I addressed a huge gathering of lawyers for about 2 hours in the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh on 28th September.
Among the various topics I spoke on was the caste discrimination among Sikhs ( there were many Sikhs in the crowd ).
The Sikh religion preached by Guru Nanak was a revolt against the inhuman caste system. But do the present Sikhs follow his teachings ?
The dominant section of Sikhs are the Jat Sikhs, who are also big land holders. They look down on Mazhabi ( scheduled caste ) Sikhs, who are usually poor, and there is no intermarriage between the two. The gurudwaras of Jat and Mazhabi Sikhs are often separate, not only in India but even in England.
In the Indian army, the Sikh Regiment has Jat Sikhs, while the Sikh Light Infantry has Mazhabi Sikhs.
I was told that one Mazhabi Sikh, Nirmal Singh, who is known to be very pious and erudite, was refused the post of Jathedar, the highest post among Sikhs ( like the Pope among Catholics ) in the Golden Temple ( Darbara Saheb ) only because he was a Mazhabi Sikh.
Is this what Guru Nanak taught ?
Hari Om
