BANISH HUNGER WITH POWER OF DEVOTION IN THE SIKH’S WAY

Wars are going on all over the world; population increasing at an exponential rate; food production not increasing at same rate; specter of mass hunger not far; rich eat too much and throw away un-eaten food; poor have to scavenge; homeless and poor frustrated; politicians ever busy playing their self aggrandizement games; unheard of things happening due to hunger and poverty; as long as the belly is full, chances of crime are less.

I heard from a Sikh Saint long time ago, “Peace would descend upon earth when several Langars shall run.” (Langars are kitchens serving free food (vegetarian only) in the Sikhi way -the Sikh code of conduct) Perhaps the time come to divert money from weapons of destruction to free food?

Guru Nanak, the First Guru of the Sikhs, foresaw the future of mankind and started the Langar system 500 years ago.

The Sacrament of Langar has two important features: the Sangat (congregation of devotees of the Guru) and the Pangat (row of seated people in the Langar). ‘Guru ka Langar’ meaning the Guru’s Langar is a symbol of equality, fraternity and brotherhood: the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, kings and paupers, all share the same food sitting together as equals thus creating social equality.

The word ‘Langar’ is from Persian language meaning an anchor; a stay or a rope for the tent; the shrine of the Sufi Order; an alms-house. Punjabi, the language of Punjab state of India, is a mix of Persian words besides Sanskrit and other languages. The word ‘Punjab’ itself is a Persian word meaning ‘of the five waters’: the land is intersected and watered by five rivers.

After the Langar system was started, Guru Amar Das, the third Guru in succession to Guru Nanak, strengthened it and asked the Sikhs to make voluntary contribution in cash or kind as their religious duty. Since then, Langar has been central to Sikhi. And it’s a sin for a Sikh to question a man’s faith and creed before letting him sit and eat there. At every Gurdwara (the Doorway to the Guru as the Sikh shrine is called) howsoever small, a meal is always shared with others regardless of religion, caste, skin-color, creed, age, gender or social status.

Emperor Akbar, the third ruler of the Mughal dynasty who had a secular leanings compared to his diehard Mullahs, once went to meet Guru Amar Das for his blessings. The Guru had stipulated that if someone wanted to behold him for whatever reason, he or she must first sit with the common people to eat food in his Langar. Emperor Akbar was humble enough to abide by the Guru’s dictate. After eating he said, “Never have I ever tasted such a simple and delicious food from my royal kitchen where 36 different dishes are made everyday.”

The largest Langar system in the world is run at Harmandir Sahib meaning ‘the abode of God’ also called the Golden Temple complex of the Sikhs at Amritsar in the Punjab.

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The sublime beauty of Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple

Before I write about the largest Langer system in the world, let me put a few facts in the right historical perspective. Most poorly informed people often mistake the Sikhs for Hindus because of their similar sounding names, which they are not. And others mistake the Sikhs for Muslims because of their turban, which they are not. Turban is an honorable headwear for all men from South and Central Asia. While Hindus and Muslims may not be wearing the turban now for personal reasons, but all practicing Sikhs will wear it forever. And it’s important for my readers to understand why the Harmandir Sahib is called Golden Temple and why the Sikhs are not Hindus? The reason has a historical background.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh got the Harmandir Sahib gold-plated in 1815 English travelers began calling it the Golden Temple. The word ‘temple’ gives a false impression that the Harmandir Sahib is like the temple of the Hindus, which it is not. The Sikhs do not worship statues and the Harmandir Sahib does not have any statues of gods and goddesses. Sikhism is monotheism and the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs -called Guru Granth Sahib- is the fountain of Gods’ Word. Installed in the Harmandir Sahib on a prominent pedestal the ‘Holy Scriptural Guru’ is read and venerated through out the day as devotees carry out obeisance to it. A team of Kirtanias -professional singers of devotional hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib- sing the praises of God Almighty accompanied by musical instrument: each team performing for a two hours stretch starting at 3 in the predawn hour and carrying on through out the day well into the night.

The Guru Granth Sahib is a compilation of devotional hymns to the formless God. The hymns were composed by the Gurus themselves as well as by other Saints from the full spectrum of the Indian society: from the highest to the lowest castes of the Hindus as well as by a Muslim Saint of Punjab. The fifth Guru collected such devotional hymns and compiled them according to their Hindustani Ragas –a complex musical system of melodious notes, rhythms and their meters.

     

The Guru Granth Sahib, the eternal Guru

Having briefly informed my readers about the Harmandir Sahib and its devotees, let us come back to the Langar which is located in a building on the southern edge of the Holy Sarovar, the water tank which surrounds the Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple.

