Issue 52 Vol III, November 30, 2007

L I T E R A T U R E

A Requiem for The Lost Glory of The Sikhs-II
Dr Jaspal Singh

HERE are a couple of books by a dedicated Sikh scholar Ajmer Singh about Sikh politics of a century and a half. Vihvin Sadi di Sikh Rajniti, (Sikh Politics of 20th Century) Sikh Rajniti da Dukhant: Kis Bidh Ruli Patshahi (Tragedy of Sikh Polity: Whither Went Sovereignty). Ajmer Singh’s hypothesis ‘whatever the R.S.S. says is Hindu Nationalism which in all respects is equivalent to Indian Nationalism’ is debatable if not utterly wide of the mark. Similarly the Jews analogy to Sikhs and of Khalistan to Israel is completely irrelevant. Better the Sikhs don’t get a nation like the one the Jews have got. Moreover the Jews in Christian era have never been in power in any country before 1948 but the Sikhs did remain in power though for a few decades and were never persecuted after the seventies of the 18th century till the gruesome events of eighties of the last century.

Ajmer Singh maintains that India is a “multinational State”. This postulate is debatable. India is a multi-nationality State if nationality is defined as an ethnic mass of a people over a territory with a common language, culture and historical experience. As per this definition Punjabis do make a nationality and the Sikhs are part of it. One nation can have many nationalities and many religions and one nationality can be dispersed over an area falling in many nation states like the present day Kurds who are spread over a contiguous area falling in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. So are the Punjabis in different countries. The notion of one religion one nation does not hold good. The ‘two nation’ theory that divided India in1947 exploded in 1971 with the creation of Bangladesh.

Guru Gobind Singh strove for spiritual freedom for the Sikhs not for political freedom as maintained by the author. When the temporal powers create obstacles in the practice of spiritual freedom only then religious communities and sects have to confront the temporal power structures sometimes with the force of arms. The authors claim that Guru Nanak did not speak against Babur because he was a foreigner (Second Vol.p.112) but only because of his cruelty and barbarism too is debatable. In the same paragraph he maintains that the Lodhi rulers were “cruel predators and greedy debauches”. Now the question arises –if Guru Nanak could raise his voice against Babur’s cruelties why did he not speak against the Lodhis who were equally cruel? Obviously there was some other reason that the great Guru raised his voice against Babur. The author further maintains that Guru Nanak’s world-view had nothing to do with “Nationalism” as his vision was cosmic not nationalistic. Now the question arises - why did Guru Nanak use the word Hindostan not Punjabi in his hymns about Babur’s cruelties? Of course there was no idea of Nation at that time, nevertheless the Guru was conscious of the conceptual land mass called Hindostan and Babur too was moving ahead to capture this land which in Babur Nama is designated by this very name. Incidentally Babur used the term Hindostan nearly thirty years before Guru Nanak made use of it in his “Babur Bani”.

Ajmer Singh’s claim that Western philosophy emphasises ‘similarities’ in nature, society, things and phenomena (2nd vol.p.117) is far removed from facts. Western philosophy rather lays stress on “differences” and “distinctive features” rather than on “similarities”. In fact Eastern philosophy particularly Vedanta maintains that everything in essence is the same. While debunking the Western Epistemology (pp.117-18) Ajmer Singh maintains that secular intelligentsia became a slave of Western thinking and it started emphasising for the separation of Church and State. What the author does not understand is that if the intelligentsia had not believed in this postulate then it would have to fall back on Vedanta or other eastern schools of thought which are equally anathematic to the author. While presenting E.H. Carr’s views on history, the author holds that in order to understand historical discourses, one must try to understand the historian’s worldview and conceptual framework. This is equally applicable to Ajmer’s enterprise. He is not writing a “history of” but a “history for”. He has his own preconceived notions and beliefs which he tries to prove through his narrative by making a selective use of historical facts and data. After reading the very first page one can guess what the last page would carry. If the historians can’t be objective, how can Ajmer be so? Eclecticism and selectivism do not lend objectivity.

According to the learned author the greatest contribution of Bhindaranwale was that he put an end to the Akali petty manipulatory politics of “fasts” and betrayals. Master Tara Singh defiled two fasts and Sant Fateh Singh three. Yet they are heroes for Badal, Barnala and other Akali functionaries. Ajmer Singh maintains that he fought and died for his cause but Badal and company are reaping the benefits of his struggle and sacrifice after having thrown into the dustbin all the demands and aspirations for which so many people had to a great deal.

