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A Heritage Gone Bust
S P Singh
 The
row over the auction of a bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the
initial plans of the SGPC to make efforts to buy the bust, the
later opposition to the move, and the resultant focus on the way
the community is approaching some of the externalities requires
a brief comment.
There could be different, diametrically
opposite and still bonafide views on whether or not the SGPC or
any other Sikh organization should have picked up the bust of
widely perceived Sikh hero, Maharaja Duleep Singh, fashioned by
British sculptor John Gibson almost 150 years ago. The bust was
sold for £1.7m at Bonhams Indian and Islamic Sale.
The fact that Sikh pilgrims from around the
world seek out the grave of Duleep Singh and reflect on the fate
of their fallen king bears testimony to the genuine interest
vast sections of the community could possibly have, and this had
fuelled the desire to possess the bust.
But as the controversy was on, Sikhs in
India, more so the Akal Takht clergy and the SGPC, were also
fighting off another ostensibly serious attack on the
sensitivities of the Sikhs -- a tattoo depicting Ek Onkar in
Gurmukhi was sported on her back by a small-time Indian TV
actress turned cricket commentator-presenter. There is a certain
dignity associated with the seat of the Jathedar Sahib of the
Sri Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the community, and
the idea of issuing two statements a week about a tattoo on a
girl's back should not be of top importance for such a high
cleric. The poor girl rushed to offer an apology and ensured
that it is published in main newspapers under her name. The
clergy promptly issued a statement that they haven't received it
officially. And when they did, the cleric's associates were
quick to point out that the signatures were not appended.
Pronto, a duly signed letter also arrived, apologizing for the
tattoo in abject terms. No one is putting his good money on a
bet that the clerics have spoken for the last time.
India's Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav
had recently announced that the new trains will be adorned by a
photograph of the Golden Temple, Amritsar, but he had to scrap
the move following opposition by the SGPC which said it could
hurt Sikh sentiments. Would it have?
And while views have been aired about the
bust of Maharaja Duleep Singh, there are many other ways in
which the Sikh community activists and the SGPC can contribute
in stressing their sensitivity towards their rich heritage. The
Jallianwala Bagh, where virtually every dignitary pays tributes
to the innocents killed during the freedom struggle, will
continue to be incomplete till a statue of Shaheed Udham Singh,
who avenged the senseless killings, is installed there. What
have been our efforts in that direction?
Just 20 miles away from Ferozepur, on the
Ferozepur-Moga road, is a memorial to commemorate the Anglo-Sikh
wars. It had been erected due to efforts by the late Giani Zail
Singh but is in poor shape today. For nearly a decade, several
media reports have focused on the issue, but not our SGPC.
What have been our efforts at commemorating
General Sham Singh Attariwala’s contribution? Now that the
Punjab Government has taken up a project with a Gateway-To-India
style memorial plan, reports are already trickling in that the
plan to install a statue of the Sikh General are being scrapped.
For how many years did the statue of Master
Tara Singh lie covered in gunny bags and tarpaulin sheets in
Delhi? When did you last spot the statue of Master Tara Singh
anywhere in Punjab? Quick: Where did you last see the statue of
Sikh General Baghel Singh? He was one of the most important
military generals in the turbulent eighteenth century Punjab and
died in 1802. If there was great noise over celebrating his
bicentennial in 2002, I am sorry I missed it. ■
April 23, 2007
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