Balait_da_Sher

tiny bit more info about this http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/48505-dastar-bandi-turban-ceremony-do-people-still-celebrate-it/

How about the so called Pardhans and Committee members who use giani's as their personal slave? I know gianis who were asked to make rotiyans and clean up the gardens by committee members. How do you expect these gianis to stay after they get their visas? I will post my thoughts on roles of gianis soon.

Usually you look at what processor you want, how much memory etc you want and get a motherboard that supports them. Since you already have a processor and all the component s, so just go by the processor (which is the typical path). Look for any montherboards which support your processor + higher and the amount of memory you have + higher. Finally, you need to make sure your mother is suitable for your case type e.g. tower. What CPU do you have?

Wah Wah kya sher mara hai.

Mehtab, I clicked on the topic expecting to see a poem from you.

WJKK WJKF, I have dealings with Giani's and Granthi's on a daily basis due to their visa problems and have made the following observations and just want to know everybody's views on the subject: 1). I have never seen a single Giani or Granthi till date who has been issued with a single wage slip. Forget a P60....not even one wage slip...i have dealt with over 300 applications. Gurdwaras dont even pay their National Insurance contributions for their own employee. These are not just the small Gurdwara's but even the big ones. 2). The majority of them are brought over from India on visas the conditions of which state they will abide by National Minumum wage, however upon getting here the Giani's NI is not paid by the employer and no wage slip or P60 is issued to a Giani. 3). The common practice is to say that the Gurdwara provides free food and accomodation to the Giani as part of his salary package. From my knowledge langar is free to everybody (unless Giani's get special dishes which i doubt). As for accomodation the Gurdwara also benefits as it gets a full time employee guarding the premises. 4). From my personal experience many Giani's dont even get paid more than £80 per week (i have seen some on £40 per week). Out of this the Giani is expected to maintain himself and his wife and children back home. Try feeding a family of 4 on £80 per week. 5). Many people complain that Giani's who come from India work elsewhere and do other jobs. I would suggest the reason for this is the low wages given to them. If they got minimum wage they would not need to work elsewhere. 6). Unfortunately i have also seen many cases of where these Giani's have actually been charged in India by some committee members in order to get a visa. I was once sat in the British High Commission in New Delhi and personally saw 4 Jatha sitting there waiting to apply. After they all got refused they came to me for advice and it turned out none of them were Ragi's at all. In fact they had agreed to pay the Pardhaan of a Gurdwara 8 lakh rupees for each visa (roughly £10,000). One of the applicants bechara had been told for the last year to grow a beard and "learn some path" by the Pardhaan. I have a witness to this event as seated next to me was the owner of a famous UK based punjabi radio station. Even he was shocked. My points are 2 fold: Firstly we complain about the quality of Giani's and Granthi's however nobody has ever exposed the situation or fought for the rights of them (i recently did a show on Sukh Sagar Radio about this and exposed a few home truths). How are we expected to get top quality employees in any field if we are unwilling to pay them the appropriate salaries (forget expected salaries they dont even get minumum wage). What actually is happening is akin to bonded labour where a Giani is promised to be made permanent in the UK in return for ignoring his basic employee rights. Secondly we complain about many things however how come nobody complains about the immigration fraud openly carried out by the Gurdwara committees over the years? Where has all of this money charged from potential Giani's to come to the UK gone? In order to sponsor a Giani letterheads of Gurdwaras have been openly misused. The Same letterheads contain quotes from the Gurbani on them. The Gurdwara has become a source of earning money from potential immigrants. If anybody was expected to survive in the UK on £60 a week and bring up a family and work full time then surely any person would look for alternative employment. However the Giani's cant even do that because they are tied down to their Gurdwara for up to 5 years. Please note i am not saying that all Gurdwaras engage in these practices but the majority of the ones i have seen have done in the past and these include some big Gurdwara's. I may be worng in my points however i only comment on my own experiences and dealings with Giani's and Gurdwaras. I would love to hear what Gurdwara committees actually have to say on this issue. http://www.sikhsanga...in-uk-gurdwaras

Bhenji you have to drink a lot of water throughout the day. Water is supposed to help you get a clear skin. Acne can be controlled through good diet and clean up regime I think. But drink lots of water all day long.

Fateh All, We are currently fixing some issues out with our integration of the global Sikh news website into the forum. As a result the forum has been unavailable intermittently. We hope to fix all the issues asap. I will let everyone know when everything has been sorted. Amardeep Singh

I couldn't sleep properly after looking at that picture last night. Now I realise that a human being (15 years +) younger than me actually experienced this horror. Look at how brave these men are, assaulting a helpless child. I hope they are burning in hell.

I start a new phase of my life when I become a mother; I pray to Waheguru to give me courage to walk in the steps of Mata Sundri Ji and become a proud mother of Khalsa. Every mother on Earth wants to give their child the best upbringing possible but what is a good upbringing? Is it a good upbringing to give your child everything they ever wished for before they can wish for it? We have become so materialistic that we buy our child’s happiness with toys and the latest clothes. A child raised on materialistic love while not make you a proud mother of Khalsa or bring honor to the Khalsa Panth. To raise a successful child that walks with pride on the path of Sikhi, we have to become like Mata Sundri Ji. Mata Sundri teaches us that to raise our children right we have to uplift them with our brave history, educate them and then let them fly. Mata Sundri Ji sacrificed her four sons (Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji, Sahibzada Jujhar Singh Ji, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji) for the Khalsa Panth to maintain our brave history. Mata Ji raised her children on a steady diet of stories from the Sikh History of the children’s Grandfather Guru Tegh Bahudar Ji. Along with the history of their Grandfather, Mata Ji taught them about the other 8 Gurus before him and their teaching and their sacrifices. She made sure her Children knew their heritage early on and prepared them to do the same sacrifices when it was the right time. As mothers today it is a distant thought to prepare our children for the ultimate sacrifice if the time ever comes, we don’t even teach them our history. History is the foundation of a strong person without history our whole existence is brought into question. The best time to teach our children history is before they begin their formal education. Mata Sundri Ji taught the Sahibzada their history and then she helped them get the tools to live up to their history. Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji was taught the religious texts, philosophy and history, and had training in the martial arts such as riding, swordsmanship, gatka and archery. While Baba Ajit Singh Ji had successfully mastered the activities listed, the remaining three Sahibzada Jis were still in receiving their education when they sacrificed their lives for Sikhi and all Sikhs. It was their passion for Sikhi that gave them the encouragement to be great scholars and sportsman so they would be prepared to face all challenges. If you children today knew more about the Sahibzada’s at a young age, wouldn’t they work harder to know everything they did? What mother doesn’t want a child that has become a great scholar and sportsman by the age of 18? If we want our children to grow up with the brains and bronze like those of the Sahibzada’s we need to raise them on Sikh history and get them proper education to compliment Sikh history. Mata Sundri Ji knew that once you raise a child to be a proper Khalsa, you need to let them prove it. Mata Ji did not hold back her Sahibzada’s from ever doing anything for the Panth. She did the exact opposite; she encouraged them and taught them to do whatever was necessary for the Khalsa Panth. In the case of Mata Sundri Ji it meant she would have to live to hear about her two eldest sons dying during battle and her two youngest being bricked alive in a wall. That was Mata Ji’s faith in Sikh and her children. What is our faith today? We don’t have enough faith in Sikhi to follow it; we don’t have faith in our children to do the right thing. The life of the faithless we live, yet we ask for our children to be faithful to us, for god to always be by our side. Let us put our faith in Waheguru and our children and walk on the right path. It’s is only when we raise our children on the rich Sikh history, proper education and freedom will Khalsa Panth flourish. We need to stop fearing that our child is not responsible enough to take Amrit or ready to live up to the Khalsa name. Teach them and trust them to do the right thing. It is wrong to force a child to take Amrit; it is a crime to stop them from taking Amrit. A good Sikh mother needs to help her child prepare for Amrit and then let Waheguru take over. If the moms today take Amrit and become mothers like Mata Sundri Ji, no one can even look at the Khalsa Panth with negativity.

Live each day as if you’re going to die tomorrow and dream like you’re going to live forever, the best way to do that is wakeup at amritvela. Waking up at four in the morning, gives you plenty of time to plan your day and think up beautiful dreams for the day and for the lifetime. Rising at amritvela, you are not rushed to get going on your day; you have time to live in the moment. And that moment becomes your whole day. Waking up amritvela brings great improvements in your life, in your family life and in your work life. In this fast paced world, ‘me’ time is a special treat that everyone craves but can’t always have. When you are up and ready to go at four in the morning for your day that would normally begin at seven in the morning, you have 3 hours of ‘me’ time. In those three hours, you can do whatever you please. Sikhs typically spend that time doing their morning Nitnem (prayers), which helps them get closer to Waheguru (God). Doing Nitnem in the morning brings peace within us and helps us relax. No matter what stress we face through the day, our calmness will stay with us and we will be able to face any issues in a calm, collected manner. After reading our Nitnem, we can read more bani or begin our day. That hour or so after Nitnem is our time to finish leftover work from yesterday, read the paper in peace and pretty much whatever else we can cram into the hour. The best part is whatever we didn’t get done in the hour, can be saved for the next day and it’s no big deal because if it wasn’t for amritvela we wouldn’t have nothing done at all. The whole stress free atmosphere lets you do things without being rushed. When you aren’t rushed, that means you family won’t be rushed. If you and your family is not rushed, you can create sweeter memories. It means if your family isn’t already up, you can wake them up lovingly, instead of rushing them because you’re running behind. And if they are already up, together as a family you can make breakfast. It is a scientifically proven fact that your day goes better if you have breakfast and also statistically families that eat at least one meal together, stay together. This time you spend with your family in the morning, gives them chance to fill you in on their plans for the day, so this way you won’t be out of the loop and have to worry later. It’s not guaranteed that your family life will be 100% perfect, if you get up early and start the day off properly with your family but it is guaranteed it will be better than the days where everything was chaotic because you were running late. Knowing you gave your family a better start for their day, lets you go to work in peace also. It is much easier to focus on work when you’re not worried about the family. What company doesn’t want an employee that is 100% focused on their work and doesn’t freak out in tough situations? Waking up at Amritvela, helps you meet both those conditions and make your employer happy. That is turn puts you in a good mood because your employer isn’t constantly yelling at you for being late to work or dealing with home issues while at work. Your employer’s happy, you’re happy, that just rubs off on your co-workers and soon enough everyone is happy. Nothing can compare to a happy workplace, which you actually look forward to go to. It also makes it easier to do ‘Kirt’ (earn an honest living), as it is required for each Sikh to do so. No family stress comes to work and no work stress goes home to the family. Amritvela brings you, your family and your work all into harmony leading to a happier, healthier you. Amritvela removes a lot of the unwanted stress out of your life, so you can focus on the stuff that really matters. Try for a week straight, wake up at amritvela and start your day off right. Magic doesn’t happen overnight but if you keep trying, you can see the difference.

I was born a Sikh and as a kid I used to sit with my mother who used to do path (read religious scriptures) from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. But what I was doing while she was doing path was doing my school homework and studying for my exams. I feel sorry today for myself as I wasted all that time studying and gaining more knowledge and becoming a Gyani (Who seeks knowledge) while that time should have been used becoming a Dhyani (Who Meditates). I am currently a Doctor by profession and it has become my second nature to seek more knowledge on all worldly affairs. I read news everyday so that I am up-to date of what’s going on in the world. And as if my becoming a doctor was not enough, I am learning other things, which are not my fields- like photography, adventure sports, flying. In my quest to attain more knowledge I lost the ability to meditate because my mind seeks more and more, while I need the opposite now as I know it is through Dhyan (meditation) that one can achieve enlightenment. People around me feel that I know a lot and seek my help on things that they don’t know but I am seeking help from Him to undo what I have done to myself. I just wish that I had somebody to guide me when I was growing up. I wish my parents were more interested in knowing that there kid knows more about Gurmat than knowing that he is very good in studies. I wish they felt more proud on my doing path than my being an achiever in all exams. I don’t know how long it would take me to undo what I have done for I feel the definition of enlightenment is shunya (Zero). My message to the new parents is to guide the kids from the very beginning as they are growing up, but there is a caveat here that most of us are so attached to maya (materialistic world) that we do not understand this concept. To bring the change in the world, especially in this age would be a very tough thing to do. I feel we need to have more people like Singh Sahib Ji(Yogi Ji) and Maskeen Ji who can motivate people and share their knowledge with the Sangat. We all can do that to some extent, so we all need to get together and start working on a society where Gurmat is considered more important. Let’s motivate parents of today to help inculcate that spirit in their kids so that future generations don’t miss the right way of growing up. I feel that websites on Sikhism have had a big impact on me and will continue to do that for others like me. In addition they are giving a platform for people like me to share their thoughts with Sangat. Please note that these are my thoughts about enlightenment and there are people out there who may find the way I think to be wrong. It is their right, as it is my right to think the way I think. by Kanwardeep Arora