At a time over 3,000 people are served vegetarian food on the two floors of the Langar building. On an average, 40 to 50,000 people eat free food every day all the year round. The number exceeds 100,000 on Sundays and special religious days. And despite all the free food, even if people of non-Sikh origion come to eat -which happens everyday- they are most welcome. And there is no coercion or compulsion or proselytizing to influence them to join Sikhism. That is because all the Gurus have stipulated, “Sikhs must live an exemplary life themselves and if others feel motivated on seeing their conduct they may come into their fold if their Karma (deeds of past lives) earns them salvation through the Guru.” All the ancient Indian scriptures stipulate that it is only your true Guru who will adjudicate on your behalf so that God may consider setting you free from the cycle of reincarnation.

  

People being served free-food and Langar of the earliest times

For a moment, if we can leave aside our personal religious beliefs and differences, it’s indeed amazing to see the devotion and selfless service of the Sewadars –the permanently employed service-hands as well as a large number of men and women volunteers. They work to knead dough, cook food, serve people, wash and wipe the used utensils and swap the floor before the gates are opened for the next batch to sit and eat.

                

Roties being stacked away before serving

With the passage of time an elaborate arrangement has come up to cook and serve food for such a large consumption. There are two kitchens which have eleven large sized Tawis -hot-plates, several gas burners, machines for sieving and kneading dough and several utensils for cooking. On one Tawi 15 people can work at a time. It is a chain process: some make Pedas -balls of dough; others roll them into rotis -Indian flat bread; a few put them on the hotplates; others work with long iron rods to toss them over till they are done and then they are stacked away to be served.

On one Tawi, over 20 kgs (44 pounds) of flour is used in two hours. The kitchen also has a Roti-making machine donated by a Lebanon-based Sikh which is used only when large crowds was expected. The Roti-making machine uses 20 kgs flour in half an hour. To feed dough to the machine, two kneading-machines knead one quintal (100 kilograms) of flour in 5 minutes.

                                   

The Roti making machine donating by a Labanon-based Sikh

With the donated cash, the Management buys raw material in bulk for a two months requirement besides a large voluntary contribution by devotees.

                                       

A normal thali (Indian plate) of Langar food         Langar of Sikhs living out of India

The daily consumption is about 50 quintals wheat, 18 quintals Daal -lentil, 14 quintals rice, seven quintals milk, 6 quintals sugar, 20 kgs tea leaves, 50 kgs Desi Ghee -purified butter, 10 kgs of condiments and over 100 gas cylinders.
A documentary titled “Golden Kitchen” was made by Belgian film makers, Valerie Berteau and Philippe Witjes. The film impressed audiences at numerous film festivals in Europe. On June 6 2009, it was adjudged ’Outstanding’ at the Festival of Short Films organized at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Critics have praised the film for bringing out the beauty of “an endeavour that is remarkable in scale, the clockwork efficiency with which the kitchen is organized and the fact that all the people manning the kitchen are volunteers who are inspired to undertake the heavy labor by their religious conviction.” It wouldn’t be possible without people who look for no other return except Wahegurus’ –Gods’- blessings.

And the Sewadars keep offering a second and a third helping while at the same time telling people not to waste any food, being a gift from God for our sustenance.

The Great Gurus had coined several maxims to motivate the Sikhs into dynamic action. These maxims are part of the daily prayer and devotees recite them as they go about working in the Langar thus blending the power of prayer into the food. No wonder Emperor Akbar said, “Never have I ever tasted such a simple and delicious food from my royal kitchen ……..” The maxims go, “Loh langar tapde rahin” (May the hot plates of the Langar remain ever hot) “Khavo kharcho rall mil bhai, Totth na aawaey vadhdo jayee” (Eat and share with others, oh brothers! It will always increase, never runs short)

                          

The Gurus had personally set the example of selfless service

How I wish the misguided Islamist and those oil rich countries which give them money to kill innocent people in the name of Allah, could see the documentary titled “Golden Kitchen”. And if they divert the money to run free kitchens instead, I am sure they will go to heaven on the day of Kayamat (the doomsday).

Since other major religions of the world don’t have the Langar system built into their faith, perhaps they may consider diverting money to the Sikhs for free food for everyone. If they do so then Guru Nanak would put in a word to God or Allah -whatever you want to call Him- to send them all to heaven. After all Guru Nanak is revered as Peer Baba Nanak by many Muslims and his wooden sandals are preserved in Mecca. He preached all over West Asia 500 years ago, including Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sytia and Turkey.

If everyone can cooperate with the Sikhs to make the world a happy and content place, Gods’ cause would be better served. And if God Almighty so desires, it shall happen as the Sikh Saint had once predicted.

OBAMA IN INDIA: WILL HE TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE TALIBAN?

The big news in India this month is President Obama’s visit to Parliament on November 9th.  Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government has worked towards stronger ties with the United States for five years. Initially, he undertook negotiations over the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement with Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. In 2008, America gave India access to its nuclear fuel and technology while India agreed to IAEA inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors.

