SikhSpectrum.com  .   Home                                                     Issue 37   .   December 2009

                                                                                                               

 

 

 

Reverend Hew McLeod as I Knew Him


- Jasbir Singh Mann M.D.

 

Reverend/Professor Hew McLeod, a Christian missionary and his associates initiated Sikh Religious Studies in North American universities such as University of Toronto and University of California, Berkley. He spent a lot of time in Punjab where he got interested in Punjabi language, Sikhs and Sikhism.

 

S. Daljit Singh made me aware of McLeod’s Batala background and his writings. Thereafter, I got interested in his research on Sikhism and established a contact with him when he came to Toronto in 1980s. Since then and until his unfortunate death, I regularly kept in touch with McLeod’s researches.

 

Sikhs started migrating to North America as early as 1890. Initially, they went through struggle for survival and faced difficulties in spreading the authentic message of Sikhism and its history. No doubt McLeod brought awareness of Sikh studies in the West but his interpretation of Sikh religion lacked true essence of Gurbani as enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Additionally, he silenced the glorious period of Sikh history of the 18th century.

 

The complexity of the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib is perplexing for Western interpreters as noted by Max Arthur McCauliffe  in late 1800s. To date it remains the most comprehensive and authentic scripture composed of hymns written in Gurmukhi, Persian, Mediaeval Prakrit, old Punjabi, Hindi, Marathi, Multani, and several other dialects of India. Therefore, it is imperative that a scholar, who wants to conduct research in the field of Sikh studies pertaining to Guru Granth Sahib, must be well versed in related languages.

 

Collier’s Encyclopedia clearly defines that “Academic freedom is never unlimited. The general law of society including those concerning libel apply also to academic disclosure and publications”. In the United States, for example, scientific conclusions on questions of racial difference or similarities have met with hostility in some communities. At such times individual citizens, pressure groups, or even community at large may wish to interfere with the research.

 

As Sikhism became the 5th largest religion and Sikh studies are going on worldwide, there is a need to encourage the sharing of authentic message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and to dissuade those who misrepresent and misinterpret Sikhism because of ideological and political blinkers or due to missionary paradigms. It was this ongoing process which the late Sardar Daljeet Singh and his distinguished colleagues were called upon to face, in spite of the gulf between the resources of the two sides. All of us successfully countered this onslaught on the Sikh way of life through vast literature in the form of books, articles, and reviews and by holding international conferences.

 

Understanding of Sikhism and its history cannot be rationalized or authenticated without including the study of Gurbani (the Guru’s Word) and the history of the Guru period as well as the Khalsa tradition (i.e. Gur it-haas and Sikh it-haas). Hew introduced many unfounded hypothesis, which later on became topics of research by his so called flag carriers - his students.

 

In his book Sikhism published by Penguin Books (1997), Hew McLeod writes on the dedication page, ”For Harjot Oberoi, Pashaura Singh, Gurinder Singh Mann, Lou Fenech who keep the flag flying”. What kind of academic message Prof. McLeod had in his mind when he wrote this dedication in 1997? What kind of flag Prof McLeod was trying to unfurl and what were his intentions? It appears that McLeod’s intentions were to create confusion about Sikhism through misguided and concocted academic studies. This alarmed Sikh scholars. Hence it became paramount to respond to this nonacademic and unethical misinformation of Sikhism and its tenets.

 

As the matter was purely academic and ideological, therefore, numerous international conferences were organized from 1988 onwards to counter the so-called academic researches by McLeod and his students and colleagues. Hew McLeod and his flag-bearers were invited to all these conferences but they never showed up. Since these conferences were particularly organized to challenge the academic authenticity of research done by Hew McLeod and his group they should have attended these conferences and addressed the concerns of the Sikh community.  NG Barrier writes “Fighting Hew McLeod turned out to be a very expensive proposition for some Sikhs”. But Sikhs considered it their moral duty to counter the false propaganda of McLeod by organizing these conferences.   An outline of these conferences and books published is given below: 

 

A list of international conferences and seminars follows:

 

1988 • Conference of Sikh Studies, California State University, Long Beach

 

1990 • International Conferences on Sikh Studies, held at London, Toronto University,   University of British Columbia, Berkeley University, Washington, New York, and Chicago

 

1993 • Dr. Gobind Singh Mansukhani Memorial Seminar for his contribution to Sikh Studies held at Sikh Center of Orange County; Santa Ana, CA


1994 • International Conferences on Sikh studies, York University, Toronto; UBC, Vancouver B.C; Oakland University, Michigan; UC Berkeley; Washington; New Jersey; Santa Ana, CA.

