Issue of common identity: A historical excursion of Sanatani-Sikh debate

Sikhs have long been respected in Hindu society. Even Hindus have always revered the Guru’s heritage and respected Gurdwara’s wisdom and expertise as much as their sect’s shrines. Both have a history of persecution and freedom struggle. Nanak’s teachings revived Punjabi Hindus who had been oppressed by Muslims for nearly five centuries. Many Sikhs Gurdwaras have Hindu idols and goddesses placed by non-Sikh Hindus whose temples were destroyed by Muslims. Surviving Hindu temples embraced the Adi Granth.

Guru Govind Singh, who founded Khalsa (the Pure) in 1699 A.D., was attracted to the Puranic narrative of Goddess Durga as Mahisamardini (the one who killed Mahisasura). The Khalsa was not a new religious sect historically. Since the Sikhs were a sect of Hinduism, it was only a military formation. Sikh and non-Sikh Hindu families dedicated their firstborn boys to the Khalsa, which became Hindu society’s sword arm. The Sanatan Dharm Gazette utilised Guru Granth Sahib lines to demonstrate that Guru Nanak and his successors acknowledged the Vedas and believed in reincarnation (Sanatan Dharm Gazette, 5 May 1900, p. 231.) The Akhbar-i-Am pandit claimed Sikhs were Hindus using the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh turned the Sikh community into a political organisation, and what was once a quietist sect of Hindus flourished to the point that visitors and Punjabis began to view the Sikhs as a separate religion (Akhbar-i-Am, 26 February 1900, p. 108).

British military dominance changed things when they invaded India. They allied with Islamic imperialism remnants early in the conquest. They now faced Hindu nationalism. Thus, the Hindu community was fragmented and pitted against one other as their major policy. To separate Sikhs from Hindus, the British made them a religious minority, like Muslims and Christians. Western Indologists and Orientalists later collaborated with Christian missionaries, sometimes unwittingly and sometimes for political gain. Dr E Trumpp, a German Indologist and missionary hired to prove the Hindu-Sikh division, denied Sikhism’s syncretism. Instead of supporting the separation, he argued that “it is not improbable that Islam had a great share in working silently these changes, which are directly opposed to the teachings of the Gurus…the teaching of Nanak was, however, efficient. His followers are daily reminded in the Jap-Ji that without the practice of virtue, there can be no worship” (Introduction to the Translation of the Adi Granth; p. xxii). From then onwards, the Britishers theory ‘Sikhism (is) in Danger’ became the only objective of all scholars and administrators.

Scholarship has a quiet but long term impact. Sikh scholars used categories from Macauliffe and others. However, the British government took faster administrative and political action. A specific Army Policy yielded results quickly. They constructed martial race enclaves while disarming the nation. Poorabiya soldiers—many of them Brahmins—helped the British conquer Punjab, but they rebelled in 1857. The British abandoned them and looked elsewhere. Sikhs won and 1,500 Sikh soldiers—mostly Mazhabis—served in 1855. In 1910, 33,000 Jats made up 20 per cent of the army of 1,74,000. British officers greeted Sikh soldiers with Wahe guruji ka Khalsa! D Patrie, Assistant Director, Criminal Intelligence, Government of India (1911), wrote in a secret Memorandum that every effort had been taken to protect Sikh soldiers from idolatry, the label colonial missionaries gave Hinduism.

De-Hinduization begins then and British politicians also worked towards the same. Ex-soldiers formed Singh Sabhas. These served Lahore and Amritsar Khalsa Diwans. In 1902, the two Diwans merged into Chief Khalsa Diwan, which led Sikh politics. These organisations led the Sikh de-Hinduisation campaign and promoted Sikh identity. They requested independent status from the British government in 1888, anticipating the Muslims. They removed Brahmin priests from Har Mandir. The temple’s Hindu god idols were also removed.

Pacca loyalist Nabha chief minister Kahan Singh authored Hum Hindu Nahin Hain (We are not Hindus) in 1898. This note, struck by the British and picked up by the collaborationists, has persisted in Sikh writings and politics, culminating in intransigent politics and terrorism. Sikh nationalism targeted Hindus but hurt the British. The rise of Hindu nationalism coincided with the rise of Sikh nationalism.

As Christians and rulers, the British were limited. Many Sikhs rebelled even during the height of British devotion. Khurshid-i-Khalsa (1885) by Baba Nihal Singh “dealt in an unpalatable fashion with the British occupation of the Punjab”. In 1907, Khalsa College students, founded in 1892 to instil patriotism in Sikh youngsters, welcomed Gokhale to Punjab. Students dragged his carriage without horses. The Granth Sahib was removed from Dharamsala College for him to speak. Banke Dayal, the editor of Jhang Sayal, first recited Pagri Sambhal, Jatta, the Punjab rebels’ fight hymn, here (Report of the Bharat Dharm Mahamandal, 1889).

The Singh reformers worried about Tikka Ripudaman Singh of Nabha’s 1908 Anand Marriage Bill in the Imperial Legislative Council to legalise Sikh marriage (Anand Marriage Act VIII of 1909, p. 2). Arya Samaj, traditionalist Sikhs, and Golden Temple granthis opposed the Bill. Bill’s opponents saw the Anand marriage as a Singh reformer invention. The government received hundreds of pro- and anti-Bill messages. In 1912, the Sanatan Dharm Pracharak said the tat-Khalsa “unbecomingly” and “abuse” Hindus in a theological argument at the Amritsar Sanatan Dharm Debating Club (Sanatan Dharm Parcharak, 24 June 1912, p. 544). The Pracharak claimed that the Sikh Gurus died defending Hindus when Aurangzeb raised his sword. Sikhs, their Gurus, and the parents of all ten Gurus were Hindus; hence Hindus and Sikhs were related (Sanatan Dharm Parcharak, ibid., p. 384).

Sikhs still socialized with Hindus, but politically they became more united. Before the war, Khalsa-ized Sikhism was de-Hinduized. Non-Khalsa Sikhs, especially Udasis, lost their temples. Akalis, “belonging to the Immortal,” several populated Gurudwaras. In 1925, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) took over these. Sikh faith became politicised after this. Temple resources ruled Sikh politics (Annual Report of the Shri Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha Punjab (Hindi), 1928), pp. 23-26, 79-81). The SGPC Act (1925) designated Sikhs as Khalsa and excluded Sahajdharis. Sikhs valued SGPC, Akali, and Jathas. Non-Khalsa Sikhs became second-class citizens. Khalsa Akalis gained confidence. Their increased temper caused conflicts with the British (ibid., p. 79-81).

Hindus and Sikhs showed unity in Punjab and Delhi despite all odds. Despite many recent missteps, they have shown they are one in blood, history, aspiration, and interest. In danger and mischief, this age-old solidarity was the most substantial support. Knowing what could happen, we shouldn’t take unity for granted. Let us promote it. Alone, we harm each other; together, we grow.

The author is an assistant professor at the University of Delhi. Views expressed are personal.

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