|
|
|
|
|
||
Conclusion
The
reader can draw conclusions about the scholarship of Dr. Harbans Lal, his
contribution to proper understanding of Nanakian philosophy, and his efforts to
promote the glory and pride of the Khalsa Panth.
During
the British rule, when Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) was under their control,
the manager of the Golden Temple and the head priests (pujaris) conferred a robe of honor on General Dyer, the butcher of
Jallianwala Bagh, who killed 379 and wounded over 2,000 unarmed persons on the
Baisakhi day of April 13, 1919. Interestingly, they made Dyer and Capt. Brigs,
members of the Khalsa brotherhood without the established requirement. The pujaris, Chief Khalsa Diwan, toadies and
touts used to denounce the Sikh revolutionaries, who were fighting against the
British rule, by calling them non-Sikhs (Gadhar movement, Babar Akalis, Tat
Khalsa reformers and peasant leaders). The situation for the Sikhs is no better
after 1947 --as their institutions are now under the pernicious control of new
rulers via surrogates.
Quoting
from (R.K. Nijhavan, Suppression of
Intellectual Dissidence and How Nehruvian Left Destroyed Punjab, Delhi,
1997, pp. 80-81), Sangat Singh says:
In the words of P.K. Nijhavan, who at one time was
close to RAW, the Indian external intelligence, the appointment of Dr. J.S.
Grewal, as Director, prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, and
also of that of Dr. S.S. Bal as Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar, was because of RAW, in post-1984 period. (Sangat Singh, The Sikhs in History, New Delhi:
Uncommon Books, 4th ed., 2001, p. 594)
And
Sangat Singh states further:
Two of his [W.H. McLeod] collaborators since 1960s
were none other than Dr. J.S. Grewal and Dr. S.S. Bal, then both clean shaven
Sikhs with one of them smoking cigarettes, lecturers in history at Punjab
University, Chandigarh. Both of them donned keshas
when offered Professorship by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Punjab
Agricultural University, Ludhiana, respectively. Later, both of them were
appointed Vice-Chancellors of Guru Nanak Dev University.” (Sangat Singh, The Sikhs in History, New Delhi:
Uncommon Books, 4th ed., 2001, p. 593)
Guru
Nanak denounced depravity in no uncertain terms and his following observation
applies aptly to self-proclaimed scholars and those who bestow honors upon
them.
The stupid/ignorant one
awards the cap and the shameless one accepts it. It is like a rat, which can’t
get itself in the nest, but tries to carry also a winnowing basket on its back.
AGGS, M 1, p. 1286.
The murshid (Muslim religious
teacher/spiritual guide) used to confer a cap (kulha) on his disciple as an insignia of succession and authority
to carry on his mission. However, the murshids
were themselves spiritually barren. So how could such teachers guide others to
the path of righteousness? Guru Nanak
has commented on such teachers and their disciples in a satirical manner. The
Guru compared such a teacher to a rat, who can’t get itself into the nest, but
tries to carry also a winnowing basket on its back.
The conferring of Doctor of Literature on Harbans Lal by G.S. Randhawa,
Vice-chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University -- an unqualified man, who himself
got appointment through RAW -- makes mockery of academic norms, standards and
ethics and blots the name of Guru Nanak Dev University. G.S. Randhawa’s
“nefarious deeds” are not hidden:
In December 1995, the then vice-chancellor of Guru
Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, disallowed me to obtain photostat copies of
some folios of MS # 1245 that I needed badly for my present study. Yet prior to
that, this very gentleman had, in a very clandestine manner carried a microfilm
of this very manuscript to America, at the expense of university exchequer, for
a foreign based Sikh scholar. Subsequent events have shown that this had
probably been done deliberately for promoting certain scholars to establish a
particular point of view to put the very authenticity of the Adi Guru Granth
Sahib¾the eternal Guru of the Sikh community to
doubt. [B.S. Dhillon. Early Sikh
Scriptural Tradition: Myth and Reality. Amritsar: Singh Brothers, 1999, p.
9.]
Copyright© Baldev Singh. About the author
Print this Article
Email this Article
Comment on this Article