Having established that the two great democracies of the 21st century can negotiate, what will the President and Prime Minister talk about in November? As a Sikh, I hope that President Obama will courageously address the behavior of the Taliban, who, under a misguided Jihad, have been killing innocents, closing schools for girls, cutting off noses of women who dare to step out of homes, blowing up shrines to Sufi Saints of Islam near the Khyber Pass and cajoling Sikhs living in Pakistan to convert to Islam – even killing a few. Will the American president address the concerns of those in the Khyber area or will he concentrate on Kashmir?

I am hopeful that President Obama will take a courageous stand because the hidden agenda of the trip is already revealed in the President’s itinerary. He is skipping the Taj Mahal -all dignitaries in the past have visited – which may be a mausoleum to love, but it was built by a Muslim tyrant who terrorized non-Muslims back in the seventeenth century in the same manner the Taliban is doing now.

Again as a Sikh, I am delighted that President Obama is, instead, visiting the Golden Temple, the traditional seat of the Sikh religion. The Temple has four doors opening to all sides welcoming one and all. Built by the fifth Guru 400 years ago it sits in the middle of a holy water tank which has miraculous healing powers. Devotional hymns in praise of God are sung nonstop from 4 in the morning till 10 in the night creating a holy ambience. Kings and rulers of India have always visited it.

 

The Golden Temple

 

President Obama is also visiting the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai where Muslim  terrorists from Pakistan struck in November 2008 without any justification. The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai – made in 1903 – has been a perfect host to Maharajas, Princes, Kings, Presidents and CEOs ever since. This hotel is an architectural marvel bringing together Moorish, Indian and Florentine styles.

 

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is on the left. The arched building on the right is the Gateway of India.

 

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, India has welcomed Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan to New Delhi and increased aid package to Afghanistan, making India one of the largest donors to Afghanistan. Dr. Singh has also brought Hu Jingtoa, the Premier of China to India to discuss border disputes in the South China Sea, Tibet and Kashmir. I suspect their meeting may bring unexpected peace to the troubled area. These two great leaders can work together for mutual advantage to India and America.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Obama did not visit the Golden Temple on his visit to Mumbai on November 6, 2010. The Code of Conduct requires all visitors to cover their heads in some manner before entering. Obama’s advisors were concerned that the gesture of respect might lend fuel to the contentions from his political opponents that he is a Muslim.

A SUFI SAINT IN PESHAWAR

In July 2010, following heavy monsoon rains nearby, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan was flooded. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lies at the junction where the Hindu Kush mountains give way to the hills and valleys of  the Indus River, flowing down through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. The flood water came cascading down hillsides, sweeping in its torrent man and material alike. It swept away domestic animals and crops besides roads, bridges, public utilities and anything that dared to stand up in its path. Officials estimate the total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD. http://cber.iweb.bsu.edu/research/PakistanFlood.pdf

While the rivers were brimming to their dikes, more rain was pouring down as if God had decided, “During the last decade I gave you less, so here is some more.” And all the rivers of Punjab ultimately flow into the Indus which goes into the Arabian Sea. Therefore, the wall of water flowed along its flood plains swept away roads, railway lines, villages, people, animals and crops. Ultimately, the floods have forced the Indus to breach its banks until one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was under water.

Perhaps because of Pakistan’s reputation as a haven for Islamic terrorists, the reaction of the  International community was slow. Within the country, the floods accentuated the sharp divisions in Pakistan between the wealthy and the poor. Landowners allowed embankments to burst so as to divert water from their land. Local authorities colluded with the warlords to divert funds intended for rebuilding. Ten million people have been  forced to drink unsafe water. Two thousand people have died and over a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began. Pakistan is reaping what it has been sowing:  violence.

Of the Muslims in Pakistan, only the Sufis are putting up resistance against the mullahs on behalf of the pluralism. Consider the shrine of the poet Rahman Baba, at the foot of the Khyber Pass. This Sufi poet is revered by the Pashtuns living on both sides of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rahman Baba preached love.

“I am a lover, and I deal in love.”

“Sow flowers so your surroundings become a garden.”

“Don’t sow thorns; for they will prick your feet.”

“We are all one body. Whoever tortures another, wounds himself.”

Rahman Baba‘s tomb is housed in a large domed shrine, or mazar, outside of Peshawar. The site of his grave is a popular place for poets and mystics to collect to recite his popular poetry. Last year, a madrasa was built with Saudi funds near Rahman Baba’s shrine. The students there complained that  women were allowed to pray and seek healing there and eventually the madrasa students placed dynamite around the supports of  the shrine’s dome. The explosion did not destroy the mazar. However, it was so damaged that it had to be torn down in order for it to be totally rebuilt.

