Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!caip!think!mit-eddie!mit-trillian!martillo From: martillo@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Yakim Martillo) Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian Subject: Re: Seperate Sikh State Message-ID: <1245@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> Date: Wed, 8-Oct-86 19:09:32 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-tril.1245 Posted: Wed Oct 8 19:09:32 1986 Date-Received: Sat, 11-Oct-86 01:34:31 EDT References: <2536@ihlpg.UUCP> Reply-To: martillo@trillian.UUCP (Yakim Martillo) Distribution: net Organization: MIT Project Athena Lines: 67 In article <2536@ihlpg.UUCP> nkg1@ihlpg.UUCP writes: >To: ihnp4!cbatt!clyde!caip!elbereth!rutgers!husc6!panda!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-trillian!martillo >Subject: Re: An Independent Sikh State >In-reply-to: your article <1232@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> >I belong to Punjab State. I and all my ancestors, as far long ago as I can >know, were born in Punjab. There is a big difference comparing >Muslim and Hindu, AND Sikh and Hindu religion. The Sikh religion grew >out of Hindu religion. Till about 40-50 years back, it was very common for >the eldest son of a Hindu family to become a Sikh. Marriage between Hindus >and Sikhs is very common, even now. There are thousands of families, nay >tens of thousand families, with both Hindu and Sikh blood reletives. The >Sikhs and Hindus both cremate there dead and immerse the ashes in river. >The marriage customs are very very similar. AND to top it all, Guru Granth >Sahib, The Holy Book, is full prayers to Rama and Shiva. At one place >it says, a real Sikh is he, who says the name Rama atleast 10 times every day. >Visiting the Sikh Gurudwaras and Hindu temples by both communities has been >very common. The reverence to Sikh Gurus is same amongst Hindus as for Sikhs. >The Holy places to visit are very common, the reason being, the Sikh Gurus >visited and prayed at places which were holy to Hindus at that time. The >Golden Temple was built with great contribution of both Hindus and Sikhs. >And I can go on and on -----. I have also read this as well and I am not sure if I believe it. If there is a knowledgeable Sikh on the net, I would be interested in comments. I was under the impression Sikh religion rejected a lot of specifically Hindu practices like caste. Further I am under the impression Sikh religion owes a lot to Islam and is basically monotheist. I do not understand what would be the caste status of the children of a Hindu/Sikh marriage. The only Sikh/Hindu marriages I know of are between people who are totally removed from traditional Hindu or Sikh culture. >None of this is true for any other two religions. Even today the trouble >or the contradictions are not over Hindus not accepting Sikh Gurus or >Sikh temples but purely over political power. Some selfish people are >exploting the two communities for their own selfish motive. Well, a lot of it applies to Judaism and Islam. And it does not make contradictions any less valid if they are political. Maybe people have selfish motives for keeping a united India. >There are many subgroups amongst Sikhs, not accepted as such by EXTREMISTS: >Nirankaries, etc. Will they not ask for political power in future for >themselves? Even with in the rank of extremists, has there not been group >fights over who takes the higher positions ? With this kind of ideas >one can fragment any land into very small communities, and call them >COUNTRIES!!!??. So what? Almost all the countries in Europe are tiny even compared to India. >The artificial integeration of INDIA ? Even before the English, India was >joined together by one king many times, in fact it included Afghanistan and >parts of USSR (Samarkand and Tashkent). Chandragupta Mauraya, Ashoka are some >of the very old examples, Akbar is a later example. But then China also had >its share of smaller kingdoms at times. At which time period of history >do you draw the cut off point. At different times different communities ruled >over various areas of land, with the same land overlapping for different >communities. Who gets that land? Europe has been united under the Romans, the Holy Roman Empire, the French and the Germans but that is hardly any reason to say Europe should be one country today. Chinese culture is a unitary culture in a way that European culture or Indian culture is not but to tell the truth, most Chinese would probably be a lot better off if the People's Republic were split up into several countries.