Guru Nanak’s message is universal: Pak anthropologist

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 24

To commemorate the 551st Parkash Purb of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, the Department of History and Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Guru Nanak Dev University here have started a series of online history lectures.

The first lecture on “Baba Nanak and Bhagti Lehar” was conducted by Prof Gurinder Singh Mann, a scholar of Sikh studies. Prof Mann is an alumnus of the first batch of Guru Nanak Dev University. He is a former professor of the University of California in the US and, at present, is the director of the Global Institute of Sikh Studies. Prof Mann said we must keep Guru Nanak Dev out of the ‘sant tradition’. “We can understand him better if we see how he viewed himself. Guru Nanak called himself a poet, a bard, who sang in the praise of the Supreme Lord. He strongly denounced asceticism and advocated the life of a householder,” he said.

The second lecture of the series was conducted by a Pakistan-based anthropologist, Harun Khalid, who is a travel writer and freelance journalist. Khalid has been studying religious minorities in Pakistan and is the author of “Walking with Nanak”. He spoke on Guru Nanak’s legacy in Pakistan, saying “Baba Nanak and his message are universal”.

“Guru Nanak should not be seen as the Guru of Sikhs only. People who worship Baba Nanak in Pakistan have their own way of doing it,” Khalid said, adding that he has, through his books, studied and documented the religious practices and heritage of Pakistan’s non-Muslim minorities.

Prof Amandeep Bal, the Head of the Department of History, and Prof Amarjit Singh, director of the Centre On Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, led the session. Dr Harneet Kaur, assistant professor, moderated the discussion.