The Hijackers of Sikhi

Part 5: The Current Situation.

Karminder Singh, PhD (Boston)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sikhi as it is practiced today, is no longer the Sikhi that was taught to us by our Gurus. It is a spirituality that stands distorted, corrupted and tainted. Its scripture – Gurbani – has been distorted through vedic and puranic slants in interpretations and translations; its history muddled in unbelievable tales of miracles called Sakhis, and its religious practices consist of those smuggled in from rejected and discarded rituals of pre-1469 faiths. It’s a faith that has been hijacked from its unique path and equally distinct goals. How, when and why did this happen?

Read this FIVE-part series for the story of a spirituality hijacked.

Read Part ONE: The Hijacking Explained here: : https://sikhivicharforum.org/?p=1954

Read Part TWO: The Udasis here: https://sikhivicharforum.org/?p=1984

Read Part THREE: The Nirmalas here: https://sikhivicharforum.org/?p=2012

Read Part FOUR: Dera Sants here: https://sikhivicharforum.org/?p=2022

THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME DESCENDS UPON SIKHS.

Studies on hijacking use a term called “The Stockholm Syndrome.^[1]

It is defined as a condition in which the VICTIMS of the hostage taking develop feelings of trust or affection towards their captors.

The syndrome is the result of psychological affinity that results from long term hostage taking situations. It normally begins with the victims developing sympathies and subsequently identifying and associating with the causes of their captors.

Symptoms of the syndrome include hostages who REFUSE TO ESCAPE even when handed with a perfect opportunity to do so. The more extreme symptoms occur when some VICTIMS within a group of hostages begin to ASSIST the captors in standing guard over other victims or preventing fellow VICTIMS from escape.

It is argued that the state of the hijacking of Sikhi has descended to the Stockholm syndrome stage.

Large number of Sikhs have developed trust and affection towards the hijackers of Sikhi, namely the dera sants, babas, and our nirmala and udasi attuned Clergy. Many Sikhs consider the hijackers to be “spiritually elevated” beings who are dedicating their lives for the cause of Sikhi parchar.

In short, the hijackers are being viewed as true Sikhs. The nirmalas are being viewed as “spiritual intellectuals” who wrote the “classical literature” and “history” of Sikhs. Doing so while the authentic Sikhs were fighting for their survival is considered as a benevolent and charitable act.

The sham celibacy of the dera sants is viewed positively as a “major sacrifice” of the sants and babas in their “quest” for the salvation of their follower Sikhs. Sacrificing marriage and families is considered the highest price anyone can pay for the “betterment” of the community.

Equally large numbers of Sikhs have developed psychological affinities to the CORE philosophical CORRUPTION that has been wrought on Sikhi by the udasis, nirmalas, and dera sants.

This CORE CORRUPTION of Sikhi is what we term bippar, brahmanism, ritualistic or the vedantic element.

This corrupted CORE is being viewed by the Stockholm Syndrome afflicted Sikh masses as “true Sikhi,” or as the “parent philosophy” of Sikhi or even the “root” of Sikhi.

Large number of Sikhs feel comfortable with the idea that Sikhs are part and parcel or a subset of the big and happy family that is the CORE of all Indian spiritualties – namely ritualistic Brahmanism or Bipparwaad.

In short, the prolonged hijacking of their faith has put the Sikh into ease with their hijacked state.

A good many Sikhs are UNWILLING and refusing to escape the clutches of the distortions of Guru history conducted via Sakhis and corruption of Gurbani achieved through vedantic interpretations.

Such is their position even when opportunities exist aplenty to get to the authentic history and equally authentic interpretations of Gurbani.

For a large majority of Sikhs, the appeal of the corrupted lull that dulls the senses is too strong a pull to awaken them from their deep slumber.

A vast majority of Sikhs are not prepared to UNLEARN the corrupted and distorted Sikhi and RELEARN the original and authentic Sikhi.

The position of the Sikh masses today is in the Stockholm Syndrome state. So COMPLETE is the process of the hijacking of Sikhi, that the VICTIMS have today become the hijackers themselves.