 

1995 • Miri Piri conferences,Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA; San Jose, CA; Fresno, CA; Stockton, CA; Espanola, NM.

 

1996 • 289th Gurgadee Diwas Seminar at Tiera Buena Gurdwara, Yuba City, CA. (Held during the annual gathering of Sikhs where 30,000-40,000 are in attendance from all over the world.)

 

2000 • International Conferences on Sikh Studies, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA; San Jose State University, CA; University of Toronto, Mississauga; Oakland University, Michigan; Vancouver, BC; New York, NY.

 

2004 • International Conferences on Sikh Studies in Celebration of Four Hundred Years of Compilation of Guru Granth Sahib . Mt. SAC College, Walnut, CA;  UC Santa Barbra, CA; San Jose St Univ, San Jose, CA; British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC; Edmonton; York University, Toronto; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; George Mason Univ, Fairfax, VA –  click  http://www.internationalsikhconference.org/ for more information.

 

The following books were published to present authentic Sikh perspective. These books are available on line at  www.globalsikhstudies.net  

 

Perspectives on the Sikh Tradition - Ed. by Gurdev Singh et al

Sikh Revolution - Jagjit Singh

Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Daljeet Singh

Planned Attack on AGGS - Ed. by Giani Bachittar Singh

Ernest Trump & Hew McLeod as Scholars of Sikh History - Trilochan Singh

Perspectives On Sikh Studies - Jagjit. Singh

Advanced Study in Sikhism - Ed. by Jasbir S. Mann et al

Fundamental Issues in Sikh Studies – Ed. by Kharak S. Mann et al

Recent Researches in Sikhism - Ed. by Jasbir S. Mann et al

Invasion of Religious Boundaries - Ed. by Jasbir S. Mann et al

Sikhism And Civilization - Daljeet Singh .

Truth About Punjab- SGPC White Paper - Gurdarshan S Dhillon

Early Sikh Scriptural Tradition - Dr. Balwant Singh Dhillon

Compilation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib - Prof. Sahib Singh

Ahyapur Pothi (Goindwal Pothi)Punjabi with English translation - Dr. Pritam Singh

Janamsakhi Tradition (english version) - Dr. Kirpal Singh

Janamsakhi Tradition (punjabi version) - Dr. Kirpal Singh

Sikhism- in contest of  Dr Mcleod,pashaura,Oberoi and Likes- Dr.Darshan singh

Sophistry of Dr.W.H.Mcleod- Dr.Amarjit Singh Bal

Discovering Dr.W.H.Mcleod and his works on Sikhism-Dr.Baldev Singh

Sikh Ideology - Daljeet Singh

Essentials of Sikhism - Daljeet Singh

 

In Discovering The Sikhs, McLeod never discovered the Sikhs as his research lacked use of quotes from GGS which is the primary source of Sikh studies. Dr. McLeod makes the following salient points in his autobiography. 

 

He explained his method (of doing research) dealing with the Sikhs to the Sikhs (p.1, Discovering Sikhs).  “It is a historian’s quest for the truth” (p.3, Discovering The Sikhs).

“I am a Western historian and the society I study is not my own—using Western methodology” (p. 4, Discovering The Sikhs).

 

I was deposited in Punjab (Kharar-Batala) in 1958, where I discovered lack of direction and started searching something in the history of Punjab (p. 5, Discovering The Sikhs).

 

I came in contact with another missionary, Dr. Loehlin who had done some work in Sikh history.  In five years since my arrival in India, I collected enough data and left for London to do a Ph. D. on Guru Nanak under Dr. A. L. Basham, the author of The Wonder That Was India.

 

Dr. McLeod admits that Professor Basham knew nothing about Guru Nanak and little about Punjabi language (p. 39, Discovering Sikhs).  Hence his thesis was his own work, which was “stamped” by Professor Basham on June 30, 1965.  It could be seen that Professor Basham stated in his book The Wonder That Was India (p. 481) that Nanak taught the doctrine developed by Kabir.  Further to Professor Basham’s historical knowledge about Lord Krishna, it is stated in The Wonder That Was India that Lord Krishna died a depressed person in Gujarat after Yadavs killed each other in a drunken brawl!

