Time to reflect on his vision

Gurinder Singh Mann 

As the celebrations associated with the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Panth, head toward their climax in mid-November — the full-moon night of the month in the local calendar (katak di puranmashi) — it is appropriate to map the events that unfolded over the past 12 months, compare their import with what had happened during his 500th birth centennial in 1969, assess the state of current scholarship on Baba Nanak, and think of ways to harness his ideas toward reviving the health of the physical and social landscape that he loved, sang about, and sanctified with his presence some centuries ago.

Planning the festivities   

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), an elected body that manages Sikh historic sites and has its base within the precinct of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, the centre of Sikh sacred geography, played the key role in the planning of these festivities. The organised events included: sessions of singing of Baba Nanak’s verses (kirtan darbars), recitations of poetry created in his praise (kavi darbars), discourses on his teachings (kathas), light and sound performances about his life, publications, etc. A procession (jalus) that started on September 1 from Nankana (“the birthplace of Nanak”) in Pakistan and is working its way through various cities of the subcontinent will culminate on November 5 in Sultanpur, where Nanak had worked in the 1490s.

Under the leadership of the doyen of the Sikh royal family of Patiala, the state government in Chandigarh also planned and executed an elaborate set of public events of its own, and the most visible manifestation of its activity involved erecting vinyl banners with the portrait of Baba Nanak in Delhi and Punjab. The Central Government and its ancillary agencies, such as the Council of Social Science Research, and Sahitya Akademi provided financial support for some of the aforementioned events, organised programmes in embassies and consulates abroad, and arranged a historic visit of 84 heads of foreign missions based in New Delhi to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. 

In addition, various academic institutions and Sikh community forums arranged lectures, conferences, book displays, and art exhibitions. The image of Baba Nanak that emanated from these transactions was centred on his beliefs in “honest labour” (Kiart karo), “mediation on the divine name” (Naam japo), and “sharing the fruits of one’s efforts” (Wand chhako). He was also presented as a proponent of gender and social equality and religious ecumenism (Na Ko Hindu na Musalman) in order to associate him with trends in “religious pluralism,” or “inter-faith dialogue.” 

Pause and ponder

With 2019, and the spirit of celebration almost at an end, it might be the time to pause and work out the balance sheet of the Sikh community. On the whole, the tradition is full of credit that has been earned over centuries. With Sikh numbers exceeding those of all smaller religious traditions put together, Baba Nanak’s place of honour in religious history of humankind is secure. The overwhelming majority of the Sikhs live in the Punjab and its vicinity but approximately 20 per cent have now spread across the globe. The sunrise, sunset, and late evening prayers (Japji, Rahiras and Aarti), which Baba Nanak started, now echo from gurdwaras and Sikh homes spread across the globe.

The Sikhs are also heirs to an illustrious political history, evolved an ethics of war that attracted praise from their enemies, and administered a rule of welfare and justice (deg and tegh) in the land that they believed to be a divine gift for them. During the Sikh rule at Lahore, there was no capital punishment and no reference to a major instance of religious persecution or strife. The vitality of Baba Nanak’s vision of life helped the Sikhs to establish themselves and build their gurdwaras around the globe during the 20th century.

Issues at stake

On the debit side, however, there are serious issues at stake. While Baba Nanak witnessed divine beauty and harmony in the natural world (qudrat), Sikh political leadership of the past two decades declared the construction of “infra-structure” that severely disturbed the ecology of the region as to be its star achievement. Baba Nanak saw his land as a divine cauldron (dharti deg, Guru Granth Sahib 1190) that had the capability of producing sufficient food for everyone. In the past years, the determination of Sikh farmers to produce more food has resulted in the overuse of the soil and the exhaustion of other key resources. 

As for the social landscape, Baba Nanak would have taken for granted that the community would ensure the supply of food and justice for all, a vision at the heart of the establishment of Kartarpur. These commodities are not easy to come by in contemporary Punjab. His belief in the family being the core unit around which the community and the society are built is in a state of radical flux. And it is simply mind-boggling to imagine how the positive vision of Baba Nanak could give rise to a generation injecting death into their bloodstreams and feeling so helpless to take their own lives. 

Words that carry weight

The knowledge (gyan) that gets acquired only with considerable difficulty is a hallmark of Baba Nanak’s thinking (Gyanu na Galaini Dhundhia Kathana Kararha Saru, M1 465). The present-day Sikh intellectual landscape might benefit from extended self-reflection. Two simple instances will suffice. Nanak calls himself “Baba” over 40 times in his verses, and this epithet was intact in the lullaby that until relatively recently Sikh mothers sang  to put their children to sleep (Ucha dar Babe Nanak da, main sobha sunh ke aya) to put their children to sleep. Sikh scholars, however, prefer to call him the “Guru,” a title he never used for himself. To add further weight to it, they tend to attach prefixes such as “Sri” and suffixes like that of “Dev.” In 1969, Guru Nanak University was established in his honour but “Dev” had to be added to the name in 1973. How should the Sikhs refer to him? This is an issue that merits conversation.

In search of Kartarpur

The details regarding Kartarpur, the town where Baba Nanak spent the final two decades or so of his life, constitute the second instance. Very little is known about the town; no firm date is associated with its establishment nor is there any clear reference to the year of its disappearance. The received wisdom reports its being washed away by a flood in the river Ravi. This cannot be correct as the river water at that point could not go north, the Kartarpur side, but would have come south where the town of Dehra Baba Nanak was built. To point out another bit in this confusion, when India switched over from the use of miles to kilometres, the British-era mile stones with the word “Dehra” got turned into “Dera”. These two words have very different connotations and it may now be time to correct it in the maps prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India.

In conclusion, the Sikhs are unique as a religious community, whose daily supplication (ardas) evokes the record of its history from the time of its founder to the current challenges it confronts. This need emerges out of their belief that what they have done and continue to do is their assigned role in the divine design for the creation. A prerequisite to this remembrance is the obligation to record the details of history correctly. As an elected body, the SGPC has to respect the wishes of different people and diverse groups, but must also find a way to address important issues that face the Sikh community.

The wait is over

Many Sikhs believe the re-entry of Kartarpur into the map of Sikh sacred geography as resulting from the community’s post-1947 prayers for “free access to the historic Sikh sites left behind in Pakistan.” As this prayer is beginning to bear fruit, scholars should make use of this development to initiate a new chapter in the understanding of Sikh community by re-visiting its past history and by re-envisioning a sustainable path to the future. 

In November 1969, some of my generation were fortunate to spend five memorable days in Nankana as part of the group of Sikh pilgrims permitted to participate in the celebrations there and I, for one, cannot wait to cross over the border and be at Kartarpur in November 2019. In the intermittent half-century, I have spent some 40 years abroad while keeping my Indian passport as a token of loyalty to my sacred land. My head bends in gratitude to all those who were instrumental in creating this opportunity for me and many others to be able to touch my forehead to the holy ground where the history of the Sikh community started 500 years ago, and be able to see the fields where the residents of Kartarpur carried out the advice of their Baba: 

Let mind be the guide and hands do the labour 

Modesty the water for the body that is the field. 

Immanence sown under the soft soil of ease 

And humility serving as its protective shield. 

Love and care would help the seed propagate 

And bring fortune to your home and estate (Guru Granth Sahib, 595)

The writer is director, Global Institute for Sikh Studies, New York