Perhaps this is the future for Pakistan  after the floods. The Sufi followers of Rahman Baba do not bomb mazars or kill innocents. But they do say of the Islamic fundamentalists: “Hypocrites who sit there reading their law books and arguing about how long their beards should be, fail to listen to the true message of the prophet.” Perhaps it is time for the world to hear this message as well.

HOW RADICAL ISLAM IS EXPLOITING TRIBAL ETHICS IN THE KHYBER PASS

Pashtunwali is the code of ethics used by the Pashtuns – Afghan natives who have practiced Sunni Islam – over a thousand years in the isolated valleys of Hindu Kush mountains around the Khyber Pass. Today, Islam has become a convenient vehicle for tribal customs that predate the arrival of Mohammad and his message.

While all other religions follow the ’to forgive is divine’ principle, the Pashtunwali stresses revenge. Because it is not derived from a religious system the way Christianity, Sikhism and Judaism are, the emphasis on revenge persists from generation to generation. Hatred never ends. Another aspect of the Pashtunwali, the honor due to women, has resulted in overprotective policies that keeps them out of the educational system and workplace. See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

The geographical isolation of the Khyber Pass area has been responsible for an absence of new ideas in this traditional society. The Frontier province of the Pashtuns was renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the spring of 2010 to honor their aspirations, but it is still bypassed by the modern world.

When the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the Americans protecting their Cold War stronghold in Central Asia, assisted the Pakistanis in ejecting the Russians. Radical Islam of Wahabism, was encouraged in the region both to woo the Pashtuns into fighting for the American/Pakistani alliance and to being Saudi money into the conflict. Once fundamentalist Wahabism took hold, this radical ideology was embraced by students from the Taliban. The Al Qaeda, which uses terrorist tactics to break the alleged Christian-Jewish conspiracy to destroy Islam, was founded in 1989. It’s also funded by the Saudis.

Once the Russians were thrown out, the Americans withdrew from Pakistan. In the three years before September 11, 2001 Pakistan received only $9 million in American military aid. In the subsequent three years after 2001, the aid increased to $4.2 billion. The terrorist measures of the Taliban and Al Qaeda have reinforced the ancient practices of Pashtunwali cruelty: holding grudges and physical violence.

For centuries, Muslim military success was aided by with great technical and scientific knowledge. The then Muslim armies had the most up-to-date weapons. But today Muslim activists in Pakistan do not have access to the latest weapons. They advance their political ideas with primitive methods like bombing and kidnapping, and used guns that are thirty years old. In my opinion, if there is any hope for Muslims of the world to regain their past glory by stepping into a modern frame of mind, it is necessary for them to interpret the Koran more pragmatically. Islamic scholarship, like their military technology, has also stagnated in recent centuries. A little pragmatism there might help radical Islam step out of the past into the present.

It’s not fair to blame Islam alone for the violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. On the contrary, Muslims like the Sufis, for instance, promote love through songs of devotion to God Almighty. This standard feature of major religions, from Judaism to Sikhism, is anathema to the Sunnis all over. Their stark religious practices and rigid fundamentalism undermine the honor of the traditional Pashtunwali way of life. Young Pashtun men are recruited by foreigners to fight for extreme religious ideals in the name of their traditional code of behavior. The traditional tribal society of the Pashtuns in the Khyber Pass is being exploited by hard-line Islam, which is not fair.

REVISING PAKISTAN’S BORDERS FOR THE SAKE OF WORLD PEACE

Three hundred years ago, Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs, predicted in his work titled “Sou Sakhi” – one hundred predictions – that an ‘impure-country’ would be created from the western region of India. Then that a great war would rage, and ‘the-impure’ would be finished. Could this prediction be manifested in the creation of Pakistan and the long war in Afghanistan and the adjoining regions? Only time will tell.

For thousands of years, the Khyber Pass has been stained with blood. And the nation of Pakistan, where the Khyber lies, has also been soaked in blood from its start just sixty-three years ago. It has been the site of massacres, ethnic cleansing and the largest migration of humanity in history. Pakistan was conceived as a Muslim nation, though its founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, – a Gujarati trader convert from Hindu stock – did not practice Islam: Jinnah ate pork; smoked a cigar; loved his drink and scoffed at the idea of Muslim prayers and fasts. Even though Pakistan means “The Land of the Pure” its founding, like its founder, was impure right from the start.

Because Pakistan is strategically wedged between India, China and Afghanistan, its territory has always been sought after by world leaders, from Alexander the Great to Barack Obama. When India became independent of the British in 1947, its leaders did not want any British military bases left behind. But Mohammad Ali Jinnah willingly conceded bases to the British in Pakistan, giving the Western powers a foothold in South and Central Asia.

