Professor Darshan Singh: DC Sikhs ask Akal Takhat to reconsider his excommunication
By Anju Kaur
Part B of a 4-part series entitled The Strategy http://www.sikhnn.com/headlines/264...-takhat-reconsider-his-excommunication?page=2
Professor Darshan Singh at the Sikh Gurdwara, DC, was invited for Guru Hargobind's Gurpurab on July 7. He used the occasion to talk about the meaning of Akal Takhat, his excommunication, and the conspiracy of introducing false granths into Sikhi.
Questions of strategy and authority
At least one Sikh said he had a lot of respect for Darshan Singh, but did not agree with the gurdwara management’s public disagreement with the Akal Takhat.
“If the Akal Takhat Sahib has a hukamnama for us to not have any divaan with Professor Darshan Singh, if we disagree, we should approach the Akal Takhat together - We should not challenge its authority,” said Sawinder Singh of Germantown, Maryland. “We should make a strategy of how should we pursue this kind of situation. We should have togetherness if we want change.”
Sawinder Singh, a former member of a Harmandar Sahib jathaa, said he had been mediating an agreement on this issue between two opposing groups in the metropolitan Washington area. He is not a member of any gurdwara, and was not involved in the program at the Washington gurdwara. He is independently trying to arrange a local debate.
“The majority of the local leaders, their agenda is publicity,” he told SikhNN. But until they can come to an agreement, Darshan Singh should stay away from gurdwara stages, he added.
Darshan Singh is in his 80s, and lives in Canada. He still travels extensively in North America by invitation from many sangats, he told SikhNN.
“I am glad that the awakening of the quam (Sikh community) has proven to me that any edict, if it is not right, the quam will not accept it,” he said. “(The hukamnama) did not make any difference and it did not change my life at all. I am still receiving all the love and respect from the quam. Programs continue as before.”
Although the Washington gurdwara gave wide notice of Darshan Singh’s program by emailing invitations, the majority of gurdwaras and individuals invite him without a public announcement for fear of backlash from his opponents.
“Our authority is Akal Takhat Sahib,” Sawinder Singh added. “I agree that the Akal Takhat is run by (Punjab Chief Minister) Parkash Singh Badal… (but) I bow my head to the Akal Takhat.” And because Gurbachan Singh is the jathedar, “I have to respect him.”
“I’m surprised when people say that we accept the supremacy of the Akal Takhat’s maryada (code of conduct),” Darshan Singh said in his kathaa. “The Akal Takhat is just a seat where Guru Hargobind used to sit. Instead of the Guru, we have started worshiping the seat.
“Now we have made one person to be Akal Purakh,” he added, in an interview after the program. “Because he is sitting at the Takhat, his word is taken as the order of the Akal Takhat. This is the tragedy. Even a human cannot be the Akal Takhat, or Akal Purakh. And, if he proves that whatever he is saying is not just his opinion, is not because someone else has told him to say that, but is based on Gurbani and its principles, then the problems can be resolved.”
Still, some are adamant that they will never question the Akal Takhat jathedar’s hukamnama, nor question the authenticity of the Dasam Granth.
The word ‘Dasam’ (tenth) in Dasam Granth does not refer to the tenth Guru, says famed historian, Khushwant Singh, in his book, ‘History of the Sikhs, Part I.’ Dasam refers to one-tenth of the total number of verses composed in the court of Guru Gobind Singh. And the Guru is not necessarily its author, he writes.
Tarlochan Singh of Baltimore, Maryland, said he was made aware of Darshan Singh’s kathaa on Dasam Granth from Jus Punjabi, a New York-based cable television station. He has seen the original video made by Makhan Singh, from the Rochester sangat, and discussions on YouTube.
He said he is more concerned with why Darshan Singh does not criticize the three baanees from Damam Granth – Jaap Sahib, Sawayaa, and Benti Chaupai – recited in Nit Naym and during the Amrit Sanchaar ceremony. His wholesale criticism of the Dasam Granth is offensive, so he got what he deserved, Tarlochan Singh said.
When a person commits a serious crime, like murder (katal), then the punishment (gunna) will be severe, he told SikhNN.
If Darshan Singh feels he has received an unjust sentence, he should go back and make an appeal, he added. And he should meet with the jathedars at the secretariat if that is what they require. “Come out afterward and have your say at the Akal Takhat,” he said.
