SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly Issue No.30, November 2007
Critical Reading of J. S. Tiwana’s review of Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory and Biography in the Sikh Tradition
Gurpreet Singh Sumra
Introduction
Sometime back I came across the review of Pashaura Singh’s “Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory and Biography in the Sikh Tradition” by J. S. Tiwana (The Sikh Times (www.sikhtimes.com), January 27, 2007). I read it very carefully, as I have been reading Tiwana’s fascinating views on Sikhs and Sikhism for quite some time on GLZ (Gurmat Learning Zone) under a wide variety of titles like “Well known Sikh Scholar Harkinder Singh Chahal visits our Gurdwara”, “GLZ Sikh Scholar IJ Singh” etc. Tiwana often talks about different varieties/brands of Sikhs such as: Amritdhari Sikhs, Sehajdhari Sikhs, Namdhari Sikhs, Nirankari Sikhs, Radhaswami Sikhs, Taksali Sikhs, Narangwal Panthi Sikhs and Clean Shaven Sikhs. I don’t know if Tiwana belongs to one or more of these categories, but one thing is for sure, he keeps talking about them and, he has a list of his favorite Sikh scholars on his website.
First, I would like Tiwana’s to know that according to Aad Guru Granth Sahib, the only authentic source of Sikhi/Gurmat, there is one and only one kind of Sikh.
so isKu sKw bMDpu hY BweI ij gur ky Bwxy ivic AwvY ] AwpxY BwxY jo clY BweI ivCuiV cotw KwvY ]
He alone is a Sikh, a friend, a relative and a sibling of Guru, who follows Guru’s teachings with dedication and love. One, who walks according to his own will ignoring Guru’s teachings, comes to grief.
AGGS M 3, p. 601
Discussion
Tiwana has been busy writing pithy flattering reviews of his “favorite scholars” to portray himself as a great scholar. It is sad that this “Maritime Scholar” does not examine critically the sources on which his favorite scholars build their “castles”, although, he claims that he reads only those works on Sikhism that are published by Oxford Press or Cambridge University Press. For example, he does not say anything about the integrity and veracity of the sources on which Pashaura Singh has built his thesis. He simply writes that Pashaura Singh “builds Guru Arjan's life from all possible sources - tradition, collective memory, hymns recorded in Adi Granth, works of Bhai Gurdas, Bahoval pothi, Dabistan-i- Mazahib(1644/45), pothi of Bibi Rup Kaur, Granth of Bhai Painda, K S Chhibar's Bansavalinama(1769), Sarup Das Bhalla's Mahima Prakash(1776), Santokh Singh's Suraj Praksh(1843), etc.”
Some of the sources cited or used by Pashaura Singh are bogus, untrustworthy, a bundle of lies, insulting to Guru Arjan; and an insult to the basic fundamental principles of Sikhism. Some of these sources were in fact written with the sole purpose of distorting Sikhism.
For the sake of brevity, let me present here some information about Sikh Gurus and Sikhism from two of these sources and let the readers decide as to what was the motive and agenda of the writers of these sources that Pashaura Singh has relied upon.
Bansavalinama of Kesar Singh Chibbar (1769), the most notorious of all
Since the work of Pashaura Singh is about Guru Arjan, I will restrict myself to what Chibbar has to say about Guru Arjan and the basic principles of Sikhism.
Chibbar is a famous surname of Kashmiri Pundits. Although Chibbar had a long association with Sikhism through his ancestors, yet he was not able to imbibe the teachings of the Gurus. He considered Brahmins as a superior caste and went so far as to declare himself superior to other Sikhs as he was a Brahmin.
Bansavalinama has 14 chapters called “Charans”. First 10 Charans deals from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh respectively. Eleventh Charan is about Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, twelfth is about Jeet Singh, thirteenth deals with Sahib Devi and fourteenth is the collection of some stories.
(i) “Uttam Jama Brahman hai” (Charan 14, 630, 631, p. 278)
Brahmans are the most worthy of all human beings.