Then, in 1979, the Russians invaded Afghanistan as part of their Cold War strategy. Just across the  Khyber Pass from Pakistan, the Afghans received American military aid to fight the Russians. The native Afghans, the Pashtuns of the Khyber Pass area, used those very weapons against the Americans after September 11, 2001. Today, Americans are back in Afghanistan with Pakistan as its partner in the war against terrorism. Yet Pakistan supports the Taliban, which has frustrated NATO force’s attempt to bring local control and political order to the area. Now the Americans are considering banning the ‘insurgent group’ known as ‘Haqqani network’ of Sirajuddin Haqqani who is supported by the Pakistani spy agency ISI.

Pakistan contains many ethnic minorities, including the Sindhs, the Punjabis, the Balochis and the Pathan. Virtually every one of its borders, drawn arbitrarily in the last gasps of the British Empire, is disputed with its neighbors, not least Pakistan’s bitter rival India.

Ralph Peters has suggested that adjusting the borders of Pakistan might ease tension in the area.

Ideas for moving the borders of Pakistan to ally ethnic tensions and violence include creating an independent country for the Balochis west of Karachi and merging with it the Balochi speaking territory of Sistan province from Iran. In lieu of Sistan province, move the Iranian border east to include Herat province of Afghanistan. The Pashtun tribes would be brought under a single national flag by returning the Pashtun area in the west, including the Khyber Pass, to Afghanistan, in lieu of Herat province.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/world/asia/23pstan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th.

Once ethnic groups are settled together, there may be fewer border disputes. With Pakistan reduced to the areas of Punjab and Sind provinces, there might also be greater interior harmony, restoring Pakistan to the original vision, “the Land of the Pure.”

RAGHEAD TENACITY

Before Nikki Haley, a practicing Sikh and second-generation American, won the runoff for governor in South Carolina on June 22, 2010 with 65% margin, State Senator Jake Knotts called her a raghead. “We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion too,” Senator Knotts said. The senator might even call the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh a “raghead” if he is ever invited to the White House to sit down for a State dinner. Raghead is a slang term used for Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, and other groups who traditionally wear headdresses  such as a turban , keffiyeh or headscarf.

Gov. Haley, President Obama, & Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

While Nikki Haley’s win of the Republican nomination for governor shows that the majority of Americans have begun to accept faith as a personal choice, it also shows how nervous Americans get when confronted with a show of any faith. Americans can learn from Asians that though faith is a personal matter, it is not necessarily a private one.  Showing one’s faith—or as the Christians say, not hiding your light under a bushel—is an important part of a functioning 21^st century democracy. The pride and conviction in one’s belief contributes to one’s courage and tenacity.  An American will proudly wear his country’s military uniform but has been taught to shy away from advertising his religious and cultural background. Is this a good thing in time of global war?

Take a look at the Muslim ragheads of Afghanistan and the North West Frontier of Pakistan–the Taliban. Their tenacity has pinned down the NATO forces for almost a decade now. Whenever it ends, the war in Afghanistan will be America’s longest war, even longer than Vietnam.

Now take a look at the Hindu ragheads of India. In the Second World War, American forces overcame German positions with massive fire power. But when the Germans counterattacked, the American GIs could not hold their position, even with casualties. So the British, who knew the Indians well, had them hold places once a German position was captured. Lo and behold! Indian soldiers fought with tenacity and would not yield.

Lastly, consider the raghead Sikhs from India’s rural areas. In 1897, like the Spartans at Thermopylae, twenty-one Sikh soldiers held up against about ten thousand Pushtoons of Wazirstan region of the then Afghanistan. Fighting to death, to the last man, the Sikhs slaughtered six hundred of the enemy. The Pushtoons were brought the negotiation table and Waziristan became part of British India. The individual determination of each soldier, following the dictates of the Tenth Guru, led to a decisive victory.

Each of these three groups in the area around the Khyber Pass has shown great tenacity at different moments in history. As NATO stalls and President Obama wavers about a pullout date in Afghanistan, Americans should wonder if wearing the regalia of your group – like the Sikhs – inspires young soldiers to perform more bravely with tenacity.

MUSLIM VIOLENCE AND SIKH STEADFASTNESS

In my post WHY DO SIKHS WEAR TURBANS? I explained that preserving the hair of the head is a sacred tradition for the Sikhs ordained by the Tenth Guru more than three hundred years ago. “That’s a very picturesque custom,” North American readers might think, “though a little out-of-date in modern times.”

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sikhs co-exist with Pashtun Muslims, members of the Taliban. To them, the subject of sacred top-hair is a very serious matter. On January 19th, 2010, three Sikh businessmen from Peshawar were abducted by Pashtun members of the Taliban. They were kidnapped for ransom, an ancient custom that has now become organized crime.