UK: Attempts made by pseudo-scholars of Sikhism to try and create controversies are a part and parcel of Sikhism these days. The in-depth knowledge needed to understand Sri Dasam Granth requires hard work. However, a new breed of pseudo scholars and Internet cut and paste merchants are the standard. Whilst many Panthic scholars who, by nature, are pro-Dasam Granth have had years of training and methodology related to religion, studies of scripture etc, the opposite side is literally naked! In their bandwagon are the ‘YouTube’ Gianis, truck drivers, an excommunicated ex-Jathedar of the Akal Takht and the self-appointed Singh Sabha Canada - what a joke. Cut and paste scholars The self-appointed Chief of this ilk of Pseudo-scholars is none other than a doctor from Southern California, USA. Having a delusion that he has a Doctorate in religion he has dreamt up many a claim on the Dasam Granth. His delusions include cut and paste notes on how the scripture of the Sri Dasam Granth is incorrect and has no history. He is infamous for creating the most hilarious theory in pseudo scholarship - namely, the British created the Dasam Granth. This individual is a medical doctor, but he is more concerned with the anatomical references in the Charitropakhyan! He should do what doctors of medicine do - do the job he knows, and treat medical illnesses. What scholarship do we expect from a medical Doctor who has no training in religious studies? Whilst there are many saroops of the Dasam Granth from the time of the Guru through to the 18th century, only somebody with limited intellectual skills could come up with such a lazy theory. This insane theory centers on one Manuscript of the Dasam Granth based in the British Library which he claims has the same compositions as the standardised Dasam Granth. This manuscript from the late 18th century was bought by a collector of manuscripts named Colebrooke. On one of the pages is the term “Nanak Panthi Kabya” hence as a result this gentleman states that that the Granth is not called the Dasam Granth. He claims that this Dasam Granth from the late 1700’s was used in the standardized Dasam Granth by the Sodhak Committee. However, this is a lie. The Sodhak Committee looked at over 25 different recensions of the Dasam Granth. He also tries to fool the public with the term “Nanak Panthi Kabya”. Little does he know that it also appears in a Janamsakhi in the British Library. The name is a catalogue name for manuscripts. So there dies this ingenious theory of a cut and paste scholar. Whilst Akali Phula Singh was being attacked by the British he was maintaining the maryada prevalent at the Akal Takht, the same maryada which is maintained by the Nihangs to this very day and two Takhts of the Sikhs, Patna Sahib and Hazur Sahib. If the Akalis were venerating the bani of Guru Gobind Singh why would the British create a Granth and then attack the same people who did prakash of it with the Guru Granth Sahib? The prakash of the Dasam Granth at the Akal Takht (which the Akalis were in charge of) was removed by the SGPC in the 1940’s. However the other Takhts would not bow down to such a sacrilege and as a result the prakash continues with flourishing colours. Religion for sale Some of this doctor's articles have appeared in the World Sikh News who are peddling the phobia of the Dasam Granth and promoting a Tankhyia ex Jathedar, together with a tabloid website Sikhchic. It is matter of fact that some persons have been going around offering money to the people behind shady websites and individuals to write negative articles regarding the Dasam Granth. This is not surprising as the anti Dasam Granth lobby do not have a leg to stand on as a result they have turned to writers for sale. It has been known for some time that money is being offered to various scholars at Universities. As a result recently a score of articles have appeared from people including Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon (Guru Nanak Dev University), Dr Kashmir Singh (Guru Nanak Dev University), Dr Balkar Singh (Punjabi University, Patiala), Dr Gurnam Kaur (Punjabi University, Patiala). Whilst these individuals who have not undertaken the work of the Dasam Granth in their PHD’s they are now been brought into the limelight. Even more surprising is that the phony calendar maker Pal Singh Purewal has been brought into prove that the dates within the Dasam Granth are incorrect. These people have no bounds. All 18th century texts accept the dates of compilation within the Dasam Granth but now a failed calendar salesman is now an expert on the Dasam Granth. What next a genealogist to prove that compositions were not written at Paonta or Anandpur? Or astronomers to prove that the Sun rises from the West and not East. The pseudo clans of Scholars these proagandists are breeding are bound to call day, a night and vice-versa Anybody with a little bit of sense knows it takes years to build up a theory, and to undertake real research many manuscripts, books have to be studied. That is why there are experts on the Dasam Granth who have their degrees in Universities. To understand the Dasam Granth you need linguistic Skills, historical knowledge of Braj literature, the poets of the Guru, study of manuscripts and many other methodologies. In one writing, they also tried to belittle the contributions of the members of the Sodhak Committee by highlighting their occupation, but omitting their Gurmat and literary expertise. That exposed their nefarious anti Sikh designs and real modus operandi big time. It is earnestly hoped such people shed their hatred for scripture of tenth master. Money can buy you a new car or house but cannot buy real research. Another Article Written by Jangbeer Singh, UK

April 20, 2010. Ms Dianne Watts City MayorSurrey, BC. Regarding: Sikh Nagar Kirtan on Vaisakhi Parade on April 17, 2010 and its Impact on public authorities, including City’s Mayor We, the International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO), are a NGO, with national focus and overseas network. It agitates both in India and internationally for protection of peoples’ rights irrespective of their caste, creed or political views. It strives to bring together all those who cherish democratic values in all spheres of life- social, economic and political and take active steps to preserve, defend and strengthen democracy. It has its head office in Punjab, a Home to the Sikhs. The IHRO has its North America chapter, and its coordination office is here in Surrey. And the Sikh community has invited IHRO chairperson D S Gill from India to attend historical event, The Vaisakhi- Birthday of the Khalsa Panth (main stream Sikhs). The Sikhs have been victims of the Indian State administration since the storming of the Golden Temple by the army and in the wake of the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Since then, thousands of Sikhs have been done to death by the Indian security forces. Reports of Amnesty International, Asia Watch etc, including this group based in India, are testimony to this fact. Even in most cases, the dead bodies of the victims were not handed over to their relatives. Even judges of higher judiciary, professors, lawyers who provided defence to the victims, were not spared and liquidated after disappearing them from their home and hearth. They included six lawyers, four journalists and Human Rights activists, including one Jaswant Singh Khalra, who had appeared before the parliamentary group of Canadian MPs at Ottawa, with hundreds of cases of Sikh disappearances. Khalra, too, was done to death after disappearing him from his residence just within a month when he left Canada for India. And, in the Vaisakhi parade, the photos of those victims who were killed by the security forces in India were displayed, seeking justice from the Indian government. Sikhs are a worldwide community and mostly lives in western democracies. They have been raising their voice against the state repression let loose on their brethren back in India on different occasions to make democratic governments and public aware about this inhuman treatment being meted out to their community. And it is a world known fact that justice to Sikhs is still awaited in India. The IHRO had also expressed its concern over the reported request of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper at Washington on Tuesday that the latter should monitor and curb the activities of the so called Sikh separatists who have been active here for the formation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh State in India in the wake of the storming of the Golden Temple and destruction of their spiritual-temporal Seat, Sri Akal Takhat Sahib by the Indian army, and the Sikh genocide following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Delhi and elsewhere in India in1984. We in IHRO are of the strong opinion that India, instead of delivering justice to the Sikhs in India, has started blackmailing the Sikhs living abroad, especially in Canada; with threat of black-listing all those Sikhs who would raise their voice against India's repressive and genocidal policies. While, according to the Supreme Court of India, mere raising of Khalistan slogans is no offence in India, then why the Sikhs here are being harassed and humiliated at the instance of India and its agencies. We, therefore, urge your goodness to take note of all this mentioned above and beware of Indian propaganda which is not only misleading but illegal, too. You are also urged to come to the help of Indo- Canadian citizens who after getting visitor are not allowed to enter India without assigning any reason. Yours sincerely, (D S Gill) AdvocateChair IHRO (Harkirat Singh Kular)IHRO-NA Coordinator

Majority of Sikh community in Canada knows that Dosanjh and Hayer are huge troublemaker for Sikhs in Canada. To me they are working for India rather than working for Canadians. Political leaders should not take part in religious matters as our founding father made it clear by introducing the concept of separation of church and state. Both of these political Indian figures are mi-using their office to slander and bring down peaceful Sikh Canadian community. The issue is never about images of Sikh fighter of 1980’s on nagar kirtan floats. These two politicians are using this as an excuse to bring up their hidden agenda. Sikhs are naive and they don't have any dedicated office to send out nice PR to news outlet & so on. Below examples clearly show that these two slicks are fooling BC politicians and slandering sikh religion and its people by using all powers they have. Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh who shot and killed a racist immigration officer on Canadian soil. He turned himself in and was sentenced to death under Canadian laws. Here is the website giving information related to Bhai mewa singh (http://mewasingh.com/). Bhai Mewa Singhs pictures hang in a Gurudwara Sahib’s Langar Hall in Vancouver. This is a gurdwara now run by self-proclaimed "moderates". Perhaps someone can confirm if in fact the langar hall is also in the name of Bhai Mewa Singh. Ujjal Dosanjh attended that organizations nagar kirtan so did the mayor of Vancouver and the premier of British Columbia and hayer. They did not have a problem with this? Canadian citizens need to ask Hayer, Dosanjh, and Campbell about this? They have problem with shaheed singhs on our floats because India label them as terrorist but they have no problem with other shaheeds because India doesn’t classify them as terrorist but as freedom fighters. Surely a double standard & hypocrisy !! Have Ujjal Dosanjh and Dianne Watts not both campaigned at Dasmesh Darbar where there are pictures of shaheeds and khalistan slogans? Maybe, Premier Gordon Campbell should call on Hayer to explain why he is glorifying Shaheed Bhagat Singh bombed parliament and killed a police officer. He was sentenced to death as well. Here is what Dave Hayer has to say about Bhagat Singh. – See story #7 http://www.voiceonli...newsroundup.php (point taken from SikhSangat.com) What does Ujjal Dosanjh say about Shaheed Bhagat Singh? Is tossing a bomb in parliament and ripping a bullet into a police officer not slightly threatening or violent….or is violence limited to someone suggesting that you arrange for your own security. It is very obvious that Indian government is lobbying hard to have these two BC politicians to put Sikhs in negative light and this been going on for the last few decades. These two are the only Canadian politicians who were given the highest Indian award in India. So.. are they working for Canada or India?

We’ve all been reading about all the negative attention our community has been getting due to the pathetic publicity stunts orchestrated by several politicians which were honestly, just lame attempts to muster waning political support. I’ve been reading so many falsehoods and been seeing so many people actually believing it to be fact-based news reporting that I feel the need to comment. I think we all have a lot more homework to do on this subject; it’s not always as simple and straight forward as the media would have us believe. If we look back, a lot of journalists/reporters have not skipped a single opportunity to vilify our community. A clear example of this is when individuals exonerated by Canada’s court systems were still talked about and referred to as a guilty party. I don’t think this offers an excuse to lay full blame on others, however. There’s a lot of choices and decisions we could and should have made better. At the forefront of the Sikhs-are-the-boogeyman lobby is an individual named Ujjal Dosanjh. This guy, in addition to trying to paint any and every Sikh organization as a ‘terrorist threat,’ will leap at every opportunity to claim some kind of violent threat has been made against him. I can see how easily Inderjeet Bains’ comments can be twisted into a threat, but honestly, just seems like Ujjal crying wolf and trying to rain on our parade (pun intended lol). In our community, we have plenty of hot-headed uncles who honestly, will do and say anything. They will threaten you and everyone’s chacha on public radio without batting an eye. I’m not saying this is okay or condoning this behaviour; it’s actually detrimental to any kind of positive progression but it’s a fact we all acknowledge. If anyone wanted to threaten Ujjal, they wouldn’t beat around the bush - they’d be pretty explicit, vocal and would probably delve into some kind of detail. Bains’ comments were inappropriate to say the least, but threatening? That’s pushing it. Someone asked and he made it clear; Ujjal Dosanjh and Dave Hayer were not special guests like other politicians and the organizers weren’t making any provisions for them if they chose to come as individuals. There are a few questions I’d love to ask Dosanjh, Hayer and even Premier Campbell as pointed out by one of my brothers, buddasingh, <a href=" though. Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh shot and killed a long time Sikh antagonist who was part of a plot to murder and harass Sikhs at the Gurduaara in 1914. Bhai Mewa Singh turned himself in and was given the death penalty under Canadian Law. The organizing Gurduaara committee of the Vancouver Nagar Keertan, an event attended by Premier Campbell, Dosanjh and Hayer, prominently features Bhai Mewa Singh’s pictures and has named the Langar Hall after him. No fuss over ‘glorifying violence’ here? And what about Bhagat Singh who is revered by Dosanjh, Hayer and majority of the South Asian community as a hero? He was hanged for bombing British parliament and killing a police officer in the struggle against British imperialism. “Is tossing a bomb in parliament and ripping a bullet into a police officer not slightly threatening or violent....or is violence limited to someone suggesting that you arrange for your own security?” Another unfortunate sentiment we’re seeing in our community, is this idea that the Surrey Nagar Keertan should be more like Vancouver’s. The reason the Vancouver celebration “went off without a hitch,” may simply be because organizers do not feel it important to address a serious issue facing the Sikh Nation, whereas organizers of the Surrey Nagar Keertan understand their responsibility as a Panthic organization to highlight blatant and ongoing human rights violations. With regards to the open show of support for a sovereign Sikh state, Khalistan, I think it’s time people take their heads out of the sand and stop lying to themselves that this idea is some barbaric concoction of some backwards mind. The idea of a sovereign Sikh state based on ideals of Naam Japna, Vand Chhakna and Kirath Karnee has resided within the Sikh ethos since the conception of the Khalsa and manifested itself into Khalsa Raj in 1710 under the command of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur; the idea, itself, of a separate Sikh state named Khalistan was suggested as early as 1947 before the partition of India and Pakistan. The Sikh Nation has every right to determine it’s own destiny and after the shameless attempts to deconstruct our distinct identity, after violating riparian laws and diverting Punjab’s river waters to other states thus crippling Punjab’s agriculture-based economy, and after an all-out offensive attack on Sikhi itself in 1984 and the following years of brutal genocide, the government of India has given the Sikh Nation no other choice but to establish an autonomous Sikh state where the basic rights of the people will be honoured and protected. For someone to suggest that it is ‘improper,’ or ‘terrorism’ for Sikhs to voice their demand for freedom is ridiculous; countless countries were formed by overthrowing oppressive rulers, such as, the United States. Even India was created using some amount of armed force to boot out British colonizers. To suggest that trying to break free from the Brahmanical hegemony imposed on the Sikh Nation constitutes ‘terrorism,’ is laughable. Some, however, may say that Vaisakhi is to be celebrated as the ‘birth of the religion,’ but such comments are only borne out of cluelessness. The basis of the Sikh spiritual Thought was founded during the time of Guru Nanak Paathshaah; ‘Vaisakhi’ is important to Sikhs around the world because it marks the establishment and formalization of the Sikhs as a Nation dedicated to principles of Truth, Equality and Justice. The pratham - foremost - responsibility of the Khalsa is ‘Gareeb Kee Rakhia, Jarvaannay Kee Bhakhia’ (Protection of the Weak, Destruction of the Tyrants). These principles and ideals are the cause of the ongoing ‘Nagar Keertan Controversy’; those of our fallen brothers and sisters whose images we proudly display on our Nagar Keertan floats spilled their blood in Punjab so that each and every drop could invigorate us to renew our battle to defend these honourable ideals on a daily basis. What point is there in celebrating Vaisakhi if we don’t use this time for stop and reflect on the conception of our Nation and explore how far or close we’ve come to fulfilling our purpose in this world. When we get together on Vaisakhi, it is essential that we reflect on our past and current struggles to resist oppressive regimes and maintain our sovereignty as a nation , that we renew our pledge to ensure the flourishing and respect of all peoples without any hindrances. This revolution is what we were made for. Let’s not back down from our responsibility to this world; we owe it to our Guru, and we owe it each and every one of those warriors, sevaadaars and revolutionaries who dedicated each one of their breaths and every single drop of their blood to further this cause. We are not the Followers of a Religion, but the Forces of Revolution... P. Singh, Canada