(ii) “Jo Brahman Sikh howe tis da Aadar Sanmaan buhat karna”(Charan10, 354, p. 157)
A Sikh who is of Brahmin caste should be treated with utmost respect.
The fifth “Charan” deals with Guru Arjan, wherein he denigrates him as indicated below.
a. Chibbar writes that Guru Arjan is the incarnation of Arjan, one of the five Pandava brothers.
“
Sammat solan se khat chaar main, janme Arjan Dev
Kunti sut Autar yeh, jin kari Krishan ki sew”(Charan 5, 1, p. 73)
It is quite possible that neither Pashaura Singh nor Tiwana know that Sikh Gurus rejected reincarnation.
b. Chibbar goes so far as to say that since the first wife of Guru Arjan could not give him any child, so he married again.
“sodh saha dij dham bulaya, tab sahib eh Byah karwaya”(Charan 5, 20, p. 74)
This is totally false. This is how Brahmin writers show Guru Har Gobind having three wives and a Muslim mistress on the side, and Guru Gobind Singh having three wives to depict them as an incarnation of Krishna.
c. Chibbar is a staunch devotee of different goddesses and keeps on invoking them. He writes that whatever bani (hymns) Guru Arjan wrote is the boon from “Sharda Devi”.
“Sahib Var dita Mata Sharda Bhawani, Sahib lage Uchhran Rasna te Sabad-Bani”(Charan 5, 22, p. 74)
Chibbar has no regard for Gurbani as well, and does not even hesitate to insult Guru Arjan. He writes that when Prithichand, elder brother of Guru Arjan, went to Lahore to complain against Guru Arjan, Guru Arjan became so frightened that he wrote the following Sabad to plead for mercy from Prithichand .
Jad prithiya dusti karan gaya Lahore, raag sorath vich (shabad) lik dita aadmi tor…
eyku ipqw eyks ky hm bwirk qU myrw gur hweI ] suix mIqw jIau hmwrw bil bil jwsI hir drsnu dyhu idKweI ]1] suix mIqw DUrI kau bil jweI ] iehu mnu qyrw BweI ] rhwau ] pwv mlovw mil mil Dovw iehu mnu qY kU dysw ] suix mIqw hau qyrI srxweI AwieAw pRB imlau dyhu aupdysw ]2] mwnu n kIjY srix prIjY krY su Blw mnweIAY ] suix mIqw jIau ipMfu sBu qnu ArpIjY ieau drsnu hir jIau pweIAY ]3]|(Charan 5, 40, p. 76-77)
The above Sabad is located at pages 611-612 of AGGS. Readers can decide for themselves whether Guru Arjan wrote this because he was scared of Prithichand.
Not being content of insulting Gurbani, Chibbar insults Guru Arjan by portraying him as a liar, and a hypocrite -- indulging in the practices that are against his own teachings. Chibbar states that when Prithichand went to Guru Arjan and told him that Bhai Gurdas was writing about “meenas”(Prithichand and his followers), Guru Arjan cursed Bhai Gurdas that he would die without having any offsprings.
“kar ke aadar vadda jaan ke paas bahaiya
Bhai Gurdas noo Sahib aakh sunaya
Tu hosi nirans, sutt na rahisi bind”(Charan 5, 96, p. 81)
Chibbar does not stop here, and goes further to say that Bhai Gurdas told him that he did exactly as told by Guru Arjan, i.e. Chibbar seeks to portray that Guru Arjan himself told Bhai Gurdas to write about Prithichand and when confronted by Prithichand, the Guru denied it and put the blame on Bhai Gurdas.
“Bhai Gurdas bhi eh bachan aalyaa:
Garib niwaj soyi main kita, jo tud karaya” (Charan 5, 96, p.81)
Chibbar depicts Guru Arjan speaking from his own mouth that his martyrdom is the result of his past deeds .