In reality therefore, Sikhs have now TAKEN OVER AS THE HIJACKERS OF THEIR OWN FAITH.

Sikh institutions, their clergy, their leaders, their deras, taksaals, their gurdwaras, their intellectuals and thinkers now stand as The Ultimate Hijackers of Sikhs – preventing their escape into authentic Sikhi.

Our Gurdwaras and our granthis – with rare exceptions – operate to PROPAGATE AND DEEPEN the distortion and corruption that the udasis, nirmalas and dera sants toiled upon Sikhi for 250 years.

Our clergy – ragis, kirtanias, parcharaks, dhadees, – appear perfectly comfortable peddling the corrupted material that the nirmalas downloaded abundantly upon the Sikh psyche through their 35 or more “classical texts” and the fifth Vedas that is the Freedkoti Teeka.

The deras and taksaals are busy producing a large pool of such clergy as well as hordes of follower – shardaloos who are the self-proclaimed guardians of the corrupted practices called rituals of Sikhi – be it strings of nonstop akhand paths, sampat paths, spiritual water, personal blessings, chanting of mantras or sukhnna sukh deeds (horse trading with the Guru).

The highest institutions of Sikhi – the SGPC and Akaal Takhat stand ever ready to embrace any and all forms of deviancy of Gurmat principles. They stand ever ready to put their stamp of legitimacy on the corruption – declaring distorted nirmala texts as “the inseparable part of Sikh history.”

The SGPC stands as the largest publisher of deviant Sikh history books – including school text books. AT and Darbar Sahib clergy have gone so far as to REPUBLISH the nirmala written and previously banned defamatory and derogatory books such as Gurbilas Patshahi 6.

Akin to the armed hijacker every ready to shoot to kill any victim who attempts to escape, the AT clergy stand ready to excommunicate just about anyone who toils effectively for the Sikh masses to escape the clutches of the hijacking of the Sikhi of the Gurus.

An examination of the “hukumnamas” issued by the AT will show that a vast majority of edicts from 1887^[2] are ones that excommunicate Sikhs – in particular those who attempted to expose the reality of the corruption of Sikhi.

SIKHS AS HIJACKERS OF THEIR OWN FAITH.

DRESSING UP THE SCANTY UDASEE SRI CHAND. When the Sri Chandees appeared at the doorsteps of Sikhi with the aim of taking over our Gurdwaras and hijacking the faith of Guru Nanak, they brought Sri Chand exactly as he was – dressed skimpy and sparse in a loin cloth of a langotee, with a karmandil, lota, garwee (container), janeyu, mala in hand, and fire burning.

But the Stockholm Syndrome infected Sikh captive – in his zeal to be an even more EFFECTIVE hijacker of Sikhi – has seen the need to make Sri Chand appear MORE ACCEPTABLE TO MAINSTREAM VICTIMS of the Sikh faith.

Sri Chand has thus been dressed up to appear as the “Baba next door” complete with a verse of Bhai Gurdas (meant for Guru Nanak ji) with the words “Dhan Baba Sri Chand Sahib ji” written over his head.

Gone is the langotee, karmandil garwee, janeyu, mala in hand, and fire burning. The Stockholm Syndrome afflicted Sikh decided on stripping Sri Chand of his defining spiritual symbols!

This attempt to provide a sense of normality to the SGGS-rejected Sri Chand is crucial to allow the corruption and distortion to take place in a more acceptable way in the minds of innocent Sikhs.

This single act has made the revival of the udasi position in Sikhi in the 20 Century easier, more agreeable and effective.

 

Sri Chand dressed up as the “baba next door”.

This is especially so for the three groups of Sikhs that are actively promoting Sri Chand today.

The first being the Yogi Bhajan group which considers the Sri Chand sanctioned kundalni yoga to be at the core of its practices.

The second group which will benefit immensely from “dressing up Sri Chand” consists of the dera based sant groups whose aim is to assimilate Sikhi into the larger fold of an antiquated and rejected system that is pivoted on Snatanism and Bipparism.

The third group is the right wing Hindu supremacy touting BJP led government of India today which has no qualms in conniving with any anti-Sikhi outfit. They are ever ready to use government instruments of mass media as well as funding.

