Everybody now knows what happened in Vienna and its aftermath in Punjab (DV Edit June 16, 2009, “When Punjab Sikhs hate Dalits…”). But we were not very clear about the reasons. The Brahmin-Bania media says the cause is internal rivalry and not caste. Since the days of Indira Gandhi, and Blue Star Operation, Punjab was a kind of enigma for us. There were many organizations of Sikhs mentioned and we heard many new names like Kar Seva, Budha Dal etc. But we were wondering about many events and goings on in Punjab. Reading the books of Sikh history gave us no clues.
We believed that the various Sikh groups and organizations had their contradictions due to internal rivalries. Now reading articles by Brother Gurunam Singh Muktasar and Kuldip Kumar in DV, we learned many new points. Going through the details about the recent struggle of Punjab Dalits against the Punjab Sikhs, as explained by Kuldip Kumar and others, many new points seem to appear to be clear. Now we know it is a “caste war”.
Caste within Army: Also I had read that caste discrimination is maintained in the Indian Army, and Jats and Dalits are in different regiments though both are Sikhs. This is a serious point to be pondered over, if not by the rulers, at least by the Dalits.
Dalit saints were Budhists Brother Kuldip says that “Could we ever imagine Kabir was a Budhist Bikkhu He reveals this in his wirtings as preserved in the Guru Granth.
It could be presumed to be true of Ravidas, Meera and others too. Was Guru Gobind Singh brahminized?
Brother Kuldip Kumar mentions that Guru Govind Singh was a supporter of Brahmins, a fact I never read in history.
He says: Gobind Singh was fully Brahmanised. He is claimed to be avtar of Mahesh. In 1699, he started Khalsa Panth (Army of pure people) to protect Brahmans. Mostly Majahabis and Chamars joined his army. No Brahman ever joined it.
If this true, then I would be enlightened to know whether the present-day khalsa are mostly Dalits.
How deras came into being: Kuldip mentions how the Dalits established their own centers and called them Deras. It seems that they did not severe their links from Sikhism. Do they call themselves Sikhs? Are they willing to be controlled by the SGPC and Akal-Takht? I believe Akal-Takht is the supreme body of Sikhs. They once punished Barnala.
Future plans of Dalits: What are the views of Dalits for the future? Do they want to be controlled by the Sikh laws and rules or are they willing to consider other ways of freedom? What are the options open for them?
Present-day Sikhs are not willing to accept Dalit saints even as gurus. They call them bhagats, an inferior epithet. The don’t want Dalits to prosper.
I have some suggestions for Punjab:
(1) It is proved beyond all doubts that our saints did not preach Hinduism. (2) What they preached was Budhist, but corrupted by Brahminic ideas. (3) Our saints were helpless because of Muslim rulers and Brahminic persecution and had to pass days in disguise and could not declare themselves as Budhists.
So, we should not call them saints, or bhaktas, or bhagats or even gurus. We should call them Bodhisattvas. This is the ancient term for preachers of the Dhamma.
If the Dalit religious leaders of Punjab agree to this and lead the movement there will be no need to carry the gun.