“Sahib nische jata, jo sase da badla dena aaya
Chhutda nahi jo aap kamaya” (Charan 5,115, p. 83)
Now readers can decide for themselves the source that Pashaura Singh chose? Finally, I would like to share Giani Sohan Singh Seetal’s views on Bansavalinama written by Chibbar:
“Chibbar’s Bansavalinama is completely influenced by Hinduism. He considers Brahmin caste as superior which is anti Gurmat. It is quite evident that the author has written this composition in a very calculated manner to insert anti Sikh concepts into Sikhism. The author has either very scant knowledge of Gurbani or very cleverly changed its meaning as he desired.” (Sikh Itihaas De Some (Punjabi), part 1, page 7)
Sarup Das Bhalla's Mahima Prakash (1776)
Though Sarup Das does not belong to the same category as Chibbar in terms of notoriety, nevertheless he had very little understanding of Nanakian philosophy or the Sikh Revolution. How much respect he had for Sikh Gurus or what was his own interest or agenda, is quite evident from the following.
“Sun Matidas yeh guhaj kahani
Bin main awar na kahu jaani
Ikk mutthi bhang babe ji leena
Raj Hind Babar ko dina(20)
Diya daan ab nahi phire, sees deyi so leyi
Ant yehi bidh hoyi hai, humre nijmat eh (21)”(Sakhi 6 of Guru Tegh Bahadur)
When Matidas asked Guru Tegh Bahadur the reason why he is being martyred, Guru Tegh Bahadur replied that because Guru Nanak took a cup of “bhang (hemp)” from Babar and in return promised him the rule of India. I am now repaying that loan (bhang) Guru Nanak took from Babur.
For the sake of brevity I will limit my criticism to some of the statements from Tiwana’s review under discussion.
1. Under the heading “New Findings” of his favorite author, Tiwana writes: “We learn that Guru Arjan and Bhai Gurdas were class mates. They were taught Gurmukhi by Baba Buddha and Sanskrit by pundits, Kesho and Gopal.”
Pashaura Singh and Tiwana should know that there was at least ten years age difference between the two (Guru Arjan was born in 1563 C. E.; the exact date of Bhai Gurdas ‘s birth is not known but it is somewhere between 1543 to 1553 C. E.). Now the question is why Bhai Gurdas had to wait to go to school until Guru Arjan was old enough to study? What to make of such silly and absurd statements?
Someone has rightly said “Fiction writing is great, as you can make up almost anything”. And that is what Pashaura does when he portrays Baba Budha as a highly learned man worthy of tutoring Guru Arjan and Bhai Gurdas.
We are being told that Baba Buddha, who was an illiterate person and could neither read nor write, taught Gurmukhi not only to Bhai Gurdas but also to Guru Arjan. Some people have gone so far as to declare Baba Buddha as the first granthi (reader of Aad Guru Granth Sahib) appointed by Guru Arjan himself.
According to Sikh tradition, Baba Buddha was a devout Sikh who spent his entire life with the first six Gurus. He was respected for his selfless service to everyone despite his age. But he was an illiterate person according to the recorded information about him. In the oldest and the original source from which every other source has been copied Baba Buddha confirms in his own words that he was an illiterate person.
Guru Arjan goes to his brother Mahadev for his advice to appoint a teacher for his son Hargobind. Mahadev suggests the name of Baba Buddha. Guru Arjan sends for Baba Buddha and ask him if he could teach Hargobind .
“Prasad vartaye abbe prabh leeje, Hargobind ko vidya deeje
Patti par painti likh deyo, ajje Kaaj eh puran kayo”
Baba Buddha replies:
I am a grass cutter, how can I teach someone when I , myself could not even read.
“Sahib Buddhe bachan ucchara, Hum hai Jatt ghas rakhwara
Hau kya jaanu kais padawe, humko padna kachu naa aawe”(Gurbilas Patshahi 6, Adhyaya 3, 72(couplet no), 1718 C. E.)
Further, what else could be a better source than the writings of Bhai Gurdas for information about Sikhs of first six Guru period? Let us see what Bhai Gurdas says about Baba Buddha and other contemporary Sikhs. In Vaar 11 Bhai Gurdas mentions the famous and well-known Sikhs of first six Gurus and their skills/castes/talents/services for which they were known. The name of Baba Buddha comes only once among the names of Sikhs of Guru Nanak and that too after the names of many important Sikhs, and “Baba Budha” is simply mentioned as “Buda Buddha”.