THE NIRMALAS ARE BACK – WITH A VENGEANCE.

The nirmala influence on 21^st Century Sikhi is deeply rooted, very widespread and clearly observable.

We can see this influence in the following six areas.

1) Phenomenal Growth of nirmala influence in deras. There are more than 16,000 deras run by sants and babas in Punjab alone. Nirmala thought and traditions are kept alive in these places.

2) Sikh Clergy. These deras are the production factories for Sikh clergy – ragis, kirtanias, kathakaars and granthis – all of whom are trained using nirmala texts and nirmala Gurbani Teekas.

It is estimated that a majority of Sikh clergy today is dera trained where nirmala thought is predominantly taught. They source heavily from nirmala produced “classical texts” (Suraj Parkash, Fareedkoti, Bhagat Maal, Gurbnilas, Janam Sakhis etc) for their preaching.

Up to 95 percent of our granthis serving across the world are dera trained – thus contributing towards keeping distorted nirmala thoughts alive and kicking in the Sikh psyche globally.

3) Gurdwaras. A vast majority of our Gurdwara practices are nirmala initiated. Even the Takhats are not spared. Takhats Patna and Hazoor are particularly known for their anti-Sikh nirmala/ bhramanic practices of Artees, slaughter of goats, ritualistic worship and parkash of rival granths.

4) The Hijacking of Sikh Institutions. The highest of Sikh institutions such as the SGPC, Akaal Takhat and leadership of major Gurdwaras in India has steadily fallen in the hands of nirmala thought. The Jathedars of the Takkhats and their granthis are almost 100 percent dera trained and thus aligned with nirmala thought.

The final non-dera trained AT Jathedar was Professor Manjit Singh who was unceremoniously sacked 20 years ago.

The spreading incidences of excommunication of reform minded Sikhs by the AT is clearly an attempt to stem the tide of Sikh parcharaks who are attempting to remove nirmala influence from Sikhi.

5) Taksaals. Taksalee and nirmala thought can no longer be differentiated. The leading taksaal of the day – Damdamee – has become the headquarters of nirmala tradition propagation.

6) Interpretation of Gurbani. The vast majority of common Sikhs who rely on a Teeka or translation to understand the SGGS will undoubtedly end up with nirmala tradition translations because a vast majority of the translations – including English ones on the Internet – are sourced from and based on the Fareedkoti Teeka.

It can thus be argued that the average Sikh individual and institution is thoroughly and deeply permeated in nirmala thought.

THE “SANTS” AS THE ORGANISED HIJACKERS.

From its humble beginnings as agents of the British colonial masters created to corrupt Sikhi and weaken Sikhs, the sant class has come a long way to become the ultimate hijackers of Sikhi as it stands today.

THE SANT SAMAJ is the name of the “organization” that is comprised of dera sants. It functions as a pressure group to collectively use its voice and position to apply dera influence on the already hijacked Sikh institutions such as SGPC and Akal Takhat to force them to accede to their demands.

The sant samaj has a hand in getting Sikhs excommunicated – especially those who are bent on exposing the downside of deras.

The sant samaj has also become vocal and abusive in the condemnation of parcharaks who have resolved to promote authentic Gurbani messages to the Sikh messages at large.

It does not bother the “sant class” that the title sant samaj itself is a contradictions of terms. Even if we accept that human beings can elevate themselves to have sufficient spirituality within them to be deserving of being called a “sant”, then their rarity would be a given.

Rare objects are too few in number to form an association. But our ‘sants” have sufficient numbers to form a society, pressure group, or “samaj.” The village folk even have a saying ਇਟ ਚੁਕਿਆਂ ਸੰਤ ਨਿਕਲ ਆਉਦਾ (lit: a sant behind every pebble)

Such deep and widespread is the nirmala inculcated Vedic / Bhramanic influence on Sikhi that it is difficult to imagine Sikhi being freed from the shackles of this virus.