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh! Some four weeks ago, we were sitting at Bunga of Gyani Sher Singh ji, head granthi Gurudwara Manji sahib, Ambala city. About 8 to10 Singhs stay at bunga fulltime for Gubaani and History Vidya. Gyani ji runs ‘Gurmat Brahm Vidya Kendar’, for giving out Vidya of Gurbaani, Sikh literature and history. There are 12-15 singhs like me who keep visiting bunga for Sangat and Gurmat vichar with Gyani ji. That day we were about 14 people present there, when suddenly Punjab Police and Haryana police entered the Bunga and started asking about Gyani ji and about the activities at Bunga. It was a raid by the police, to pick up Gyani ji, but he was not present that day, so he was saved. Some of the Bhujangs staying at the Bunga were questioned and then the police went back. Gyani Sher singh ji is from Buddha Dal and one of the most learned scholars of Gurbaani and ancient texts in these times. His father is a farladhari Nihang Singh, Baba Channan singh ji. Gyani ji is one of the leading scholars who have taken steps to counter negative propaganda by anti-sikh forces regarding Maryada, Dasam Baani and Panth. After darshan laal was excommunicated from panth, he gave Rs.2 lakhs to a Punjabi channel, Charhdi kala Time Tv, to buy airtime and give out his clarification to Sangat. The people at channel, seeing big money, converted the programme in a question answer session with Darshan laal. He spewed venom against Akaal Takhat, Jathedars and Maryada. But no one came forward to answer him. We decided at Bunga to answer darshan laal in same coin, Channel was contacted and they demanded same Rs.50, 000 for half an hour, it was big money, but we needed to take our views on air, and we were not being supported by Governments or committees (like Darshan, and even Buddha dal couldn’t help, as everything is under Balbir Seo). Singhs collected money and we bought half an hour time. Gyani ji went on air and in half hour, he refuted all the allegations of Darshan and party and showed how much important Dasam baani is for existence of Panth. This thing irked these agents of Government most; they were upset that no one else was doing parchar like this, only this Gyani, with no money or political support was causing so much damage to their plans. (People like sukhwinder singh babbar from delhi who stopped Darshan laal from holding kirtan did this with inspiration from Gyani ji), lets shut his mouth and they took this battle on to next level. Gyani Sher singh ji’s student and relative, Gyani Pritpal singh ji does katha at Gurudwara Dukh nivaran, Patiala. His brother, Giani Purshottam Singh ji is also a Kathavachak and parcharak. He along with his wife went to Paonta sahib for Darshan . In the night of 19th march, they were arrested from Gurudwara Paonta sahib, H.P and brought to Zirakpur in Punjab. Here one more person, who was a mona, was arrested. Gyani Purshottam singh’s wife was released on 2oth march. On 22nd march, SSP of Mohali in a press conference announced arrest of a notorious Babbar Khalsa Militant, Purshottam singh from Zirakpur with RDX and ammunition. They were taken on police remand and subjected to inhuman torture. After 12 days in police remand, they were sent in judicial custody. Here Gyani Sher singh ji and Gyani Pritpal singh ji went to meet him and what he said made us all think for a moment, is a war going to be forced on us in garb of Anti-Dasam parchar? Bhai Purshottam Singh ji told that he was tortured badly, hung upside down and beaten with sticks and iron rods, electric shocks and water was used to torture him. Why? Answer will make you think where things have reached. :excl:Police were saying we know you are innocent, but we have orders, you have to name Gyani Sher singh and Pritpal singh as your leader and main conspirator. You have to say that Gyani Sher singh was planning to murder Hindu leaders and carry out bomb blasts. But Purshottam singh refused to say all this or sign on this statement. Main motive for his arrest was to somehow get Gyani sher singh ji behind bars, so that this parchar going on in favour of Dasam baani is slowed down, so that other parcharaks of Dasam Baani are terrified into keeping mum, and all people who openly speak in favour of Dasam Baani are labelled as extremists, terrorists and anti-social. So that people who are exhorting Sikhs to wear baana, be tyar bar tyar, take Khande da Amrit, be Shastardhari and read Bir-ras baanis of Guru Gobind Singh ji, which all the sikh warriors of all times read, are given the sign to shut their mouths or else they’ll meet the same fate. So that people who want Maryada of Sikhi intact are finished, making way for missionaries, neo-fake-singh sabhaiites and fake khalistanis living in western countries to come in forefront, so that with help of Singers + liquor mafia+ smugglers+ politicians+ missionaries, Punjab could be converted in a state of people who’ll not be Sikhs as Guru Gobind Singh ji envisioned, but they’ll be Sikhs as Government planned them to be, carbon-copies of Hindus and muslims. After Bhai Purshottam singh ji refused to name Gyani ji despite facing heavy torture, Gyani Sher singh ji’s brother in law, Avtar singh was arrested few days back. His crime- he used to talk to his brother who was sitting in France (purshottam singh), who is wanted by Punjab and Haryana Police in Bhajan laal murder conspiracy case, for which many family members of Gyani Sher singh ji have spent years in jail, including Gyani ji. When Avtar singh was asked why he talked to Purshottam singh France, his reply was ‘for you he might be a terrorist, but he’s my brother, and no law can stop me from talking to my brother’. He was given same option, either incarceration in Jail or take Gyani Sher singh ji’s name. He too refused. There used to be raids everyday at Gyani ji’s Bunga, and singhs were harassed. Gyani ji sent out a message to all of us to not to come to Bunga for some days, as we might get in some problem despite being innocents. He cares for all of his singhs, students and Sangat. As sangat of Ambala came to know about all this, they all went to Superintendent of Police and asked the reason for harassing Gyani ji and his students. The lady assured that nothing of such type would happen again, as the issue was going out of hands. Raids stopped and the harassment too, but we weren’t allowed to visit him. Today after so many days, I got a call and Gyani ji said in his usual style ‘’ Patshaho Darshan kad deoge’’? I was so happy; first thing I said ‘Gyani ji, I’m waiting for my Panth Parkash debate with you, now I have the chance’! He laughed and said ok, come tomorrow! I said I’m coming today; we’ll debate some other day. In the evening, I went to his bunga and had long discussion, and he wanted me to tell the sangat about the happenings, as most of the things do come in local newspapers, but not in national media. He said ‘I’ve always feared a Shia-Sunni type divide in Sikhs, and have tried my best to stop it, despite provocation from some anti and pro Dasam baani people, but now they have taken this route, worse times are coming ahead, these politicians will not let us live peacefully, what shall we do? I asked Gyani ji, what you think will happen? His answer ‘’<strong>we people have always said that Dasam baani is baani of Warriors and brave hearts. So now the warriors have to wake up, they have to Simar bhagauti and get ready for next level (sacrifice). They want us to fall in their trap and do something stupid, but *we need to be careful* and channelize our energy in positive parchar and if time comes and we have to face tortures, be ready for them’’. We have to prove that Dasam baani is indeed baani of brave hearts. </strong> There were so many things to share, but he stopped me from writing other things. People sitting in foreign countries don’t know anything about the ground situation in Punjab. We think that just by shouting slogans and holding protests in those countries we’ll achieve something, but it’s much tougher. First of all we have to rise up to help those, stand with those who are facing injustice in these times, just for speaking for Guru and Panth. Because the day need arises for Kurbaani, people living here, mone or Amritdhari are going to be the first ones in line of Fire. So it’s a benti to sangat, please go out in your Gurudwaras, Sabhas, and groups and wake up people to the reality. Tell them about the conspiracy which has been hatched against us, to make us sheep from lions. Tell them how these fake missionaries, singh sabhiye and fake khalistanis (Police cats) are trying to divide Panth in parts. Tell the sangat how the empires are standing with them at their back, against us, the believers of baani of Dasmesh pita, the followers of maryada of Khalsa Panth. We have our own issues, problems between us, but the enemy we face today is much dangerous and deadly than our internal issues. Unity is the need of hour. Please unite and play your part for this mission of Panth, for baani of Guru and honour of our Parcharaks. Akaal ji Sahai! Kamaljeet Singh Khalsa

Fremont, California: It is amusing how Canadian news outlets and some Indo-Canadian Politicians try to laminate pro active Sikhs of Canada as terrorists/harcore/fanatics. One may ask why Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Washington to monitor activities of Sikh Canadians. This not only surprised Sikhs but also gave a shock to Punjab Security and Intelligence officials. Hearing PM discussing with Stephen Harper regarding some Sikh Canadians trying to revive militancy in Punjab has surprised senior officers of Punjab police. No Canadian connections so far have emerged during interrogation of men held for any terror related activity in Punjab. Singh, usually a mild mannered and well respected Indian Congress leader, has been going off his rocker lately and many say it is because of pressure from the Congress party, especially the treatment his minister Kamal Nath received in Canada by Sikh Canadians. According to Sikh youth organization, SikhActivist.net, more than 500 people, mostly youth -- protested against Kamal Nath. Soldiering it out in the rain and cold weather, the chanting went non-stop for about 2 hours and youth made pretty sure that he Canadian government heard them loud in clear. While the issue got prime place in Canadian media and Canadian politicians also came under pressure, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, MP, generated lot of heat with his letter urging his caucus not to attend any events with Kamal Nath. Later Kamal Nath was also greeted with protest in New York and even a case was slapped on him in a court which had taken him with a surprise and he had pleaded his innocence in media while reacting to the development. Singh met Harper on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit at Walter E Washington Convention Centre. While it is a well known fact that some pro-active Sikhs are settled in Canada for the last several decades. They are simply following the foot-steps of Ghadri Babay to seek truth, protect democracy & nothing else. India is trying their best through various channels to disrupt the peace among Sikh Canadians. Some of the congress agents present in Canada are few organization such as Singh Sabha, few political offices in vancouver and at last an ex-communicated preacher favoring congress party to full extent via Sarna brothers in Delhi. According to Senior Punjab Police officer, the only international connections revealed during interrogations are in Thailand, Malysia and Pakistan but never involved Canada. This has surprised that why such issue was raised at the level of PMs, which has created a hype about its gravity when it was not at all in the focus of cops’ scanner here. SikhS in America regardless of their ideology differences need to get together and stand against the injustice and always stand firm on "UNITY" ground. Hardev Singh, California

