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Petition for Women's Right to do Seva

Chandigarh, February 20
The problem of discrimination against Sikh women at the Harmandir Sahib had been brewing for some time, but the issue took a turn for the worse recently when two amritdhari Sikh women were forcefully prevented from participating in the sukhasan seva. On February 13th, Lakhbir Kaur and Mejinderpal Kaur of London claimed that they were prevented by SGPC sevadaars from participating in the seva of carrying Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji's sevari from Sri Darbar Sahib. The sevadaars attending to the procession prevented them from queuing with the male members of the congregation. The sevadaars said that they could not touch the palki sahib, let alone carry it. Only male members were allowed to do so. In a phone interview from Punjab, Mejinderpal Kaur stated that the two were pushed and insulted by the sevadaars. One of the sevadaars said that his livelihood was at stake if he allowed them to join the queue. Mejinderpal was surprised that people were actually paid to carry the palki when volunteers were always available. As a heated debate broke out and the two women argued about equality granted by the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the Sikh Reht Maryada with about five of the sevadaars, Mejinderpal said, "no one helped us." None of the men surrounding them stepped in to help them, the women around them were perhaps too afraid to speak out. Mejinderpal and Lakhbir wrote a letter of complaint to Jathedaar Joginder Singh about the incident. In the letter they also urged the SGPC to intervene to allow women to participate in the prakash and sukhasan seva. The whole incident was particularly surprising to them because they had seen taped interviews with Jathedaar Joginder Singh in London in December 2002 where he stated that Sikh women had every right to perform seva at Harmandir Sahib. As the two awaited word from the SGPC and the Akal Takht, Harbeant Singh, Secretary SGPC, constituted a two-member inquiry committee, headed by Major Singh, chief gurdwara inspector. Mejinderpal said, "We found out about this from the press, we were never contacted to give our input into the matter." In a letter to the Akal Takht Jathedaar, the Darbar Sahib manager, Ajaib Singh, alleged that the UK-based Sikh women tried to touch the palki (palanquin) and started threatening the SGPC sevadaars when they tried to stop them from carrying the palki. He claimed that it was the fault of the UK-based Sikh women who tried to browbeat the SGPC employees and the devotees and insisted on performing the seva which was against Sikh traditions. Jathedaar Joginder Singh asked the SGPC to take steps to resolve the situation, keeping in mind the sentiments of the devotees and Sikh traditions. The Jathedaar was one of the signatories to a 1996 directive allowing amritdhari Sikh women to perform seva in the sanctum sanctorum, but that sentiment seemed to be missing now. The manager of Darbar Sahib, Ajaib Singh, said there was no precedent in Sikh history allowing women to perform seva. The inquiry committee did not find any fault with the sevadaars' actions. Although the women deny any wrong doing, they said they want to focus on the gender discrimination issue. They have sought help of all Sikh Organisations and individuals. They have also found considerable support from Sikh scholars and intellectuals such as Jaswinder Kaur of Guru Nanak Dev University, former SGPC General Secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, and former Jathedaar Darshan Singh. All have condemned the incident and are seeking immediate intervention of the Akal Takht Jathedaar and the SGPC chief to allow women to perform 'kirtan' and any 'seva' at the Harmandir Sahib. Supporters against gender discrimination have been irked for a long time about the lip service given by Sikh leaders on this issue. They say that Sikh leaders always manage to somehow hide behind tradition when they cannot find any legitimate reason for their regressive behavior. Leaders at the Akal Takht and the SGPC are accused of hiding behind the backward sentiments of a group of people they refer to as the "orthodox." Although they never identify who these "orthodox" people are, some have revealed themselves by the comments they made to the press. One such person was Baldev Singh, an SGPC member, who urged Jathedaar Joginder Singh not to take any decision with regard to allowing women to perform seva in the sanctum sanctorum. With conflicting views in the leadership ranks, the issue seems to be stalled there. But Mejinderpal Kaur and Lakhbir Kaur plan to force the issue. They have started a petition for the cause and are in the process of mounting world wide support. Mobilization in Panjab villages has also begun. They are looking for support from Gurdwaras, organizations, and the sangat. Mejinderpal Kaur says, "We want to approach the SGPC with a lot of backing" and ask that the problem be resolved. But they are not going to let this drag on for long. If the SGPC does not resolve the matter by March 8, a peaceful get-together to appeal in front of the Akal Takht will take place on March 9.


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