against
the Moghul : towards the . ast is Anandpur,
Guru Gob"nd Singh's own Capital, and in the
extreme south is Sis..Ganj in D lhi, he place of
martyrdom of Guru Tegh Sa adur , the father
of Guru Gobin Singh. In the heart of r is
area are th Har imandar 10 Golde Temple of
Amrirsar , the .ecca 0- the Sikbs and the
Aka Takht the Seat of Sikh authority. ,Alittle apart are Tarn Teran and Bhai P,eIU and
hundreds of other sacred Sik sh ri nes, Ris b t
in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab. are Dehra
Guru Arian, the place where the fifth 'Guru
became a m artvr, andt
h. Gu rd waras of BaoliSahib and the' [anarn Asthan, the Gurdwara of
the sixth Guru, the Shahid Gan] and so many
,0 her Gurdwaras.
It is in this land, which - vi rtue of proprie-
torship, development, historic ..associations and
religious sanctity, i lready belongs to the Sf hs,
where the Sikhsw ish to 6nd saf e ho ne J
frelf from interference. The Sikhs own more
than a quart r of the one hui dr d t cuss id
square miles of the and of the Pi niab. Insidethis area which is their hom ela l' "moat of this
land H ies. The Sikhs ar claiming I in asking
for this area, no more tl a vhar belongs 'to
them even by the r iaht of private p operty.
8/3/2019 The Idea of the Sikh State - Gurcharan Singh and Lal Singh Gyani
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-idea-of-the-sikh-state-gurcharan-singh-and-lal-singh-gyani 58/58
.1 V.
I s i 'I
e. , fo•
t i e conscu nCI_ 0
d , . " . c e .i,c an
'. ie thin b ,_ re closlng « own T h - Si . h t
af" as said e rl ier, ' Hb ra l-m i , " , .-ulcran .
reup e, orr ,[ .' gasp _I0-Gu uN ' nak 8Joa Gur:
God d Sil1gl t, ach '8 them th, r . Them" 0 ities '
rhich ' i l e left ,c- ithin t'- e propose S i "
Srai 1:, ave, oth in to f ar . T h e Sikhs" " U
. ro ect he essen ti: valuab ',.elerne ts of rr eh
cul ..T'S a' while giving them fre dom 'an,
O ~ en ' .v ' . I I l I , ' _ , I ~ , ' , ·a d .~I t _ h " . " [0 .x...I IS 1 f'r ._,~1 , ' - _ i ' · ' . . J ..~ I~
e ie ce I~,C[l, ha y and conteut d life.