Lastly, the author pleads for a genuine federal structure in India without realising that federalism is concerned with territorial autonomy not with communitarian or religious autonomy which anyway has been guaranteed in the constitution. But the author’s concern is for autonomy or sovereignty for the Sikhs. One does not understand as to how federal autonomy can be extended exclusively to a religious community? Federal autonomy is required for all the states of India. Federalism as a concept of modern political theory has nothing to do with spiritual concerns of the religious communities. The author erroneously holds that sovereignty to Sikhs has been granted by the great Gurus, as if sovereignty is something that can be achieved through divine blessing. In fact it has to be attained through struggle, usually through war and violence which the Sikhs achieved for short time. So the entire argument leads to confusion of means and ends.

As a scholar Ajmer Singh has really worked very hard. He makes use of many dependable primary and secondary sources to spin an interesting narrative, though with controversial conclusions. He has a rare command of the Punjabi language. His narrative style is commendable. Both these volumes are immensely engaging, but it needs some patience to go through the 750 odd pages of this long tragic tale of struggle, betrayals, unethical compromises, lust for power, unparallel sacrifices, exemplary bravery and even foolhardiness. The author now is planning to come out with the third volume of this series which may eventually cover the history of the Punjab region after “Operation Blue Star”. Hopefully this attempt would be equally interesting. The publishers-Singh Brothers, Amritsar have done an admirable job. [Ends]

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Breaking the script barrier
Software to bond millions of Punjabis across the world

THERE is happy news for the two Punjabs. Indeed for Punjabis living in the four corners of the world. A core group of computer scientists at the Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi language, literature and culture at Punjabi University, Patiala, have developed software that can convert Gurmukhi script into roman, Devnagri and Shahmukhi (Punjabi written in Urdu script in Pakistan) or any of these scripts into the each other.

A Punjabi software suite to knock down Punjabi script barriers has been developed at the Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi language, literature and culture at the Punjabi University in Patiala. The software suite which would benefit at least 10 crore Punjabis across the globe was developed in four stages spread over four years. This unique software, which has completed advanced levels of testing for its crucial fourth phase, would enable people across the globe to read and communicate any piece of Punjabi writing in Gurmukhi, Urdu, Devnagri and Roman scripts.

This would end barriers not only between the two Punjabs where anyone could use any script, translate any piece of literature and publish articles and  books across the world in Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi and Devnagri script.

Dr. Gurpreet Singh Lehal, the Director of the Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi Language, Literature and Culture says that using the software suite, a Punjabi text typed in Roman can be converted to Gurmukhi. The Gurmukhi text can then be transliterated to Devnagri and Shahmukhi and then the Shahmukhi text can be converted back to Gurmukhi and finally to Roman script with diacritic marks.

With the launch of the fourth stage of the software, the script barriers in this part of South Asia and for the Punjabi Diaspora would fall for ever. One can type Punjabi documents in Roman, Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi scripts and convert and view them in Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi, Devnagri or Roman scripts. Thus person not fluent in Gurmukhi typing can type Punjabi text in Roman script and convert it to Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi and Devnagri scripts with click of mouse.

This has a huge potential, the capability of linking million of Punjabis around the globe. To be officially launched in December, this software makes it possible for anyone knowing one of these languages to read anything written in the other language after a simple conversion through a programme that has been put on a website for free use.

Developed at a cost of $ 30,000 through a grant of PAN Asia ICT (R&D) Grant Project, this software suite is perhaps the single largest contribution to link people with diverse backgrounds, sharing common culture and ethnicity.

Dr Gurpreet Singh Lehal, director of the Advanced Centre, who has been one of the main forces behind the project said, “The software has numerous applications - something for everyone, who has anything to do with reading or writing. To begin with, anyone interested in reading Pakistani newspapers and magazines online can use this software suit to convert the Shahmukhi script into one that he understands. The software has the capability of translating the entire websites along with their hyperlinks”.

Developed at a cost of $ 30,000 through a grant of PAN Asia ICT (R&D) Grant Project, this software suite is perhaps the single largest contribution to link people with diverse backgrounds, sharing common culture and ethnicity. Earlier Dr Lehal and his team had developed a software Akhar for Punjabi [ in Gurmukhi script].  This too is available free of cost. Punjabi university vice chancellor Swaran Singh Boparai has been personally encouraging the team to go fast and develop such tools that can help the computer literate people and others and enrich Punjabi language and literature.

The team of software developers from Punjabi University, Patiala said it took them nearly four years to develop the present software package from their previous attempts. They say, “The software is intelligent and accurately transliterates roman words with different spelling into the exact Gurmukhi spellings, making it for a Punjabi speaking person to write effortlessly in Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi and in Devnagri.”

The software is available online for testing and use at http://s2g.advancedcentrepunjabi.org.

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