Controversial ‘Patit’, And Indelibly Inked

[Archived_Member16]

‘Patit’, and indelibly inked

Amrita Chaudhry,Anju Agnihotri Chaba Posted: Sep 19, 2011 at 0045 hrs

Jalandhar Sikh men with trimmed beard & shorn hair find name in electoral rolls, vote with élan, Sehajdharis too exercise their franchise

Giving two hoots to a directive issued by the Gurdwara Election Commission (GEC) that only Keshdhari Sikhs (those with unshorn hair) can vote in the SGPC elections, a large number of `Patit Sikhs’ (those with trimmed beard and hair) were seen exercising their franchise across Punjab on Sunday. A number of women who have their eyebrows plucked, and are thus ineligible for voting, were seen casting votes.

It may be noted that the the GEC had warned that if any non Keshdhari Sikh was found voting in the elections, they would be arrested.

The warning, however, had little effect. A prominent person with trimmed beard who voted in the SGPC polls was Amarjit Amri, the brother of Shiromani Akali Dal’s Jalandhar unit president Gurcharan Singh Channi. Amri even showed the black indelible ink mark on his finger for the benefit of the media after casting his vote in a booth in Jalandhar city.

A visit to the polling booths in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawan Shahr districts revealed that Patit voters exercised their franchise without any fear.

“We are clear of heart. We are true followers of Sikhism so what if we have trimmed our beards,” a Patit Sikh asked at a booth in Government School, Kartarpur.

Such voters were also seen exercising their franchise in Bholath while in Hoshiarpur several men with close cropped hair were seen casting votes after tying a turban.

A presiding officer on the condition of anonymity said that they cannot stop those, who have their name in the voters’ list from exercising the franchise. It was duty of the GEC to revised the voters’ list to rectify the mistakes, he added.

Meanwhile, the elections passed off peacefully in Moga and Faridkot districts, where a large number of Sehajdhari Sikhs were seen casting their ballot freely.

The SAD(B), which has been against Sehajdhari Sikhs voting in SGPC polls, allegdly took the help of its young turks, who transported and even tied turbans on many of such Sehajdhari voters to help them cast their votes. The policemen on duty said that they could not stop this, as this was not a law and order situation and hence, not under their powers.

Meanwhile, while some tense moments were witnessed at Baddowal in Kishanpura and a few other villages in Moga district, no incidents of violence were reported.

Deputy Commissioner Ashok Singla said that Moga district has witnessed an overall poll percentage of 63.07 per cent.

At Faridkot district, youth from the ruling SAD(B) could be seen transporting voters to the polling booths on their SUVs. Some had also stationed themselves at the polling booths with turbans, which they tied on the Sehjahdahri candidates, said an eyewitness. S P S Sidhu, Faridkot SSP, however, claimed: “There is no report of any such incident.” The district, which has two seats, witnessed 52 per cent of polling.

In related news, barring minor incidents of scuffles, polling passed off peacefully in border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran. While the voter turnout was around 50 to 53 per cent in rural areas, the figure was 45 to 50 per cent in urban areas.

A scuffle broke out at Patti in Tarn Taran where Opposition leaders objected to the behaviour of presiding officer Mehar Singh.

In Gurdaspur’s Dalam village, a scuffle broke out when the two groups of the ruling SAD(B) clashed and the police had to intervene. A revolver was recovered from Meharban Singh, son of a SAD (Panch Pardhani) leader Baldev Singh Sirsa.

Tempers ran high at various places in Jandiala Guru, Ajnala, Amritsar-West SGPC constituencies as well.

source:
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/patit-and-indelibly-inked/848404/

 

[spnadmin]

This is a mess, Soul_jyot ji!

Only one story above that you have posted gives the tip of the iceberg. There have been for more than 24 hours dozens of stories that are frustrating and not only about sehajdhari either. Sometimes I think it is a good thing that we have not been covering this event in depth. How depressing! Sant Samaj and sehajdhari: These two wings share more in objectives, than they have differences in philosophy. And a court that cannot decide whether the election should have been on or off, and who should be voting! Story after story with claims that irregularities have occurred.

It is sad when SGPC, which was to be a most liberating institution, takes on the coloration of the common political adage. "The first priority of politics is not to govern. The first priority is to get elected. The second priority is to stay in power." Governance finds its way somewhere further down the list.