It is said in Guru Granth Sahib Ji that one must go through 8.4 million lives/forms before one can attain the Human Form and work towards salvation and god. In other words, if we don't work towards salvation in this life time as humans we must wait to go through 8.4 million more lives before we get another chance. That leaves the big question will eating meat hinder the process of salvation, help it or have no effect according to beliefs of Sikhism? When the topic of meat comes up often the Guru's that took part in hunting expeditions are mentioned, also mentioned are the shabids in Guru Granth Sahib Ji that speak of meat eating and the final argument tends me of the nature that we humans evolved as hunters and gathers, so it's in our blood. Three of the Ten Sikh Guru's (Guru Hargobind Ji, Guru Har Rai Ji, and Guru Gobind Singh Ji) are known to have gone on hunting expeditions. Everything from great lions to tiny rabbits were hunted in these expeditions. The wide range of animals hunted serves to prove that hunting was not done just for purpose of eating meat (who eats lion meat?) and to prove the hunting's were not done for the purpose of sport (why would great Guru's hunt something as little as a rabbit?). If these hunts didn't take place for sport or food, then why did the Guru's hunt? They hunted to give salvation to former followers or bhagats, which for one reason or another did not reach salvation in their human forms. This theory is supported by the sakhis in Tarkeeh Guru Khalsa and by Mahmia Prakash. Never has it been mentioned that Guru Ji ate the meat after the hunting expeditions, that fact has always been assumed but never proven. If they did eat meat how can it be justified? Some say that Guru Gobind Singh Ji might have eaten meat in the time he spent in the jungles but is that justifiable? No matter what the circumstances can Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the guru that sacrificed his family for the good of world, do something he didn't condone just because the circumstances were tough? That fact just doesn't sit well with me. There are only two ways about this, either Guru's condoned eating meat or they didn't condone it and they didn't eat it themselves either. But like all other arguments this leaves us back at step 1, without an answer to the meat question. But it does leave one to wonder, if Guru's did condone meat eating, where did the idea of not eating meat come from? One theory is that is how it was interpreted from Guru Granth Sahib Ji and other Gurubanis but is that really likely? Majority of Sikh history was in oral form and written decades after it originally happened. It is possible and very likely that for many years Guru's Sikhs didn't eat meat because that is what they saw the Guru's doing and where taught by the Guru's to do. And that was what the Sikhs did for many years and taught their younger generations to do. From there the tradition of not eating meat was adopted by the Sikhs. But once the Sikhs no longer had the Guru's to explain Bani to them, the interpretation of Bani began. The hope was that each Sikh would interpret Gurbani for themselves that is why Gurbani was written in a way that anyone knowing Gurumukhi could read it. Gurumukhi is a very easy language to learn and read. But that is not how it happened, the Sikhs got dependent on others to read and explain it to them, mostly granthies and kirtanias. If that was not bad enough, people don't question what the Kirtanias and Granthies are telling them because they assume that they know more about Gurbani then them and thus have to be right. With less and less people reading Gurbani for themselves and questioning those that did read and interpret Gurbani a much distorted view of Gurbani has been created. Gurbani is easily manipulated for the benefit of others and if it is made to sound very logical, even less people question it. That is why today you will hear a lot of Sikhs say they listen to so and so Sant because the stuff they say sounds right. With Sikhs listening to the interpreters of the 11th Guru instead of the Guru himself, they have created many misunderstandings. One of those misunderstandings is eating meat. Yes, there is a Shahabad in Guru Granth Sahib Ji by Guru Nanak Ji that states "The fools argue about flesh and meat, but they know nothing about meditation and spiritual wisdom. What is called meat, and what is called green vegetables? What leads to sin? It was the habit of the gods to kill the rhinoceros, and make a feast of the burnt offering. Those who renounce meat, and hold their noses when sitting near it, devour men at night. They practice hypocrisy, and make a show before other people, but they do not understand anything about meditation or spiritual wisdom. O Nanak, what can be said to the blind people? They cannot answer, or even understand what is said." That Shahabad is too often taken out of context to mean that we have Guru Nanak Dev Ji's permission to eat meat because that is what we desire and that is what we see in Guru Nanak Dev Ji's words, permission. But is that really what it is…permission? Another way to interpret this Shahabad would be too say Guru Nanak Dev Ji meant what is the point of preaching that eating meat is a sin, if you keep on doing all the other bad deeds and if you keep doing all the other bad deeds, does it even matter if you eat meat or not? If it doesn't matter why have the argument? This is a small Shahabad out of Guru Granth Sahib Ji and like any other Shahabad the reader can interpret it in any way they desire or they feel is right. I personally have interpreted it both ways for myself, first giving myself permission to eat meat because of the Shahabad and then about a week later still not feeling right about my interpretation, I interpreted in this way. Because I was able to read the Shahabad myself and didn't have someone else do it for me, I was able to think for myself. Often the case is whichever version of the interpretation that sounds better to a Sikhs ears is what they will accept and because the interpretation is so easily received and accepted their mind is less likely to doubt to question. If Guru's Sikh sat down to interpret the meat question for themselves, they would have come across with more Shahabads in Guru Granth Sahib Ji that are often overlooked when the meat debate happens. When I hit the internet I found many a sites arguing the same topic which I had set out to solve for myself. But it wasn't long before I found that both sides sounded too appealing, whichever side's arguments I would read, I would believe. The deeper I searched into the topic, the more confused I got. Till I chanced upon Kabir Ji's Bani's which are not mentioned in many debates. Kabir Ji was not a Guru but he was a respected Bhagat, so respected that his bani earned a place in Guru Granth Sahib Ji. His bani should receive same importance as any Bani of the Guru's in Guru Granth Sahib Ji and over and over he says eating meat is wrong. "Kabeer, those mortals who consume marijuana, fish and wine - no matter what pilgrimages, fasts and rituals they follow, they will all go to hell" or "You keep your fasts to please Allah, while you murder other beings for pleasure. You look after your own interests, and so not see the interests of others. What good is your word?" There are many such Shahabad's of Bhagat Kabir that call eating of meat wrong. That says only one thing, there has to be something to this not eating meat thing. Why? One, Bhagat Kabir was born muslim which condones eating meat, there has to be something wrong with it for Bhagat Kabir to go against the religion he was born into and say it's wrong. Secondly, For Gurus to admit a bani into the Guru Granth Sahib Ji they must have agreed with it. Third and most important reason that is often overlooked, "Bani is Guru and Guru is Bani". If guru is bani and vice versa, then what does it matter who wrote the bani? At this point anyone reading this should make some time to read the Guru Granth Sahib Ji for themselves and collect whatever pearls of wisdom they can. If they are manmukh's like me, they will have much trouble collecting pearls and will constantly question everything they find, is it a real pearl or not? To test authenticity of the pearl, they will put it through their own logical tests. The first logical statement that comes to mind has to be, how one feels after eating meat and then having to do Matha-Tak. I have yet to meet a Sikh that doesn't feel at least some guilty about going in front of Guru Granth Sahib Ji after eating meat. If it is something a Sikh feels guilty about there has to be a reason. Sikhs have always taught to hold their head up high and not do anything that lowers it. Sikhs are full of pride. The automatic guilty of eating meat and facing god is an automatic psychological answer saying meat eating for Sikh's is wrong. This is one logical test that has to be done for oneself and decide for one's self. While you're at the Gurudwara, stop by the langar hall and eat some langar. As you're getting langar, check to see if any of the langar contains meat or eggs. Guess what? It doesn't. There are many theories as to why that is, why meat isn't served as part of langar. One of the many theories is that in the times of Gurus visitors were first required to sit together and share a meal. It is said sharing a meal creates a special bond, hence the huge emphasizes on meals. Meat was not included as part of the meal, that is langar, because it might offend someone that doesn't eat meat. It would create rifts, not bonds between the people that sit together for a meal. Seems, like a logical explanation as to why meat isn't part of langar but doesn't solve the no meat mystery. There is a very well-known sakhi where the son of Guru Har Rai Ji baba Ram Rai misreads the bani of the Gurus and Guru Ji disowned him. If Guru Ji could disown his own son because he misread the bani so he wouldn't offend the Muslim emperor. If Gurus were not worried about offending anyone and disowning their own child that, then why would they worry about serving meat in the langar, if they thought it was right? Nothing could ever stop Guru's from doing anything they believed in, they would give their lives before they bent over backwards to please anyone. Nothing has ever stopped the Gurus, not political-correctness, not money. It is written in a few books that meat is not part of langar because it's too expensive to serve meat. That is takes too much money to buy, store, cook meat. Since the day of Guru Nanak Ji there has been no lack of donations to the guru's, whether it is in form of food, money, land or time. So if Guru's wanted their Sikhs to feast upon meat in langar, they wouldn't lack it. But that was the never the intention of Guru's that is why none of the ten Guru's allowed meat to be served in langar. Once again, nothing would stop the Guru's from doing what they felt was right. It is sometimes said that the Guru's themselves have feasted on meat. Guru's have taught us to live life through their example. So why would they on one hand not serve meat in langar, on the other they would feast upon it as if there is nothing wrong with it? That is not teaching by example, that's going against everything they taught. So if the Guru's ate meat, they would serve meat in langar. The Guru's ate the same langar as the sangat and even today we do the bhog of langar to Guru Granth Sahib, offering it the same langar as the sangat. None of the Guru Ji's ate meat, nor did they ever attend for their Sikhs to eat it. Are human natural instincts to be hunters and gathers stronger than Guru's teachings? The final word on all meat vs. no meat debates, the final word is always on our natural instincts. We have evolved eating meat, so it's natural for us to continue eating meat. God created us to be able to eat both plants and meat, unlike animals which are either typically carnivores or herbivores. But at same time God also made us the only form that is able to reach god, it is in our human form that we are the strongest to overcome our natural instincts. If we are able to overcome the million barriers to reading bani, to being faithful to our partners and doing everything else that our natural instincts don't normally want us to do. Then why is it so hard to give up our natural instinct to stop eating meat? We are humans, we created to overcome our natural instincts and become one with god. We won't get this chance for another 8.4 million lives/forms to become one with god, so let's not waste it. It's time to stop listening to others, read bani and decide for ourselves on what the Guru's taught. Whether the issue is meat, or anything else, only Gurbani can lead us on the right path. At this point I want to ask just one thing from you, forget everything you have read about eating meat in the last 4 pages, and read for yourself and decide for yourself. The last 4 pages I was doing the very thing I am asking you to do now. I won't tell you what I learned through these four pages because that's for me, not for you.

