Once again a movie has managed to garner publicity on the name of Sikhs and this time it’s none other than Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgan’s production ‘Son of Sardar’. This is not the first time; a movie has been made with a Sikh character as a lead creating controversy.
Sikhs are everytime dubbed as controversy creators, but what else can Sikhs do when their identity has been put at stake.
The official trailer of the movie ‘Son of Sardar’ was out on YouTube and as soon as Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Navkiran Singh noticed the objectionable content, he shot off a legal notice to Ajay Devgan.
Navkiran Singh is a human rights lawyer and active member of Sikh Anti-Defamation League (SADL). The advocate was unhappy with the trailer which has comments like, “Had there been no Sikhs, who would have invented abuses like Teri Maa(n) Di-Teri Bhain Di.” There is another dialogue which says, “If Sardars were not there, then on whom jokes would have been made?”
As usual, the movie actor did not care to reply. Later, the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) president Karnail Singh Peermohammad raised the same issue with Akal Takht Jathedar Gyani Gurbachan Singh. In addition to the issues raised by Navkiran Singh, he pointed out Ajay showing a tattoo of Shiva engraved on his chest. This is against Sikh tenets as the community does not believe in idol worship.
Akal Takht and SGPC appointed a five member probe panel and then, not surprisingly, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and director visited Amritsar and clarified the entire issue.
A Sikh might have been left wondering over many issues which have emerged out of the entire episode. Why the Akal Takht and SGPC were the last one to know and act? Why Akal Takht acted only after Peermohammad intervened? Was sending a legal notice by Advocate Navkiran, a Sikh acitivist, not a reason enough for Akal Takht to act or is it that those sitting at the high posts of Sikhs clergy act only when the whole world is talking about an issue or when they are ‘appealed’ to?
Is it not the duty of our Jathedars to act themselves in such a situation? The whole issue speaks volumes of the dormancy of SGPC as well. Why is it that the premier organisation of Sikhs has still not been able to spread awareness about the Sikh community, its identity and ideology.
Every time, a movie uses this ‘Sardar’ formula, it turns out to be a blockbuster, thanks to the publicity which it gains after controversy erupts. Last time, it was Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Singh is King’. Had SGPC learnt some lesson then, the ‘Son of Sardar’ controversy would have never surfaced.
Accepting Ajay Devgan with a trimmed beard means that SGPC and Akal Takht have accepted that even those who cut their hair can be called Sikhs. It is pertinent to mention that SGPC ‘Gurmat Maryada’ says any person who cuts body hair is equal to a ‘patit’ and not a Sikh.
Ajay Devgan has accepted to remove the objectionable content from the movie and as per the latest news, has even agreed to display a tattoo of ‘Khanda’ on his chest. And the high members of the Sikh clergy sound quite triumphant with that. Is flaunting a tattoo of ‘Khanda’ not equal to idolizing it when Sikhs believe only in ‘Shabad Guru, Guru Granth Sahib ji’.
What has happened, has happened. But post the launch of ‘Son of Sardar’ movie, SGPC and Akal Takht need to introspect the entire issue and a resolution should be passed to take a prior permission of the temporal seat of Sikhs so that the sentiments of the community are not hurt again.
It is indeed, a sad state of affairs when it comes to the Jathedars dealing with the real issues facing the Sikh Nation. We have seen again and again that these Jathedars are just like politicians, looking after their seats and bringing disrepute to the status and integrity of the Office.
Such movies should be banned. Are we so dumb that we are not learning from the Jews and Muslims. It must be noted that this movie is being released on Diwali 2012 when we ought to be reminded that it was only in 1665 when Aurengzeb stopped the Hindus to celebrate Diwali and when BulayShah had to say that,” If Guru Gobind Singh was not there then all Indians would have been circumcised”. It is high time Sikhs got to grip with the media and use it for their own advantage against such immoral pictures.
These masands have taken over our SGPC, what can we expect from people like makkari who steal money from golak and are Sikhs only by appearance?
We need to take back our Gurudwaras. If we can put GurSikhs into such positions where honest and humble GurSikhs can take these positions, we can fix many problems in Punjab just by doing that.
The problem is the honest people don’t want to enter such a dirty game of politics and if someone with weak morals gets in, it’s easy for them to get sucked in by other corrupt people.
Badal has his grip on the SGPC, Akal Takhat Jathedar, Harnam Singh Dhumma and the Sant Samaj.
If we want to learn how to empower ourselves for the future, we need not look further than the past. It’s the same exact thugs and snakes that the Khalsa dealt with in the path. These worms struggled through the cracks and survived and are ensuring that no honest person is in any position of power ever again in Punjab so they can keep running their business.
It’s a dirty game of politics and sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything.
Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale mentioning badal and other people who care only for their “kursian”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0o9C8_z6tU&