 

[aristotle]

The thing I saw yesterday was surely a miscarriage of 'Democracy'. The situation would have been easy to swallow if the bogus voters were 'Sehajdharis', but they weren't. Most of them were Hindus, Christians and even Muslims, packed in tractors and brought to the election venue.
It is surely a disgrace of the franchise, Shame on the vote-mongers.....
:angryyoungsingh:

 

[aristotle]

Part of me says GOOD, the vote should be more transparent with more people voting.

Part of me is sad that so many Sikhs are anti-kesh. It makes some of us who are (or are trying to be) keshdhari wonder if our kesh is really so valuable. It makes it harder to keep kesh when the rest of the sangat is styled with the latest do, has manicured eyebrows, etcetc, and you're sitting there with bushy brows and armpits and feeling like a clown.

I don't know, it's all such a mess.

Ishna Ji,
It was not about 'more people' voting, it was intead the 'wrong people' voting. Moreover, the apex court hasn't allowed the non-keshadharis to vote, and when they voted, you can well imagine what a mockery of the democracy it was.

 

[spnadmin]

The thing I saw yesterday was surely a miscarriage of 'Democracy'. The situation would have been easy to swallow if the bogus voters were 'Sehajdharis', but they weren't. Most of them were Hindus, Christians and even Muslims, packed in tractors and brought to the election venue.
It is surely a disgrace of the franchise, Shame on the vote-mongers.....
:angryyoungsingh:

This is what I am talking about. There must be 50 stories just in my Google alerts over 2 days on exactly this point. And no one has raised an eyebrow... no one that is in official capacity to act as a watchdog. What happens next? Will there be challenges and an investigations? Or is the fox watching the chicken coop?:noticekudi:

 

[Ishna]

Nope, I don't know enough about this to be commenting!

From what I'm reading, it's so disheartening.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Its NOT disheartening....its NORMAL !!
Our Govt in POWER....and in danger of LOSING the enxt GE....is manufacturing hundreds of thosuands of instant voters out of ILLEGALS that entered the country...they are being "registered" under a so called "amnesty"..but they are told IF you promise to vite US..we will give you CITIZENSHIP !! HUNDREDS have been EXOSED..but the Govt , the Elkection Commsiiiosn's stock reply is always..computer glitch..human error..clericla mistake...and the illegal immigrants into voters continues...BADAL did the exact same thing...ANYONE can VOTE as long as its "BADAL"....for the opposition..even the Keshadharee amrtidharee CANNOT vote !!.
This is RAPE of DEMOCRACY....and shame on people who dont raise an eyebrow...

 

[Harry Haller]

Gurfatehji

It is a beautiful day here, looking out of my shop window, I can see the park opposite, dogs, children, people, all with innocence in their eyes, the sky looks enchanting, the grass looks lush and fresh, all given to us by the energy we call Lord.

Am I the only sikh who is not surprised or shocked? Frankly I could not care less about the SPGC. We have a book, a transcript of everything we need, We have a brain to read the book, We have inspirational heroes, we have our Gurus, We have wise sikhs that we trust and know to help us along, Could someone explain exactly we need a corrupt leader to lead a corrupt organisation,

thank you

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Harry ji,

Guru Fateh.

You write:

It is a beautiful day here, looking out of my shop window, I can see the park opposite, dogs, children, people, all with innocence in their eyes, the sky looks enchanting, the grass looks lush and fresh, all given to us by the energy we call Lord.

Isn't it amazing how the wow and the awe factors that surround us are not only a breath of fresh air but help us cultivate inner peace?

Thanks for sharing the serenity of life you are witnessing which is bestowed upon us by Ik Ong Kaar- the Energy- The only Source of all there is.

Am I the only sikh who is not surprised or shocked? Frankly I could not care less about the SPGC. We have a book, a transcript of everything we need, We have a brain to read the book, We have inspirational heroes, we have our Gurus, We have wise sikhs that we trust and know to help us along, Could someone explain exactly we need a corrupt leader to lead a corrupt organisation,

You may not be the only person not surprised or shocked regarding the fraud being perpetuated by the SGPC and the connected Politicos who have been riding this gravy train for a long time but for me it is a great matter of concern.

As you rightfully said," We have a brain to read the book" and by book I presume you mean Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, our only Guru. In fact, all 3 Abrahamical religions falsely claim that they are the real people of book, but in fact Sikhs are the only people of The Book because we know who wrote when and what, unlike the Torah-(OT), The NT and the Koran.

So, we, as the people of The Book and as you said, "we have the brains to read it". I am sure you also mean to also study it and to practice what it tells us to do, then we should all be concerned with what is happening about the SGPC voting system because this entity rakes in millions of dollars for the sake of The Book. The Book tells us to fight for injustice on which Sikhi is based on.