]A California based writer Dr. Jasbir Singh 'Mann' (orthopaedic doctor by profession) and some writers under his leadership have been casting doubts in minds of the Sikhs regarding objectives of Sri Dasam Granth by spreading baseless rumours. With an ill-intention of propagating his groundless assumptions, he has once again launched a vicious attack with a 50-odd pages article named "Guru Granth Sahib; as the only Sikh canon (Presently Published Sri Dasam Granth and British Connection) REJOINDER TO "Sri Dasam Granth Sahib; the Second Canon of the Sikhs". There is absolutely nothing new in Dr. Mann's article. It is not even appropriate to say that it is an 'old wine in new bottle'. Rather, it is 'oldest of wines in oldest of bottles'. The sole objective behind writing this article is to keep lying repeatedly so that it could finally appear to be the truth. Perhaps Dr. Mann is incapable of concocting new rumours, that is why he is repeating the same falsehood in desperate attempt to give some credibility to it. Although he gives the illusion of being unbiased in his writings, it is said that he is bribing people to write against Sri Dasam Granth. In order to conceal his true identity under the mask, he writes, "Two viewpoints have been circulating in Panthic and Sikh studies circles about Dasam Granth. One view gives total acceptance and agrees that Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote all compositions present in the Published Granth. 2nd view point is of total rejection of this Granth. Present author disagrees with both view points..". Dr. Mann is of the belief that Sri Dasam Granth in its entirety is a creation of the British. Nowhere in the article does he prove that the British made additions of so-and-so compositions in Sri Dasam Granth; instead, he keeps repeating that there no Granth called 'Sri Dasam Granth' existed in 18th Century, that the British got it prepared in the beginning of 19th Century. He also does not mention that so-and-so compositions have been added and how the British political system of the time or Christianity could profit by creating these fake compositions. It is surprising that although I have already refuted his allegations in my published book, but instead of providing answers to any of my work, he has once again attempted to cover his baseless hypothesis with the cloak of truth. I will attempt to uncover this stubborn falsehood of Dr. Mann in the following pages. In an attempt to mislead the Sikh Sangat, the adversaries of Sri Dasam Granth are repeatedly creating terror waves by alleging that there is danger from Sri Dasam Granth to the Guruship of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Following this malicious intent of creating scare in hearts and minds of the Sikhs, Dr. Mann has titled his baseless article as 'Guru Granth Sahib; as the only Sikh canon'. I have not met even a single supporter of Sri Dasam Granth that considers Sri Dasam Granth to be bigger and more important than Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Every Gursikh, from times of Bhai Kesar Singh Chibber to the present-day Sikhs, has considered and respected Sri Dasam Granth as the smaller Granth. However, I can also say with absolute conviction that I have not met any adversary of Sri Dasam Granth that has full faith in completeness of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. They have doubts on Ragmala, Bani of the Bhatts, Bhagat Banis, and objections against compositions of Bhai Gurdas Ji. They are determined to malign the names of members of the Guru's family, Bhai Nand Lal Ji and many other great personalities. Thus, there is a real danger to the Guruship of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji from Dr. Mann and his team of critics. Can Dr. Mann tell the name of any one supporter of Sri Dasam Granth, including those who do Parkash of this Granth, that has ever doubted the completeness of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji? I also strongly object to his use of the word 'Cannon' for Sri Granth Sahib Ji, because it does not translate to 'Guru Granth' at all. I had provided the dictionary meaning and description of the principle behind using this word but Dr. Mann did not provide any answers although he has surely hurt the Sikh sentiments by repeated use of the word associated with Western culture. [Translator's note: This is what appears in Dr. Harbhajan Singh's book regarding the word 'Cannon': "The Random House Dictionary of the English Language' has given the following meaning of this word: 1. an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope. 2. the body of ecclesiastical law 3. the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted a axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art. 4. a fundamental principle or general rule. 5. a standard; criterion. 6. the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired. 7. any officially recognized set of sacred books. 8. any comprehensive list of books within a field 9. Literature, the works of an author...]. Dr. Mann has written a lot of irrelevant stuff from here and there, but I want to focus myself on the questions raised by him. He argues that two fundamental questions need to be resolved regarding the objectives of Sri Dasam Granth: Question 1: Based on Academic Benchmarks: a. When was this Granth written. b. The history of this Granth. c. Who was its writer? d. The internal consistency of this Granth. Question 2: The Granth that Malcolm reported in 1810 A.D. and later rectified and edited by the 'Sodhak Committee': Was there any Granth named 'Dasami Patshahi Da Granth', associated with Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and with all the compositions, available in the 18th Century, whose Parkash used to take place in Gurdwaras of Punjab and Delhi? The academic proofs of participation of British in the the preparation, order and propagation of this Granth cannot be neglected, therefore any committee concerned with the verification of authenticity claims should keep this in mind. After elaborating on the above doubts, Dr. Mann presents the following 'Table of Knowledge': 1. Does any literary resource informs us of any debate regarding Sri Dasam Granth Sahib in the 18th Century? 2. Academic issues regarding Bhai Mani Singh's Bir, Patna Bir and Anandpuri Bir? 3. Is it true that Dasam Granth appeared in the 19th Century? Was Dasam Granth present in Punjab, Delhi and neighbouring areas in the 18th Century? 4. Is it right that Dasam Granth in its present published form was mentioned for the first time in 1810 A.D. in Malcolm's book, "Sketch of the Sikhs"? 5. Is it a historical fact that the British propagated and established the Banis of Dasam Granth in order to weaken the Sikhs and the Sikh rule? 6. The dates within Dasam Granth? 7. Did the British popularised recitation of presently parkash'd Bir in order to destroy independent existence of the Sikh faith? 8. Did Atma Ram Nirmala of Calcutta had any associations with the Nimala Mahants of Patna? 9. The relationship between Tribhangi Chhand of Akal Ustat and Atma Ram? 10. Proofs of the establishment of superiority of 'Bachittar Natak' over Sri Guru Granth Sahib by the British during the end of 18th Century? 11. Proofs of involvement of British Govt. in the composition of Dasam Granth (Devnagri) in 1847? 12. The analysis of academic issues regarding 'Khaas Daskhati Patrey'? 13. Sikh Code of Conduct and Dasam Granth in 1925 A.D? 14. The Guruship given by Guru Gobind Singh Ji to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji? (Guru Granth is the sole Canon of the Sikhs.) 15. Sodhak Committee and Dasam Granth? 16. The debate regarding the authenticity of Dasam Granth in 18th Century? 17. The Hukamnama issued by Akal Takht on 6th June, 2008? The following are replies to the above contrivances by Dr. Mann: 1. Does any literary resource informs us that there was any debate regarding Sri Dasam Granth Sahib in the 18th Century? In answer to this question, Dr. Mann writes that according to Bhai Kahn Singh 'Nabha', debate on Dasam Granth started immediately after preparation of its Bir by Bhai Mani Singh in 1726 A.D. However, this Dasam Granth Bir survived its original form because Bhai Mehtab Singh fulfilled his oath to kill Massa Rangad. Dr. Mann is unhappy that by doing so, an individual pledge took over the principles of Tenth Guruji. It would have been better if some collective decision was taken regarding this issue. The writer further says that just like Bhai Mani Singh had cancelled the Bir of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji that was prepared by the compiler, similarly Banis like Charitropakhyan and Hikayats should have been kept separated when he compiled Dasam Granth. It is Dr. Mann's opinion that although we consider Bhai Mani Singh as Panth-Rattan because of him being a Gursikh, still he has committed grave sin (by compiling Dasam Granth) which has done immense damage of the Sikh Panth. The writer believes that the Bir prepared by him is not available at all. The Bir attributed to him appears in 1818 A.D, and is presently in Delhi. The writer raises a question – By the end of 1740 A.D, Mata Sundri Ji and Mata Sahib Kaur Ji had given all weapons of Sixth and Tenth Guruji to the Sikhs (Currently on display at Rakabganj Sahib) then why they did not give any Bir of Dasam Granth, Khas Patar or any picture to the Sikhs? Dr. Mann further says it is a historical fact that Baba Banda Singh, Nawab Kapur Singh, S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and other Misl leaders gave no respect to the Granth of Dasavi Patshahi. The writer has following doubts regarding this Bir: a. How can Bhai Mani Singh, who compiled the Paath of Aad Granth in 1706 A.D, scribe the Paath of Banno Bir 20 years later? b. Where was this Bir from 1713 A.D to 1818 A.D? c. Does this Bir contain Swayiye (33), Shabad Hazare, Khalsa Mehma and Zafarnama in Persian only? d. Some chhands in this Bir are either omitted or added as compared to the Parkash'd Bir. Answer: In regards to Dr. Mann's question: 'Does any literary resource informs us that there was any debate regarding Sri Dasam Granth Sahib in the 18th Century?', I would like to say that if Dr. Mann had even an ounce of honesty, truthfulness and honesty in him towards Sikh Panth, the question should have been like this: 'Is there any literary resource available FROM 18th Century that informs there was any debate regarding Sri Dasam Granth in that century'. If Dr. Mann insists on proofs from the 18th Century regarding the naming and compilation of Sri Dasam, how can he then accept 'Mahan Kosh' published in 1930 as the literary proof, when it is absolutely clear that Bhai Kahn Singh 'Nabha' has not talked about its source anywhere? If Dr. Mann refuses to accept evidence by Bhai Kesar Singh 'Chibber' in 'Bansavali Nama Dassan Patshahian Ka' (1769 A.D) as a concrete proof, then why I should believe a Granth composed in 1930 as a proof? And even though Bhai Kahn Singh 'Nabha' has not committed this sin, Dr. Mann is still trying to falsely accuse him with his heinous lies, and by doing so, is soiling the name of such a highly respected person of the Panth. By giving proper references to Bhai Kahn Singh 'Nabha's' 'Mahankosh' in my book 'Sri Dasam Granth-Karta Sambhandhi Vevad Di Punar Sameekheya', I have made it absolutely clear that his name is being falsely attached to this lie. Same stance is against Gyani Gyan Singh and similar slanderous attitude has been adopted against Malcolm's writings. If there was any truth in Dr. Mann's claims, he would give answers to my comments. Why did he not muster courage to do so? I am forced to give a strong 'No' to the above question because Bhai Kesar Singh Chibber clearly writes that the debate was regarding the reordering of Banis and separation of Bhagat Banis from Sri Guru Granth Sahib; it was not concerning the compilation of Sri Dasam Granth. Honest readers can judge the level of reasoning and morality of Dr. Mann just from this: On one hand, Dr. Mann says that Malcolm got Sri Dasam Granth composed from Atma Ram Nirmala around 1810 A.D. and that in 18th Century, this Granth was not present anywhere in Punjab, Delhi and nearby areas, and on the other hand he is stressing that 'debate started on Dasam Granth immediately after preparation of its Bir by Bhai Mani Singh in 1726 A.D'. If this Granth was not present till the end of 18th Century, If Bhai Mani Singh never prepared such a Bir, then how can debate regarding it happen in 1740 A.D? And which Bir survived in its original form after Mehtab Singh was able to fulfil his oath? Dr. Mann slams serious allegation against Bhai Mani Singh and Khalsa Panth of the time by saying that Bhai Mani Singh caused damage to the Panth by preparing this Bir and by making a unanimous decision based on an individual oath proved detrimental to the Panth. The following becomes clear from these words of Dr. Mann: a. The first Bir of Sri Dasam Granth was scribed by Bhai Mani Singh. b. Sri Dasam Granth existed in 1740 A.D. c. The entire Khalsa Panth of the time had no awareness of Gurmat. Bhai Mani Singh caused massive damage to the Panth. The above words of Dr. Mann prove that he considers himself superior not only to Sikhs under the guidance of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji but to the entire Panth too. Dr. Mann. also accepts that Panth Khalsa had rejected Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji's Bir prepared by Bhai Mani Singh, but made a mistake by not rejecting his Dasam Granth Bir. This belief of Dr. Mann has uprooted the basis of all his theories. In claiming so, he has accepted that: 1. Bhai Mani Singh is the compiler of Sri Dasam Granth. 2. The difference of opinion in Sikh Panth was regarding the reordering of Bani of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 3. Sri Dasam Granth was accepted in its original form i.e. Panth unanimously accepted it as Guruji's composition. I accept all three claims with open arms because my beliefs are exactly the same too. The above three points are the principle reasons for my belief that Sri Dasam Granth is Guruji's composition. It is definite that its compilation was done by Bhai Mani Singh. The dispute within the Panth was concerning reorder of Banis of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the theory regarding Bhai Mehtab Singh Ji's oath is principally wrong because Panth did not accept Bhai Mani Singh Ji's work in its original form; instead, as Dr. Mann. says, the reordering of Banis as done by Bhai Mani Singh was rejected by the Panth after a lengthy and thoughtful discussion. The only reason why Sri Dasam Granth Sahib was not rejected was because the entire Panth unanimously accepted it to be the work of Guruji and there was absolutely no doubt regarding its Banis in anyone's mind. Dr. Mann and other adversaries of Sri Dasam Granth have been repeatedly pushing ahead the argument that the history of above-mentioned Bir by Bhai Mani Singh can be traced till 1818 A.D., therefore it cannot be regarded as Bhai Mani Singh's Bir? Can Dr. Mann. tell who had the possession of Kartarpuri Bir and at what times? Can he tell which particular Bir did Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave Guruship to? Can he tell where has the Bir prepared by Guruji at Damdama Sahib gone? In this manner, tomorrow someone can reject the Guruship of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, just because the Bir to whom Guruship was bestowed is not available. In reality, Sikhs had lost the possession of Bhai Mani Singh's Bir during Vadda Ghalughara, and later came back in Panth's possession via some Muslim. This Bir has all the characteristics as that of Bhai Mani Singh's Bir. The Grandson of Bhai Mehtab Singh, who received the history of Sikh affairs as part of family heritage, gives us the following important information in 'Panth Parkash' regarding the loss of Birs during Vadda Ghalughara: ??? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??????????? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? (?? 111-12) It is important to carefully understand the above lines by 'Bhangu'. He says that two Granths always accompanied the 'Khalsa Dal'. One was Amritsariye and other was Damdamiye. Both separately got under siege because enemy forces were much greater in number. After placing the Granth on the ground, security forces of Majha Region fought bravely with the enemy for some time, but all got killed in the end. After that Damdamiya got attacked. Being unarmed, they fought for a little while. This way, both Granths fell into enemy hands in the battlefield. These two Granths cannot be two saroops of Sri Aad Granth. With critical reasoning one can know the implied meaning of Damdamiya and Amritsariya. Some consider these two as Granths, but from the martyrdom of Majhail and Damdamiya forces they appear as two separate groups of the Sikhs. Actually, Damdama Sahib has been a Nihang Cantonment right from the time of arrival of Guru Gobind Singh Ji at that place. Gyani Gyan Singh Ji writes that original Dasam Granth containing the Banis of Guru Gobind Singh Ji (i.e. Bhai Mani Singh's Dasam Granth Bir) used to be with Buddha Dal but fell into hands of Durrani's soldiers during Vadda Ghalughara, as: ??? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ???? Any malicious attempt to prove this Granth as Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is highly condemnable because there was always Parkash of Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Harmandir Sahib and also by numerous Udaasi Sants etc. at Gurdwaras spread all over the country. It is impossible to claim that Aad Granth Ji used to be in Buddha Dal because its Parkash used to take place at numerous Guru Ghars everywhere. There was a Bir with Dhirmaliyas and Banno Vali Bir and its numerous copies were with many Sikhs. How can one say that a Bir, whose Parkash is associated with Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar and its copies established in all four corners of the country, be only in possession of the Buddha Dal? On the other hand, before the efforts of Baba Deep Singh, only Bhai Mani Singh Ji's Bir was available in the Sikh Panth. The special affection and respect of Nihang Singhs for Sri Dasam Granth is not hidden from anyone. Therefore, the Granth present in Buddha Dal as told by Gyani Gyan Singh can be none other than 'Sri Dasam Granth'. The Damdamiya and Amritsayia of 'Bhangu' can be identified from the special relationship of Buddha Dal with Damdama Sahib and existence of Sri Dasam Granth in Buddha Dal. Damdamiya can be a special jatha of Nihang Singhs that had the responsibility of sewa and care of Sri Dasam Granth. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji has had an unbreakable relation with Sri Amritsar Sahib Ji as first Parkash of this Sri Granth took place there. Also, Bhai Mani Singh had established a Taksaal there to teach Gyaanis the paath and meanings of Sri Aad Granth Ji. It seems that in Khalsa Dal, Gyanis from Amritsar used to be in sewa of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji; they would recite paath, Do Kirtan and Katha etc. to the Khalsa and a special unit of Majhails would remain on guard to protect this Sri Granth. The other Damdamiya jatha was on guard for the protection of Sri Dasam Granth. This way, it becomes absolutely clear from Bhangu's words that two Birs fell into the hands of Durrani's forces during Vadda Ghalughara. One Bir was of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and other was Bhai Mani Singh's Bir which had Banis from both Granths compiled in it. To be stubborn and remaining in denial of history of this Bir is neither rational nor wise. Dr. Mann, who has got used to making illogical and weird arguments, says that 'By the end of 1740 A.D, Mata Sundri Ji and Mata Sahib Kaur Ji had given all weapons of Sixth and Tenth Guruji to the Sikhs (Currently on display at Rakabganj Sahib) then why they did not give any Bir of Dasam Granth, Khas Patar or any picture to the Sikhs?' Can he prove which Birs of Sri Guru Granth Sahib were given by them and to which Sikhs? If Dr. Mann had used a little bit of discretion then this fact would be absolutely clear that the 'Khas Patars' that had reached Mata Sundari Ji with Bhai Mani Singh Ji's efforts were placed carefully at appropriate place in the Bir. What other 'Khas Patars' were with Mata Ji that had to reach Dr. Mann via the Sikhs so that he could look at the evidence and give his stamp of approval on Sri Guru Maharaj's Bani? Dr. Mann writes: 'it is a historical fact that Baba Banda Singh, Nawab Kapur Singh, S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and other Misl leaders gave no respect to the Granth of Dasavi Patshahi.' I ask Mann sahib this: Banda Singh Bahadur did not have Sri Guru Granth Sahib when left from Hazoor Sahib, we do not have any proof that he had Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji with him during the attack on Samana, Sadhora and Sarhind. Do we infer from this that Banda Singh Bahadur gave no importance to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji? If we believe Dr. Mann's argument that Sikhs went against principles of Guruji by accepting Sri Dasam Granth in 1740 A.D, can he kindly tells us whether the above-mentioned Sikhs existed at that time or not? Does this semi-educated scholar not even know that Sardar Kapur Singh was Nawab of Sikh Panth from 1733 A.D to 1753 A.D? If there was a debate in 1740 A.D regarding Sri Dasam Granth and it was accepted by the Panth, then it definitely happened under the presidency of S. Kapur Singh. S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was about 22 years old at that time and there is every possibility of his presence in that Panthic gathering also. Making false accusations that these individuals did not respect Sri Dasam Granth, despite knowing that a unanimous decision was taken by entire Panth in the presence of S. Ahluwalia and under the leadership of S.Kapur Singh, is indeed a grave and heinous crime. 'Mann Sahib' has studied Malcolm's work in detail, in fact in such incredible detail that whatever is not written on any page of his book, he has been able to extract out from the book's soul. Please read these words from the book: "When the chiefs and principal leaders are seated, the Adi Granth and Dasama Padshah ka Grant'h are placed before them. They all bend their heads before these scriptures, and exclaim, Wa ! Guruji ka Khalsa ! Wa ! Guruji ka Fateh !" 2. Regarding Bhai Mani Singh's Bir, Dr. Mann. expresses this doubt: a. How can Bhai Mani Singh, who compiled the Paath of Aad Granth in 1706 A.D, scribe the paath of Banno Bir 20 years later? b. Where was this Bir from 1713 A.D to 1818 A.D? c. Does this Bir contain Swayiye (33), Shabad Hazare, Khalsa Mehma and Zafarnama in Persian only? d. Some chhands in this Bir are either omitted or added as compared to the Parkash'd Bir. Our belief: a. The Bir that Guru Gobind Singh Ji got scribed by Bhai Mani Sahib must have reached Sri Hazoor Sahib and Guruship must have been bestowed to it. There is no possibility of another copy of it in Bhai Mani Singh's possession. The copies of Sri Aad Granth that were easily available in the Panth were taken from Banno Vali Bir. Unlike Sri Guruji, Bhai Mani Singh did not possess the knowledge of all three worlds that he could remember the entire Bir by heart after scribing it just once. Thus, there is nothing unusual about him scribing paath from Banno Vali Bir. How can Dr. Mann, who on one hand is calling him a forgetful Sikh who caused great damage to the Panth, expect him to be equipped with spiritual powers of Sri Guruji that could not make a single mistake? b. The answer has been given above. c. If Bhai Mani Singh could not find some Banis at that time, or if Zafarnama appears in Persian, then these facts establish the antiquity of that Bir. The Janam Sakhi associated with Guru Nanak Dev is brief as compared to other Janam Sakhis. It is with time that Sakhis got diversified. Similarly, the original and brief saroop of Sri Dasam Granth Sahib must be associated with Bhai Mani Sahib. If that saroop had more Banis in it than the saroops written later, only then it would be imperative to doubt its oldness. The oldest form of Zafarnama should also be in Persian because it is absolutely impossible that Aurangzeb or members of his court could read Gurmukhi script. The Gurmukhi script of Zafarnama is definitely added later for those Sikhs who could not read Persian. It is highly surprising that the pseudo-scholars of Sri Dasam Granth are calling the original Zafarnama irrelevant and giving more importance to its Gurmukhi transliteration instead. Therefore, the missing Banis and Zafarnama in Persian script are proofs of its antiquity, the denial of this is a sure sign of lack of ability to reason. d. If some Chhands are incomplete then why don't Dr. Mann present suggestions before the Panth regarding completion of paath? Why is he bent on reducing the paath instead? He presents Bhai Kahn Singh 'Nabha''s views, but Bhai Sahib has only told to locate more verses of Akal Ustat but has said nothing about reducing anything. I will sincerely support Dr. Mann if he presents before the Panth the suggestion that we should complete those verses that are removed from the published Bir. Dr. Mann should also pay attention to the fact that whatever characteristics have been described by Kesar Singh Chibber in his 'Bansavalinama' regarding Bhai Mani Singh's Bir, they all match the Bir that is popular in the name of Bhai Mani Singh. Despite this, even if some stubborn people of Dr. Mann's mindset reject this Bir as Bhai Mani Singh's, it is proved that this Bir would be a copy of the original Bhai Mani Singh's Bir. In respect to Patna Bir, Dr. Mann. is of the opinion that there is no history associated with it – there is no information about its writer etc. and its history cannot be traced beyond Sukha Singh. a. If this Bir was present in Patna till the end of 18th Century, then why could not Colebrooke locate a copy of it as that area was under British rule? b. Since there are additional compositions in this Bir as compared to the Granth in possession of Colebrooke, therefore it is a later work than the Dasam Granth With Colebrooke (1783 A.D.)? c. The year of compilation of this Bir has been given as 1698 A.D. inits table of contents, while 'Zafarnama', a composition of 1706 A.D, has been scribed by the original writer. d. Gyani Gyan gives 1775 A.D. as its year of compilation. e. There are extra Banis in this Bir. Answers and Solutions to Dr. Mann's doubts: a. One cannot be in denial of the existence of this Bir even if we keep in consideration Mann's contrivance that there is no history associated with it. Either Dr. Mann should research its history or follow the prevalent tradition. The third way is to get its ink, paper scientifically tested. There are many precious literary resources all around the world that have no history associated with them. Despite that, they are respected by scholars. It is not appropriate to say that it has got no history. The writer has himself given appropriate dates along with each and every composition and more than once in compositions like Krishnavtar. What is any need of asking its history when one knows that the original writer had finished writing all compositions by 1698 A.D. The dates to compositions as given by this writer match those of other Birs. The writer of this Bir is Bhai Sukha Singh who was a granthi Singh at Sri Patna Sahib and it has been compiled at Patna Sahib. If no other proof is acceptable then at least Gyani Gyan Singh's date of 1775 A.D. should be accepted. If everything mentioned above is true, which other historical detail is needed? Dates of compositions are known, name of compiler is known, place of compilation is known, writer is known, time-period of composition is also known. What other concrete proof does Dr. Mann need that could complete the history of this Bir? Therefore, we are of the opinion that even this argument of Dr. Mann is neither factual nor properly constructed. b. Dr. Mann says that 'If this Bir was present in Patna till the end of 18th Century, then why could not Colebrooke locate a copy of it as that area was under British rule?' I challenge Dr. Mann to present before the Sangat any order of the British Govt. of that time which says that any Englishman could take possession of any literary text from any place of worship. First things first, Dr. Mann should prove whether Colebrooke stayed sufficiently long enough at Patna Sahib to get such a massive Granth copied? It is plausible that maybe there was no other copy of this Granth of Dasam Pita at Patna Sahib, and priests could not give away the only Bir available with them. Therefore, to say that because Colebrooke was not given the Granth, it cannot be there at all is a totally wrong and deceiving statement to make. c. Dr. Mann is of the opinion that 'Since there are additional compositions in this Bir as compared to the Granth in possession of Colebrooke, therefore it is a later work than the Dasam Granth With Colebrooke (1783 A.D.)'. If we accept this logic of Dr. Mann, then the Bir associated with Bhai Mani Singh's name is proved to be the oldest. The existence of extra Banis in Patna Vali Bir does not mean it was written much later. In fact, there were many other compositions popular in the name of Guru Gobind Singh Ji that were not in Bhai Mani Singh's Bir. Gyani Gyan Singh has written the following in this context: ????? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? 73 ? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ????????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?????? 74 ? ?? ???????? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ???? ???? 75 ? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ???????? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????? 76 ? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ??? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? 77 ? Therefore, Bhai Sukha Singh did not add extra Banis in Sri Dasam Granth with any malicious intention; the common Sikhs were of the belief that are many more compositions of Sri Guru Gobind Singh. Gyani Gyan Singh, who is Dr. Mann's trusted author, writes he had heard from elders that there were many other compositions by Guru Gobind Singh Ji which are not available in prevalent Birs of Sri Dasam Granth. Sodhak Committee did extensive analysis and corrected the paaths, reordered and validated the Banis. c. Dr. Mann also doubts the Patna Sahib Bir because the year of compilation of this Bir in its table of contents has been given as 1698 A.D., while 'Zafarnama', a composition of 1706 A.D, has been scribed by the original writer. My belief is the Vikrami Samvat 1755 given in the table of contents of this Bir is not its compilation period; rather, it denotes the first completion of Sri Dasam Granth, which is proved by the completion of composition 'Ramavtar' by 1755 Samvat. All other Banis have been composed prior to this composition. It is abolutely clear from the photocopy of this Bir's table of contents provided by Dr. Mann that this Samvat denotes the completion of 'Ramavtar'. The following is written at the beginning of this Bir's Table of Contents: " There is absolutely no doubt left regarding this Samvat when we compare it to the following lines of 'Ramavtar': ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ?????????? ??? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????? (???????? 860) Therefore, it is definite that the Samvat given in table of contents denotes completion of all Banis (excluding 'Zafarnama') of Sri Dasam Granth and not the date of compilation of this Bir. In the absence of any of the above evidences, we can say that the date 1755 A.D. as given by Gyani Gyan Singh can be right and Dr. Mann's claim that British got Sri Dasam Granth Sahib prepared in the beginning of 19th Century proves to be absolutely baseless. It is also important to mention that this Samvat of 'Ramavatar' is the last of all the Samvats. Bhai Kesar Singh Chibber has also determined it to be the Samvat of Sri Dasam Granth Sahib's completion. The Samvat given in the table of contents in Patna Sahib Bir verifies it. When there is evidence available within this Bir regarding its completion by Sri Guruji and two other early evidences are also available that prove Sri Guruji completed it in 1755 Samvat, How can Dr. Mann then serve lies upon lies in front of the Panth by blatantly ignoring these proofs? Not only the ending section provides the above Samvat regarding this Bani's completion, the writer has also clearly described the completion at its end: ??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ???????? (???????? 861) The fact that date of completion in table of contents is associated with a Bir completed in 1755 A.D. during Guruji's time makes it clear that the writer of Patna Sahib Bir must have had access to extremely important and puratan pothis of Dasam Guruji's Bani. Thus, the importance of this Bir increases even more. As far as the issue of inclusion of 'Zafarnama' composed in 1706 A.D by Sri Guruji is concerned, this question fails to hold its merit when the above discussion is kept in mind. The argument, that its completion cannot be accepted because 'Zafarnama' a composition of 1706 A.D. is included in it, is nothing but a superfluous objection. The first completion of Sri Aad Granth took place in 1604 A.D. Afterwords, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's Bani was added. Sri Aad Granth was completed in 1604 A.D as well as in 1706 A.D. After all, no one doubts the completeness of Sri Aad Granth which were Parkash at Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604 A.D. Even then, the Sikhs had reverently sung in the praise of the all-complete Sri Granth: ??????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ? 3. Dr. Mann's third question is: Did Dasam Granth appeared in 19th Century and was this Granth available in the areas of Punjab and Delhi in the 18th Century? My answer in reply to this question is Dr. Mann should be aware that this Granth did not appear in the 19th Century. Dr. Mann's own words state that Colebrooke had obtained a copy of it in 1783 A.D. Has Colebrooke, Malcom or any other scholar written anywhere that that Granth (in the possession of Colebrooke) was written in 1783 A.D. too? Colebrooke had only obtained a copy of it in that year. If Colebrooke had obtained a Bir of this Granth in 1783 A.D., then there is absolutely no possibility of it being written by Atma Ram Nirmala or any other Nirmala under the conspiracy of Malcom in 1810 A.D. If Dr. Mann is really that interested in becoming a scholar of Dharma-Shastars, he should hand over the responsibility of checking patients to some other bone specialist and search for Colebrooke's Granth instead. Then he should get its paper, ink and handwriting analysed to confirm its exact date of compilation. And only after collecting all the relevant facts he should claim that it was created in 19th Century instead of 1783 A.D. If this Granth was not available anywhere in Punjab or Delhi then why did Malcom write that Colebrooke was more fortunate than me because he was able to obtain Birs of both two Granths, while I could only obtain Sri Aad Granth's Bir? Dr. Mann knows full well that the Granth for which he curses Bhai Mani Singh was written in Delhi only. What is the credibility of Dr. Mann's argument when the whole history of the compilation of this Granth is associated with Delhi? 4. The next question of Dr. Mann is: Is it right that Dasam Granth in its present published form was mentioned for the first time in 1810 A.D. in Malcolm's book, "Sketch of the Sikhs"? Firstly, the writer cleverly tries every trick in the book to deceive the average reader, but reality is he is not clever enough to put scholars and intellectuals in any doubts. I say, what is the need of raising issues regarding published or unpublished Bis when the discussion is clearly focussed upon whether Banis of the Sri Dasam Granth are Sri Guruji's compositions or not. I am hereby presenting before the reader Dr. Mann's question as it appears in his article: 'Is it correct that Presently published Dasam Granth was first introduced in Literature by Malcolm in 1810 AD in his book titled 'Sketch of the Sikhs ?' It is important to request to the readers that the mistake of writing first capital letters of words 'Presently' and 'Literature' is not mine. I have written many times before that adversaries of Sri Dasam Granth are rather interested in writing articles but most of them have no idea about the art of writing. At least this is the impression one gets upon reading Dr. Mann's strange English. While he has not been able to master the correct use of upper case and lower case letters, he has surely received lessons from someone on how to slander great works of highly respected personalities. Returning back to the main question: Can Dr. Mann tell the readers how could a Granth that was carefully revised and reordered by the Sodhak Committee in 1897 A.D. find its mention in any work prior to Malcolm's book written in 1810 A.D? Malcolm has not presented the order of Banis of Sri Dasam Granth either which could be tallied with the order accepted by Sodhak Committee. Seems like Dr. Mann is caught up in his own web of tricky questions. His question should have been: Does any discussion regarding the Bani of Sri Dasam Granth and its sources appear in any literary sources prior to Malcolm? Dr. Mann knows well the discussion of this Bani appears in Granths like Sri Guru Sobha, Gur Bilas Patshashi 10 (both), Mahima Parkash etc. and that Kesar Singh Chibber has also described its compilation in detail. He had absolutely no scope of asking whether the Bani of Sri Dasam Granth was discussed by anyone else before Malcolm or not. So he devised this method to confuse and perplex Sangat instead. Dr. Mann should make clear first whether he is opposing the Banis of Sri Dasam Granth, or the reordering done by the Sodhak Committee? 5. Dr. Mann's next question is: Is it a historical fact that the British propagated and established the Banis of Dasam Granth in order to weaken the Sikhs and the Sikh rule? is nothing but another cock-and-bull story. Rulers with devious intentions are against the warrior spirit of a particular sect, and not saint aspects of it. The naam simran and kirtan of the Sikhs was no threat to the British Govt. Instead, they were terrified by their fondness of weapons and their warrior form. They had no threat from the Bani of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, albeit they would have surely been weary of commitment of the Sikhs for 'ShastarNaam Mala'. Continuous Jaaps of '????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????, ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ????, ??? ???????? ???? ???' etc. and paaths of 'Chandi Di Vaar' could also be cause of concern for them. A philosophy like 'Raj Karega Khalsa' could be a potential challenge to their rule and not 'Guru Maaneo Granth'. How could a politically advance race like the British encourage Sikhs to recite '?? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ????' and cause destruction of its enemy? How could they encourage Sikhs to recite the name of weapon-carrying Sarbloh form of Kaal Purakh? It is absolutely clear that no race can let its enemy recite Banis that would invoke the warrior spirit to fight and die for one's faith. Till Malcolm's time, the British had such little knowledge of Sikh faith that were incapable of injecting any corruption in it. Malcolm does not even know what's the difference between first and second Bhai Gurdas. Rattan Singh Bhangu also tells us that English at that time were trying to gain knowledge of fundamentals of Sikh faith from outsiders like Boote Shah that had absolutely no knowledge about the Sikhs. They also had no idea about the relations between Sikhs and Muslims of the time. They were not even aware of the sort of injustice a Muslim writer would do to Sikh history in his writings. How could a race that had negligible knowledge of the Sikhs at the time compose such a diverse Granth and popularise it amongst the Sikhs? Dr. Mann has accused Bhai Mani Singh of making a big mistake by compiling this Granth. If this entire effort is that of the British then the relations between Bhai Mani Singh and the British will have to be explained instead. Thus, Dr. Mann should know the historical truths. It is not appropriate to accept baseless theories and fact-less arguments to be historical facts. If we consider this Granth to be written by the British just because Malcolm discusses a few verses of Sri Dasam Granth, then what about Sri Aad Granth whom he quoted and discussed extensively? Do we also take this Sri Granth to be devised by the British as part of some political plan? Just have a look at the crudeness of Dr. Mann's work: He illustrates the missionary policy of the British by mentioning an article written by some missionary in 1814 A.D. This article is neither written by Wilkins, nor by Malcolm. There is also no mention of 'Dasam Granth' anywhere in the article. The raise question against the authenticity of a Granth that Colebrooke had obtained in 1783 A.D, he should give proofs of any British conspiracy from period prior to1783 A.D and not some evidence after that date. The lines quoted from this article by Dr. Mann do not reflect any ill-feelings of that missionary or the British towards the Sikhs. Dr. Mann has given the following lines as an example: "It is devoutly to be desired, that nothing may be done on the part of Christians to introduce their religion among the nations of India, which shall tend to impress a belief that Christianity is less tolerant, mild and pacific, or in any respect less worthy of reception than the religion of Nanac. Besides, the account we have of the principle doctrines of the Seeks, should excite our gratitude to the common Father of our race, that he has, in one way or another, diffused some correct ideas of himself, more extensively, than has been generally known or supposed by Christians." In reality, the writer wishes propagation of Christianity in those areas of Hindu faith where the feeling of nationality is missing. He warns other missionaries against propagation attempts in nationalist factions like the Sikhs and that Christianity may appear smaller in front of them. He also makes it clear that the doctrines we look forward to spread with Christianity are already firmly established within Sikh faith, perhaps even more strongly than in Christianity. We should be content in knowing that the Sikhs share the Christian concept of Universality and there is no purpose of preaching Christianity if a race has already got good qualities that it stands for? With above lines, Dr. Mann's lie in this self-constructed theory has laid itself bare. Dr. Mann has presented some comments of Warren Hastings regarding the nature of the Sikhs, but there is nothing anti-Sikh about them. He writes that Sikhs are good candidates for military recruitment but could not develop to their full potential mainly because of their carefree nature and internal feuds. However, they do get get together as one whenever they sense any common threat. Dr. Mann coats these words of Warren Hastings with his lies need to be examined carefully. He says, 'The British knew full well that Sikhs constantly fight amongst each other, but they do get together whenever they see a common threat, this is because of their carefree nature and faith on Sri Guru Granth Sahib'. Nowhere has Hastings mentioned Guru Granth Sahib, or Sri Dasam Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the reason of unity amongst the Sikhs. Dr. Mann has stubbornly tried countless times to make his rubbish lies walk on the path of truth. The following argument of Dr. Mann is a complete lie too: 'Majority of Sri Dasam Granth Birs have been found in PEPSU (Predominately Malwa area of Punjab) because this area fell under the political influence of the British first, and as such they could get Dasam Granth propagated and preached in this area by the Nirmalas and Shaheeds who were under their control but could not get it parkash'd in Harmandir Sahib.' The reality, however, is Sri Dasam Granth was already available at Patna Sahib before the advent of British in Punjab. Can Dr. Mann tell that if the British could get this Granth immediately parkash'd at all the Gurdwaras in this region upon their entry, then why they were able to get Sri Dasam Granth parkash'd at Harmandir Sahib even after ruling on Amritsar for more than 100 years? In reality, affairs at Sri Harmandir Sahib follow their traditional Maryada. Whilst Sangat gathers after parkash in other Gurdwaras, they assemble before parkash at Sri Harmandir Sahib, then Parkash takes place approximately at the same time when Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji would come in the Sangat. Nobody gives out 'Jaikara', 'Agya Bhayaee Akaal Ki... Bache Sharan Jo Hoe' Dohra is also not read. Have the British introduced these customs too? Sri Dasam Granth had more influence in areas which had high concentration of Nihang Cantonments.It is absolutely illogical and wrong to forcefully associate British with the presence of high volumes of Sri Dasam Granth in that area, because Damdama Sahib was the centre of Nihang Singhs during that period. The self-contradictory claims of Dr. Mann are more than enough to illustrate his lack of knowledge. On one hand Dr. Mann says Malcolm is an important figure who has tried to present Dasam Granth to to of more importance than Sri Guru Granth Sahib. On the other hand, he uproots this theory himself by saying "Malcolm gives clear message that Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the only canon." If Malcolm is the creator and preacher of Dasam Granth, then why he is giving so much importance to Guru Granth Sahib? Actually, it is not Malcolm's fault, Dr. Mann has deviously tried to falsely make Malcolm the creator of Sri Dasam Granth. Dr. Mann's unstable mind and intellect works in weird way. He gives evidences to Malcolm's words from credible and trustworthy sources. However, in the same breath he criticises his book by changing its title to 'unreliable Sketch of Sikh'. Dr. Mann should explain to the readers why 'you have trusted' this unreliable and infamous book. Earlier this perplexed Dr. Mann had said - Malcolm had got Sri Dasam Granth prepared from 'Atma Ram Nirmala'. Now he writes: "Britishers assisted in creating, compiling and then, popularizing 'Dasami Patshahi Ka Granth' through Nirmala, Shahid Taxals and Acalis which was transliterated from a document called 'Nanak Panthi Kabhya. probably with the help of Atma Ram at Calcutta." According to Dr. Mann, the British got Sri Dasam Granth prepared with the help of Nirmalas, Shaheed Taksaals, and Nihang jathas, meaning the entire panth was conspiring against the Sikhs. Poor Malcolm has said that he could not find anyone in Punjab who could explain Sikh philosophy, history and Gurbani in a proper way. But Dr. Mann, a staunch adversary of Sri Dasam Granth in totality, has used his false logic to portray as if every Sikh Samprada of the time was conspiring with Malcolm for the total destruction of the Sikh Panth. By using these false arguments, Dr. Mann is trying to prove that Malcolm caused divisions amongst the Panth. Dr. Mann has got no concrete evidence nor any solid argument to justify his claims. He is operating on the basis that innocent Sikhs can join his Guru-Slanderer camp by constant lies, and by bribing some with travels to foreign countries and getting them to speak against Guruji. 6. Another very weak logic of Dr. Mann is that if Sri Dasam Granth was indeed written by one person, then all Samvats in the Bir would appear in the a chronological order but that did not happen in its current published form. 1698 A.D. is on page 254, 1688 A.D. on page 354, 1687 A.D. on page 386, 1688 A.D on page 579 and 1696 A.D. is on page 1388. It is his own understanding that is the cause of this illusion. If the Banis were ordered according to their period of composition, then 'Birha Natak' of Krishnavtar composed in 1687 A.D would have appeared first, then first part 'Raas Leela' of Krishnavtar and then the concluding part of this composition would have appeared. After reading Krishnavtar, it becomes absolutely clear that it was composed in fragments. That is why, the composer has called 'Birha Natak' a Granth in itself, and not a chapter of a Granth, as: ????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? (Krishnavtar 983-84) There is no mention of 'Dasam Sakandh' of 'Bhagwat Puraan' in the above line because the writer of Sri Dasam Granth had to write concluding part of 'Raas leela' in order to complete 'Dasam Sakandh'. If Krishnavtar was written systematically in one go, then writer would have informed us the ending of a katha or chapter like in 'Raas leela': ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ????? ??? ?????? (Krishnavtar 755) We are informed of completion of 'Dasam Sakandh' katha at the end of 'Krishnavtar', something that was not done when writing the Samvat of 'Raas Leela' or 'Birha Natak', as: ????? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ????? The entire situation is now in front of you. If Dr. Mann's ordering had been followed then first 'Birha Natak' would appear, then 'Raas Leela' and 'Judh Prabandh' next. Anyone who would read such a jumbled up composition would curse the writer for lack of knowledge. Maybe Dr. Mann would have like that but slandering of their Gurus is never appealing to wise Gursikhs. That is why, the sections written during different time periods have been arranged in a logical order. If Dr. Mann's suggestion was to be followed, then 'Charitropakhyan' of 1696 A.D. would appear after 'Krishnavtar' and 'Ramavatar' after that. Which would violate the period of the birth of Ram and Krishan and the actual sequence of 'Krishnavtar' would get broken because 'Birha Natak' would have appeared even before the birth of Krishna. And 'Charitropakhyan', which was a separate pothi before would have entered in the stories of Avtars and spoiled the plotline. But of course, all this would satisfy Dr. Mann because he would get many other arguments to make. By the way, Dr. Mann has said nothing about ordering of Banis that do not have period of composition mentioned? Dr. Mann, just dare to apply this same formula on Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Instead of Japp, there would be Jaidev, and Farid Ji instead of Rehras. Banis of many bhagats would have appeared before Guru Sahibs' Bani and Swavaiye of Bhatts would have been before the bani of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji. And in 'Sidh Gost'we would have to research just which Padds were said at which Sumer Mountain and which Gorakh Deras by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Sikhs would have given a totally different shape to 'Sidh Gost'. So Dr. Mann can keep his destructive sources of knowledge to himself because wise Sikhs will never accept them. Actually, these foolish theories of Dr. Mann will expose entire anti 'Sri Dasam Granth' camp in front of the 'Khalsa Panth', everyone will find out their bad intentions. 7. Dr. Mann's next question is - Did the British popularised recitation of presently parkash'd Bir in order to destroy independent existence of the Sikh faith? We are in total disagreement with this argument because Sri Dasam Granth is the source of unique identity of the Sikh Panth. If there is no threat to the Sikh Panth when Guru Nanak Dev Ji s called '?? ?? ???? ???? ??????' in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji; if Panth has not converted into worshipper of Ram by repeatedly doing paath of '???? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???' ; then how can Sikh be slave of any other ideology if he reads '??? ???? ????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?? ??????' ? If Sikh's faith on Akaal Purakh has stayed strong even by singing '??? ??? ?? ???? ????? ? ??? ????? ???? ???????', then how can he get buried under the weight of Shaastars by recitations of'???? ???? ???? ?? ?????'? If Sikh has remained a Sikh after reciting names like Murari, Govardhan, Gobind, Saaringdhar, Saaringpaan, etc. from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji on daily basis, then how can a Sikh sink into Snaatanvaad if he becomes Kharag Singh who can grab Krishna by hair and make all Devtas of Hindu faith follow him? Hindus (especially Punjabis) give a lot of respect to Sri Guru Granth Sahib's Bani but they have not acknowledged and respected Sri Dasam Granth as some Granth that eulogises Devi-Devtas. And they just cannot give such respect anyway, as Ram in Sri Dasam Granth is not a God but a mere human that keeps doubting the character of his virtuous wife. Sri Krishan Ji suffers from evils like drinking,etc. It is understandable if Hindus object but why would British be scared of uniqueness of Sikhs? It was in the self-interest of the British to divide locals on the basis of caste and religion so that they could establish and secure their foreign rule. How could they shoot themselves in the foot by strengthening their enemy themselves, the vast Hindu nation? To even think of that about shrewd British politicians is sheer ignorance. The British had kept their army units separate according to their race so that they could not unite as one against the British. Therefore, the theory that British made efforts to diffuse Hindu ideology into Sikh religion is also meaningless and devoid of any factual information. 8. Dr. Mann asks: Did Atma Ram Nirmala of Calcutta had any associations with the Nimala Mahants of Patna? Dr. Mann is a strange scholar - he asks one question and gives completely different answers altogether. Without answering the above question, he constructs another question asking why Atma Ram has given wrong information regarding the date of Amrit Sanchar and establishment of Khalsa. In reality, it is Malcolm who has wrongly presented the above information and not Atma Ram, Dr. Mann is forcibly trying to accuse Atma Ram of committing this crime. He says: Agreeably to this author (Probably Atma Ram as Malcom was consulting him). For Dr. Mann, it is this 'probability' that is concrete evidence, basis of critical analysis and unbreakable logic. With this 'probability', Dr. Mann can refute the descent of Guruji Maharaj, and I can also say that 'probably' a person with the name of Dr. Jasbir Singh Mann does not exist on this earth. To convert impossibility into possibility in this crude manner cannot be called research for it is nothing more than ramblings of a stubborn mind. Atma Ram did not do proofreading of Malcolm's work, how can we consider him guilty? Nowhere has Malcolm written that he has heard or read everything he has written from Atma Ram. Malcolm has just written in the foreword that upon reaching Calcutta, he has been able to gain understanding of Sri Aad Granth and some other tracts from a Sikh called Atma Ram Nirmala. Malcolm must have asked about Sikhs from many people and it is inappropriate to think there was some conspiracy behind his limited knowledge. Dr. Mann has once again associated Malcolm's inaccurate statement, that Bhai Gurdas Bhalla has called Sri Guru Gobind Singh the 19th Avtar, with Atma Ram instead. Even if Atma Ram has discussed Bhai Gurdas Ji, how is Atma Ram responsible for this confusion? This was Malcolm's mistake that he could not realise there are two Bhai Gurdas Ji. And how could he when Panth is still printing Bhai Gurdas II's Vaar as the 41st Vaar with original 40 Vaars of Bhai Gurdas Ji I to this date? If Sikh Panth is not aware of this mistake, thus it is neither Malcolm's fault nor there is scope of any conspiracy by Atma Ram Nirmala. The fact that Malcolm's had just surface-level knowledge of Sikh faith becomes clear after reading his work. Dr. Mann favours works of western writers over those of Sikh writer and considers them to be superior piece of evidence. The fundamental basis of our argument is we have more faith on the works of Sikh writers than on writer of any other race. Therefore, it is limited knowledge of Malcolm that is responsible; one cannot deduce that a scholar like Atma Ram would knowingly pass wrong information. Of course, it would be a different matter if Malcolm had cited Atma Ram as a reference in his writings. The argument that Nirmala Sants have held their control on Takht Patna Sahib is also flawed. The Sikh tradition at Patna Sahib starts from times of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The sewa of this Takht is with local Sikhs to this date. Nirmala Sants have never had influence on Hazoor Sahib or Patna Sahib. If Dr. Mann thinks otherwise, then he should bring concrete evidences forward instead of saying things like, probably Atma ram stayed at Calcutta, probably he had associations with priests of Patna Sahib, probably Patna Sahib was under the control of Nirmalas. Such flights of fancy cannot be called scientific research, although it can surely turn the research into a joke. Even if Nirmala Mahatma have done sewa of this Takht, then what is wrong with that? Are they haters of the Panth? Dr. Mann forgets that Gyani Gyan Singh Ji, whom he quotes as evidence at various places, was a Nirmala scholar himself. 9. Dr. Mann considers Atma Ram to be the writer of some verses of Tribhangi Chhand of Akal Ustat. I would like to humbly inform readers that I have extensively clarified this doubt on pages 69-79 of my book, ???? ??? ????? ?????-???? ?????? ????? ?? ????-??????'. Dr. Mann should have used his logic and reasoning to reply to my analysis instead of repeating his baseless theories again. Instead of considering his stubborn arguments as supreme, he should read my above-mentioned book instead and carry the debate forward. 10. Dr. Mann writes: There are proofs of the establishment of superiority of 'Bachittar Natak' over Sri Guru Granth Sahib by the British during the end of 18th Century? The main basis of his argument is Malcolm's book, 'Sketch of the Sikhs'. This argument of Dr. Mann is completely baseless and false. Actually, In the 3rd chapter of his book, Malcolm has talked about Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's teachings first and the philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh Ji later. It is not surprising if a non-Sikh finds difference between weapons-clad Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Despite that, Malcolm's not completely unaware of the continuity and common goals between the two. From pages 97 to 110 of this chapter, Malcolm discusses the philosophy of Guru Nanak Dev Ji with Sri Aad Granth as its basis. And from page 111-114, he discusses the behaviour of Sri Guru Gobind Sahib Ji with Sri Dasam Granth as the basis. The discussion on Sri Aad Granth and Guru Nanak Dev Ji covers 12-13 pages while Dasam Granth is discussed on 3-4 pages only, then how is Dasam Granth given more importance in this work? There is not even a single line which could suggest more importance is given to the ideas in Dasam Granth over the philosophy of Sri Aad Granth. In fact, Malcolm clearly states that Puranic stories in Dasam Granth are associated with Hindu faith, but he also clarifies that the philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh Ji is completely different from that of Hindus. Following are few extracts from his book: "Its author has borrowed largely from the Sastras of the Brahmens, and the Koran." (Page 120)..."Guru Govind has separated his followers for ever from the Hindus.." (Page 121).."-the destruction of the distinction of casts, the admission of proselytes, and the rendering the pursuit of arms not only admissible, but the religious duty of all his followers. Whereas, among the Hindus, agreeable to the Dherma Sastra, (one of the most revered of their sacred writings,) carrying arms on all occa- sions, as an occupation, is only lawful to the Cshatriya or military tribe." (Page 121).. "Courage is thoughout this work, placed above every other virtue. (P. 121)Thus, at once founding the sect of Siks, he struck the whole world with awe : overturning temples and sacred places, tombs and mosques, he levelled them all with the plain : rejecting the Vedas, the six Sastras and the Koran, he abolished the cry of Namaz and slew the Sultans ; reducing the Mirs and Pirs to silence.. the Brahmins, the Pandits, and the Jotishis had acquired a relish for worldly things ; they worshiped stones and forgot Supreme. Thus, the Muhammedan and Hindu, remained involved in delusion and ignorance, when the third sect of the Khalsa

