Current Events

Who's Afraid of Sarabhjit Singh Dhunda?

IQBAL SINGH

“Sayeth Nanak: Falsehood fails. Only His Truth is left standing …”
[Guru Amar Das, GGS:1283.17]


The week of November 4 to 11, 2012  will be remembered by those in the Sikh-Briton community who were witness to the following events as both a sad chapter in our affairs and, at the same time, a triumph of Truth over Falsehood.

During the week, a visiting Sikh scholar - Professor Sarabhjit Singh Dhunda - was twice stopped from addressing the sangat. And then, the night of November 11 saw violence erupt in and disrupt proceedings at a UK gurdwara.

So who is this Sarabhjit Singh that some would resort to violence to prevent him from speaking and yet others will pack a gurdwara hall to capacity to hear what he has to say?

What is it that he has said that engenders such controversy?

Sarabhjit Singh is a graduate from the Gurmat Gyan Missionary College, Ludhiana. The institution is world renowned for its dedication to spreading the message of Guru Granth Sahib, with the emphasis that it is the only source of spiritual guidance for a Sikh. 

It is the simplicity of his message, that nothing but Guru Shabad should be relied upon for guidance and that time should be taken to contemplate Shabad, that attracts sangats in large numbers to his talks.

But, at the same time, there are a couple of reasons why his utterances are at the centre of controversy.

The first is that he is outspoken in his opposition to the ‘sant samaj' and  ‘dehravaad,’ i.e., the cult of personality based on so called ‘holy men’ which, ever prevalent in India, has now spread into Punjab and is now also infecting the diaspora. 

Secondly, along with others such as Prof Darshan Singh, Sarabhjit Singh is of the view that the entirety of the Dasam Granth is not the composition of Guru Gobind Singh.

It is this latter position which is most irksome to his opponents.

These opponents were determined to stop him from airing his views during his visit to the UK, which began on November 3, 2012.

The detractors got their first opportunity to do so at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Slough on Sunday, November 4. He was scheduled to address the sangat at 11 that morning and  arrived at the gurdwara on schedule. But his opponents had also gathered there. They were determined that Sarabhjit Singh  be stopped, no matter what the cost and regardless of the disruption it may cause in the gurdwara service.

And so it was that when Sarabhjit Singh took the stage, before he had uttered a single word, those who had come to disrupt his talk, stood up and caused mayhem in the darbar and forced him off the stage.

Some of the miscreants who had come to prevent him from expressing his views were identified as having come from as far away as the Midlands, some 125 miles away.

During the ensuing scuffles, some of them were even heard to shout, ‘Knock off his turban!’ He suffered minor bruising during the melee.

Thus, Sarabhjit Singh was not allowed to speak from the stage, despite the majority of the Slough sangat wanting him to do so. He had been stopped from doing so by a small but loud and violent handful, many of whom had been imported to the congregation for the purpose.

This event on its own raises some profound questions but the events in Slough were just a minor precursor to the even more disturbing events that would take place during the rest of the week, culminating in the sad goings-on the night of the following Sunday, November 11, 2012.

Another flashpoint took place on the evening of Saturday, November 10, when, in an act of desperation to stop him speaking, his opponents invoked the involvement of the Jathedar of the Akal Takht into the whole affair.

After having inundated the offices of the Jathedar in Amritsar, Punjab, with calls threatening that a continuation of Sarabhjit Singh’s katha would result in ‘trouble‘, they somehow managed to persuade the Jathedar to issue a directive that the event be cancelled for the evening.

So, to the dismay of the sangat, but to the delight of his opponents, the lecture was cancelled. The service was brought to a close and the sangat started to leave.

However, the mood of the sangat was one of simmering resentment at the handful of protestors, some of whom were told to their faces that evening that on this occasion they had even outdone the Taliban.

The next day, Sunday, November 11, clarification was sought from the Jathedar in Amritsar by the committee members of the Gurdwaras of Southall. Ironically, they were told that the restriction on Sarabhjit Singh had only been for the previous evening in order to maintain peace in the community. Something which had been threatened by his opponents in the first place!

The Jathedar made it clear that there was no further restriction.

Sarabhjit Singh spoke to a fully packed hall at the Guru Nanak Darbar, Southall, later that afternoon, where he was honoured with a siropa. It was at the end of this darbar that members of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara committee announced that he was invited to return to Sri Guru Singh Sabha and speak there that evening.

That evening, the sangat arriving at the said gurdwara could sense that something was brewing as there was a strong police presence outside, even before the katha started. The hall inside was packed full, once again, when at around 7:30 Sarabhjit Singh commenced his talk.

He spoke for an hour and during that hour the ranks of those who were determined to do violence to him swelled. The same ‘president’ of a Midlands gurdwara who had been present at the Slough ruckus was there again.

What followed the end of the lecture was 3 hours of what can only be described as some of the most shameful and ugly behaviour I have ever witnessed from individuals who would call themselves Sikhs.

It was behaviour similar to what we witnessed a couple of years earlier from the same mob when Prof Darshan Singh had been invited to do kirtan at the Miri Piri Gurdwara, again in Southall. On that occasion too, individuals who otherwise wore kirpans and professed to be amritdhari Sikhs, broke windows at the gurdwara and shouted such obscenities that they can’t be repeated here.

That scene was repeated on the night of November 11. The gurdwara gate was damaged. The hooligans assaulted members of the sangat as well as a female police officer. They shouted obscenities at Sarabhjit Singh and were determined not to let him leave the gurdwara without doing violence to him.

They effectively laid siege to the gurdwara for more than 3 hours and trapped whole families inside with little children who had to listen to their obscenities.

Finally, the police who controlled the situation admirably had to resort to using police dogs to disperse the mob and had to escort Prof Sarabhjit singh out with a police van. But even after he had left, it was sometime before police could let the rest of the sangat out safely.

I have described to you in detail what happened in order to lay the groundwork for a discussion on some basic questions the events raise for our community worldwide, not the least of which is, who should be responsible for running our gurdwaras?

Should it be the committees appointed by the local sangat or a group of extremists bent on violence who can arrange flying hit-squads in a matter of hours?

Sikhi is the fount of human rights and freedoms to a degree never seen before in human history. It accords basic freedoms to all.

Are we now to tolerate an assault on freedom of speech?

More tomorrow ...
 

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