Books

Patwant Singh's 'The Sikhs'

A Book Review by Dr. PASHAURA SINGH

 

This is the sikhchic.com selection of BOOK OF THE MONTH for September 2009.

　

　

THE SIKHS, by Patwant Singh. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. 276 + xxiv pp., $39.95. ISBN: 978-0-307-42933-9 (0-307-42933-4).

　

Patwant Singh is widely known for his literary works on India, international affairs, the environment and the arts.

For three decades, he was editor and publisher of the international magazine Design. But a major shift in his writings came as a result of the Indian army's assault on the Golden Temple of Amritsar - the holy shrine of the Sikhs - in 1984, an event which stunned Sikhs all over the world.

Since then, Patwant Singh wrote The Golden Temple (1988), Gurdwaras in India and around the World (1992), and a personal memoir - Of Dreams and Demons (1994).

The present work, The Sikhs, must be placed in the same historical context in which the author compellingly argues that "it would be a grave error to alienate an energetic and vital community like the Sikhs if modern India is to realize its full potential."

At the very outset, he lays down his agenda to counter the "systematic disinformation campaign about current events crafted by successive Indian administrations" in recent times.

To counter the common misconception that Sikhism is a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, Patwant Singh stresses that "Sikhism emerged not as a synthesis of established religions but as an alternative to them." He traces the origins of the Sikh tradition in the religious genius of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who preached the message of oneness of God, equality of humankind, rejection of the caste system and futility of idol worship.

In his arguments, Patwant Singh attributes the citation "There is no Hindu, there is no Mussalman" to Guru Nanak, from the Janamsakhis. The actual verse in the Bhairon mode on page 1136 of the Sikh scripture belongs to the fifth Guru, Arjan (1563-1606): "We are neither Hindu nor Mussalman." This statement is a direct assertion of independent Sikh identity.

The Sikh tradition evolved peacefully under Guru Nanak's early successors. To a large extent, the liberal policy of Mughal Emperor Akbar's reign provided the overall context for the peaceful evolution of the Sikh community, but within eight months of Akbar's death in October 1605, the Fifth Guru, Arjan, was executed in 1606 by the orders of the new Mughal emperor, Jahangir.

The Sikh community perceived Guru Arjan's torture and resulting death as a martyrdom and took up arms to defend itself.

Patwant Singh shows "how a movement based on tenets of compassion and humaneness transformed itself, of necessity, into a community that values bravery and military prowess as well as spirituality."

In response to the second martyrdom - of the Ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadar (1621-1675) - the Tenth and the last of the living Gurus, Gobind Singh (1666-1708) created the martial order of the Khalsa in 1699, an order bound by a common identity and discipline.

Patwant Singh then narrates how an exultant Khalsa under the leadership of Banda Singh the Brave sowed the seeds of a Sikh state in the second decade of the eighteenth century and how the enlightened Emperor, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) fulfilled this promise by founding a Sikh empire at the very commencement of the nineteenth century.

The Sikh rule came to an end with the annexation of the Punjab to the Raj in 1849 by the British. Here, Patwant Singh observes: "The ultimate blame for what happened to the Sikh State rests neither with the Dogras, nor with the Brahmins, who subverted it from within, nor with the British who triumphed with the help of traitors. In the end the Sikhs themselves are responsible for failing to protect the magnificent legacy of an exceptional man."

The subsequent colonial rule (1849-1947) was marked by the "machine rules" of laws, codes and procedures as well as the "new forms of communication."

Patwant Singh carefully examines how the Sikh community responded to this new situation by participating in various reform movements. The Tat Khalsa, the dominant wing of the most successful Singh Sabha renaissance, redefined Sikh orthodoxy through educational means, whereas the Akalis, the political party of the Sikhs, followed the "more aggressive" approach, resulting in the legislation of the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925.

Consequently, the Akalis became the main representative of the Sikhs in the freedom struggle and the "stand of the Sikhs at the time of partition resulted from their inviolable emotional involvement with their motherland, India."

Finally, Patwant Singh explores various demographic developments alongwith the language issue that affected the Sikhs in the new Punjab state of India.

He severely criticizes those Punjabi Hindus who disowned their common mother tongue, Punjabi: "It was ironic that in 1906 the Muslims, a minority, had asked the British for separate electorates in order to separate from the Hindu majority, while in independent India the Hindu majority of Punjab wanted to be separated from the Sikh minority! Such segments of Punjab's Hindu society were the real separatists."

In fact, this indifferent attitude of the Punjabi Hindus led to the Punjab crisis which resulted in violence and venality in modern India. Patwant Singh lashes out at the national media that "many editorial writers gravely weaken the rule of law and the secular character of the state through irresponsible writings."

He equally condemns factional divisions within the Sikh community.

Patwant Singh is at his best when he supports the principle of academic freedom: "The `prosecution of ideas' is an attempt to stifle debate and scholarly conjecture, reflecting an intolerance which is antithetical to Sikh tenets and traditions."

Throughout his analysis, Patwant Singh follows a traditional approach to history rather than a critical skeptic mode of investigation. Actually, this may not be a weakness of the book, but it certainly ought to be known. Notwithstanding some citational errors, The Sikhs provides the most balanced account of the people who are known for their enterprising spirit throughout the world.

It is an example of fine scholarship, reflecting both the author's maturity and his life-long fascination with the Sikh tradition. It carefully examines different phases of Sikh history with clarity, elegance and economy.

It includes seven maps, twelve illustrations and a highly useful bibliography for further research. It is intended for a wider audience, especially those who are unfamiliar with the Sikh tradition.

 

[Dr. Pashaura Singh is Professor and Dr. Jasbir Singh Saini Endowed Chair of Sikh and Punjabi Studies at the University of California, Riverside, California, U.S.A.]

psingh@ucr.edu

August 30, 2009

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