PRESS RELEASE, LUDHIANA, APRIL 26

The concept of human rights has in theory, included women; but in practice, abuses of women have been ignored, dismissed, or has generally gone unpunished just because the victims are female. These abuses include gender violence-female infanticide, genital mutilation, sex trafficking, rape in times of conflict, neglect and abuse of girl children, wife murder and sexual assault- as well as denial of civil, cultural, religious, legal and economic equality with men.

Not to talk of this, even the denial by the SGPC to allow doing Palki sewa to Sikh women is no exception. And it is a very serious violation of Religious Right of the Sikhs, if not a crime as is in the case of above violations. And it would definitely backfire the SGPC if it is not addressed properly by taking a major restoration initiative at the earliest.

IHRO chairperson D S Gill said all this here today while commenting on Sikh women's right to undertake all forms of sewa at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, according to Ms Inderjit Kaur, secretary Public-Relation of the organisation.

Expressing its serious concern over the sexual harassment of woman devotees that is rampant in religious places and deras, the IHRO Women’s Wing (WW), on March 8 (International Women’s Day), censured the SGPC for not allowing the two UK based women to do Palki sewa and it resolved that the Sikh tenet of equality and equal status of Sikh woman in all aspects be restored in all Gurdwaras, including Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, said its head and co-ordinator Dr Kanwaljit Kaur Bal and secretary Ms Gurpreet Dhunna.

While praising the UK Sikh women activists for the noble cause they have taken up with the SGPC, the IHRO said, "Sikh Gurus advocated equal status for women with men in all spheres of life. They honoured women as the symbol of domestics harmony and happiness, social cohesion and unity, a helping hand to man in the achievement of salvation."

"Guru Nanak condemned the man made notion of the inferiority of woman and protested against her long subjugation. He asserted that man and woman shared the grace of God equally and were responsible for their deeds before Him. By denouncing renunciation of the world and by advocating family life and by his own example the Guru put woman on a par with man. Woman was not a hindrance if man needed to serve God but a helping hand in the achievement of salvation," added the IHRO.

Women’s access to service (to do sewa) in all fields has been crucial to Sikhism during Guru’s period, whether it was for the preparation of Amrit or Langar, so they need access to all types of Sewa without any gender bias, said Mr Gill, adding "we too need to put pressure on the SGPC for the restoration the sewa for Sikh mothers, sisters and daughters which is the foundation stone of human rights and freedoms bestowed upon them by our Gurus."

"We, therefore, urge the SGPC to devise measures and review old "rituals" (bad practices) to correctly restore the Sikh tenet of sewa for all without any gender discrimination so that the true spirit behind the Sikh faith could prevail."

(D S GILL)