After giving names of well known Sikhs of Guru Nanak (Mardana, Daulat Khan Lodi, Pirtha, Kheda etc) in 13th paudi of Vaar 11, as
“Taru Popat taraya...
Bhala Rabab vajayanda majlas Mardana Mirasi
…………….
Daulat Khan Lodi bhala hoya jind peer abinasi”
(Vaar11, paudi 13)
Bhai Gurdas mentions some more Sikhs of Guru Nanak in paudi 14 as follows:
“Bhagat jo Bhagta ohri jaapvansi sew kamawe
Sheehan Upppal jaaniye Gajjan Uppal Satgur bhawe
Mailseehan vich aakhiye Bhagirath kaligun gaawe
Jeeta Randhawa bhala hai, BUDA BUDDHA ik man dhyaawe……“
(Vaar11, paudi14)
Bhagata Ohri and Japu Vansi were devoted to the Guru. Sheehan and Gajjan Uppal were beloved of Guru. The landlord of Mailseehan, Bhagirath used to be the devotee of Kali before meeting Guru. Jeeta Randhawa is a nice man and Buda Buddha serves no other than the Guru.
Now let us see what Bhai Gurdas has to say about literate and learned Sikhs. Among the Sikhs of Guru RamDas, he writes:
“Maliya Saharu Bhale chhimbe Gur Dargeh Darbari
Pandha Bula jaaniye Gurbani gayan likhari. …”
(Vaar11, paudi16)
Maliya, Saharu and Bhala, all three of Chimbe caste (tailor) were Darbari in Guru’s court. Pandha and Bula were known for singing and writing Gurbani.
Among the learned and literate Sikhs of Guru Arjan, there is no mention of Baba Buddha by Bhai Gurdas:
“Bala Kisna Jhingran Pandit rai sabha singara
--
Gokhu Toda Mehtya tota Mad Sabad vichara
Jhanju ate mukund hai Kirtan kare Hajoor kidara”
(Vaar11,paudi18)
Bala, Kisna of jhingar caste and Rai Pundit were learned men in Guru’s court. Gokhu, Toda, Mehtu and Madu are the ones who contemplate on the Sabad. Jhanju, Mukund and Kedara are the hajoori kirtaniyas of Guru Arjan.
“Tilak Tiloka Paalka Saadh Sangat Sew hitkara”(Vaar11, Paudi28)
Bhai Tiloka is a respected reciter of Gurbani and reads it aloud for the entire congregation to listen. [Shiromani Paathak (Steek of Varaan Bhai Gurdas (Punjabi), Bhai Veer Singh), p. 194)]
Finally, as pointed out earlier, Bhai Buddha was a close associate of the first six Sikh Gurus, so it is reasonable that Bhai Budha learned to read the Adi Granth, but he did not leave any evidence of his learning/scholarship in his own writings like Bhai Gurdas did, a fact both Pashaura Singh and Tiwana ignored.
The Bipran literature is full of contradictory statements. So for a scholar to pick only the information that suits his or her views and ignore other information without commenting on it is intellectually dishonest - a practice we find in McLeod and his associates writings. It is more so in the works of Pashaura Singh as he was at one time a granthi (priest) and trained by McLeod who was trained as a missionary.
On page 923 of AGGS, Guru Amar Das has used the word Keso Gopal for God. However, ignorant or devious readers interpret it as Keso Gopal the Brahmin. It seems that Pashaura Singh has given his own spin by creating two person form “Keso Gopal” i.e. Keso and Gopal. Now let us examine the Sabad.
