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SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Of Sikh-Muslim bondingHumra Quraishi Kartarpur sahib corridor
Khushwant Singh
Correct me if I’m wrong but
the opening of the
Kartarpur Sahib corridor
has brought the Sikh and
Muslim communities
closer. The Partition and
the aftermath had brought in friction
and creases between the two
communities and those
continued till efforts of few
individuals who tried to bridge
gaps. After I finished writing the two volumes on the history of the Sikhs I added in Latin - Opus Exegii - my life’s work is done…To write on Sikh religion and history was my life’s ambition …Having done that I felt like one living on borrowed time, at peace with myself and the world.It did not bother me if I wrote anything else. And definite pointers to the Sikh - Muslim bonding can be witnessed in the Kashmir Valley. I have been a witness to this bonding and its always been heartening to see the hapless finding shelter and solace and food in the various gurudwaras of the Kashmir region…And even as one travels to the interiors of the region, one can be sure of spotting and meeting Sikh families who call themselves Kashmiri Sikhs. They bond with the Kashmiri Muslims to such an extent that they are living in complete compatibility. Needless for me to write that the tough ground realities prevailing for decades in the region has only made the bond grow stronger, more connectivity than before between the Sikhs and the Muslims. As the Srinagar based lawyer Hardev Singh Oberoi had told me – “Though my home was partially destroyed during the 2014 floods that hit Srinagar , I didn’t even think of moving out from here …We Sikhs will always be here…no one from my family moved out from here even during the turbulent 90s.” He even went on to tell me that not just he but his entire clan has been at ease living in the Valley” Gently added , “ Mohammadans are better friends than your kith and kin. They can give their lives for you …the only thing is that they are very sensitive about their faith." And in the backdrop of this, today there stands out much bonding and between the two communities in other locales of the country. This time with the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor …It got members of both the communities emotional to such an extent that several of my Sikh friends hugged me tight and others greeted me with Salaams and more salaams! Its touching to see this bonding between the communities who share so much of common history and turmoil and uproot. And, of course, both the communities have been victims of communal violence. I recall that after the horrifying 1984 anti -Sikh riots , many of my Sikhs friends told me that they could visualize what the Muslim go through each time they are attacked and targeted during communal rioting. In fact, Muslims were deeply affected by the 1984 anti- Sikhs. I recall the late activist Safdar Hashmi’s mother, Qamar Azad Hashmi, telling me that those riots had deeply affected Safdar .To quote her – “The 1984 anti - Sikh riots in Delhi had really affected him. For days we were witness to the horrifying carnage. It was shocking to see the brutality of it all. What a voice
Shashi Bhushan Pandey
Habib Jalib
I recall when this summer I heard a
young student of the Jawaharlal
Nehru university, Shashi Bhushan
Pandey, recite Habib Jalib verse in a
video, I was immediately taken up by the voice and the passion with which
he’d recited each one of those verse… He hails from a middle class family of Eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and what’s astonishing is that he fends for himself on the financial front…From what I have gathered, again from the media reports, is that his father passed away and his mother is a home maker in Gorakhpur, so this young visually impaired student has taken upon himself the responsibility of fending for himself. Instead of the State reaching out to him in terms of financial and placement support, its quite the opposite - it was horrifying to know the Delhi policemen roughing him up, passing unsettling comments. Look what is happening to our g e n u i n e citizens! What treatment is meted out to the young of the country! Students of the calibre and courage and conviction of Shashi Bhushan Pandey hold out hope. In fact, the only hope. Leaving you with this verse of poet
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