(In response to a poem that speaks of Hindu women being rescued from marauders by Sikh heroes in the past.)
I like this poem as a voice of protest against ritualism. And I hope this protest is not limited to only "threads" - there are so many other symbols which are as useless and helpless as these threads and yet we are willing to die for them.
And the other thing,- I do not know how gracious, dignified and heroic it is to keep rubbing this point about protecting Hindu women from marauders ad nauseam .. Most of those who saved Hindus women were men who had only recently been drawn from this very society and were not aliens brought in from foreign lands.
All the Gurus' Sikhs came from a community which we seem so keen to ridicule today. Would the Gurus too have spoken about that community or any community the way we do? Or would the Gurus even forgive us for doing what they so strongly forbade us? The ancestors of our Gurus too belonged to some community. Should we ridicule them too?
I doubt if Sikhism teaches us to humiliate our protectees by constantly reminding them of their failure to protect their women. Even our own women folk were attacked and left undefended on many an occasion in history - right up to November 1984 (Let me recount a personal example on this. Life and honour of two of my closest relatives - my Bhabiji and my niece were defended and saved by their Hindu neighbours in Janakpuri, Delhi. These noble neighbours risked their own lives for this in November 1984. And that was when Sikhs had deserted one another for their own safety).
So where should I rate the selfless courage of these Hindu neighbours who were not even close friends of my brother and who yet protected his family against members of their own community?And the voice raised in favour of the Sikhs by eminent Hindu legal luminaries, journalist, human rights and civil liberties champions and many, many others is too recent to forget. True there are elements in that community who act against all established civilised norms, and are driven by communal considerations. But such elements exist in every community, or don't they?
And if we are so keen to remind Hindus of what our forefathers did for their forefathers, must we forget what they did for the Sahibzadas - to name just one example ? The Sikhs themselves deserted the Gurus but the likes of Todar Mal stood by the Guru and his family.Examples of the Hindu followers of the Gurus sacrificing everything for the Guru and his family are far too many to forget.That is because the Gurus, unlike us, did not speak the language of hatred, derision and ridicule against them. And these Hindu devotees adored them and loved them better than they loved their own lives.
I think we are being unfair to our own religion when we run down people from other communities.
Just a humble point of view.
I like this poem as a voice of protest against ritualism. And I hope this protest is not limited to only "threads" - there are so many other symbols which are as useless and helpless as these threads and yet we are willing to die for them.
And the other thing,- I do not know how gracious, dignified and heroic it is to keep rubbing this point about protecting Hindu women from marauders ad nauseam .. Most of those who saved Hindus women were men who had only recently been drawn from this very society and were not aliens brought in from foreign lands.
All the Gurus' Sikhs came from a community which we seem so keen to ridicule today. Would the Gurus too have spoken about that community or any community the way we do? Or would the Gurus even forgive us for doing what they so strongly forbade us? The ancestors of our Gurus too belonged to some community. Should we ridicule them too?
I doubt if Sikhism teaches us to humiliate our protectees by constantly reminding them of their failure to protect their women. Even our own women folk were attacked and left undefended on many an occasion in history - right up to November 1984 (Let me recount a personal example on this. Life and honour of two of my closest relatives - my Bhabiji and my niece were defended and saved by their Hindu neighbours in Janakpuri, Delhi. These noble neighbours risked their own lives for this in November 1984. And that was when Sikhs had deserted one another for their own safety).
So where should I rate the selfless courage of these Hindu neighbours who were not even close friends of my brother and who yet protected his family against members of their own community?And the voice raised in favour of the Sikhs by eminent Hindu legal luminaries, journalist, human rights and civil liberties champions and many, many others is too recent to forget. True there are elements in that community who act against all established civilised norms, and are driven by communal considerations. But such elements exist in every community, or don't they?
And if we are so keen to remind Hindus of what our forefathers did for their forefathers, must we forget what they did for the Sahibzadas - to name just one example ? The Sikhs themselves deserted the Gurus but the likes of Todar Mal stood by the Guru and his family.Examples of the Hindu followers of the Gurus sacrificing everything for the Guru and his family are far too many to forget.That is because the Gurus, unlike us, did not speak the language of hatred, derision and ridicule against them. And these Hindu devotees adored them and loved them better than they loved their own lives.
I think we are being unfair to our own religion when we run down people from other communities.
Just a humble point of view.
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