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more issue #4
A community divided?
The recent horrendously violent occurences at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. was an issue of fundamental Sikhs versus moderate Sikhs-well, at least according to the sensationalized media.
As a Canadian Sikh I define myself as neither a fundamentalist nor a moderate, and find many more issues at stake here. It is not simply about tables and chairs. Nor is the concern about power and financial control over the often undocumented, multi-million dollar income of the gurdwara. No. What is at stake here is the deteriration of Sikhdom with rifts carved into the community by the blatant disregard of Sikh laws.
A gurdwara is the Sikh house for prayer, ceremonial rituals, communal dining, socializing and gathering. It is supposed to be a peaceful place. No alcohol is allowed, no smoking is permitted and swearing and violence are intolerable.
On January 11, 1997 that peace was violently disrupted. The Guru Nanak Gurdwara turned into a bloody battlefield. Moderates attempted to return tables and chairs into the communal dining hall that were thrown out and destroyed by some fundamentalists in December. Some 75 fundamentalists sat cross-legged on the floor in protest refusing to move. When tables were squeezed in place, shouting and swearing commenced disobeying the conventional rules of the gurdwara. In moments, as tempers rose and shouting persisted, the sacred kirpans were drawn in a vicious offensive attack against fellow Sikhs.
Kirpans are one of the five sacred symbols of a baptized Sikh, only to be drawn in religious and personal defence. Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the living gurus, justified the drawing of kirpans as such: "When all other means have failed, it is righteous to draw the kirpan." The situation at the Surrey gurdwara had far from reached "all other means" of negotiation, and still the kirpans were drawn. Not only were they not used in defence, they were used against other Sikhs!
The argument that dining at tables and chairs opposes the Sikh custom of equality falls short of validity when one questions why the fundamentalists, who held a majority on the managing board of the gurdwara, did not impose this change during their ten year reign. They claim that the appropriate manner in which to dine in a gurdwara is on the floor, which is the practice in Indian and other international gurdwaras. It is in Canadian Sikh historical practice to dine at tables. Personally, if there were tables, I would eat at a table. If there weren't, then I would dine on the floor. However, if there were both (as some people argue to be the fairest resoltuion), I would refrain from dining in the hall altogether. The argument is not about fundamentalism, rather it rests on the bases of equality that the founding guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, emphasized in his teachings. "All Sikhs must sit and dine at the same level," he said, be it all at tables or all at mats on the floor.
Surrey RCMP constable Grant Learned summarized the incident as, "a cocktail of explosive proportions, with religion, money, and political power all being interwoven." At the surface that would appear to be the problem. However, deeper within the Sikh community the Guru Nanak Gurdwara crisis unearthed the problems of division, greed, and lack of respect for Sikh laws and practices, which are of more importance and accuracy than the sensationalized theme of "violent Sikhs" portrayed in recent media reports.
The media, too, in their attempts to articulate the entire situation, have encouraged the division of a community; the Canadian community. Throughout most of the media coverage, ignorance, generalizations and a focus on the sellable factors has disrespected the Sikh community. Not once did reporters refer to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara as a "gurdwara." Generalizations labelled it as a Sikh temple. Though prayer and congregation are intricate components of the gurdwara, it is a separate entity from a temple. Sikhs do not practice idol worship and therefore cannot have their gurdwaras labelled as temples, or "edifices dedicated to the worship of a deity."
If reporters and commentators do not refer to Muslim mosques or Jewish synagogues as temples or churches, do not Sikh gurdwaras deserve the same level of distinction? If Canadians are able to respect the Muslim and Jewish community by learning the rightful names and annunciation of their repected institutions, then can not Sikhs who have been in Canada since the turn of the century and who have established gurdwaras since the early 1900s question their inclusion in Canadian society? These insensitivities on the part of the media lead to the segregation of sub-communtiies within the larger Canadian community and perpetuate a gap between Sikhs and non-Sikhs.
The media sensationalized most of the events surrounding the assaults at the gurdwara-an approach that is far from new in the media and their functioning in news coverage, but one that continues to irritate and enrage me.
Throughout the TV news coverage, no Sikh expert was consulted. Hugh Johnston, a professor at Simon Fraser University, was often asked for his comments and is a very credible expert on Sikhism, but he is not a Sikh. For the sake of the Sikh community and the awareness of the general viewing public, it was important to have a Sikh analyzing the events surrounding this situation.
Sikhism is a community of brotherhood and sisterhood bound within religious and ethical practices that brings its members together in solidarity. It is a religion of equality, harmony, and truth. What would be the use of being baptized into, or even practicing, Sikhism if you are not communal and/or in solidarity with one another? What security is a Sikh left with if (s)he fears entering a gurdwara or refrains from making their opinions public for fear of being targeted as an enemy by other Sikhs? This is the main concern here. Cardinal rules of the religion have been thrown out the widow by Sikhs askewed by money, wealth, power, and greed in violent outbursts that have divided the community and distanced it from its essential views of peace and truth.
The entire episode that has taken place at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara saddens and shames me as a Sikh. It is disgraceful to see Sikh conduct lowered to swearing and fighting in a gurdwara. It saddens me to see my community divided by claims of lack of accomodation or severe fundamentalism turned vicious with bloodshed among its own members. It shames me to see supposedly educated and orthodox Sikhs abandon their Sikh guidelines over matters that could easily be dealt with through peaceful negotiations.
Sikhs, lest we forget the words of Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Learn to love, be merciful and forbear.
Be mild, be patient.
Have neither lust, nor anger,
Nor greed, nor obstinacy.
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