Toronto, Canada: It has been a while since the Network and a thousand other Sikhs traveled to Ottawa with the hopes of witnessing the reading of a historical petition identifying November 1984 as a Genocide, following which much has happened. The Sikh community yet again, has been cheated, manipulated and denied their basic human rights. Let’s start from the beginning. On June 9th, Sikhs gathered and traveled hundreds of kilometers to witness the power of Canadian democracy. Headed by Sikhs for Justice, the House of Commons was preparing for the reading of a petition that identified November 1984 as a Genocide with a large emphasis on the word genocide, for two main reasons. First, because that is precisely what it was and secondly because identifying it as such could lead to the UN investigating India’s systematic and planned murder of Sikhs in Delhi. The plan was, as we the Sikh community arrived, to funnel into the house and witness this historic moment. Little did we know, we were in for a surprise. This is where it gets messy. Although much of what is written below is based on our experience and perception, portions discussing what took place behind closed doors are an alleged account of what took place. Truthfully we have no way of confirming the backroom deals, however the consequences of whatever took place were and have been very real. On June 9th, moments before the petition was to be read, MP Sukh Dhaliwal and Andrew Kania came out onto the front lawn of Parliament where many Sikhs awaited the reading of the petition. Sukh Dhaliwal announced that the balcony inside the House of Commons was jam-packed with Sikhs and as space freed up he would send his assistants out to get us. During his many visits outside, Sukh Dhaliwal was perhaps the only MP that took the time to meet and address Sikh youth, reminding us that we are the future of the Sikh Nation and fundamental to the future of the Canadian Nation as well; truthfully he was quite encouraging and true to his word. After waiting some time, Sukh Dhaliwal sent his assistants to gather Sikhs to witness the historic moment. We were amongst the first group to be taken in, most likely due to our youth representation. So, as we were called in, we first ushered in all the women, then the youngest, followed by the rest of us. As we made our way to the balcony, the journey was an interesting one. One such instance included a run-in with Ruby Dhalla, who exposed her own immaturity amongst many other things, but we’ll leave that story for another day. We seated ourselves and waited, and waited. Finally, we realized the petition wasn’t being read and we were signaled to get up and leave, at once the entire balcony got up and began to head out. What happened? Well, here are the alleged back room deals that were made: It is believed that the Liberal leadership and Conservative Party made a back room deal to stop the petition from being read after being pressured and coerced by threats from the Indian consulate. The alleged agreement was that the Conservative Party would put forth a vote to skip the period during which the petition would be read, and the Liberal party would ensure a large enough portion of their party would not be present so that the Liberal, Bloc and NDP could not form a majority. During this period, the Liberals in fact had a large portion of the caucus missing. Each party has a designated whip, whose job it is to immediately have every member of a party caucus to return for any urgent vote. The whip never performed his/her job on this day. When the vote was put to the table the Liberal, NDP and Bloc lost to the Conservatives after being unable to form a majority due to the absence of Liberal Party MPs. After the Petition portion was skipped, the Liberals exploited the situation, rushed onto the front lawn of Parliament and accused the Conservatives of playing a dirty game. At this point, the Conservatives, including MP Tim Uppal realized that they had been exploited by the Liberal party as well and were now the subject of harsh criticism from the Sikh community. At approximately 7pm the Conservatives attempted to reintroduce the petition, but the NDP or Block (conflicting reports on this point) prevented this from happening to ensure the Conservatives felt the wrath of the Sikh community. Fortunately, even after a saga of trickery on behalf of the Liberal and Conservative parties, the petition was not suppressed. The following day on June 10th, Liberal MP’s Andrew Kania and Sukh Dhaliwal prepared themselves for their second attempt. Allegedly, they were again subjected to attempted acts of censorship from their own party, after all Liberal Members of Parliament were instructed NOT to use the word genocide. Andrew Kania consequently stood in Parliament, highlighted what took place in 1984, yet fell victim to the censorship of his own party. Fortunately, he was followed by Sukh Dhaliwal who let the wheels of democracy take course and represented his constituents and read the statement in full. Source: http://sikhactivist.net/?p=684

