Thank you Kanwardeep Singh and Davinder Singh for your very constructive comments. And especially Kanwardeep Singh for taking the time to offer counterpoints to some of my points.
I like the notion of the "Commonwealth of Sikhs," that Davinder Singh brought up, but am not sure how well executed it would be to have just one major organization that would have the same authority as the SGPC has in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.
To address the excellent points brought up by Kanwardeep Singh:
I am curious to know how specific the 2005 "rule" was if you know it. I couldn't find any information on it through newspapers or the internet, so if anyone knows, it would be very helpful. Also, despite this ruling, I have never heard of any Sikh woman performing Kirtan at the Golden Temple, either as an isolated incident or on a continual basis.
The fact that only ONE WOMAN have ever been elected to the SGPC over the last 100 years speaks volumes as to the rules and enforcement of those rules. The only woman to be elected was Kiranjit Kaur to the position of general secretary where she served for two terms. Bibi Jagir Kaur was never really elected; she was backed by two members of the SGPC and there was strangely no competition for the opening. Even if you want to have that count as an "election," that still only brings the election count to TWO WOMEN. Then there was Bhajan Kaur Dograwala who never held an actual position and has spent the last three years as an "executive member."
The SGPC had agreed to hold 33% of the positions for women largely due to pressure put on by the Nanhi Chhaan Foundation (link). And what happened this year? Absolutely nothing, that's what. Every SINGLE seat went to men. Not even 1% went to women.
Just this month, there was an article on Sikhnet titled "SGPC Slips on Women Quota Resolution," where SGPC President, Avtar Singh Makkar, actually cited "political compulsions," as a valid reason not to allow even one seat to go towards women. Here is a link to it: http://www.sikhnet.com/news/sgpc-slips-women-quota-resolution
Interestingly enough, the SGPC member before Bibi Jagir Kaur had been in office for 26 consecutive years compared with the measly two terms she served!
A comment on the last point that Kanwardeep Singh made: "Also SGPC control only Gurdwara's in Punjab and few other bordering states .All the other states of India have their own governing bodies.The rule that only Amritdhari can become members was made to prevent the intervention of other religions in Sikhism.For example if we allow Hindu's to become members then they may ask in future to have idols of their gods to be their in Gurdwara."
I completely agree that other religions should not be allowed to be a part of the governing body of Sikh Gurudwaras. That would lead to all sorts of obvious problems. But I don't think the SGPC is representing the Sikh nation as it claims by allowing any Sikh to vote, but only allowing them to vote for an Amritdhari Sikh. It would make sense that only Amritdhari Sikhs should vote then.
According to their official website, "SGPC is directly elected by an electorate of the Sikh Nation, male and female above 18 years of age who are registered as voters under the provisions of Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925." So essentially anyone Sikh, Amritdhari or not, can vote, but they aren't represented by the SGPC.
This type of logic would never fly in a political election where a president or member of congress/parliament is chosen to represent the people who vote for him/her.
Again, thank you for your valuable comments. I hope to hear more so we can continue the discussion! And please check out NavdeepSinghDhillon.com to read my original blog on this subject.
Lastly, I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to at least read the 1996 Hukamnama (with English translation if needed) on allowing women the same rights to morning ishnan, on SikhNet. Their point of contention (and I agree) is that simply having a Hukamnama is not enough; it has to be enforced.
There is also a link for those inclined to sign an online petition to request the Akal Takhat to enforce this Hukamnama.
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