Use Your Head, Rather Than Offering It In Sacrifice

“No one gives the kingdom to another. It is taken by one’s own strength. Know that a man without weapons cannot conquer. Grasp the weapon to achieve your goal.”

We often hear these lines attributed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, with some anonymous poets spreading them as the Guru’s teachings. Many people, in their ignorance, accept these lines as true and develop a mindset that no one gives power to another, but it must be taken by force. They propagate the misguided notion that a kingdom cannot be achieved without weapons.

It is the duty of Sikh preachers, leaders and political scholars to make efforts towards increasing the trend of basic education towards enlightenment among the youth so that the tendency of carelessness in the way of self-force can be stopped and democratic values can be promoted. Instead of fanatical religious thinking, the way of adopting secular thinking can be chosen. Punjab is not only inhabited by Sikhs but there are more communities than Sikhs. Therefore, instead of sectarian thinking, the Sikh community should be given its proud Sikh philosophy. Also, we should stay connected so that we can reveal the path of Baba Nanak’s folklore to the world. The ideology of the Gurus is the ideology of the good of the whole. Even the anchors we are carrying are not improving our image due to the culture promoting weapons.

Therefore, giving heads without using them is meaningless. Heads were also given in 1846, but not used. The Khalsa Kingdom was the biggest power in South Asia at that time where one rupee was equal to 12 dollars and the economy accounted for 30 per cent of the world.

Even in 1920-25, they freed the Guru Ghar from the Mahants by giving their head, but they did not use the head. Because of this, the Sikhs could not gain their sovereignty and could not accept the Gurmat Siddhant and also gave up their concept of the Sikh state. Also in 1946 they did not use their heads and gave up the demand for their homeland and after that, they could not take steps towards the liberation of the homeland.

To ensure intellectual liberation, we must adopt the mindset of knowledge-based modernism and reject medieval thinking.

By connecting with the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, we can promote the inclusive and universal message of Guru Nanak. The Gurus’ teachings are based on the welfare of all. The Sikh community should not limit its understanding of universal welfare to just providing langar (free food). The promotion of a weapon-centric culture has led to a distorted understanding of langar in our society.

Also read: Law And Society Alliance

It is crucial for the Sikh community to acknowledge the importance of inclusivity, education, and democratic values, and to adopt a more compassionate approach to address the issues that affect not only Sikhs but all communities in Punjab.