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Above: detail from a print on 'Dante's Descent Into Hell', by Gustave Doré.

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We Are Diminished By Our Sins:
The Debate On Torture In The United States -
Janam Da Firangee
Sikhi Main Mangee

FATEHPAL SINGH TARNEY

 

 

 


 


The debate over CIA torture and the inability of Americans to have constructive discourse on this volatile topic is a function of the political polarization of the country. 

The two major parties, Republican and Democratic, each demand an ideological isolation that in past decades was not mandatory. For example, in the old days, one could be a pro-choice Republican and one could be a Second Amendment, pro-gun rights supporter Democrat. 

This is impossible these days.

I have been left of center most of my adult life, but I also believe in strong law enforcement. I do not believe that all black criminals are victims of police brutality. I am opposed to affirmative action and I am a strong supporter of an American’s right to bear arms. 

However, my Sikhi saroop; my pro-choice, pro-environment, and pro-union positions, prevent me from being welcomed with open arms into the Republican Party.

Conservative Republicans take pride in being devout Christians and yet defend the torture used by the CIA and think that euphemisms such as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques‘, or EITs, make it more palatable to the American people. These are the same individuals who espouse the Christian principle of “love thy neighbor” but at the same time belittle one’s neighbor’s religion, especially if it is Islam -- the bugaboo of the season. [In the past, it's been the First Nations, Mexicans, Blacks, Jews, Feminists, Immigrants, Gays ...]

As a historian, I am reminded of those during the Inquisition in Spain who tortured and burned at the stake, so-called heretics -- Christians who crossed them, as well as Jews and Muslims -- and still considered themselves good Christians walking in the path of Jesus, the humble carpenter from Nazareth.

What we in America seldom do is examine the root causes of the mistrust, resentment and hatred of us in the Islamic world. Why are some Muslims willing to kill themselves in order to kill some of us? 

George W. Bush would often refer to their hatred of our way of life when it is, in truth, hatred of our policies. 

For example, it is not our support for Israel, but our blind and unqualified support for Israel.  An American politician has far less freedom to criticize the policies of the Israeli government than does any citizen in Israel itself.

I have in both personal conversations and internet discussions, described in great detail the victimization of Sikhs at the hands of evildoers acting in the name of Islam down through the ages. I have spoken of Guru Arjan having burning sand poured on his body; being forced to sit on a hot iron plate and then being immersed in a river to drown. 

I have told of Guru Teg Bahadar and his companions who became martyrs in Delhi. Bhai Mati Das was the first to be asked to embrace Islam.  Mati Das asked for Guru Sahib’s blessings, saying that he was quite pleased to be the first to accept martyrdom. He was tied between two posts and as he was being cruelly sawn in two, he recited the Japi Sahib.

Bhai Dyala was told to either accept Islam or die by being boiled in a cauldron. He would not give up his faith. He recited the Japji Sahib and the Sukhmani Sahib until he died.

Bhai Sati Das was wrapped in cotton and set on fire. 

Guru Teg Bahadar witnessed all this horrific torture with serenity. 

Then, He too was tortured and beheaded.

I have told these stories and the fact that countless other Sikhs had been tortured and killed in the name of Islam and yet we Sikhs neither vilify Islam, nor Muslims in general, nor the Qur’an in specific. 

Is there even a single instance, unlike what has occurred in the United States, of Sikhs burning Qur’ans or flushing them down toilets? 

When it comes to torture and beheadings, we Sikhs have had far more victims than Americans have had at the hands of evil people claiming to be good Muslims.

My words to Muslim-haters have had no impact whatsoever. They continue to spew their venom and wonder why ever-increasing numbers of young Muslims get radicalized. These haters claim their loathing has absolutely nothing to do with Muslim resentment and mistrust of the West. These haters believe such feelings occur out of nothing or are simply inherent in this religion.

They are mistaken.

Osama bin Laden knew that after the 9-11 attacks, the United States would retaliate with great zeal. We Americans knew that our levels of vigilance and security would be substantially upgraded.

However, there was one additional thing bin Laden knew that we in America did not know. 

He knew that American values would mutate and we would sacrifice our high moral principles and do anything we believed would protect us from future 9-11s. 

Our nation became a monster allowing deep prejudice and discrimination to apply not just to extremists, but to an entire religion; to all its adherents and to anything current or historical connected to that religion. 

Osama bin Laden’s goal was war without end between the West and Islam and I am afraid he succeeded.


December 14, 2014
 

Conversation about this article

1: R.S. Minhas (Millburn, New Jersey, USA), December 14, 2014, 9:58 AM.

This is a place where we get tickets for jaywalking, parking, speeding, etc. It seems like the CIA went rogue. It is an arm funded by a democracy which dangerously acted like it knew more than the rest of the population. Whatever happened to the Geneva Convention and other laws of the land? Maybe they were trying to over-correct and compensate for their frustration over their failure in preventing 9-11 or leading the nation into a costly, meaningless war, in terms of both resources and the human toll - by lying about WMD's that simply did not exist.

2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 14, 2014, 3:27 PM.

Fatehpal Singh ji, you are a beacon in these troubled times -- and a raconteur par excellence, combined with sikhchic.com to convey the message in ink. Here is a good case for The Chic Sikh of the Year.

3: Harpal Singh (Sydney, Australia), December 14, 2014, 6:40 PM.

Fatehpal Singh ji, your writings (even after coming through sikhchic.com edits, as they all do) are excellent, informative, refreshing and becoming addictive.

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The Debate On Torture In The United States -
Janam Da Firangee
Sikhi Main Mangee"









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