Contrary to popular belief Sikhism is not a religion. The definition of Sikhism is not big enough to cover what Sikhism is. The official definition of religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. The purpose of this paper is to take apart the definition of religion and look at piece by piece in the context of Sikhism. ‘A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies’, Sikhism does not explain any of the above. Sikhism doesn’t explain who god is or define what god is or the purpose of God. Sikhism does explain who we are, what we are doing on earth and what are purpose is. Sikhism does not explain the unexplainable; it gives us a better understanding of the things we already know. The purpose as explained by Sikhism is to become the best humans we can be and to remerge with the creator. Sikhism teaches how to live life. That is why the creators of Sikhism were called Gurus or teachers and the followers Sikhs or students. The Guru’s didn’t teach devotional practices or ritual observances to help their Sikhs find a path to earn gods favor. They taught how to be good human, to work hard, to share, to give and to remember the world does not revolve around you. In fact those are the pillars of Sikhism; “Kirat karni” (to earn a honest living),” Vand shakana” (to share what you have with others, that aren’t as well off) and “naam japna” (to always remember there is a higher power and it’s not all about you). As time went on the Gurus added more teachings as the times called for them. They taught not to take substances which harm your body or mind. If you take a minute to think about all the damage drugs and alcohol have caused to this earth, you realize the importance of banning drugs and alcohol for everyone. They taught sticking up for the weak; first with your words, actions and then with weapons, if necessary as a last resort. Many of the teachings of the Gurus seem simple, practical and covered by many of the religions that came before Sikhism. That is why Sikhism is not a religion; it doesn’t just teach those things, it makes the Sikhs implement it to become true Sikhs. As the Western Sikhs would say “It teaches one to live happy, health and holy lives….3HO”. Morals are a huge part of Sikhism and that is the part of the definition of religion that fits Sikhism. You have to have strong morals to become a Sikh. Sikhism asks you to work on ridding your life of all your bad habits, which takes a lot of patience and strength. Sikhism does not convert people to this life style, not even the people born into. Each person has to follow this difficult path of Sikhism at their own pace and when it’s right for them. Writer: Harminder Kaur

