Above and below: A sampling of the type of Sikh manuscripts which are in jeopardy.
Current Events
300-Yr Old Stolen Guru Granth Manuscript Offered For Sale For $4 Million
by RAJ SHEKHAR
The Sikh Reference Library located n the Darbar Sahib precincts in Amritsar was the largest repository of Sikh manuscripts and texts in the world.
In June 1984, on the day after all the hostilities stemming from the attack of the complex by Indian government armoured troops had ceased, the Library was looted by government employees, and then set afire.
Evidence has surfaced thereafter that all the manuscripts and texts then stolen from the Library were being stored in gunny bags in a warehouse in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
To date, not a single text, manuscript or artifact stolen from the Sikh Library, Museum and elsewhere in 1984 have been returned to Sikh institutions.
Instead, manuscripts or individual pages of manuscripts have surfaced in the black-market through the years, and have been stealthily lapped up by unscrupulous collectors at exhorbitant and ever-increasing ransoms.
Moreover, the recent intensity and fervour shown in hurriedly "cremating" old manuscripts of Guru Granth Sahib at different centres in India is merely a cover-up to hide theft of our priceless and irreplaceable heritage, all of it is then surfacing in the black market.What is happening in our various toshakhanas, museums, etc. is another story.
The latest trend is the secret looting of the treasures from the Takhts and the historical gurdwaras across the country.
The following news item from this morning confirms the nefarious goings-on, all being carried out with the help of senior government bureaucrats and, sadly, their pawns that have been entrenched in Sikh institutions such as the SGPC, DSGPC, the Five Takhts, etc. The so-called "collectors" who have buying these stolen items - both Sikh and non-Sikh - are no less culpable in these monstrous crimes against humanity. [sikhchic.com]
New Delhi, India
Three persons have been arrested on charges of trying to sell off an old manuscript of the Guru Granth Sahib to some persons in the city for Rs 20 crore ($ 4 Million).
The accused have been identified as Praveen Babbar, who owns a hotel in Karol Bagh; Santosh Singh from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh; and Kalyaneshwar Gautam from West Champaran in Bihar.
They told cops during interrogation that the copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was 300 years old and they had procured it at Patna Sahib Gurdwara. A police team has been sent to Bihar to investigate the matter, while expert opinion has been sought to find out the historicity of the holy book.
Sources said that the Karol Bagh police had been tipped off about the accused and their bid to sell the manuscript. They learnt that these people were staying at a hotel in Gurgaon and a team was sent to raid the place. But the accused managed to escape.
Later, cops learnt about the involvement of the hotelier, and raided Hotel Rahul Palace in Saraswati Marg, Karol Bagh, and arrested the trio. The manuscript was found in a hotel room, inside a bag.
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), February 20, 2012, 7:35 AM.
It is explained to me again and again when I visit India, by taxi drivers, academics, military officers, police chiefs, etc., that there is NO real belief in a 'God' or an 'afterlife' system in the land! All that matters to the people is MONEY ... praying to deities and 'pilgrimage' is done for some type of 'gain', mostly monetary or a 'boy child'. Therefore, 'Holy Scriptures' are mere books to be bought, stolen and sold.
2: Yuktanand Singh (MI, U.S.A.), February 20, 2012, 8:58 AM.
Sometimes, ever since 1984, I wish that the British had taken everything valuable from us. If they did then, we would still have our treasures preserved and available. India does not know how to preserve history. Add to that, the treachery. I am not sure which one is worse, people murdered and still imprisoned without trial or, the loss of our manuscripts and our priceless treasures. Should we petition the United Nations? I know that they have too much on their plate to care about our Granths.
3: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), February 20, 2012, 4:16 PM.
On a visit to the extraordinary ancient and beautiful town of Orcha (Madhya Pradesh), a guide took me to the top of the main palace where I was shocked to see that the 500 year old stone work had been vandalized with graffiti etched into it by 'students' and tourists alike who had risked their lives to climb onto the smaller roofed structures with over a 100 foot drop, solely to spoil their country's heritage!
4: Gobinder Singh (U.S.A.), February 21, 2012, 5:10 PM.
Rare manuscripts and copies of Guru Granth Sahib are scattered across India at various deras and private collections. It is very important that we preserve/ digitize them before they are destroyed or stolen. Some of our most valuable manuscripts have already gone missing and we have no way to access their contents again. Goindwal pothis, Har Sahai pothi, Amritsari bir, Damdami bir are all gone! After the 1984 attack, valuable birs like Amritsari pothi and many other collections from the Darbar Sahib went missing and were never found again. Some of these are probably being sold in underground circles, robbing Sikhs of their heritage. Guru Nanak University acquired a rare manuscript (MS1245) from local art dealers for a few thousand rupees in the 80s, which was also the basis for Piar Singh's writings later on. Who knows how many others are there which we don't know about.
5: Satveer Kaur (London, England), February 22, 2012, 6:16 AM.
The amount of disrespect that has been done to the Guru Granth Sahib in the last 50 years probably exceeds the 250+ before. To some extent, it is our fault. This is because, in many cases, such incidents are reported to the police - or sometimes not even this is done - which means pretty much nothing is done about it. In fact, I am actually quite shocked (pleasantly, I might add) that this case was actually acted upon by the police. Maybe we need to do something as a warning to people who do such things - So what exactly do we do?
6: Gurvinder Singh (Delhi, India), March 02, 2012, 3:25 AM.
Bail application of the main accused, Parveen Babbar, has been dismissed.