All the news we have been reading shows how fraudulently and shamelessly things are being conducted which is a disgrace because it is being done by the people of The Book.

The money that comes in as donations in million is not for lining the pockets of those who manage it nor is it for the corrupt Politics to get elected but it is for those who can be helped.

It is not for to give a fish or two to those who are hungry but to make fisherman out of them so they are able to sustain themselves and hence flourish which will enable them to help others, just the way Guru Nanak did when his dad give him some money to start business.

Hence, we need a joint effort from all over the world where ever the people of The Book reside to get rid of the corruption and the corrupt, so all of us can live by The Book.

The collective outrage is justified and should be channeled to make Sikhi what it deserves to be and what The Book tells us it to be.

Tejwant Singh

 

[Harry Haller]

Tejwantji

I am sorry to say I have no faith that a group of more than say, 10 people, will not in someway be corrupted. So it is no surprise that SPGC, most governments, etc, have elements of corruption, to be fair, I consider myself a reasonably moral person, but at times, even I am corrupt in my thinking, although possibly not in my actions, but then again, there are times that even my good actions are driven by corrupt thinking, (to do someone a favour in the hope of racking up brownie points with them),

I admire you for caring, for not giving up on society like I feel I have at times, maybe I should care, I will have to give that some thought, thank you for your reply

 

[Arvind]

Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Sajjan: “A man who daily dresses in white acting as though he is holy, but who nightly plunders those who have lost their way, is like a stork which stands in sacred waters and devour the frogs he sees. Neither of them, the man nor stork, can be called devotees. The show of good qualities is of no use unless one first stops doing wrong. Everyone needs the help of God to overcome evil and become a better person. Sajjan, your name means friend, but you have not been a good friend to anyone. Instead you have been a treacherous and evil thug. You must rid yourself of all belongings which you have taken wrongly from others. You must give up your evil way of life completely and from this day on engage only in acts of charity and share whatever comes to you with others.”

You Thugs of SGPC, Listen to Guru's words. Why act and wear holy if you are going to lead such corrupt life and misuse the power? And what about these divisions of sehajdhari and what not? I have lot to write regarding this, but tuhade warge gaddaaraa'n layi ishara hi kaafi hai.

Guru diya bakhshiya daata'n - baane te bachana'n nu daag na layo ji.

Bhull chukk maaf ji,
me jus a small kid on the block expressing my frustration towards you guys.

 

[kds1980]

In my views the whole concept of voting by Keshdhari's need to looked.Either voting for management committee should be stopped or only Amritdhari should be allowed.It is not an open fact that day by the population of keshdhari sikhs are declining so in other words mona's and trimmed sikhs are going to vote either allow them or abolish this concept of voting.

 

[Ishna]

But then you devalue the concept of amritdhari / Khalsa because you get overnight "amritdharis" who only take amrit to be allowed to vote. It truly encourages 'outward show but inward corruption'. It's already hard enough to tell your true Khalsa from a show Khalsa.

If we take humans out of the equation, it would be much better. Maybe only cows should be allowed to vote.

 

[spnadmin]

I have to agree with Ishna ji on this one. No need to add to what she has said, because there is evidence all around in sangats far and wide.

The hypocrisy goes deeper. On the one hand SGPC took the case of Jasleen Kaur to court, as she trimmed her eyebrows, but sued to attend an SGPC sponsored university. She lost in court. The ruling was that the SRM,and the bulk of Sikh tradition, supported keeping hair as the benchmark of Sikh identity, as far a legal standing is concerned in India. Then, we see that such a benchmark, kesh, has no legal standing in India when voting for seats on the SGPC. The court ruling that kesh counts was rescinded.

The sant samaj throws yet another ringer into this mess because one does not have to be a Sikh to be a member of sant samaj. Niraankar adherents belong to sant samaj, for example.

The horizon speaks loudly. SGPC itself will be overseeing the formation of schisms sooner than later. It has happened and SGPC has lost its legitimacy to prevent this from happening.

 

[kds1980]

But then you devalue the concept of amritdhari / Khalsa because you get overnight "amritdharis" who only take amrit to be allowed to vote. It truly encourages 'outward show but inward corruption'. It's already hard enough to tell your true Khalsa from a show Khalsa.

If we take humans out of the equation, it would be much better. Maybe only cows should be allowed to vote.

One can keep the minimum time limit of 1-2 years since after taking Amrit you would be allowed to vote.As SGPC elections are not fixed so hardly anybody will take amrit 1-2 years back just for vote.

