Why are Indian
officials banned from Sikh Gurdwaras?
by Shafik Mandhai
Sikh religious organisations in Canada, the US, and the UK
have banned Indian officials from making formal visits to temples in response
to the arrest of a Sikh activist in India and what they call interference in
their affairs.
The ban started in Canada and spread to temples in the US
and the UK, with more than 100 places of worship now involved.
Davinder Singh of the Sikh Federation UK, one of the organizations
supporting the campaign, said that the ban would apply to official visits but
not personal trips to temples.
The November arrest of British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh
Johal by Indian authorities and "interference in Sikh affairs" by
Indian officials had led to the move, he told Al Jazeera.
Johal was detained in the northern state of Punjab and
accused of involvement in the killings of prominent Hindu figures.
His family has rejected the allegations against him,
explaining that he was in India to get married.
Sikh activists say his arrest was politically motivated.
"People are really upset," said Davinder Singh.
"If someone goes to India to get married, the last thing they expect is to
be picked up and abducted, not to be charged, to be subject to third-degree
torture.
"I think it's cases like this that got a reaction from
the Sikh community."
1984 massacre
While Johal's arrest triggered the latest dispute between
the Indian government and some members of the Sikh diaspora, tensions between
the two sides date back decades.
In the summer of 1984, Indian troops battling Sikh fighters
stormed Sikhism's holiest Gurdwara, the Golden Temple, leaving hundreds dead.
Later that year, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was
shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards, who held her responsible for the bloodshed.
In the aftermath of Gandhi's death, thousands of Sikhs were
killed as sectarian mobs targeted Sikhs in Punjab, and the Indian capital New
Delhi.
Sikhs have described the killings as a genocide.
Anger persists, particularly among the Sikh diaspora, for
the Indian government's refusal to apologise.
"Much of this unease goes back to the events of June
and November 1984," said Jasjit Singh, a research fellow focused on
British South Asians at the University of Leeds.
"Before this time, many Sikhs in the diaspora generally
supported the Indian government, regularly raising funds for India," he
told Al Jazeera.
"The events of Operation Bluestar (Storming of the
Golden Temple) in June 1984 and the anti-Sikh violence of November 1984 remain
unresolved issues for many Sikhs in the diaspora particularly those whose
families were directly affected by these events."
Sikh activists see that Indian politicians are taking
advantage of Gurdwaras for political gain while refusing to acknowledge the
legacy of 1984 and the anger over Johal's arrest.
According to Davinder Singh, official visits to temples
increased after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power and were
motivated by the politicisation of Gurdwaras, as opposed to the well-being of
the Sikh community.
"Increasingly in the last couple of years they have
targeted some of the larger Gurdwaras ... when you start going to a religious
institution, and a key one, you create friction in the community," he
said.
"People think here are the people who've carried out
this genocide, they've never even apologised for it, now they're arresting
people … why are they going into our religious institutions?"
These purported attempts to shore up support among diaspora
Sikhs come amid efforts to split Sikhs from their own causes, Davinder Singh
said.
In a recent debate with an Indian official, broadcast on the
BBC, Davinder Singh's Sikh Federation UK organisation was accused of
politicising Gurdwaras by supporting the visiting restrictions.
"Gurdwaras are institutions where we discuss day-to-day
issues that affect our lives, whether they be human rights issues or about our
identity," he said. "We don't want to be preached at by Indian
diplomats about what we do or don't do in our institutions."
Sikhs make up a fraction of the Indian diaspora with around
500,000 in Canada, the US, and the UK respectively.
Nonetheless, their support carries importance for India's
political class.
"I think this is more of a symbolic move," said
Professor Gurharpal Singh of the School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London, further describing the "tetchy" relationship
between some members of the Sikh diaspora and the Indian government.
"Overall I don't think the engagement of government
officials overseas with Sikh places of worship has been very intense and very
overwhelming [but] the symbolism is important," he told Al Jazeera.
"Modi, who is trying to build alliances with
non-resident Indians overseas; in that respect, it is a big deal."
Response:
This Article would appear to be addressing a common issue,
but about a rare situation. The Sikh religious organization has banned the
Sikhs to go to their temples at as a personal trip. The Author’s bias is going
against the people who have stopped the Sikhs from going to the temple, the
author wish to let the Sikh participate in their religion, as much as it may be
a danger. The targeted audience would be the middle class Indians that are
located in North America, Canada, and the UK, who are middle aged and who are
interested on the latest of national Indian news. My bias as the reader would
lean towards the Sikhs having their rights to go to their temples at any time, it
is not logical to prevent the Sikhs from practicing their religion.
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