All four parts at these links:
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (A - The Strategy)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41680-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (B - Strategy & Authority)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41681-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (C - Sarbat Khasla & Gurmatas)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41682-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (D - Roguery in Rochester)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41683-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
By Anju Kaur
Part B of a 4-part series entitled The Strategy http://www.sikhnn.com/headlines/264...-takhat-reconsider-his-excommunication?page=2
Professor Darshan Singh at the Sikh Gurdwara, DC, was invited for Guru Hargobind's Gurpurab on July 7. He used the occasion to talk about the meaning of Akal Takhat, his excommunication, and the conspiracy of introducing false granths into Sikhi.
Questions of strategy and authority
At least one Sikh said he had a lot of respect for Darshan Singh, but did not agree with the gurdwara management’s public disagreement with the Akal Takhat.
“If the Akal Takhat Sahib has a hukamnama for us to not have any divaan with Professor Darshan Singh, if we disagree, we should approach the Akal Takhat together - We should not challenge its authority,” said Sawinder Singh of Germantown, Maryland. “We should make a strategy of how should we pursue this kind of situation. We should have togetherness if we want change.”
Sawinder Singh, a former member of a Harmandar Sahib jathaa, said he had been mediating an agreement on this issue between two opposing groups in the metropolitan Washington area. He is not a member of any gurdwara, and was not involved in the program at the Washington gurdwara. He is independently trying to arrange a local debate.
“The majority of the local leaders, their agenda is publicity,” he told SikhNN. But until they can come to an agreement, Darshan Singh should stay away from gurdwara stages, he added.
Darshan Singh is in his 80s, and lives in Canada. He still travels extensively in North America by invitation from many sangats, he told SikhNN.
“I am glad that the awakening of the quam (Sikh community) has proven to me that any edict, if it is not right, the quam will not accept it,” he said. “(The hukamnama) did not make any difference and it did not change my life at all. I am still receiving all the love and respect from the quam. Programs continue as before.”
Although the Washington gurdwara gave wide notice of Darshan Singh’s program by emailing invitations, the majority of gurdwaras and individuals invite him without a public announcement for fear of backlash from his opponents.
“Our authority is Akal Takhat Sahib,” Sawinder Singh added. “I agree that the Akal Takhat is run by (Punjab Chief Minister) Parkash Singh Badal… (but) I bow my head to the Akal Takhat.” And because Gurbachan Singh is the jathedar, “I have to respect him.”
“I’m surprised when people say that we accept the supremacy of the Akal Takhat’s maryada (code of conduct),” Darshan Singh said in his kathaa. “The Akal Takhat is just a seat where Guru Hargobind used to sit. Instead of the Guru, we have started worshiping the seat.
“Now we have made one person to be Akal Purakh,” he added, in an interview after the program. “Because he is sitting at the Takhat, his word is taken as the order of the Akal Takhat. This is the tragedy. Even a human cannot be the Akal Takhat, or Akal Purakh. And, if he proves that whatever he is saying is not just his opinion, is not because someone else has told him to say that, but is based on Gurbani and its principles, then the problems can be resolved.”
Still, some are adamant that they will never question the Akal Takhat jathedar’s hukamnama, nor question the authenticity of the Dasam Granth.
The word ‘Dasam’ (tenth) in Dasam Granth does not refer to the tenth Guru, says famed historian, Khushwant Singh, in his book, ‘History of the Sikhs, Part I.’ Dasam refers to one-tenth of the total number of verses composed in the court of Guru Gobind Singh. And the Guru is not necessarily its author, he writes.
Tarlochan Singh of Baltimore, Maryland, said he was made aware of Darshan Singh’s kathaa on Dasam Granth from Jus Punjabi, a New York-based cable television station. He has seen the original video made by Makhan Singh, from the Rochester sangat, and discussions on YouTube.
He said he is more concerned with why Darshan Singh does not criticize the three baanees from Damam Granth – Jaap Sahib, Sawayaa, and Benti Chaupai – recited in Nit Naym and during the Amrit Sanchaar ceremony. His wholesale criticism of the Dasam Granth is offensive, so he got what he deserved, Tarlochan Singh said.
When a person commits a serious crime, like murder (katal), then the punishment (gunna) will be severe, he told SikhNN.
If Darshan Singh feels he has received an unjust sentence, he should go back and make an appeal, he added. And he should meet with the jathedars at the secretariat if that is what they require. “Come out afterward and have your say at the Akal Takhat,” he said.
All four parts at these links:
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (A - The Strategy)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41680-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (B - Strategy & Authority)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41681-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (C - Sarbat Khasla & Gurmatas)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41682-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
DC Sikhs Ask Akal Takht to Reconsider Excommunication of Professor Darshan Singh (D - Roguery in Rochester)
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-personalities/41683-dc-sikhs-ask-akal-takht-reconsider.html