While efforts to take Sikhi back to its original and unique self (Tatt Gurmat) are being undertaken by groups (such as missionary college trained parcharaks and modern day Singh Sabha movements) who are passionate about ridding Sikhi of the nirmala, udasi and dera influence, there has been an ugly backlash from the taksalee and dera groups under the auspices of the sant samaj to promote the nirmala influence even more.

THE HIJACKERS’ RALLYING TOOL: THE DASAM GRANTH.

It is clear by now that the ties that bound the udasis, nirmalas, and dera sants as the hijackers of Sikhi was their subscription to snatanism, bipparism and vedanticism.

The common thread of a force that motivated all three groups was their desire to see Sikhi engulfed by vedantic and snatan dictates. They wanted a Sikhi that was hollowed out of its originality and engulfed instead in bipparism.

They were thus united in this one singular quest.

The centuries of distorted maryada imposed in Sikh Gurdwaras by the three groups provided them with the “ritualistic basis” to their distortion and corruption of Sikhi.

The 35 Classical Texts led by nirmala Kavi Santokh Singh’s Suraj Parkash and the voluminous but distorted Sakhi literature provided the hijackers with the “historical basis” to inject the virus of bipparism into Sikhi.

The Fareedkoti Teeka – translated with full vedantic slant as the ‘fifth Ved’ – provided all three groups with the “philosophical basis” in their quest to distort Gurmat and Gurbani.

BUT IT WOULD BE THE BACHITAR NATAK OR DASAM GRANTH THAT WOULD PROVIDE A FRESH IMPETUS, BECOME A RALLYING POINT, AND PROVIDE NEW VIGOUR FOR THE HIJACKERS IN THE 21^ST CENTURY.

All 21^st Century Hijackers of Sikhi (including the Stockholm infected ones) are one voice in their united stand on the DG. They accept it as the writing of the tenth master and an accepted scripture of the Sikhs, worthy of being installed side by side the SGGS.

Why did the BNG /Dasam Granth (DG) become the pivotal tool for the Stockholm syndrome infected Sikhs in their quest to be the new hijackers of Sikhi? The following seven reasons will help us understand.

FIRST. The DG is wholly and completely a text that makes sacred the entire gamut of Hindu devi devatas or gods and goddesses; mythological narratives, and mythical epics. The DG is vedantic to its CORE. The DG is snatan right down to its last verse.

The DG is thus able to do something that even the Fareedkot Teeka was unable to do despite its vedantic slant. The DG was able to put the corruption of Vedanta right into the HEART of “Sikh Scripture.”

SECOND. The DG accepts the supreme vedantic mother of all goddesses Durga and the ultimate god of snatan – Shivji in the form of Mahakaal. The primary gods of the DG are therefore Durga and Mahakaal.

The DG is thus able to serve the lifelong ambition of the hijackers of Sikhi in the most authoritative way. The corruptors of Sikhi are now able to say: The Sikh “Scripture” itself recognizes these “gods of the snatan” as deserving of Sikh sanctity.

THIRD. The DG sits on the fake claim that it is authored by the tenth Guru. The “Guru” himself is thus made to appear to be worshipping Mahakaal and Durga.

The DG is thus able to put the stamp of “guru authority” to the aims and aspirations of the hijackers. For IF the tenth Guru subjected himself to Shivji (Mahakaal) and Durga, then why should the entire Sikh world not do the same?

FOURTH. The DG sits on a bogus claim that the tenth Guru worshipped Durga and Mahakaal for centuries in his “past life”in the form of “Dushat Daman”. And that it was Mahakaal who summoned Guru Gobind Singh and ordered him to “go down to earth” to start a new religion.

This claim effectively takes the origins of Sikhi out of the hands of Guru Nanak and puts it into the hands of the fake “Dushat Daman” – a brahmin descendant of the ascendants of the Hindu God Ram Chander.

The claim further plants the CORE vedantic beliefs in the past life and after life (something rejected by the Gurmatt) into the veins of fake Sikh “scripture” that is the DG.

In short the DG is able to achieve – single handedly – what the Fareedkoti Teeka, 25 “classical texts” and thousands of sakhis collectively sought to achieve.

FIFTH. It gives the hijackers, corruptors and distorters of Sikhi the perfect weapon against those Tatt Gurmat authentic Sikhs who toil in their effort to weed out Sikhi of the vedic elements.

