Keeping The Month Of June In Perspective

[UKLondonSikh]

Given that this month marks the Shaheedi of Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj, the Janam Diwas of KabirJi Maharaj, the Shaheedi of Banda Singh Bahadur, the evil actions of Indira+Rajiv in 1984 ... not to forget to GurGadi of Guru Hargobind Ji ... i think we need to strongly keep in pespective how much focus we put on any individual shaheed related to 1984 this month or indeed for that matter the prominence placed on 1984 given that Sikhs have been on the receiving end of several Ghallughara's.

For example, 28 years after the the 1947 Ghallughara nobody was really focussed on the 300,000 plus Sikhs killed in Pakistan or the fact that this represented the death of 1 in 8 Sikhs based on the Pakistan side of the border then (the equivalent of if 3.5million Sikhs were killed today).

Similarly, 1984 was a vicious attack on our Panth and we should look on it as a war that hasn't stopped and one that we are currently still losing. Until there is 100% literacy in Punjab, until the male/female ratio is balanced in Punjab, until gareeb loki in Punjab don't have to convert to Christianity to access free healthcare, until the drugs and alcohol menace in Punjab is shut down, until jaath-paath is killed off as a concept once and for all ... we might as well realise that we don't have any ammunition to fight any liberation war with right now (so no real point in raising naaray for Khalistan). The Panth needs all the pro-Khalistan elements at the forefront of development work within the community first as a matter of priority before we even spend time thinking about separate stamps and separate currency etc. If we can address some of our own issues with utmost urgency there's no reason that in the very long term the whole of India could realise that Sikhi is a universal truth for the benefit of all. There's no reason if we can sort out the problems Indira has left our community with ... perhaps hundreds of millions of Indians could accept the truth of Ik Onkar and Sarbat da Bhalla as concepts that can create a society based upon religious guidance ensuring justice, equality and freedom from corruption.