 

Dr. McLeod got his Ph. D. in 1965 from University of London after seven years of total exposure to Sikhism.  It is interesting to note that there were many famous historians living in Punjab such as Ganda Singh, Harbans Singh, Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh, yet Dr. McLeod chose to work under Dr. Basham who knew nothing about Sikhism. No ethics committee was set up to examine his thesis proposal and none of the members of his thesis committee were Punjabi knowing Sikhs.  It must be pointed out that his other students (Pashaura Singh, Oberoi and Fenech) followed the model set by him to become “instant historians” of Sikh history. Their thesis proposals, too, were not examined by the ethics committee. No input was sought from the ethnic community under study and no exposure was provided to these students about Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC—1993) guidelines.

 

After receiving his Ph. D., Dr. McLeod’s academic career can be divided as follows:

Baring Christian College, Batala 1965-69 (He admits that during this period, his religious beliefs dwindled to zero and he started looking for “Truth” in Sikh history.)

1969-2002:  Teaching at the University of Otago, undermining Sikh traditions but missing teaching in North American universities and obsessively displaying doubts, skepticism in his search for the “truth.”  He was not at all empathy oriented to Sikh ethos and traditions and went as far as comparing Bano, Kartarpur and Damdami version of Guru Granth Sahib to figure out which one was the “Real Live Guru of the Sikhs.” (The readers are directed to Dr. McLeod’s article to the “Sikh Scriptures—Some Issues” in a book on Sikh Studies edited by G. Barrier (1979, pp. 97-111).

 

As a Western historian, Dr. McLeod claimed that he has the authority to look for truth and if in the process, traditions get destroyed and trampled over, so it be!  As a Sikh psychologist trained in the Western tradition with twenty-seven years of teaching experience (1968-95) in the Western universities and practicing psychotherapy for thirteen years (1995-2008), Dr Sodhi  used his book Discovering the Sikhs (Autobiography of a Historian) to psychoanalyze him using psychoanalytical method and hoped the “truth” about him would emerge.

 

I invited Dr.McLeod and his group along with Margret for dinner at my house in 1989 when they came for annual  conference on Religious Studies in Anaheim. I called him regularly while he was in Toronto. Dr Sodhi met Hew and his wife, Margaret, in Halifax, Canada in September 1991.  All of this gave us chance to observe his research orientations and family dynamics or “co-dependency” they had on each other. 

 

In Chapter one, “The Reason Why,” Hew tried to justify his Western methodology of looking for truth in Sikh history.  He also claimed that he was a shy introvert and had “impoverished social skills.” In 1989 in Anaheim,1990, Toronto 1999 & 2001 Santa Barbara, myself and Dr. Sodhi in Halifax in 1991, found him a bit anxious, at times confused, dependent, fearful, melancholy, self-conscious, unappreciated, unfulfilled, suffering from wishy-washy obsessive-compulsiveness with linear one-dimensional thinking.  His historical research training took place in New Zealand; hence he was not exposed to Afro-centric or Khalsa-centric ethnic paradigms of research. 

 

On one hand he kept on asserting that an outsider should be very careful in dealing with the sensitive issues of Sikh studies such as Guru Granth Sahib, yet he still tried to let people like Pashaura Singh and Oberoi to dig like drain inspectors and destroy the traditions so dear to the Sikhs.  It appears he got vicarious satisfaction by putting Sikh researchers such as Oberoi, on Sikh Chairs at University of British Columbia as he could not himself land a job in a North American university. 

 

It is amazing that a Ph. D. from University of London could be so myopic as not to recognize the dangers of planting a eurocentric Sikh researcher on a Chair created by the donations of rural Sikhs of India, who have made Canada their home and felt that a Sikh scholar at the University of British Columbia would help them find ways of enhancing their needs of transmitting Sikh traditions to second generation children.  It is a known fact that Government of India objected to the creation of a Sikh Chair at University of British Columbia but McLeod came to their rescue by recommending an anti-Sikh researcher to put cold water on their enthusiasm.