 

[Ishna]

Re: ‘Patit’, and Indelibly Inked

KDS ji, can you please elabourate, I don't understand the process. Are you saying you have to be amritdhari for 1-2 years before being allowed to vote in SGPC elections?

Thanks.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Re: ‘Patit’, and Indelibly Inked

Kds Ji..you forget that almost 90% of the"keshadharees" in Punbjab are really HINDUS..or at least 70% hindu...they have kesh and dastaars and wear kirpan gatras..BUT they also keep fasts, attend Mandirs, Havans, worship coconuts, keep shivlingams Ganesha statues in their cars..do durga pooja etc etc etc..
The huge number of :amrtidharees" following the DERAS BABAS are actually "Dhadri" sikhs, "Nanksari Sikhs"..Rarewalewh Sikhs etc...and NOT GURU KE SIKHS at all...The GURU is the last person on their mind...the GURU is just a book (but they will KILL YOU if you say that )..becasue they LISTEN to ONLY their BABA JI..or what the living baba quotes as; " Waddeh baba Ji kehndeh hundeh see.."...very very miniscule amount of GURBANI VICHAAR is actually spread by these DERAS...
Take a look at the Winners photos of the sgpc..they all belong to badal and all are Dastaardharee with long flowing beards..BUT INSIDE they are as corrupt and full of S**T as the biggest pakhaana in Calcutta. And their WHITE BEARDS hsow they have been "amrtidharee/whatevenr for much much longer than 2 years..maybe 4 DECADES would be more like it...

 

[Ishna]

Re: ‘Patit’, and Indelibly Inked

Okay, so where are all the real Amritdharis at? And why is no one standing up to the corruption? Why are there no pure Khalsa (irony??!) stepping up to the plate to challenge this?

Point me to a group with proper direction and I'll sign up! Why isn't there a rival group? If they are so wrong, and the rest of us are so right, how does this continue?

And if it can't be helped in Punjab because there are too many of these Hindus-in-Sikh-clothing, what are the diaspora Sikhs doing then? There are so many highly educated Sikh scholars and proper Khalsa jios ON THE INTERNET but where are they in real life and what are they doing to prevent the Sikh Community from being eaten alive by these corrupt termites????

It appears to have been this way for decades and it is doing nothing but hampering Sikh evolution!!!! It is TOO BEAUTIFUL TO LET GO TO WASTE!!!!!!!!! Arg!!! *bangs head on desk *

 

[kds1980]

Kds Ji..you forget that almost 90% of the"keshadharees" in Punbjab are really HINDUS..or at least 70% hindu...they have kesh and dastaars and wear kirpan gatras..BUT they also keep fasts, attend Mandirs, Havans, worship coconuts, keep shivlingams Ganesha statues in their cars..do durga pooja etc etc etc..
The huge number of :amrtidharees" following the DERAS BABAS are actually "Dhadri" sikhs, "Nanksari Sikhs"..Rarewalewh Sikhs etc...and NOT GURU KE SIKHS at all...The GURU is the last person on their mind...the GURU is just a book (but they will KILL YOU if you say that )..becasue they LISTEN to ONLY their BABA JI..or what the living baba quotes as; " Waddeh baba Ji kehndeh hundeh see.."...very very miniscule amount of GURBANI VICHAAR is actually spread by these DERAS...
Take a look at the Winners photos of the sgpc..they all belong to badal and all are Dastaardharee with long flowing beards..BUT INSIDE they are as corrupt and full of S**T as the biggest pakhaana in Calcutta. And their WHITE BEARDS hsow they have been "amrtidharee/whatevenr for much much longer than 2 years..maybe 4 DECADES would be more like it...

Even outside Punjab a large majority keep photo's of devi devta ,visit mandir and inter marry with Hindu's

The question now arises if true Sikhs are in such a low minority then it means Sikhism as a religion has lost its independent indentity in India,then why to care who is controlling Gurdwara's if 70-90% sikhs Keshdhari,monay are hinduised then obviously these hinduised Sikhs will control Gurdwara's in India as power always remain in the hand of majority.

Also why to make so much noise about Punjab not being developed by GOI as non development will hurt urban hindu's and Hinduised Sikhs largely

 

[kds1980]

KDS ji, can you please elabourate, I don't understand the process. Are you saying you have to be amritdhari for 1-2 years before being allowed to vote in SGPC elections?

Thanks.

Yes this what I am saying that any amrotdhari should have taken Amrit 1-2 years previously before elections