By Dr. Sawraj Singh
A community has two identities, philosophical and historical. It has a shared history. However, it also has a shared philosophy which can be broadly defined as a shared outlook toward life .Out of the two, philosophy, should always be put above history. A community may have a shared history like belonging to a tribe. However, if there are major differences in the outlook of its numbers then it is very difficult to keep that community together. Such a community will not progress and may start going toward decline.
History deals with mostly physical aspect of life. However, philosophy goes all the way, to your spirit. History is bound by time and space. However, philosophy transcends those. If we take people from different historical backgrounds such as tribes or castes and give them a common and higher philosophy than their own, then they can evolve into a new community.
Let us take an example from our history, Guru Gobind Singh brought people from different communities with different historical backgrounds together and gave them a new philosophy. Khalsa, a new community, evolved. This new community made great and unparalleled achievements. Guru Gobind Singh made it clear to the new community that as long as they will uphold the new philosophy they will flourish. However, if they will betray that then their downfall is certain.
Recently we visited Kerala. It is apparent that Kerala is making tremendous progress not only in comparison with the northern states such as Punjab but it is also moving ahead of its neighbors. Kerala leads now in human development index and has the highest literacy rate and one of the highest per capita income. Whereas the northern states such as Punjab and Haryana have a very low female to male ratio like below 900 females for 1000 males, in Kerala there are more women than men. Kochi will soon overtake Bangalore to become the leading city in the field of information and technology. It is also going to significantly upgrade its ship building capacity and is achieving the leading position in that field. Kerala has also done better than the other states in the fields of environment protection, healthcare and giving social benefits to its citizen. If we compare the condition of the roads in the Kerala to the neighboring area of Tamil Nadu as well as compare the daily wages then it becomes clear that Kerala is far ahead.
We discussed the situation in Kerala with our tour guide who was a devout Christian. He said that the main reason for Kerala’s progress is that we have a different philosophy. No matter which political party wins the election it is going to follow a policy which basically advances the interests of the state. This party will try to finish the development programs which the other party had started. He said that a lot of credit goes to the communists who were able to unite people with different historical backgrounds such as the Hindus, the Muslims, and the Christians with a common philosophy that we have to work for betterment of the state. Compared to the other states, Kerala has the least communal tension and has the lowest incidences of communal disturbances.
If we compare Punjab to Kerala then it becomes obvious that Punjab was far ahead when the states came under the European influence .In the nineteen century, women belonging to the royal family in Kerala wore very simple dresses. They did not even cover their breasts. On the other hand, Maharani Jindan, the last queen of the kingdom of Punjab wore very elaborate dress, jewelry and cosmetics. Compared to the kingdom of Punjab ,The kingdom of Kochi was much smaller and very modest. Punjab was the second most powerful kingdom in the world, the first being the British Empire. When we compare Kerala with Punjab today then it becomes obvious that Kerala is on the rise. Why did Punjab make much progress in the past but cannot sustain it now? It appears that as long as the leading Punjabi community, the Jat Sikh community put its philosophical identity (Sikh) above its historical identity (jat) , the community and Punjab made tremendous progress. However, when the tendency emerged to put its historical identity ( jat) above its philosophical identity (Sikh), the troubles of the community and Punjab started .The British deliberately followed a policy of encouraging this phenomenon. Today you see everywhere in Punjab that Jat or the historical identity has taken over the philosophical identity or the Sikh identity. In Punjab today it is very rare to hear or to see the words Jat Sikh you just hear the word Jat or read on the cars, trucks, buses or tractors the word Jat. You cannot see the words Jat Sikh written anywhere.
In the neighboring states of Punjab things are different. I have travelled though Haryana and Rajasthan. I herd the words Jat Sikh much more than Punjab. Similarly the tendency to become clean shaven among Sikhs is much more in Punjab than compared to the rest of India. One eminent writer told me that her family lives in many parts of India. However, no body in her family ever became clean shaven till they moved to Punjab from Mumbai. Both her sons became clean shaven. It is not uncommon to read in the matrimonial ads that the family only wants a clean shaven Jat boy for their daughter. Leaders of the both major political parties are competing with each other to assert their Jat identity. However, neither is doing much to propagate the great and the universal principles of the Sikh philosophy: Kirat karo [engage in honest and productive work], Nam japo [enlighten spiritually] and Wand Chako [sharing].
If we take pen as a symbol of philosophy and sword as a symbol of history then it can be said that when the pen controls the sword then the things are moving in the right direction. However, when the sword controls the pen then the things are moving in the wrong direction. Some parties which waged armed struggle also had this experience that the workers who were carrying guns started controlling the parties. This led to disastrous results for the parties.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European socialist governments was also primarily the result of playing down the philosophy. Economics is also a part of history because the economic systems are also historically evolved. The Soviet Union and its allies put economics above philosophy, whereas Marx and Engels had emphasized the role of philosophy, both were philosophers more than economists. The essence of their works was motivated by humanitarian philosophy. Marxists have generally been leaning more toward economics and away from the humanitarian spirit of Marxism. I feel this is the biggest cause of the downfall of the Soviet Union and its allies. Ethics are essential part of a philosophy. Without ethics a philosophy cannot be called a philosophy. Western Capitalism has no ethics and is only confined to economics. This fact should have been the main thrust of attack on Capitalism by the Marxists. Instead of doing this they themselves tried to become second rated capitalists. Let us learn the right lessons from history and put philosophy above history.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
