RACE KILLING IN WISCONSIN: TIME TO ABANDON TURBAN AND BEARD?
V.S.Gopalakrishnan
When you are in Rome do as Romans do. I have seen in Chennai many foreigners (men) wearing dhotis and kurtas. The three-fingered “Vibhuti” band or the “Namam” on the foreheads of South Indian Brahmins have practically disappeared in Tamil Nadu. Religious distinguishing marks have been vanishing in general. Five or six decades ago I have seen Triplicane muslims wearing “fez” but that is gone. Kemal Ataturk got rid of fez and beard in Turkey.
Dress codes have changed sharply in a modernizing India. Even in small towns, girls are wearing jeans. Into the South, the salwar and kameez style has made an invasion from the North. The South Indian dosa and iddlis have not only got out into the rest of India but have gone global. Culture, as represented in attire and eating habits, has greatly changed in India.
As far as Sikhs are concerned, the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699, made five Ks obligatory for Sikhs, and they are (1) Kesh – long hair and beard, and a turban on the head (2) Kanga – comb (3) Kara – iron bracelet (4) Kachera –underwear and (5) Kirpan – curved sword. This was more than three hundred years ago.
What we see is that many younger Sikh men shave and don’t wear turban. Some of the well-known clean shaven Sikhs are Gulzar, late Jagjit Singh (ghazal singer), actor Dharmender, Ajay Devgun, Dara Singh, the famous Dalip Singh Saund (in USA) and so many others.
Nowadays matrimonial advertisements relating to Sikhs contain very often specific requirements for shaven Sikhs! So, we have been seeing departures from strict so-called religious codes and orthodoxy. Religions born in India are that way flexible and don’t excommunicate those who make departures. Even in the highly orthodox Islam, strictest adherence in terms of beards and burkhas are not being observed.
So, what is the problem if the Sikhs abroad shave and drop their turban? The younger Sikhs in any case don’t have turban and beard. The President of the Wisconsin Gurdwara who was killed had a beard but his son who has been giving interviews is a clean shaven young man.
The Sikh turban and the beard have always posed problems with authorities all over the world. And this was much before 9/11. The problems have risen in the recruitments to Defences Services, Police Services etc in the countries of their settlement such as Canada, USA etc. Some years ago, in 2000, I was in Canada and I was shocked to see newspaper reports saying that Sikhs wanted their children to be allowed into school carrying kirpan! I thought that that was ridiculous. And post 9/11, can the Sikhs go into aircraft carrying kirpans?
I have been watching some TV debates post the Wisconsin Gurdwara shooting that took place on Sunday, 5th August. The killer Wade known to be a racist and upset about job loss due to outsiders, had done the butchering. I was quite amused to note many participants in the debate blaming the American Government in not educating all the Americans that the Sikhs are not Talibans although they have beards and turbans! Let me tell you, I myself saw the first Sikh in my life only when I was 15 years old. The turbaned and bearded image of Osama Bin Laden is so inevitably etched in every American mind. No wonder, the uninformed white Americans might suspect that the turban and beard Sikh-wallahs are radical Muslims likely to create trouble. The younger Americans don’t even know enough about Christianity and no one can educate them about the Sikh religion and the 5 Ks!
Come on, Sikhs! This is a good opportunity to review the relevance of the 5 Ks to modern living! There is no point in making a fetish of your religion in external aspects and symbols when you go and settle abroad. You won’t even get a Gurdwara in the Middle East and in Saudi Arabia.
============================
V.S.Gopalakrishnan
When you are in Rome do as Romans do. I have seen in Chennai many foreigners (men) wearing dhotis and kurtas. The three-fingered “Vibhuti” band or the “Namam” on the foreheads of South Indian Brahmins have practically disappeared in Tamil Nadu. Religious distinguishing marks have been vanishing in general. Five or six decades ago I have seen Triplicane muslims wearing “fez” but that is gone. Kemal Ataturk got rid of fez and beard in Turkey.
