Sikh fundamentalism.

AuthorMcLeod, W.H.

Is there such a thing as Sikh fundamentalism? Sikh theologians deny that such a concept can be applied to their faith and would presumably explain the recent situation in the following terms. Most Sikhs do not ever hear or read the term (or its translation) and few of those who do encounter it ever understand it. Of the tiny minority who do both hear and understand it practically all dismiss it as a term which could be applied to Sikh belief.(1) It is a Western term, foisted on the Sikhs by the loose usage of journalists. The term is certainly used in recent publications with marked frequency. It is, however, one which has been transferred from its Western context to the Islamic movements associated in particular with Iran, and from there was conveniently appropriated to describe the Sikh movement for Khalistan. The Khalistan movement was regarded as extreme and therefore it was fundamentalist.

Is this a fair assessment? It is true that many of the participants in the campaign for an independent Sikh state ("Khalistan") were correctly described as activists or militants, and many of them adopted a traditional view of their inherited faith. It is traditional in the sense that they revere their Gurus and the sacred scripture. It is also traditional in that those who upheld it adhered to a view of history which sanctifies the use of the sword when the need is compelling and when all other means have failed. Many of them could be described as fanatical in maintaining this particular faith. But this is not fundamentalism. The term "fundamentalist" does not mean "traditional," on the one hand, nor "fanatical," on the other. It came to be increasingly used because journalists and other people in search of meaningful equivalents adopted this particular word as a loose equivalent of "fanatical." Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a fanatical exponent of Sikh separatism. Therefore Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a Sikh fundamentalist.

This view of fundamentalism as an equivalent of "traditional" or "fanatical" seems, on the face of it, to be a wrong use of the term. Fundamentalism, surely, concerns a belief in the inerrancy of holy scripture. Before accepting that this view is mistaken, however, there are at least six questions which deserve to be considered.

  1. Is our understanding of the term "fundamentalism" in the Sikh context astray?

  2. Are there really any groups within the Khalsa which can legitimately be described as fundamentalist?

  3. What should we make of the views of some Sikh writers, mainly in English-language journals (particularly those which circulate amongst overseas Sikhs), who sound suspiciously like true fundamentalists?(2) Are there some Sikhs who, under the influence of Western models, do adopt fundamentalism after all?

  4. What are we to make of the usage by journalists and other commentators who appropriated the term to refer to militant Sikhs? Their introduction of the term may not correspond to its original meaning, but introduce it they assuredly have.

  5. What should we make of the argument offered by T. N. Madan in the first volume of Marty and Appleby's The Fundamentalism Project?(3) Madan evidently believes the use of "fundamentalism" to be an appropriate term for the Akali Dal (he is quite explicit about this) and for the Khalistan movement associated with Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.(4)

  6. The strong defense of the term "fundamentalism" as applied to Khalistani Sikhs made by Harjot Singh Oberoi in the third volume of the series also needs to be considered.(5)

    Consideration of these six objections may perhaps lead us to modify the claim that fundamentalism is absent from the Sikh faith.

    My own definition of fundamentalism is as follows. Fundamentalism, in its original and Christian sense, holds a central doctrine, together with a number of subordinate doctrines which flow from it. The central doctrine is the inerrancy of the Bible, and all the other issues which we associate with the fundamentalist faith are consequences of this one affirmation - such things as belief in the virgin birth or, at a vastly greater distance, hostility to abortion.

    This definition has subsequently been applied to Islam, where it seems to fit satisfactorily. Many Muslims also attribute verbal inerrancy to the Qur an, just as fundamentalist Christians do to the Bible. The transference to the Sikh community (the Panth) raises some doubts, but at least the Sikhs have a sacred scripture and it is possible to argue that some of them attach a fundamentalist meaning to it. In theory at least it is possible to envisage fundamentalism within the Sikh Panth.

    With this definition in mind we can now proceed to consider each of the six objections which can be made to the original statement that there is no such thing as fundamentalism in the Sikh Panth.

    Is "Sikh fundamentalism" correctly understood?