Holed up in a remote place, the Sikhs were told to accept Islam. When they refused, they were handcuffed and their hair was cut. They were tortured for almost forty days. One Sikh, Jaspal Singh, was taken away while the other two were kept shackled.

The Taliban were asking fifty million Pakistani rupees ransom. Sikh organizations protested to their governments all over the world until finally, on March 1, 2010, Pakistani soldiers arrived in helicopters. The Pashtun tribesmen ran away after a brief fire-fight.

1. - 2. Newspaper coverage; 3. Jaspal Singh's file photo; 4. Jaspal Singh's body before cremation

The two Sikhs who survived reported that they never saw the Taliban men reciting Salah, – the daily prayer of the Muslims. The men only pretended to be devout Muslims when in fact they were unscrupulous thugs out to make easy money. Extortion has become a business in the name of Islam.

Now you may ask, “What were the Sikhs doing there? Why would anyone try to do a deal in a Taliban-controlled place?” Way back in 1947, when Pakistan was created for Indian Muslims, some Sikhs stayed back in the Pashtun frontier on promise of safety, working as money lenders, produce exporters and grocery store owners, among other things. As tradesmen, they are wealthier than their Muslim counterparts in this area who are mostly farmers or soldiers.  Thus, the opportunistic Pashtuns pretend to promote Islam while they exploit the Pakistani laws to advance their economic and political goals. In fact, all Sikh traders survive by paying bribes to the local thugs.

Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Pakistan Punjab

About 10,000 Sikhs still live in the Pashtun areas even though the Taliban jizya or religious tax imposed in 2009 drove many to flee to other Pakistani cities. The Taliban has only been operating in this area for fifteen years but its power here is felt throughout the world. When the kidnapping of the Sikhs occurred, the Punjabi Chief Minister summed up the situation: “There are certain people, who do not want peace in Punjab. To this end, three people have been kidnapped, one has been killed.”

Sikhs everywhere – whether in Surrey in Canada or Peshawar in Pakistan – have three mandates from their Tenth Guru: tenacity in fighting or working for a cause, trust unless wronged, and steadfastness in belief. With this legacy, the Sikhs do not confuse their political position with their religious convictions. The Khalsa Panth is the basis of their behavior in all aspects of life, from personal meditation to military might to political negotiation. Yogi Bhajan said to his Americans followers, “It is better to die as Khalsa than to live as anything else.” Not everyone understands such a sentiment. We see this distinction between Sikhs and Muslims in their histories as shown in the pictures below.

(From left) 1. 9-yr old Zorawar & 7-yr old Fateh Singh, sons of the Tenth Guru in 1705. 2. They defy Wazir Khan the Governor and refuse to accept Islam. 3. The Qazi - Muslim Priest - of the Court recommends bricking up alive, quoting from the Koran. 4. They were beheaded when the masonry came to their necks, becoming the youngest martyrs.

Businesses like kidnapping for ransom, narcotics and dealing in illegal weapons have been the main sources of earning for tribesmen living in tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan for millennia, whereas the Sikhs have contributed to the building of the military. Since the eighties, such illegal activities have become religiously recognized trades and devout tribesman consider these crimes justified by Islam.

The world has so far been trusting the Pakistanis, but the kidnappings and deaths of citizens who are contributing to the economic development of the frontier areas cannot be tolerated. Prepared statements by Pakistani politicians should not be taken on face value. America must cooperate with India as well as Pakistan to end this drama once and for all. The news that President Obama will be visiting India is a step in the right direction.

The next time you see a Sikh in a turban, instead of thinking of it as a quaint custom, recognize it as a statement of tenacity, trust and steadfastness at a time of international military tension.

SIKH MEN OF STEEL: THEN AND NOW

When the Sikh Empire was being established two hundred years ago, swords were used in  hand-to-hand combat. Sikh commandos called Nihangs, who fought these dangerous battles, were created by the Tenth Guru. Like the Christian Crusaders and the Muslim Ghazies, they were spiritually motivated fighters who staged do-and-die battles with tenacious zeal. Even today, you can recognize bands of Nihangs by their bright blue clothes, bangles of steel on their wrists and bands of steel in their tall blue turbans. They still carry swords, shields and spears along with iron chains.

Nihang is a Persian word that means “crocodile” coined by Mughal historians who saw brave Sikh monks fight as ferociously as crocodiles. But the Nihangs were not ruthless brutes like their enemies: they called themselves Akali after the timeless nature of God, literally fighting to immortality as they followed the code of the Sikh Khalsa.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The Nihangs helped Maharaja Ranjit Singh expand the boundaries of the Sikh empire into Punjab in northern India.  After a thousand years of plunder and dominance of India by the ruthless Pashtuns, it was the Nihangs who finally subdued them. This gave the leader of the Nihangs, Akali Phula Singh, enormous power and prestige in the Sikh empire. The Maharaja, on his part, humbly submitted that he ruled courtesy the Khalsa – the Pure – thus giving his rule its due spiritual underpinning.

