# Jfe % ^ * by Gurbakhash Singh COVER PHOTO AKAL TAKHAT, AMRITSAR (Destroyed by The Seat of the Khalsa Panth Indian Government in 1984) ^ ^cf? HH Ufa *HdtJ'(H II tft§ fir? Hf §^t ^fall ^Kr^fi^TUHHTfaorHtllHH^f^HfawW^II 5ffe 77 tTO BH31 >HH II f# H f^ sJdl^d II H3TW HK^rft SKI gf^ qr^tlI HH^ufFHnrfaPH'cPdlll ^H^gTfefkfeHHUttT^llcS'AottJ'HHtJ'ddy'AllI PRELUDE TO THE SIKH PRAYER Lord! Thou art our Master, we pray to Thee Our body and soul were given by grace of Thee We art Thy children, Father and Mother are Thee All peace we enjoy, is bestowed by Thee No body can know, how great are Thee Whole creation obeys Thy command and listens to Thee Whoever is created, he abides by Thee Thy greatness is known alone to Thee Nanak, Thy pupil sacrifices his all to Thee W\\ \*VM *k s> $ # a by Gurbakhash Singh o^ A ~ % % 33 CO m WINDS O^ Sikh Education & Research Centre Of Windsor, P.O.Box 3415, Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada, N8N3C4 Publisher: Sikh Education & Research Centre Of Windsor, P.O.Box 3415, Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada, N8N 3C4 First Edition 1992 Singh, Gurbakhash, 1927 SIKHISM: UNDER BRAHMANICAL SIEGE PRINTERS: Compute Print Copy Windsor, Ontario n Dedicated to the Sikhs who shed their blood to keep the Gurmat lamp glowing to show the path of peace to humanity. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in District Ludhiana on Sept 15,1927 Dr. Gurbakhash Singh studied in Lyallpur and Khalsa College, Amritsar. In 1963, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Ohio State University (U.S.A.). He served as a Professor and Dean at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. In 1984, he resigned his post and actively began teaching Sikh religion to the Sikh youth. PUBLISHERS NOTE SIKH EDUCTION AND RESEARCH CENTRE is proud of the accomplishments of Dr. Gurbakhash Singh. In particular his unselfish and dedicated service to the Sikh cause and his endless and devoted commitment to writing about the Sikh religion. His scholarly methods in teaching the Sikh religion to our youth have earned him the respect and admiration of the young Sikhs. Acknowledgments An article, Sikhism, a Revolt against Brahmanism, written on the suggestion of S. Amarjit Singh Buttar of Vernon, CT., U.S.A., for publication in a newspaper has taken the form of this book in about three years. Mr. J.S. Ahluwalia, Windsor, CT., took the trouble of typing it and changing it again and again. The draft was sent to S. Kuldeep Singh, Toledo, Ohio, who suggested more ref­ erences after a thorough study. Dr. Manohar Singh Grewal, Hanover, MA., U.S.A., suggested some additions and reor­ ganization of the whole matter. Meanwhile, the author moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where S. Bhupinder Singh retyped it. Sikh Education and Research Centre, Windsor, Ontario Canada, was approached to get it printed and it willingly agreed to it. The draft edited by them was sent in June, 1991 to the author attending the Sikh youth camp held in Atlanta, GA.,U.S.A., where Dr. Harbans Singh got interested to read it. He made very useful changes and suggested some addi­ tional matter. v Canadian Sikh Study and Teaching Society, Vancouver, Canada, got the Gurbani references printed for the book. The author is thankful to all these persons and many more who made their contributions and encouraged him to complete this book. The credit for getting the book printed and published goes to the Sikh Education and Research Centre, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. vi Contents Acknowledgments. Preface IX Power of Brahmanism i^^^^^^^^^^H xiv Introduction xv Chapter I Brahmanism: the Despotic Ruler 1 A. Subtle and Sophisticated tools employed by Brahmans. B. Brahmans, Peace loving or violent Chapter II Challenges to Brahmanism 13 A. Indigenous Efforts B. Non- Indian Movements Chapter HI Stifling and Suppressing the Sikh Revolt 23 A. Tampering with the Literature and History of the Sikhs B .Gurus and Miracles C. Introduction of Brahmanical Rituals Chapter IV Conclusion 61 Vll Sikh places of business and residence being looted and destroyed in New Delhi in 1984 PREFACE This article will make a happy reading for many Sikhs who feel hurt to observe Brahmanical mist obscuring the real image of the Sikh faith. They will see the truth being uncov­ ered from the mounds of the Brahmanical rituals and beliefs heaped on the Sikh practices. However, some Sikh readers, who follow Hindu traditions, believing them to be Sikh practices, may not agree with some paragraphs. A few of the traditionalists may even get upset with some portions of this article. However, careful examination of the article under the light of the Guru Granth Sahib, would reveal it to be the ex­ pression of the Gurbani thought. It