In the home of a Khalsa Family I take birth and following in the steps of Mata Bhag Kaur Ji (Mai Bhago) I learn to become the strength of the Khalsa. In this day and age there is no lack of animosity between siblings over the materialistic things but that was not always the case. Mata Bhag Kaur Ji reminds us to rise above materialistic things and became a person that history will forever cherish. She is the only women in Sikh history that had the honor to be the Bodyguard of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, all because she was a great Sister and took her brothers back to fight. Let us follow in the steps of Mata Bhag Kaur Ji by believing in our brothers, by doing the right thing and never leaving the side of Guru Ji. Being born into a family of Sikhs (her family had become Sikhs during the time of Guru Arjan Dev Ji) Mata Bhag Kaur Ji could have gone into battle at any point stating that as Sikh it was her right to fight for Guru Ji. She wouldn't have been wrong in doing so but then she would not have lived up to her role as a sister. Mata Ji stayed back, took care of the family and let her brothers (brothers in this context stand for all Singhs) go to battle. That's what being a sister all about; believing in your brother. You can't just go and start fighting for the right to do this and that and accusing people of not treating both genders equally. You have to be strength of your brother and support him to do the right thing, not do it for him. That is exactly what Mata Ji taught us through her actions. Mata Ji stayed home but only while she knew her brothers were out there with Guru Ji. The moment they returned home, she sprang into action. Mata Ji immediately made her brothers realize the mistake they made by abandoning Guru Ji and took them back to Guru Ji herself. She didn't head of with the women to go fight; she helped her brothers understand where they went wrong and helped them overcome it. That is what being a sister is all about; it's about thinking of others not just yourself. In this selfish world we must become like Mata Ji and think for more than just ourselves. Like Mata Ji we must lead our brothers back to Waheguru so they can do the right thing. Like the 40 martyrs they also can earn back the love of Guru Ji and find place in the feet of Waheguru. In this fashion not only will the brothers win the love of Guru Ji but also the sisters, just like Mata Ji. By doing the right thing Mata Ji found place for herself close to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, she received the honor of being the only woman body guard of Guru Ji. She proved through her actions that you don't always have to be at the front lines immediately, as long as you do the right thing at the right time. Sikhi is all about mediating on Waheguru and helping others mediate on him too. As sisters, we have to do whatever it takes to be closer to Waheguru and bring our brothers closer too. Once you have found yourself close to Guru Ji, never leave his side. Mata Ji served Guru Gobind Singh Ji till he left to join Waheguru Ji, after which she spent her life mediating on Gurbani. She never left the side of Guru Ji and she teaches us to do the same; never to leave him, once we find him. Mata Bhag Kaur Ji was the best sister any brother could ask for because she not only came closer to Waheguru but she helped her brothers too. A sister is one that doesn't fight for her rights but in subtle ways earns it. Mata Ji teaches us that just have faith, do the right thing and believe in Waheguru; you will never have to fight for your rights, you'll just get them. So let us, sisters, stop bickering over our rights with our brothers and follow in the steps of Mata Bhag Kaur Ji.

In the home of a Khalsa Family I marry and following in the steps of Mata Sulakhni Ji I learn to run my new home with such honor and dignity that it brings glory to all of Khalsa. In this day and age where we all are busy creating our own identities, we forget to create the identity of our family. Mata Sulakhni Ji teaches us how to be strong as an individual and how to become the strength of our family. Mata Ji was blessed to be the wife of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji; Mata Ji lived up to her role as Guru Ji’s wife and set an example for all the Sikh women to come. Let us live up to the Standards set by Mata Sulakhni Ji by following in her foots steps by keeping the family united, trusting our husband and being independent. Mata Sulakhni Ji was married into a family that was divided by the divinity of her husband, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, where her father-in-law wanted Guru Ji to focus on work and her Sister-in-Law believed Guru Ji was divine. Mata Ji did not create any more friction in the family by taking sides, instead she rose above that. She not only respected and took care of her in-laws but also showered Guru Ji and the people that came to visit him with the same love, care and respect. Mata Ji lived in harmony with her family and the visitors. When the people around you are at harmony, your soul is going to automatically work towards harmony. So let us learn from Mata Ji and shower everyone in our lives with the care, love and understanding. Because it is only then we’ll be able to keep the family united no matter how big the misunderstandings and be able to live in harmony. When we are in harmony with the family, it becomes easy to be in harmony with the husband. Mata Ji lived in harmony with Guru Ji and easily developed trust in him because she was so at peace. For fourteen years they lived together in harmony before the periods of separation came. During those fourteen years the trust that had formed had allowed Mata Ji to allow Guru Ji to go and spread the word of Waheguru. Mata Ji had trust that Guru Ji was doing the right thing and would always maintain her trust. How many of us today can say that we have the same trust in our husbands? We are unable to bear even a minor separation and imagine a million negative things. A relationship should be based on trust, not on distrust until trust is proven. But so many relationships are built today on the foundation of distrust and then the trust is built on top of that foundation. The foundation of distrust is so weak that the no matter how much trust we built on top of it, it still shakes. Let us all follow Mata Ji and base our relationships on foundation of trust. To maintain trust in someone, we must also maintain trust in ourselves and create an identity for ourselves. Mata Ji was amongst the first women in her time to create her own identity, and not just live a life where she did everything she was told. Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached and teached equality and Mata Ji lived it. Mata Ji was not afraid to talk to her sister-in-law about missing her husband a lot when he was gone and complained also at times. She didn’t just take things the way they were given to her. She maintained serving the saints and an open house for saints like Guru Ji had done. She made the decision to allow her sister-in-law to help raise one of her sons, Baba Sri Chand. Mata Ji was independent enough to take whatever decisions needed to keep her family united and in harmony. Because she was independent in her thinking, she was also able to question Guru Ji when he skipped over Baba Sri Chand Ji and named Bhai Lenha Ji (Guru Angad Dev Ji) as the second Guru. Mata Ji was independent but understanding. When things were explained to her by Guru Ji, she understood them. She didn’t blindly follow but she didn’t needlessly question either. Let us be like Mata Ji in that sense that we are independent enough not to blindly follow but yet dependent enough to understand our loved ones and trust them. Love and Trust is the foundation of all the new relationships you form when you get married. Mata Sulakhni Ji was one of the first role models for all the Sikh women to come on how to be good wife. Mata Ji taught us to keep our families united, to trust our husbands and be independent all at the same time. Let us move away from self-centeredness and towards the teachings of Mata Ji. If Mata Ji’s relationship could withstand years of separation, then with her blessings we too can withstand any problems we might face.

July 13, 2010 (MMD Newswire) -- The recent sale of the Golden Temple brand to Hearthside Foods with $700 million in total revenue, ignites Sikhs' unease over what they claim was Yogi Bhajan's commercialization and trivialization of their religion. Amidst the complex battle between Bhajan's family and students in Oregon courts over the control of Bhajan's empire, the Golden Temple name and logo recently sold to Hearthside Foods upsetting many mainstream Sikhs. Hardev Singh Shergill, editor of the Sikh Bulletin explains: "The Golden Temple is the English name for Darbar Sahib located in Amritsar India. The Golden Temple is a central Gurdwara (house of worship) for Sikhs everywhere. Yogi Bhajan was dead wrong to use the Golden Temple to sell breakfast cereal, to feed his wallet and ego. Sikhism teaches to never mix faith with commerce. Sikh teachings are offered freely. No one should profit when sharing the Sikh religion. And no one should trivialize other's religious traditions, much less profit from cheapening us. The executives at Hearthside Foods are innocent and ignorant. They know nothing about Sikhism. They are just more victims of Bhajan's cult." "We ask Hearthside Foods to respect Sikhs and stop selling the Golden Temple brand. We've started an online petition to ask Hearthside to stop using the Golden Temple brand name," says Gursant Singh, editor of Gurmukhyoga.com, a former Yogi Bhajan student who left Bhajan's group after travelling to India and meeting with mainstream Sikhs there. "I didn't know I was in a cult. Yogi Bhajan was more like Jim Jones than a Sikh. It is important to repair the damage he caused. "If a company used a brand name like "Vatican Vermicelli" or "Paul's Last Supper Wine", you'd find religious people everywhere rising up in protest. Give the Golden Temple back. Sikhs welcome Hearthside employees to visit Darbar Sahib, or any Gurdwara, where people are fed delicious food free of charge daily. Eat at the Golden Temple. Don't eat The Golden Temple." "The Golden Temple should not be branded. Gurdwaras, including The Golden Temple, are places of worship; they are to stay open, and to feed people," says Harmander Singh of Sikhs of England, coach of Fauja Singh, 99 year old marathon runner, and London's 'Sikhs In the City' team. "Many Sikhs have arrived in the West since 1984, escaping from religious persecution and genocide in India. We feel shame over how Yogi Bhajan conned young people - we Sikhs live by the principles of remembering God, working hard and sharing with others - nowhere is there any promotion of sex tantra and yoga gimmicks in the Sikh scriptures. Rather, for Sikh's perhaps the most sinful act imaginable is to fleece innocents in the name of the Divine." Back in the early 1970s when Yogi Bhajan and his students named their Eugene Oregon bakery, The Golden Temple and started selling Wahe Guru Chews (Waheguru is Sikh's primary word for the Divine, literally, 'wondrous teacher') there were few Sikhs in the West to protest. Dr. Trilochan Singh in his book Sikhism and Tantric Yoga written in 1977 stated, "In England last year a firm advertised some blue jeans as Jesus Jeans. The whole religious world of England rose in one protest and stopped the manufacture of these jeans. The word Golden Temple has become an instrument of commercial affairs of Yogi Bhajan." Dr. Iqbal Singh who lives a few miles from of the Golden Temple in India and has written five books on Sikh history agrees, "The Golden Temple is not a brand name for any trade. This is the Almighty's temple...a place of devotion, equality, love, service, and protection for all, not to be used for commercial profit."