Hew, Margret, and NG Barrier always felt upset when Sikhs called Mcleod “Reverend.”  A man is known by the company he keeps.  His association with missionaries of Kharar and Batala and former Director at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla is taken as a proof of his affiliation. P.K. Nijhawan on page 80-81 of his book “Suppression of Intellectual Dissidence and How Left-Nehruvians Destroyed Punjab” clearly shows his connections with forces trying to subdue Sikh minority of India. If above facts were wrong, then why didn’t the former Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University ever deny the charges of Mr. P.K. Nijhawan? The foreword of the book was written by most trusted student of the Vice Chancellor.

 

There is no doubt that Sikhs showed a “Burnt child dreads the fire” approach to McLeod’s writing, but Hew should have remembered that he came as a white missionary to India.  Sikhs still had in their “collective unconscious” memory of how missionaries of Ludhiana, 1832 – 1849 on, spied on the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; and western “friends” of the Sikhs such as Henry Lawrence, General Ventura, Lord Ellenborough, Lord Harding, Major Broadfoot and Lord Dalhousie to mention a few, cheated Sikhs of their hard earned empire. Sir John Login, a missionary, converted Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s son, Dalip Singh, to Christianity at the tender age of eleven through brain washing and made him and his mother Rani Jindan to suffer.

 

In Chapter six, Otago Years (1971-2002), Hew claimed that he introduced a second year paper on ‘Historical Methods and Interpretation’ and used his classes to show how ignorant Sikh scholars were attacking a “faithful, truth-finding historian.” I hope the outline of the above-mentioned course was not lopsided and eurocentric as all his writings were!  He also claimed that he had gotten Janam Sakhi published by Guru Nanak University Press through the influence of Professor Grewal who later on came to University of Toronto as a visiting Professor.

 

During these years, Hew was collecting Rahit Namas to prove that Khalsa with 5 Ks was not created in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh but was a later invention. He failed to note all five kakkars practiced by the Sikhs in 18th century were well documented by European authors. Why Mcleod failed to write about the glorious period of Sikh history of the 18th century remains a mystery. He took time to go to Gurdwara Panja Sahib to get the exact measurement of the Panja of Guru Nanak Devji.  McLeod, a keen destroyer of Sikh faith and tradition claims the following about Panja Sahib.  According to him 

 

It is unquestionably a late etiological legend dating from the early nineteenth century (Discovering The Sikhs, 87).

 

The story of Panja Sahib is an anecdote set in the village of Hasan Abdal.

 

It was clear that Hew did not care for the sentiments of the Sikhs but wanted to needle them from time to time with the intentions of cutting Guru Nanak to “size” to point out whether incisions of the Panja were sharp or smooth! 

 

In 1985, Hew was given a grant by Government of India to visit Indian universities. It can be inferred that the events of 1984 may have motivated Government of India to make him go to universities and talk about the Sikhs and their traditions as seen by him. During this period he also got Commonwealth Fellowship from University of Toronto.  It will be very interesting to find out what kind of grant proposals were made by him to the Government of India and to the Commonwealth Society. 

 

Eurocentric birds of a feather (researchers) such as John Simpson, Will Oxtoby, Milton Isreal, Joseph O’Connell, Ainslie Embree, Jack Hawley, Mark Juergensmeyer and Jerry Barrier had started gathering at the University of Toronto.  All they needed was a “Shuttar Murg” (Big Rooster); hence, McLeod was invited to put the Canadian Sikhs in their place with the blessings of Fabian, Consulate General, Government of India stationed in Toronto in 1985.  [There is a documented evidence (minutes) U. B. C. President’s meeting with Fabian] that Government of India was against setting up Sikh Studies Chairs at University of British Columbia with the money collected by rural Sikhs of Punjab who had settled in Canada.  When the Chair was approved, thanks to Government of Canada’s contribution, Hew recommended Oberoi for that Chair to produce non-relevant anti-Sikh research. 

 

It must be stated that Hew’s Otago years were not without purpose.  He was getting grants from Government of India and Commonwealth in an effort to start at the University of Toronto a Sikh Studies program to produce and plant  “historians in a hurry” in various North American universities.

 

On February 2, 1987, at the age of fifty-four, because of his excessive work, Hew suffered stroke on the left side of his brain which affected his right side of the body.  His written competencies were not affected.  He claims to have written three books while recovering from stroke!—“talk of death wish or denial producing depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behavior”.  His oral competencies were affected and he developed problem in spoken language especially in the area of “switching.” 

