The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the Sikhs' apex body which was formed after innumerable sacrifices during the gurdwara reforms struggle, now faces an unprecedented challenge to its existence.
Sehajdhari an entity and term evolved and accepted by the Sikh ethos has grown out of proportion and is now threatening to engulf the body politic of the community itself.
Except those who were born in Sikh families, a large number of devotees became Sikhs via the Sehajdhari route. But this conversion or migration is only one way. A person born of non-Sikh parents can come to adopt Sikhism; during this intervening period, he is called a Sehajdhari. This process is irreversible. A Sehajdhari can become a Sikh but a Sikh cannot become a Sehajdhari.
During the pre-Independence period, there were a large number of Sehajdhari Sikhs in Punjab and Sind. After Independence, these Sehajdharis either became Khalsas by taking amrit, baptism or merged back into Hinduism. Hence, de jure there were Sehajdharis in Punjab but de facto there was none.
This phenomenon is described by Khushwant Singh in his book `A History of the Sikhs': The absorption of Sehajdhari Sikhs into the Hindu fold adds weight to the argument that there is no such thing as a clean-shaven Sikh. At one time, Sehajdhari Sikhism was as the meaning of the word signified, “those who take time“ the halfway house to the hirsute (keshadhari) form of Khalsa Sikhism. Now, the process is reversed, and it has become a halfway house to Hinduism.“
According to Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, a Sehajdhari does not keep the rahit of kachhahra (shorts) and kirpan. Thus, he is to grow and keep unshorn kes (hair).
The Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, by which the SGPC came into existence, initially did not have the term Sehajdhari. Later, it was incorporated into the Act and Sehajdharis were given voting rights for electing the SGPC General House. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Act enacted by the Parliament, the Hazoor Sahib and Patna Sahib Gurdwara management laws have no mention of Sehajdhari. However, it was in the statute book of the law-governing SGPC.
In 1973, the SGPC General House meeting, while demanding that the so-called Sehajdhari Sikhs be disfranchised from the Sikh Gurdwara Act, adopted the resolution: “At the time of enactment of the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1925, there were Sehajdharis in some districts of Punjab who fulfilled the required qualifications. But after Partition... except for a negligible number, this sect has virtually become extinct. Of these, some Sehajdharis have become 'Singhs' and some have become part of the Hindu culture."
The SGPC, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and other Sikh bodies eventually persuaded the union government, which on October 8, 2003, through a gazette notification, disfranchised Sehajdhari Sikhs and provided that only Keshadharis would be entitled to vote in the gurdwara elections. The notification was about disfranchisation of Sehajdharis and not those born in Sikh families, who committed one of the four cardinal transgressions of shaving or cutting hair. They continued to be debarred as per provisions of the Sikh Gurdwara Act.
This amendment to the gurdwara Act is not a lone instance. The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, made SGPC and other organisations, including Punjab University, inter-state corporations, and amendments to their parent Act was liberally brought through notifications by the Centre.
Time and again, amendments were made in the gurdwara Act by issuance of notifications by the government. Raising the strength of the SGPC General House, making reservation for women and declaration of Damdama Sahib as a takht are a few examples.
The notification was issued by the Centre after decades of appeals and pleas, and this brought the SGPC Act on a par with all other enactments governing gurdwaras across the country. The amendments brought about in the gurdwara Act by the Centre were in consonance with the aspirations of the community and basic fundamental rights as enshrined and guaranteed by the Constitution. These reflect fulfilment of the government's commitment. If at all there are technical issues pertaining to the notifications, these can be corrected by the government by issuing suitable ordinances or bringing in a suitable legislative amendment.
Alternatively, Akali members can also bring such amendment bills in Parliament.
If this is not done, it can open the floodgates of uncertainty not only for the SGPC but also for other organisations and may prove to be an avalanche that can uproot the SGPC tree.
[email protected] (The writer is a US-based Sikh scholar. The views expressed are personal)