The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC), which is the umbrella national body of all the Sikh Gurdwaras in Malaysia, is disturbed at the trend in the country to put down religions other than Islam. This trend can be seen developing in the numerous cases in the last 20 years where non-Muslim religions have been put-down.

The MGC is of the view that no religion which follows true teachings of its own religion will put down another religion

The present expose relates to the use of teaching slides by lecturers at UTM that belittled and ridiculed the faiths of Sikhism and Hinduism. It is a deliberate act and not a mistake as it was done consciously. It showed the lecturer’s utter disrespect for other faiths and are guilty of bigotry as their assertions are foolish and devoid of facts and truth.

They also appear to have committed an offence of sedition and offences against the Penal Code especially Section 298 which relates to injuring the feelings of followers of other religion.

The allegations against Sikhism are false. Here it is why.

1) Allegation: “Sikhism. Dikemukakan oleh Kabir yang kemudiannya dikembangkan oleh Guru Nanak (1469-1533). Ia adalah gabungan unsur-unsur keagamaan yang ada dalam Islam dan Hindu.

Answer: This is absolutely false, Kabir is not the founder of Sikhism. He is one of the Saints whose writings were accepted to be included in the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs.

Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism (and not follower as alleged by the UTM module).

Guru Nanak founded Sikhism which is authentic, new and revolutionary at the time with its own spirituality and its concepts of God, Nature, Humanity and Society.

Dr Kazi Nurul Islam ( professor and chairperson of the Department of World Religions and Culture at Dhaka University in Bangladesh) described it as a model for interfaith understanding, in his article ‘Guru Granth Sahib: A Model For Interfaith Understanding’, and had this to say about Sikhism (after comparing with Islam):

“Sikhism is a religion which was founded on the principles of interfaith understanding, mutual respect and harmony. From the very beginning, the leaders and the followers of this tradition preached the principles of interfaith respect, dialogue and understanding.

“To be a Sikh, it is mandatory that he/she must respect and accept all other religions of the world and at the same time must protect, guard and allow the free-practice of the customs and rituals of others. The Guru Granth Sahib teaches its followers to love all creation as God’s own manifestation. Acceptance of all faiths, and interfaith tolerance and understanding are basic to the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib.”

Perhaps the UTM lecturers can learn and gain wisdom from Dr Kazi’s above article and not remain in a closed circle.

ii) Allegation: “ Kabir yang tidak memahami secara mendalam ajaran Islam terpengaruh dengan persekitaran kehidupan masyarakat Hindu telah merangka gagasan awal agama Sikh ini.”

Answer: The facts stated about Kabir’s personal and spiritual life are ficticious in nature. Kabir was a devout Muslim saint. His concept of God was in line with Guru Nanak’s teachings and therefore some of Kabir’s writings were accepted together with 29 other saints writings by Sikh Guru’s and included in the Holy Sikh Scripture.

The Sikhs are fortunate as beginning with Guru Nanak and followed by other Gurus the revelations from God to them were recorded in a book and the book was passed on to subsequent Gurus culminating in the 10th Sikh Guru compiling them all in one volume called Guru Granth Sahib.

The MGC is disturbed that the above allegations against Sikhism which are contained in the lecture slides are similar to that being made by the Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who was in Malaysia recently. Those who have gone through his speeches found on the Internet can vouch for this.

The MGC demands that serious action be taken against those who were responsible for this act of blasphemy and belittling of other faiths, so as to send signal to others like-minded persons not to repeat such mistakes or else they will be seriously dealt with.

Nothing short of this will suffice as any inaction will embolden such elements to carry out their misguided ways.

JAGIR SINGH is president, Malaysian Gurdwaras Council.