Capt. PP Singh
When every Sikh is perceived to be a Khalistan supporter and people who have nothing to do with India talk of Khalistan it is important to know who or what is KHALSA and what was Khalsa Raj during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s time.
Guru Nanak who was born in NankanaSaheb now in Pakistan was the founder of Sikhism and he preached of an inclusive society with Universal Brotherhood where all human beings are equal without any distinction of cast creed sex etc and for him Sewa (service of humanity) was above everything else.
From Sikhism to Khalsa (The pure one - Khalas) the change was brought in by tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh jee in 1699 on Baisakhi day by baptizing 5 Sikhs (note this)who were from different casts and different states all over India like BhaiDaya Ram hailed from Lahore, BhaiDharamRai was from Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, BhaiHimmatRai came from Jagannath in Odisha, BhaiMohkamRai from Gujarat and Bhai Sahib Chand was from Bidar, Karnataka.
This proves that Guru Gobind Singh jee’s concept of Khalsa was pure (Khalas) men from all over the country and not just one state who would unite and fight injustice against any one not just Sikhs and he demonstrated this at the age of 8 years when he requested his father to save the Kashmiri Pundits from tyranny of Aurangzeb.
Neither the founder of Sikhism Sri Guru Nanak Devjee nor the founder of Khalsa Sri Guru Gobind Singh jee preached for just Sikhs/Khalsa.
Talking of KhalsaRaaj under Maharaja Ranjit Singh with its capital in Lahore stretched from Afghanistan to Delhi to China including Kashmir, thus anyone who talks of KhalsaRaaj has to know Sikh history and what they stand for.
Guru Gobind Singh’s Khalsa was not restricted to Punjab but it was part of the entire country from Punjab in North and Karnataka in South Odhisha in East and Gujarat in West infact he united the country against tyranny of Aurangzeb, thus how can the place of first 5 Khalsas be out of anything to do with Khalsa or what they term as Khalistan?
Now the Guru who gave birth to Khalsaie Sri Guru Gobind Singh jee, his birth place is Patna Saheb in Bihar and he died in NandedSaheb in Maharashtra, do the dreamers of Khalistan propose to have their Khalistan without these places too?
If they are serious about KhalsaRaaj they have to include all these places and ask Pakistan to hand over Lahore our capital city during Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s time.
Large number of sacred Gurudwaras are already out of India and we need Visa from an enemy country to visit such places like NankanaSaheb, KartarpurSaheb, PanjaSahebetc to name a few of the famous and most visited Gurudwaras by Sikhs from all over the world.
The enemy country wants to keep this issue alive and supports the terrorists and that is the reason the so called Khalistanis have till date not given the map of their proposed Khalistan they know if they include Lahore NanakanaSahebetc next moment they will be kicked out from Pakistan.
If they are talking of only Punjab as Khalistan than for visiting other holy places in Delhi Bihar Maharashtra etc also Sikhs will need Visa like now in Pakistan thus their Khalistan will have most of Khalsa history out of it.
Do Sikhs in India want Khalistan? Like every religion and community Sikhs do have their grievances but if one travels through length and breadth of India one thing they will find is presence of Sikhs everywhere doing good business and preaching their own faith without any hindrances enjoying full freedom and respect in far flung places too be it northeast south west or any place in the entire country.
Sikhs may be just 2% of population but we have had a Prime Minister, a President, army and air chiefs not to talk of chief ministers and governors all over the country.
Price paid forKhalistan movement? Sikhs all over the world have paid heavy price for the so called Khalistan movement run mostly by people who left Punjab (India) for few dollarsand some of their present spokesmen are not even Sikhs they have cut hair no turbans, is this theKhalistan they want?
After the Khalistan movement Sikhs suffered major losses of literature and religious items besides structural damage to DarbarSaheb complex during attack on DarbarSaheb where the people like Bhindranwale had taken shelter in 1984.
As a result of Khalistan movement in Punjab heavy price was paid by thousands of Sikhs who were staying outside Punjab as they were burnt alive and their business destroyed the damage is still being felt by the victims.
Do they realize how their foolish moves effects the Sikhs living in other states who are part of greater Indian society.
Thus the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh is meant to be not only all over India but all over the world as it is now and not confined to a small state to become another Pakistan with poor economy and rule of fundamentalists not by people who follow Guru Nanak’s teachings of Universal brotherhood and NishkamSewa or Guru Gobind Singh’s teachings of ManasKeeJaatSabheyEkaiPechanbo.
Going by the teachings of our Gurus Khalsas have served humanity all over the world be it during Corona, war torn areas or floods etc and organisations like KHALSA AID, KHALSA CENTRE NORTH EAST, UNITED SIKHS, ECO SIKHS, HEMKUNT FOUNDATION ETC are some of the charity organisations known all over the world for serving humanity even at the risk to their own lives though it is unfortunate that some governments link all Sikh organisations with Khalistan. Khalsa means the pure ones it can be any one. The word Khalsa was first used by BhagatKabir in Guru GranthSaheb page 655 where he says “KahuKabir Jan BheKhalasePremBhagatjehJaanee” Says Kabir those humble people become pure – they become Khalsa - who know the Lord’s loving devotional worship II4II3II Where and which Khalsa kills innocents as being humble and pure is the basics of being a Khalsa.