Since the DG as “authored” by the Guru approves, sanctifies and propagates the vedic elements, those who oppose the vedic elements must be “anti DG” and by extension “anti Guru Gobind Singh.”

The “anti Guru Gobind Singh” label comes in handy to keep Tatt Gurmat authentic Sikhi parcharaks out of Gurdwaras; and get authentic parcharaks, writers and thinkers excommunicated and even assaulted.

SIXTH. The DG acts as a useful tool to take control of Sikh Gurdwaras and Institutions. Given the two and half centuries of hijacked state that Sikhs have lived through, a vast majority of Sikhs have bought into the nirmala, udsasi and dera sant corruption and distortion of Sikh history, beliefs, philosophy and Gurbani interpretations.

Even though less than 1% of Sikhs have actually seen, let alone read the DG for themselves, up to 95% of Sikhs have no qualms about accepting the lie that it as “the banee of Guru Gobind Singh” simply by virtue of the lie that the name of the text contains the word “dasam.”

Renaming the DG eight times and finally to “Dasam” granth finally achieved the objective of mass acceptance amongst the Sikhs.

Given that control of Gurdwaras and Sikh institutions is a numbers game, the Stockholm Syndrome infected majority Sikhs use the “anti Dasam” label to defeat authentic and genuine Sikhs from getting elected.

SEVENTH. The DG contains up to 800 pages of explicit woman degrading sexual content. Given that less than 1 percent of Sikhs have read the DG themselves, they fall for the lie that “since Guru Gobind Singh wrote these explicit tales” Sikhs must therefore accept them at face value.

Such “acceptance” gives the rogue elements in dera and taksaal “sants” and babas the license to abuse females and children from within their flock in the form of rape, molest and other forms of sexual abuse. The DG content further gives them the authorization to “justify” their actions by blaming it on the “vile behavior of the woman.”

Their fake claim is that “the tenth Guru wrote about it. He wrote the 800 pages to “warn” us Sikhs about the “vile, deceptive and cunning character of the female”. Even he himself came across such deceiving woman” is the additional lie that is often parroted by the molesters, rapists and sexual abusers.

In the hands of the 21^st Century Hijackers of Sikhi then, the DG is the nuclear weapon of mass control of their victims. It is the perfect weapon. Sikhs would never be able to free themselves of the hijacking of their faith so long as the DG remained the weapon of choice of the 21^st Century hijackers.

THE STATE OF SIKHI OF THE SIKH TODAY.

As an individual human being, a spiritual seeker and traveler on the path of Guru Nanak’s Sikhi, the Sikh stands dangerously lost, astray and betrayed.

At the individual level, since the Sikh’s understanding of the SGGS is heavily reliant on translations and teekas, and since virtually all translations (including the English ones) are derived from the vedantic Freedkoti Teeka, he or she is unconsciously pushed into the hands of the hijackers of Sikhi by virtue of his need to understand Gurbani.

At the Gurdwara level, the individual seeker Sikh is met with granthis who mostly function as agents of the distortion and corruption that the udasis, nirmalas and dera sants have propagated.

At the Gurdwara too, the individual seeker Sikh is faced with clergy – ragis, kirtanias, and parcharaks who peddle the corrupted material that the nirmalas produced through their 35 or more “classical texts” and the fifth Vedas that is the Freedkoti Teeka.

Also at the Gurdwara, he is inundated with the rituals of Sikhi – be it strings of nonstop akhand paths, sampat paths and chanting of various banees and mantras.

The original function of the Gurdwara as a Dharamsaal – an institution for the learning of Gurmat has been lost. (Readers may read more about the proper role and functions of a Gurdwaras here: https://sikhivicharforum.org/?tag=gurdwara-khalsasikh-sggs).

It is no wonder that Sikhs in search of this original function of Gurdwaras are heard opining that it was the Gurdwara that acted as the primary place where the distortion and corruption of their individual / personal Sikhi understanding took place. And that to keep the Sikhi of their children from being hijacked one actually has to keep them away from their local Gurdwaras.