When Maharaja Ranjit Singh married a Muslim woman, it was Akali Phula Singh who declared that the Maharaja had become a non-Sikh and dared to summon him for punishment. Maharaja Ranjit Singh came and humbly admitted his mistake. When Akali Phula Singh ordered fifty lashes on him, the Maharaja took off his shirt to receive his punishment. Seeing what a great guy he was, Akali Phula Singh recommended that he be forgiven. Such is, even now, the caliber of the true Khalsa – fearless but always fair.

The two men continued to work together. When the Maharaja decided to invade North West Frontier Province, the home of the Pashtuns, it was the first time that any non-Muslim from India had invaded their territory.

The Maharaja himself led the expedition with Akali Phula Singh right in front. As soon as the Sikh army was within firing range, they were showered with bullets by the Pashtuns who were well placed upon the high ground ahead of them. Akali Phula Singh pretended to retreat. The Pashtuns, who knew the Akali’s reputation, were gleeful that they had made the Sikhs run for their lives and came down cheering. Once they were all out in the open, Akali Phula Singh turned around his Sikhs and attacked the partying Pashtuns. Hand-to-hand combat followed. The battlefield was strewn with dead Pashtuns and Nihangs. The Pashtun leader ran away with his surviving men. The people of Peshawar vacated their city when they heard the Sikhs had arrived.

Such was the fear of the Nihangs that the Sikhs occupied Peshawar without a fight. Yar Mohammad Khan, the Governor of the Pashtuns, had already run away but came down from the Khyber Pass with gifts to show his loyalty to the Sikh Maharaja. The gifts were accepted and peace declared but when Yar Mohammad Khan proved rebellious later on, he was defeated by Akali Phula Singh’s Nihangs. In honor of their great heritage, even today, the Nihangs wear the electric blue turban and the Katchha – the short pants.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh was the only one able to control the Akali Nihangs.

THE SIKH SELFLESS SERVICE TO HUMANITY – A FORERUNNER OF THE RED CROSS MOVEMENT

In the midst of all this factionalism among the Pasthuns, the small voice of a devoted minority like the Sikhs, for unity of mankind still prevails. Let us trade love rather than ‘you’ and ‘me’ as the Holy Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs says in many hymns.

Bhai Brother Kanhaiya was a disciple of Ninth and Tenth Gurus. He was devoted to his Gurus, and loyally served his fellow-man without any discrimination as to religion, caste or region. Bhai Kanhaiya was born in 1648 at village Sodhra near Wazirabad on the bank of river Chenab, now Pakistan.

His father was a wealthy trader, but he himself had a religious bent with little interest in the family trade. When his father died, he waited for his brothers to take over the responsibility and set out to find his Guru who could guide him on the path of service. He came to Guru Tegh Bahadur at Anandpur Sahib and served him for three months. He then went back to establish a ‘Dharamshala’ at Kavha- a place where travellers get free lodging and food and where righteousness is preached and practiced – near Attock, now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan – to serve the people and spread the message of ‘Universal Brotherhood’ as taught by Guru Nanak, the First Guru of the Sikhs.

In 1705, when Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru, was engaged in battle with Muslim armies of the Mughal emperor, Bhai Kanhaiya moved to Anandpur Sahib (where the Guru lived) and took over the responsibility of serving drinking water to the wounded in battle. Attired in simple clothes with a white flag fixed in the left side of his belt, he carried the Mashk – a leather bag filled with water – on his shoulders and served water to the wounded without discrimination, friends and foe.

Bhai Kanhaiya Ji serving water to the Muslims

When a few Sikhs complained to Guru Gobind Singh that Bhai Kanhaiya was serving water to the enemy as well, the Guru called him to hear his version. Bhai Kanhaiya submitted. “With Thy Grace My Lord! My Eyes Are So Enlightened That I See Nothing Else But Your Divine Spirit Pervading Everywhere and In All Since I Served None Else But Only Thyself My Lord.”

Guru Gobind Singh said to his Sikhs, “He has understood my message in the sense of true Sewa – service.”

The Tenth Guru then blessed Bhai Kanhaiya as a holy man and gave him a box of Haldi ointment – Turmeric powder: an antiseptic for healing wounds. This inspired a group of volunteers who worked under his guidance and thus became a forerunner of the Red Cross movement founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland by Henry Dunant about 150 years later.

When Guru Gobind Singh left Anandpur Sahib, Bhai Kanhaiya continued to serve the people and devoted his remaining life to preach and practice the teaching of the Sikh Gurus. He left the world at the age of 71 years, as he sat listening to the sacred hymns of Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Scriptural Guru of the Sikhs. Bhai Kanhaiya left behind a unique movement of ‘Sewa Panthi,’ literally meaning The Brotherhood for Service to Humanity.

