Peace Gurus

[birkhalsa]

Peace Gurus

In communally charged Nanded, the Sikh community plays mediator between the Muslims and the Hindus

NANDED I MUMBAI: ‘Jo bole so nihaal, sat sri akaal’

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Nanded railway station’s platform number one. The Sachkhand Express heading for Amritsar is just pulling out and emotions are running high. About six Sikh men stand on the platform with folded hands, seeing the passengers off. Each member of the group takes turns to chant the Sikh mantra. And every passenger on the chugging train responds—from the old, bald, smiling saffron-clad sadhvi to the weary-looking middle-aged Maharashtrian couple. The rhyme of the chant blends with that of the train.

Those ten minutes of peace seem almost unreal in the communally sensitive town of Nanded. And these moments of peace are ushered by the 25,000-strong Sikh population. And the famous Sachkhand gurudwara.

Last month the bombing of a mosque triggered riots that went on for a week. In a place where Hindus and Muslims clash at the drop of a grenade, the Sikh community plays the all-important role of the neutral party that often mediates and mends. They enjoy a peaceful existence away from the riots and bloodshed. Even when the rest of Nanded is under curfew, members of all communities throng the gurudwara.

The gurudwara—Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib at Nanded—marks the site where Guru Gobind Singh hel

d a camp in 1708 A.D. after the departure of emperor Bahadur Shah. The tenth Guru held his court and congregation here. Sachkhand or region of truth means the abode of God. The present building of the Takht Sahib was constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh with money, artisans and labour sent from Punjab during early 1830s.

On any given day, at least 3,000-odd devotees stream in and out of the magnificent holy shrine. Many of these are brought in by the Sachkhand Express that arrives in Nanded five times a week. Every time the train halts here, members of the gurudwara’s langar samiti organise an elaborate lunch for the passengers on board.

‘‘What we cook and distribute is out of love. It’s not just for Sikhs but for every passenger on the Sachkhand Express,’’ says Mahendra Singh Paidal, a member of the langar samiti. ‘‘The gurubani teaches us that the biggest religion of all is humanity. That’s why anybody can come and pray at our temples.’’

Paidal, 38, and his co-workers are a humble lot. They are common people—businessmen dealing in motor spare parts and running petrol pumps. But in times of conflict, it is they who, through their contact with members of other religions, try to wave the white flag.

‘‘We are on good terms with both Hindus and Muslims,’’ says 57-year-old Devendar Singh Chaddha. ‘‘We try and talk them out of this rift as much as we can. These riots do disturb us though we are never directly affected. It’s all about politics.’’

Sikhs in Nanded are not many in numbers and do not have a significant political presence but they do enjoy an important place in Nanded’s religiously divided society. Some of them even take active part in peace initiatives. Like Inderjeet Singh Ghadliwal and Ranjit Singh Kamtekar—both members and ex-office bearers of the gurudwara board—who participated in the peace march in Nanded after communal riots disturbed the city. ‘‘We are a minority in Nanded but that doesn’t mean we are not concerned with what is happening here. Maintaining

peace is everybody’s duty and we actively participate in whatever it takes to do so,’’ says Ghadiwal.

Sikhs in Nanded are not many in number but they play an important role in the town’s religiously divided society, taking active part in peace initiatives

Nothing stops the faithful from visiting Sachkhand, not even riots. Locals like young Inderdeep Bhatia are regulars. A final year business administration student, Bhatia drives down to the gurudwara on her Kinetic Honda with her cousin. The girls are not scared to venture out even when large parts of the city are under curfew. ‘‘It doesn’t affect us. Just that we can’t attend lectures in college,’’ Bhatia says and the girls giggle as they drive out of the gurudwara lane, their dupattas still covering their heads.

A number of non-Sikh locals also visit the gurudwara and shop for kadas and decorative articles outside the shrine before sitting down to enjoy a hot meal at one of the numerous dhabas.

Inside the place of worship, foreigners in jeans and bandanas stand along with chiffon salwar-kameez clad women. Non-resident Indians with accents as thick as the ghee in the prasad shoot frames of the evening prayer session on their tiny handicams. The flashes from their sleek cameras light up the already dazzling gold and mirror interiors of the gurudwara.

Gurbachan Singh Sabharwal is accompanying his brother’s family who have flown in from Canada to visit the takht. ‘‘We were aware of the tension in Nanded but that was not a deterrent,’’ he says. ‘‘Our devotion has brought us here,’’ he adds smiling through his thick salt ‘n’ pepper beard. ‘‘Once you’re here, there’s nothing to fear.’’