At the societal level, the individual awakened Sikh discovers that his circle of spiritual friends, relatives and family have put their spiritual faith in the hijackers of Sikhi, namely the dera sants, babas, and our nirmala and udasi attuned clergy. They consider the hijackers to be “spiritually elevated” beings who are true Sikhs.

Also at the societal level, one discovers that one’s friends, relatives and family are comfortable with and at ease with their hijacked state. A vast majority do not know, do not believe or do not care that anything is wrong. Those who know are unwilling to take the difficult steps that are required to escape the clutches of the distortions.

In other words, one soon learns that most Sikhs around us are in deep slumber.

At the institutional level, the individual Sikh is aware that the highest institutions of Sikhi – the SGPC and Akaal Takhat have embraced any and all forms of deviancy of Gurmat principles. He is also aware that both institutions have come under the control of the political elements of Punjab and India as a result of their slide into become politicized over the past few decades.

In short, the awakened individual Sikh discovers that the Stockholm Syndrome has descended upon Sikhs. Sikhs have become the hijackers of their own spirituality. And that there is no one he or she could turn to.

LEFT TO ONE’S OWN DEVICES.

As a consequence, the individual awakened Sikh is mostly left to one’s own devices in the quests to escape the ongoing hijacking of his spiritual psyche; escape the abyss of a religion that stands distorted, corrupted and tainted; get to the original and unique path; and ensure that one’s next generation does not walk into the same trap.

One is left to one’s own devices to UNLEARN the corrupted and distorted Sikhi and RELEARN the original and authentic Sikhi.

In this respect then, the internet has become the “gurdwara” that was supposed to be the Dhramsaal. Other seekers of authentic Sikhi wanting to escape the hijacking have become the cyber sangat.

One’s own resolve and determination has become the “granthi” (and “clergy”) that was supposed to be the guiding force for the learning of authentic Sikhi.

One’s sense of QUESTIONING everything becomes the DEFIANCE against the hijackers that will eventually become our route of escape from their clutches.

The right to question that has been denied in our gurdwaras and institutions – the absence of which allowed the hijackers to corrupt and distort our Sikhi with impunity – is accorded in abundance within the cyber sangat. It is such questioning of everything that will allow the realization, the awakening, the need for unlearning and relearning.

Notes.

1. The term got its name from a hostage taking situation in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973. The hostages defended their captors after being released and would not agree to testify in court against them. The hostages even began raising money to pay for the defense of their hijackers.

   The term ‘Stockholm Syndrome” was coined by Nils Bejerot, a Swedish criminologist and psychiatrist after Stockholm police asked him for assistance with analyzing the bizarre behavior of the victims.

   Numerous cases of Stockholm Syndrome have been recorded in recent history – including a victim who committed suicide to spare her hijackers the death penalty (Mary McElroy in 2009), a victim who, upon her release, purchased and lived in the house of horror in which she was held captive (Natascha Kampusch, 2008), victims who joined their hijackers in subsequent acts of hijacking and went to jail for the act (Patty Hearst, 1974) and victims who chose to voluntarily return to their hijackers even after being allowed to escape and go back to their families (Colleen Stan, 1977). Note: parentheses in this paragraph contain real names of victims.

   Stockholm syndrome is ostensibly paradoxical because the sympathetic sentiments captives feel towards their captors are the opposite of the fear and disdain an onlooker may feel towards the captors. ↑

2. The first ex-communication of a Sikh happened in 1887. Professor Gurmukh Singh of Singh Sabha Lahore (authentic) was excommunicated on March 18, 1887 by the AT clergy for his opposition to the Fareedkoti Teeka. Khem Singh Bedi of the Snatani (vedic) branch of Singh Sabha Amritsar persuaded the masands and sarabrahs (caretakers hired by the British) to excommunicate Prof. Gurmukh Singh. The Panth never accepted the validity of the ex-communication. Prominent Sikhs such as Bhai Gurditt Singh and Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, continued to associate with Prof. Gurmukh Singh Ji, and never accepted the validity of his ex-communication.

   No Sikh was ever excommunicated during the Guru period and beyond till 1887. ↑