Current Events
A Bedtime Story ... For Sleepy Adults
ARYEH LEIB
There was once a small country, unique in character, considering the neighborhood in which it lived. Indigenous to the locale by virtue of its religious identity ... and yet, not considered so by its larger, more populous neighbors who never tired of excoriating it as a foreign presence; an atavistic throwback of colonialism from the days of the waning British Empire.
The small nation was possessed of a glorious past, both during its all-too-brief periods of independence and under domination from without, during which it suffered outward subjugation - but its spirit was never conquered.
Now, with more than half a century of independence behind it, the little country had developed into an island of economic miracle within a sea of backwardness and decline. The country was an example to be emulated in the fields of technology, medicine, and agriculture, as well as human rights and social justice. These blessings it generously shared with the world at large.
All this merely served to drive its already-hostile neighbors wild with envy. Rather than spur themselves to compete, they lost no opportunity to attack the people in every possible way. They invented a history out of whole cloth, claiming ownership of the small country's land, "since time immemorial". They educated their own people to hate their "different" neighbors, playing on territorial and cultural imperatives from their own cultural narratives.They radicalized their own people; former residents of what was now the new country who had fled when independence was declared.
Needlessly, as it turned out, as those who stayed put were not only not disturbed, but presently enjoy a far higher standard of living in every sphere than that of their ethnic and coreligionist relatives in the neighboring lands. They spun their web of lies to the radical left in the affluent West; the former college students who had launched a failed "revolution" to overthrow the existing order, and who - now college professors and media personalities themselves - were avenging themselves on a society that had spurned them by feeding their own hatred and frustration to that society's children.
To the surprise and chagrin of the small country's citizens, the international community chose, for historical reasons of their own, to believe the lies and calumny that the neighbors were spreading at every available forum. Voices arose, saying that the small country should be wiped out, that it should never have been born. All this, despite the fact that the neighbors' ethnic and coreligionist brothers and sisters were full citizens of the small country; active in its political and cultural institutions, even holding high and respected positions.
And the noose was being drawn tighter by th .... what? ... who??
No, this isn't recent history and current events.
This is a fable, a bedtime story, although admittedly one that will probably induce more insomnia than restful slumber.
No ... it's not about Israel ...
This is a story about Punjab ... about the Sikh Homeland.
Aryeh Leib, an admirer of Sikhi and its practitioners, lives in Israel and works in communications.
January 24, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Kanwarjeet Singh (USA), January 24, 2013, 7:21 AM.
Thank you, Aryeh ji, for stating the truth as is and without sugar-coating it. However, I believe this is God's wonderful plan. Reminds me of a story of Guru Nanak. In short, he blessed kind-hearted villagers with 'ujjarr jao' (i.e. may you get uprooted and scatter) and blessed another village consisting of mean-spirited citizens with 'vassey raho' (i.e., may you flourish here). The good have dispersed and spread their seeds worldwide and are flourishing while the mean and rude and jealous ones are still tied to their small territory, keeping the rest of the world untainted. If anything, Sikhs should live, always, in chardi kalaa. We always take the good with the bad as a blessing of Waheguru.
2: Ravinder Singh Khalsa (USA), January 24, 2013, 9:44 AM.
Incredible write up. Please continue to write more ...
3: Baljit Singh Pelia (Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.), January 24, 2013, 10:57 AM.
Wow, Aryeh ji, you are an enlightened one. Wish you could go on a speaking tour of India to awaken the masses. Thousands of years of superstitions and idol worship lead to hundreds of years of subjugation which has left this people in self doubt. Guru Nanak spent a lifetime trying to extricate them from the mindset of blind faith. Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadar gave their lives protecting the rights of others and Guru Gobind Singh's unparalleled sacrifice has not been enough to win their loyalty and admiration. The colonized chose instead to be lead by a trio of questionable character and vision, placed on a platter of a worthless document by the departing British, not by chance but by design. The learned scholars of the nation did not question the motives of the departing rulers, of dividing the subcontinent so it would never emerge. They failed to discover the path defined by their own Gurus. Had they merely understood even the simple Sikh greeting, "Sat Sri Akal" or the spirited mandate of the Khalsa, "Degh o tegh o fateh o nusrat bedrang, Zafat az Nanak - Guru Gobind Singh", the nation today would have been The United States Of India, par excellence, not the dilapidated, corrupted, lawless and violence-riddled slum it is today.
4: Raj Singh (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), January 25, 2013, 10:20 AM.
Shalom, Aryeh ji: Thank you for taking the time to write such a positive article and to share this with the worldwide web community. It's refreshing and encouraging to see that not just Sikhs recognize what Punjab has gone through. God bless.