The message of Bhai Kanhaiya’s mission is enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib in a hymn, “Na Ko Bairi Nahin Bigana, Sagal Sang Ham Ko Ban Aiye.” There is no enemy and no stranger to me. All  have come as my companions – brothers.

The message of Bhai Kanhaiya continues to be as relevant today as it was three hundred years ago. An award has been instituted in memory of Bhai Kanhaiya to honor individuals and organizations who serve mankind in the same spirit of devotion and selflessness. The Indian Department of Post has issued a stamp in honor of Bhai Kanhaiya showing him spreading the message of universal brotherhood, as a water server.

Bhai Kanhaiya retired to Sodhra where he died in 1718.

THE RENAMING OF NWFP AS KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA AND REGIONAL TENSION

To North Americans, a turban identifies a Muslim terrorist. They have not yet learned how to “read” a turban, the way residents of Afghanistan, Pakistan  and Punjab in northern India do. To these people, the turban a person wears identifies his religion, his region and the language he speaks.

A native of Afghanistan who has settled in the area around the Khyber Pass, called a Pashtun in American English, wears a turban with one end left loose so that it can be wound around his face for concealment or protection. His turban style identifies him to his fellow citizens in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. And there are many different ethnic groups in this area, including Afghan refugees, Persian-speaking Hazaras from the Shia branch of Islam and mountain-top farmers who speak Dardic languages.

Last month, the ethnically diverse area, called North West Frontier Province for more than a century, was renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by an amendment to the Pakistani constitution.

This inhospitable land around the Khyber Pass and the Hindu Kush mountain range has been inhabited for millennia by Pashtun tribesmen. Its extreme temperatures and rocky soil forced the Pashtuns to live by plunder rather than agriculture. They charged tolls, robbed travelers passing through the mountain passes to get to India.

And whenever the Pashtuns became desperate for resources, they would invade India and take home, jewels, livestock, women and children as slaves, weapons and gold.

Today, the area has become a breeding ground for a growing Islamic militancy that threatens the stability of Pakistan – a U.S. ally in the struggle against terrorism. Instability here threatens NATO’s strategic Khyber Pass lifeline to Afghanistan, where 37,000 U.S. troops are trying to contain the Taliban insurgency.

In the map below, you can see how this area around north India, Pakistan and Afghanistan has poorly defined borders. A similar map of America would show the individual states marked by the straight lines of a surveyor or the clear boundaries of rivers. The random boundaries you see here are the result of people settling with their tribes that shared a language and a religion over thousands of years. And since ancient times, local politics has been closely intertwined with tribal loyalty. Identity has been a core issue for centuries among the Pashtuns – who make up eighty percent of this area’s population, and fifteen percent of Pakistan’s total population.

The north India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan region.

The Pashtuns, having ruled over North India for nearly a thousand years, were finally thrown out by the Sikhs by the end of eighteenth century. Since then, they have seen their region succumb to turmoil through wars and intervention by international powers.

A young Pashtun girl

Their tribal ethos, the Pashtunwali, (see the chart below) has kept them from participating fully in modern diplomacy. Instead, it has further entrenched Islamic fundamentalism among them.

Eager to be recognized politically, the Pashtuns have been urging the Pakistani government to designate them as a geographical area – as Balochistan is for Balochis, as Sind is for Sindhis and as Punjab for Punjabis – for a hundred years.

The amendment to the Pakistani constitution that established the new name of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, an ancient expression meaning “grazing land of the Pashtuns at the Khyber Pass” was deemed less controversial than Pashtunistan, which had been proposed for decades as the name for this territory. Using an older variant of the name was meant to confer dignity upon an area that even now is constantly at war – with rival factions of the Pashtun tribe, with other ethnic groups and now with international troops.

PASHTUNWALI   PRINCIPLES   OF   BEHAVIOR

QUALITY	DEFINITION
Melmastia (hospitality)	Profound respect to all visitors
Nanawatai (asylum)	Protection must be given to a person against his/her enemies
Badal (justice)	Take revenge against the wrong-doer for injustices committed yesterday or a thousand years ago
Tureh (bravery)	A Pashtun must defend his land
Sabat (loyalty)	Loyalty must be paid to one’s family, friends, and tribe members
Imandari (rightousness)	Pashtuns must behave respectfully towards all creation, including people, animals and the environment around them
Isteqamat (steadfastness)	Trust in God in keeping with Islamic idea of belief in only one god
Ghayrat (self-honor )	Pashtuns must respect themselves and others
Namus (honor of women)	A Pashtun must protect women from vocal and physical harm[]