Hacked To Death For Chewing Tobacco Near The Golden Temple!
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
10
September 2022
2 Nihang Sikhs Kill Man for Chewing
Tobacco near Golden Temple
“Kohrakashi
Ko Gunaah Qaraar Diya
Maykashi Ko Lekin Zindagi Mein Shumaar Kiya
Mazhab Ne Apni Marzi Se Kabhi
Kisi Ko Apnaaya, Kisi Ko Dutkaar Diya”
-Shiv
Batalavi (this quatrain is originally in Punjabi, loosely translated into Urdu
by Amir Jalandhari)
(Smoking
was considered an offence / But drinking was accepted as life's essence /
Religious vagaries are difficult to fathom / It accepts some, also rejects
without any sense)
“People always condemn Islam and the fanaticism
of its followers. Aren't the followers of other faiths equally senseless?
"
- Irshad Manji
Photo: Rediff.com
----
I'm
exceedingly pained to read the shocking news that two Nihangs (blue-robed
Sikhs) hacked a 22-year-old man, Harmanjeet Singh, for chewing tobacco near
Golden Temple in Amritsar. For the unversed, consumption of tobacco in any form
is prohibited in Sikhism.
There seems
to be something terribly wrong with the followers of all the religions. All the
ill-evolved followers seem to have vowed to go backward and indulge in all
sorts of obscurantism. I mentioned before that once when I was smoking in the
vicinity of a Gurudwara at Nanded, a group of Sikh youths curtly abused and
asked me to go away and smoke. Granted, chewing or smoking tobacco is certainly
not a good habit, but why on earth do you associate it with a religion? Will
one of your 10 Gurus be angry if you or someone else smokes? Don't your Gurus
have better things to do than punishing those who smoke?
In
socio-religious studies, we come across instances of selective prohibitions
with a religious ring to them. Fatwa against consumption of tobacco became a
religious issue because that was the only way to wean people away from smoking
and chewing tobacco.
Fear of
religion and an imaginary god always works because the human mind accepts
religious mumbo-jumbo very quickly. Sikhs weren't so violent. Alas, they too
have become so obstinate. These are brainless people who don't understand that
if tobacco is religiously prohibited in Sikhism, alcohol should also be banned
because it's equally pernicious. But, quite a few 'devout' Sikhs enjoy their
drinks and many of them drink like fish. Perhaps, their Gurus didn't prohibit
drinking! They were all being selective in prohibiting certain things. So,
drinking was allowed, but an embargo was put on smoking! What nonsense!
Muslims
consume halal meat. So, we'll have Jhatka because Islam and Sikhism have always
been at loggerheads with each other as two Sikh Gurus, Guru Arjan Singh and
Guru Tegh Bahadur were executed by Mughal emperors. This Halal-Jhatka clash
also sounds so puerile and primitive. Readers are aware that the drug abusers
are a dime a dozen in Punjab. Today, Punjab is a hotbed of drugs. But these
Nihangs have no problem with that because their Gurus were not aware of the use
and abuse of cocaine, heroin, marijuana among others during their times.
I might
sound exceedingly condescending but let me say that at times, I really feel
suffocated, living with underdeveloped and over-religious irrational humans who
plucked out their brains (if they had any!) forever. This reminds me of Abdul
Hamid Adam's apposite couplet, “Jisne Iss Daur Ke Insaan Kiye Hon Paida/
Wahi Mera Bhi Khuda Ho Mujhe Manzoor Nahin “(Who made humans like these,
can never be my god). Fortunately, I've no god but perchance I had one, it'd
certainly have been different from the god of all these rank morons.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages
including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/hacked-chewing-tobacco-golden-temple/d/127919
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