AMqy siqguru boilAw, mY ipCY kIrqnu kirAhu inrbwxu jIau ] kyso gopwl pMifq sidAhu, hir hir kQw pVih purwxu jIau ] hir kQw pVIAY, hir nwmu suxIAY, bybwxu, hir rMgu gur Bwvey ] ipMfu pqil ikirAw dIvw Pul, hir sir pwvey ] hir BwieAw siqguru boilAw, hir imilAw purKu sujwxu jIau ] rwmdws soFI iqlku dIAw, gur sbdu scu nIswxu jIau ]5]
Before his demise Guru AmarDas instructed his loved ones not to indulge in the useless practices of crying rather perform kirtan in praise of God in the company of God oriented saintly people (Kesho Gopal Pandit). Contemplate on the excellences of God. Read Gurbani and listen to Gurbani; that’s the way if you want to please me. Do not bother with offering of rice-balls on leaves, lighting lamps, and other rituals like floating the body out in the Ganges; instead, let my remains be given up to the Lord's Pool. The Lord was pleased as the True Guru spoke; he was blended then with the all-knowing Primal Lord God. The Guru then bestowed Sodhi Ram Das with the Guruship, the insignia of the True Word of the Shabad.
AGGS,M 3,p 923
2. Tiwana further writes: “Generally it is believed that Bhai Gurdas was the amanuensis of Guru Arjan when he compiled Adi Granth. According to Pashaura Singh, there was also another scribe, Jagna Brahmin of Agra, who had expertise in Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures. He earned himself a fine reputation for making copies of scriptures. They were assisted by four others- Bhai Sant Das, Bhai Harja, Bhai Sukha and Bhai Mansa Ram. In fact the preparation of scripture was a team effort, under the direct supervision of Guru Arjan. Jagna Brahmin made his own copy which Dr. Singh saw at Goindwal in 2002. It is claimed to be the exact copy of the Bir prepared by the team.”
The above paragraph and the cherry-picking habit of Pashaura Singh reminded me of a Hindi couplet “Kahin ki eeth Kahin ka Roda Bhanumati(Pashaura Singh) ne Kumba joda”: pick a stone from one place and a brick from other and claim that I have built a house or written history/new findings.
In the above paragraph Pashaura Singh has combined as many sources as he wanted. For instance, according to Tiwana, Pashaura Singh claims: “They were assisted by four others- Bhai Sant Das, Bhai Harja, Bhai Sukha and Bhai Mansa Ram.” However, this information has been copied by Pashaura Singh from Bansavalinama of KS Chibber, and appended with others to suite his agenda. Bansavalinama claims that only these four persons wrote Gurbani and Bhai Gurdas has no role to play. Here again Tiwana’s favorite scholar has concealed this information.
“Bhai Sant Das te Hariya, Sukha, Mansa Ram, likhde jaan
Chaare Likhari, jo Saheb kare bakhan”(Charan 5, 31, page 76)
Also Pashaura Singh changed the name of Hariya to Harja. About Jagna Brahmin, Bhai Gurdas only mentions the name of one Jagna who is among one of the many Sikhs of Agra at the time of Guru Arjan.
“Jagna Nanda Saadh hai Bhanu suhad hansa di dhala
Gurbhai Ratna di mala”
(Vaar11,paudi 27)
Jagna and Nanda are saintly persons and along with Bhanu Suhad these three contemplate on Gurbani. These three Gursikhs were so close to each other that they were like beads in a necklace.
3. “MS 1245, Behoval pothi and Vanjara Pothis were the earlier drafts prepared under the supervision of Guru Arjan before the master Kartapur draft was finalized.”
It is surprising that not only Pashaura Singh but also others believe in such fabricated stories: Guru Arjan praising Mohan to get Gurbani pothies, or Guru Arjan collecting Gurbani from different sources or preparing rough drafts before the final draft. They rely on Sakhis, not on AGGS to support such baseless claims.
Let us see what Guru Arjan himself says about the source of Gurbani compositions which he used to compile the Adi Granth.