Dress codes have changed sharply in a modernizing India. Even in small towns, girls are wearing jeans. Into the South, the salwar and kameez style has made an invasion from the North. The South Indian dosa and iddlis have not only got out into the rest of India but have gone global. Culture, as represented in attire and eating habits, has greatly changed in India.
As far as Sikhs are concerned, the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699, made five Ks obligatory for Sikhs, and they are (1) Kesh – long hair and beard, and a turban on the head (2) Kanga – comb (3) Kara – iron bracelet (4) Kachera –underwear and (5) Kirpan – curved sword. This was more than three hundred years ago.
What we see is that many younger Sikh men shave and don’t wear turban. Some of the well-known clean shaven Sikhs are Gulzar, late Jagjit Singh (ghazal singer), actor Dharmender, Ajay Devgun, Dara Singh, the famous Dalip Singh Saund (in USA) and so many others.
Nowadays matrimonial advertisements relating to Sikhs contain very often specific requirements for shaven Sikhs! So, we have been seeing departures from strict so-called religious codes and orthodoxy. Religions born in India are that way flexible and don’t excommunicate those who make departures. Even in the highly orthodox Islam, strictest adherence in terms of beards and burkhas are not being observed.
So, what is the problem if the Sikhs abroad shave and drop their turban? The younger Sikhs in any case don’t have turban and beard. The President of the Wisconsin Gurdwara who was killed had a beard but his son who has been giving interviews is a clean shaven young man.
The Sikh turban and the beard have always posed problems with authorities all over the world. And this was much before 9/11. The problems have risen in the recruitments to Defences Services, Police Services etc in the countries of their settlement such as Canada, USA etc. Some years ago, in 2000, I was in Canada and I was shocked to see newspaper reports saying that Sikhs wanted their children to be allowed into school carrying kirpan! I thought that that was ridiculous. And post 9/11, can the Sikhs go into aircraft carrying kirpans?
I have been watching some TV debates post the Wisconsin Gurdwara shooting that took place on Sunday, 5th August. The killer Wade known to be a racist and upset about job loss due to outsiders, had done the butchering. I was quite amused to note many participants in the debate blaming the American Government in not educating all the Americans that the Sikhs are not Talibans although they have beards and turbans! Let me tell you, I myself saw the first Sikh in my life only when I was 15 years old. The turbaned and bearded image of Osama Bin Laden is so inevitably etched in every American mind. No wonder, the uninformed white Americans might suspect that the turban and beard Sikh-wallahs are radical Muslims likely to create trouble. The younger Americans don’t even know enough about Christianity and no one can educate them about the Sikh religion and the 5 Ks!
Come on, Sikhs! This is a good opportunity to review the relevance of the 5 Ks to modern living! There is no point in making a fetish of your religion in external aspects and symbols when you go and settle abroad. You won’t even get a Gurdwara in the Middle East and in Saudi Arabia.
============================
V.S Gopalakrishnan..India is the most populous country in the world..Please cut hindu dic** by the very same solution to a problem that you have suggested..It's time to move ahead of 'reproductive organs' for you Hindus overpopulating the country!!! I have nothing more to say..
ReplyDeleteCome on Hindus..The world doesn't need any more of you..There are already too many of you!!!
On a serious note - Turbans are beards are body parts to sikhs..I do not expect you to understand it becuase you are not capable of such deep understanding. You are a Hindu who worships countless gods and goddesses and gets worked up when a picture of one of your million gods appears on a footwear in Milan..Everybody has a right to follow what he considers essential to his living and spirituality. Sikhs were not created to fight Muslims as has been said below. Sikhs were created to fight injustice due to societal norms already present in the existing Hindu and Muslim systems. Infact Guru Gobind Singh Ji fought 16 Hindu Rajs much before he encountered Mughals in Battlefield. You have limited knowledge about this religion and yet, out of nowhere you write a 'Hateful' article about beards and kirpans...Half knowledge is worse than no knowledge and you are a living illustration of the fact..
I have nothing more to say..Cheers..May you six million gods bless you with divine intelligence..