    This question can be briefly considered and then set aside. Some Sikhs may be fundamentalists, but we must be careful not to align them with the more extreme forms of Western fundamentalism. Sikh fundamentalists (if the term is permissible) do not seek to build walls around themselves and to live lives separated from the remainder of their community or other communities. There is no thought of a border which should be sealed, nor of modernist ideas which must be shut out. Whatever else may be said of this category of Sikhs, they are definitely prepared to face the world. If we are to declare some Sikhs fundamentalist, their fundamentalism must be understood in a modified form. At the same time the beliefs of certain groups within the Sikh Panth are indeed close enough to the definition offered above to warrant a closer examination.

    Two modern Sikh sects

    Let us therefore consider the possibility that there may indeed be fundamentalists within the Panth, those who correspond to my own strict definition of the term. There are certain groups within the Panth which take a rigorous view of their Sikh duty and of the Sikh scriptures, particularly the Adi Granth (the "Guru Granth Sahib"). Do any of these groups qualify as fundamentalists? Do the Namdharis, for example, adopt a position which entitles them to be called fundamentalists?(6)

  7. The Namdharis (Kukas)

    The Namdharis (or the Kukas, as they are commonly known) emerged in northwestern Punjab during the later years of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who died in 1839. During these years some Sikhs believed that the Panth was being led astray by the pride which accompanied Ranjit Singh's military triumphs, and one of these Sikhs, Balak Singh by name, gathered around him a group of followers dedicated to meditation on the divine Name. The Namdharis differed from orthodox Sikhs because they came to believe that Guru Gobind Singh did not die in 1708 but lived on in secret until the age of 137, eventually conferring the succession on Balak Singh. In 1841 Ram Singh arrived as a soldier in Hazro up in northwest Punjab where Balak Singh delivered his teachings and, according to the Namdhari tradition, was instantly recognized by Balak Singh as his successor.

    In 1862 Balak Singh died and under Ram Singh, twelfth Guru by Namdhari reckoning, the center of the group moved down to his home village of Bhaini Raian in Ludhiana District. There the sect briefly blossomed, ran foul of the British administration of the Punjab in 1871-72, and were treated with considerable severity. Ram Singh was exiled to Rangoon and the sect declined into obscurity. It still continues today, but only as a tiny group. The fact that the Namdharis maintain a continuing line of personal Gurus means that on this particular point they are distinctly unorthodox to the great majority of other Sikhs. Their numbers are, however, insufficient to cause any trouble. Moreover, the Namdharis, by their generally strict observance of other Khalsa conventions, are commonly regarded with admiration, rather than as heretics.

    The Namdharis or Kukas are easily recognized by their practice of wearing white homespun clothing and (in the case of men at least) by tying their turbans horizontally across the forehead. Around their necks they wear a white woolen cord, woven as a series of 108 knots and serving as a rosary. They are strict vegetarians, and it was partly their vigorous concern for cow protection which led to the encounters with the British administration in 1871-72. Their most distinctive ritual is a fire-ceremony, another point of disagreement with orthodox Sikhs. During the performance of this ceremony several of the worshippers would attain a condition of ecstasy and in this condition would shriek. The Punjabi for 'shriek' is kuk, from which the alternative name "Kuka" originated.

    In one respect the Kukas are better suited than their orthodox brethren to be taken as fundamentalists. In addition to the Adi Granth and the Dasam Granth (they do not share the orthodox Sikhs' misgivings about the latter) they possess the Namdhari Rahit-nama,(7) the author of which was undoubtedly Ram Singh. To the Kukas it is Gurbani, an 'utterance of the Guru', and it must therefore be wholly accepted and obeyed. The overwhelming bulk of the Adi Granth concentrates its practical instruction in the repeated obligation to practice nam simaran or nam japan ('remembering, chanting the divine Name'). The Kukas extend this same obligation to the Namdhari Rahit-nama and it conveys to them very explicit commandments, indeed.

    Rise during the last watch of the night and taking a pot of water [for cleansing] go out into the fields to relieve nature. When you return scour the pot twice, remove the clothes which you were wearing while in the fields, clean your teeth, and recite [the prescribed portions of] sacred scripture.(8)

    This is very different from the sacred scripture (the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib) which all Sikhs accept. The Namdhari Rahit-nama continues in a thoroughly practical vein, communicating some very explicit instructions from Ram Singh...

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