may instead raise a ques­ tion in their minds as to how and why these anti-Sikh rituals could at all enter the Gurdwaras and later become popular among the Sikhs. Efforts started to get rid of the antiquated Hindu rituals during the Gurdwara reform movement need to be continued by the Khalsa Panth. Mahants of the British Raj period have been replaced by the stooges of the Indian government, the deceptive Nirankaris, the Radhaswamis, and the Pseudo- Nihang factions, etc., to muddle with Sikh philosophy and ix Sikh Rehat. Gurdwaras in the names of Bhagat Namdev, Ramgarhias, Bhatra Brotherhood, Nanak Panthis, etc. are being built with the tacit help of the Indian government to split the Sikh community. Deras preaching Hindu rituals, but controlled by Sikh-looking Sants, are being patronized by the government to encourage their following. Dozens of splinter groups are supported directly or indirectly by the government to create schism among the Khalsa Panth and cause confusion in the Sikh philosophy. They are all working outside the Gurdwaras in collaboration with their associates working inside the Gurdwaras to obstruct the teaching and preaching of Gurmat. Recently a lot of misguiding matter has been written and distributed free of charge by such people to defame the Sikhs and lower the status of the Gurus. To give credibility and respectability to such baseless and trash writings, some of them have been written as research papers with the direct or indirect financial support of the Indian government, a bribery none the less. The present crusade of the Indian government directed by the Brahmamical forces is, thus, not limited to just the genocide of the Sikhs but is also intended to corrupt Gurbani thought. History tells us that artificial coloring of truth by falsehood, preached by those in power, gets washed away by the passage of time. The truth ultimately reveals itself. Men like Stalin and Mao now stand exposed. The lie - the Sikhs are terrorists - being preached by the Indian government is get­ ting washed off. The state terrorism against the Sikhs is getting known more and more to the world. x Lastly, be it known to the readers that Brahmanical rituals have been grafted on to the Sikh Rehat to justify that the Sikhs are a sect of Hindus. To be accepted by the Sikhs without objection, it is popularized that Guru Nanak Dev founded Sikh faith by choosing the good principles of Hinduism and some popular thoughts from Islam. This mischief is meant to conceal the truth that Guru Nanak Dev had a revelation and he founded an independent and sovereign faith. Sikhism totally rejects Brahmanical thought and its rituals. This attempt has been made to clear Gurmat from such corrupting thoughts. The purpose of this book will be served if the reader becomes conscious of the ominous shadows of Brahmanism keeping the Sikhs in the dark regarding the teachings of the Gurus. The Sikhs and their faith are under an intensified attack by the Brahmanical thinkers, who are now holding the reins of power. One can easily understand the severity of the attack if one knows what they did to the Sikhs even when the Brahmans were out of power during the British rule. Mr. D. Petrie of the Criminal Intelligence Department, Government of India, in his report on development of Sikh politics ob­ serves: The activities of Hindus have, therefore, been- constantly directed to the undermining of Sikhism both by preventing the children of Sikh fathers from taking pahul and by reducing professed Sikhs from their alle­ giance to their faith. Hinduism has strangled Budhism, once a formidable rival to it and it has already made serious inroads into the domain of Sikhism. About a century ago, Macauliffe, an administrative officer of the British Government, working in Punjab got xi interested in knowing Sikh faith and telling about it to the British and other English speaking people of the West. After spending long time with the Sikhs in Punjab and learning their language, in 1899, he wrote a famous book 'The Sikh Religion. In the preface of the book he very correctly pointed out, "A movement to declare the Sikhs as Hindus in direct op­ position to the teachings of the Gurus, is wide spread and of long duration." It will not be out of place to mention here briefly how and why this happened. All Gurdwaras, including Hariman- dar Sahib Amritsar were managed by Mahants since the 18th century. In 1716, the Mughal Government of India issued orders to kill Sikhs anywhere they could be seen. The Sikhs had to leave their homes to seek safety in the forests. Mahants who were basically Hindus, became custodians of the Gurd­ waras and the huge real estate attached to them. They prac­ ticed Brahmanical rituals in the Gurdwaras although they read Gurbani from the Guru Granth Sahib.