 

Canada Years 1988—As Hew’s motivation was to train some Sikh scholars in Canada, he found an ex-granthi (Pashaura Singh).  While at Calgary, Pashaura Singh finished his degree and wrote M. A. thesis on Bhagats (Kabir and Farid) under the supervision of non-Sikhs who did not know  Gurbani.  Anyway,  Mr. Singh who declared Kabir as a semi-literate person in his M. A. thesis got admission to newly minted and funded program by Canada Council and the local Sikh community.  It is very interesting to note that even though the University of Toronto Sikh scholars applied and got Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada funding they violated every ethics guideline set by the secular body.  When this violation was brought to the attention of Dr. Carole Murphy, Director, Fellowship Division, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Ottawa and Dr. Adel Sedra, Vice-President and Provost, University of Toronto, they investigated and stopped the funding thereby resulting in banishment from Toronto of this eurocentric group including Dr McLeod.  The readers are referred to a well written book Planned Attack on Aad Sri Guru Granth Sahib Academics or Blasphemy edited by B. S. Giani (1994) with contribution from 30 Sikh scholars to see for themselves why we should not feel “disgraced” at what we did to stop this unethical nonsense that went on in Toronto with funds provided by Canada Council or Toronto Sikhs.

 

McLeod was upset that his other instant scholars such as Fenech and Oberoi were also mistreated.  A brief summary and hypothesis of Dr. Fenech’s thesis are given and the readers can make their own judgments.  Fenech (1994) states that: 1.The purpose behind Sikh Martyrologies is to demonstrate the profound victory in what at first appears to be a defeat (So Baba Deep Singh was actually defeated.)  2. The motivation of Sikh martyrs came from the taunt or mehna not from their faith in Gurus. 3. Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom was instigated by Brahmnic taunts. 4. Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnarna is an example of a taunt.

 

This shameful and lopsided research done by an instant Sikh scholar of Maltese extraction was again published by Oxford University Press, Delhi and Hew was very proud of imposing such half baked scholars on the Sikhs and felt upset that we did not warmly welcome such research about our role models and Gurus.  Dr. McLeod also felt that those who rose against Dr. Oberoi earned a black mark against their name.  The University of British Columbia made a wise decision by first not changing their minds about Sikh Chairs under the influence of Government of India and then removing Oberoi for violating norms of SSHRC Canada. 

 

Dr. McLeod kept on complaining that his work and research was very severely treated in print.  Did he ever think of why so many Sikh scholars had to publish material against him?  Did he ever care to “discover” the hurt he had caused the Sikhs because of his “egostonic” behavior?

 

Discovering the Sikhs, an autobiography of a Historian by Dr. Hew McLeod was a troubling autobiography written by a very troubled person. But, we have to respond as we and he quoted our work in detail. I feel if Hew could have stayed in Kharar to look after the well being of seventy-eight Christian children and cared for Christian Boys School, he would be remembered in the Education System of Punjab as Dr. Ryburn is still remembered.  Incidentally, the Kharar School is in ruins and Marshal Press is also closed because various missionaries came to Kharar, used school’s resources and left for greener pastures.

 

Hew was licensed as Rev. William Hewat McLeod on December 12, 1957. He was appointed to succeed Rev. Ryburn in India. He left for India by sea on 14.4.1958 and reached Kharar, Punjab (India). In 1969, he returned to New Zealand and resigned on 30.9.1969 from church and withdrew. In 1998, contrary to the belief of his friends that Hew was agnostic, he again became associated with Presbyterian Church and as per records of the church became Convener of Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ Historical Records Committee 1998 to 2000 and Member PCANZ Historical Records Reference Group from 2000. In Presbyterian Church Records his title is still REVEREND. Click on http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/Page181.htm

 

“McLEOD, Rev William Hewat (Hew)  (Emeritus Professor)  M.A.(Hons), Ph.D.(London)b Feilding.” 

 

According to sources Hew McLeod's last rites were carried out on July 24,  2009 at the Chapel of Knox College of Dunedin. In New Zealand, Knox College is considered the foremost college of Christianity.

 

My family and I join Margaret and all others for prayers to Waheguru to grant eternal peace to the departed soul. We also pray to Almighty to give strength to the family and his academic fraternity to bear this great loss.