Guru Arjan says, “When I opened it up and my eyes gazed upon the treasures of my father and grandfather (Guru Nanak,Guru Angad,Guru AmarDas,Guru RamDas), then my mind was flabbergasted with the priceless treasure that I possessed. The treasure is inexhaustible and immeasurable, overflowing with priceless jewels and rubies. All of us should get together, and eat and spend from this invaluable treasure, but these resources will never diminish; they will continue to increase the more you spend them. Nanak, one who is fortunate, becomes a partner in these treasures.”
It is crystal clear from the above verse that Guru Arjan had all the banis with him, the only thing he did was to arrange that invaluable treasure in one place or book which he called Pothi.
4. “Guru Nanak wrote his hymns in lande/mahajani, language of his profession in Gurmukhi script. That puts Gurmukhi earlier to Guru Angad.”
Landde is a script and not a language; it was used by the traders/ mercantile class to keep their records. Before Guru Nanak there was no Punjabi literature in prose or poetry in any script except the couplets (shloks) of Baba Farid. However, there were quite a few scripts in Punjab and adjoining territories like Landde/Takre (lMfy/twkry), Sidh Matrika (is`D mwiqRkw), Bhatt Achchri (B`t A`CrI) and Takri (twkrI ) and with the exception of Takri all other written systems were incomplete, defective and confined to a particular class of users. The letters of Gurmukhi existed before Guru Nanak, but not the Gurmukhi script, which was constructed by Guru Nanak and Guru Angad from the letters and vowels (lagas/ matras) of existing scripts.
Renowned paleographer Gaurishankar Hira Chand Ohja, who is accepted as an authority on Indian scripts, accepts that Gurmukhi was given its present form by the Sikh Gurus and says that Takri and Gurmukhi both have originated from Sharda (Swrdw ), a script that was developed in Kashmir.
Guru Nanak’s composition “Patti Likhi” in Rag Aasa has most of the letters in the same sequence as the modern Gurmukhi script. This shows that Guru Nanak was in the process of constructing the Gurmukhi script when he composed this composition.
During Guru Nanak time Khatris were generally a mercantile class/ traders, so being born into a Khatri family, most probably, he learnt the Landde script. Moreover, by Guru Nanak’s time Khatris had become accustomed to Muslim rule and they were working for the government not only as petty officials but also in high ranks like Diwans (ministers). According to Irfan Habib, Khatris were accountants. So the Khatris were learning the official Persian language enthusiastically as Indians were learning English during the British rule. So it is quite possible that Guru Nanak was proficient in Persian.
5. Pashaura Singh has even accused Guru Arjan as an opportunist (Mauka-prast), when he writes:.
“Inclusion of Bhagat Dhanna’s hymns in Adi Granth was a response to the contemporary situation in which a large number of Jats were attracted towards the Sikh faith.”
Beside accusing Gur Arjan of being an opportunist, Pashaura Singh tries to indirectly imply that Guru Arjan did not have Dhanna’s bani. On the contrary there is evidence in Aad Guru Granth Sahib that Guru Arjan had in his possession Dhanna’s hymns along with the hymns of other bhagats and sufis.
Bhagat Dhanna’s bani was already in “pIaU dwdy kw Koil ifTw Kjwnw”that Guru Arjan possessed. It was a widely spread rumor that Bhagat Dhanna found God through the worship of a stone. Also there were baseless stories about other bhagats which are prevalent even to this day. To counter such baseless stories, the fourth Guru, Ram Das declared that these bhagats realized God through loving devotion. In his composition he mentions the names of various Bhagats whose bani was recited and sung to dispel doubts about how these bhagats realized God.
nwmw jYdyau kMbIru iqRlocnu Aaujwiq rivdwsu cimAwru cmeIAw ] jo jo imlY swDU jn sMgiq Dnu DMnw jtu sYxu imilAw hir deIAw ]7] sMq jnw kI hir pYj rKweI Bgiq vClu AMgIkwru kreIAw ] nwnk srix pry jgjIvn hir hir ikrpw Dwir rKeIAw ]8]4]7]
Naam Dayv, Jai Dayv, Kabeer, Trilochan and Ravi Daas the low-caste leather-worker, Dhanna Jatt and Sain(barber) and all others who joined the Saadh Sangat (company of saints) understood the Merciful Lord. The Lord protects the honor of His humble servants; He is the Lover of His devotees - He makes them His own. Nanak has entered the Sanctuary of the Lord, the Life of the world, who has showered His Mercy upon him, and saved him.
AGGS, M 4, p. 835
So it is clear beyond reasonable doubts that Bhagat Dhanna’s hymn was already a part of the collection of hymns (bani) which Sikhs used to sing long before the time of Guru Arjan.
Moreover does Tiwana or Pashaura Singh realize the implication of the scurrilous statement? If Dhanna’s hymn was added due to the influence of large number of Jats in the Sikh community then what influenced the incorporation of far larger number of hymns of Kabir, Namdev and Ravidas as the number of weavers, tailors and leather workers was rather very small during the time of Guru Arjan. Moreover, what attracted significant number of Tarkhans, Lubanas, Kalals and Valmikis to the Sikh fold when there are no hymns in the Aad Guru Granth of bhagats from these groups? Further, why relatively a small number of upper caste Hindus joined the Sikh movement in spite of the Khatri background of the Gurus? It seems that Pashaura Singh is no better at being a Sikh scholar than he was as a granthi (priest). Did he not read Guru Ram Das’ hymn?
6. Under “Disagreements” Tiwana says that Pashaura Singh makes no reference to Dr. Balwant Singh Dhillon’s book, “Early Sikh Scriptural Tradition", a much talked about work on the subject, though he mentions Pritam Singh’s view on Ayiapur Poth (Goindwal).
Mr. Tiwana, that is not enough! The question to ask is why Pashura Singh made no reference to Prof. Dhillon’s work? The answer is that Dhillon’s research on GNDU (Guru Nanak Dev University) MS # 1245 exposes Pashaura Singh’s deceptive and manipulative work on this topic.
Discussing the works of Piar Singh, Pashaura Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann, Dhillon remarks, “Similarly, after going through the studies of the above scholars on the Adi Granth, I also feel that they have not told the whole story, honestly and truly. Much has been concealed than revealed regarding the so-called earlier sources of Sikh canon”. Mr. Tiwana, no honorable scholar remains silent when his/her work is refuted and academic integrity challenged.
7.Under “Stands his convictions” Tiwana says, “His loyalty to his guide and mentor, Dr. Hew McLeod, is unwavering. The spirit of McLeod stalks through the pages of the text. McLeod is the most quoted author in the book.”
This statement reminds me of Giani Zail Singh when he was made President of India:
“I will clean Bibi Indira’s shoes if she asks me and will sweep the streets too if she asks me to.” It seems there is no difference in the mentality of the two though Giani Zail Singh was a politician and Pashaura Singh is Professor of Religion at University of California, Riverside.
8. At the end of his review under “Disagreements”, Tiwana tries to give the impression as if his review is the product of in-depth study of the book with a critical eye.
The section under disagreements is like saying you should spell “Kat as Kate” because I read it in a Tom Clancy novel. But one thing that is worth mentioning is the following quote: “Since Rag-mala is not Gurbani, it should have been kept separate from Adi Granth as did Guru Gobind Singh keep his works out of it.”
Tiwana’s statement implies that he has studied the so called Dasam Granth (I assume he is talking about the same). So I humbly request Mr. Tiwana to tell us how many times he has read the so-called works of Guru Gobind Singh and why Guru Gobind Singh kept them out of Adi Granth?
Conclusion
In his conclusion Tiwana asserts: “It is a very well researched volume and as a scholar, gursikh and granthi, he is fully qualified to the job.”
However, facts about Pashaura Singh’s qualification refute Tiwana’s assertion. Would Mr. Tiwana kindly explain to us how a discredited candidate, who was demoted from assistant professor to a lecturer at the University of Michigan, get an appointment as full Professor in the same field at the University of California, Riverside?
Historians, it is said, fall into one of three categories: Those who lie, those who are mistaken and those who do not know. I leave it up to the readers to decide which category the reviewer and the one who has been reviewed fall into.
