Former Jathedar of the Akaal Takht, Darshan Singh, met last week-end with a small group of Washington's Potomac area Sikhs to discuss issues facing the Sikh community. The following is a translation of the thoughts expressed by Singh Sahib.

On kaes …

It took 200 years of toil and torture for the Gurus to develop the Sikh thought - to complete Sikhi - after which they gave us the name "Singh" [and Kaur].

If you explain to children the significance of these things, they will accept it more readily and more happily.

Q: Should women wear a dastaar?

The purpose of a dastaar is to cover the hair. Hair should be covered one way or the other. For women, wearing a dastaar/kaeski is optional. The tying of a dastaar on women started with Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh, one of the Sikh savants around the early 20th century. Don't make it a taboo, that if you don't wear a kaeski, you are not a Sikh - as long as the kaes is covered (whether by scarf, dupata, etc). Anything that should be preserved needs to be taken care of. Taking care of kaeshas means protecting them from dust, environmental conditions, and pollutants.

Covering the hair, however, should not become a ritual. For women, if accidentally a duppatta slides down, it should not be considered disrespectful to the Guru.

Q: You are often quoted as saying "Any Sikh not for Khalistan is not a Sikh." Did you say that?

I was quoted out of context.

It happened in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 2001. I got a call at eleven o'clock at night that Sikh leaders will be meeting the President of Pakistan the next morning. I responded that it would be beneficial for the Sikh leaders to meet among themselves first to decide upon the mode of discussion, the issues that we would like to raise with the President and who will lead the discussion on behalf of the Sikhs.

Next morning, the meeting of Sikh leaders, including S. Gurmit Singh from the Council of Khalistan and S. Paramjit Singh, then President of DSGMC, took place. S. Gurmit Singh insisted that the only issue we would discuss with the President is Khalistan. S. Paramjit Singh objected and said, "in that case I will not be a party to this group."

At that point, I interjected and said, "S. Gurmit Singh, you have to realize that every Sikh desires a Khalistan. In fact, any Sikh who doesn't want Khalistan is not a Sikh. However, the situation is different for each Sikh. If Khalistan comes into existence today, there won't be any Sikh who would oppose it. The way you profess and impose Khalistan on others scares people. We have to realize that these people whom you are scaring are and can be a strong force behind the concept of Khalistan. You are discarding that group of Sikhs. You insist that you do not need these people for the formation of Khalistan - that is where I disagree."

Q: How do we resolve the problem that a large percentage of the grown population has cut their hair? How is this affecting the younger generation who will soon to be the caretakers of all our Sikh institutions?

Those who have cut their hair out of ignorance or negligence can be handled. Sit down with them and explain to them the importance of kaeshas. If they have love for Sikhism, they need to realize how dangerous and destructive cutting their kaeshas is for the whole community. If we try to delineate the significance of kaeshas with utmost sincerity, they are likely to come around.

If you have cut your kaeshas, try to find a way back as soon as possible. This is a serious test of Sikhi.

The sangat and pangat (the congregation in the Darbar hall and the group in the langar hall) have commonalities. Anyone from any faith or denomination, without distinction from caste or creed, is welcome to join them. But there is no commonality between the Parbandhak and parchaarak (management and preachers) because the parchaar (preachings), based entirely on Guru Granth Sahib, will be diluted if the parband (management) is also not based upon the truthfulness from the holy Granth. Just as anyone can join a classroom as a student, a student can become a teacher only if he/she is fully qualified. For the Sikh management group, the minimum qualification is that they be at least keshadhari if not amritdhari.

We are fighting over useless things in the Gurdwaras - chairs in the langar hall or having kirtan in banquet halls. We are giving importance to things that have no relevance in Sikhism. Some of these items can be explained to the people and adjusted. But the convictions and the principle tenets of Sikhism, which matter most, should be the main emphasis.

On Sehajdhari voting in the SGPC elections…

It seems that the SGPC has been deliberating on this issue and perhaps has passed a resolution opposing Sehajdharis to be the voters, but the final decision depends upon the decision of the Central Election Commission. The SGPC elections have to be pre-approved by the government. If the CEC takes its time to reach its final decision on Sehajdhari voting, the SGPC elections can be put on hold.

The attitude of most of the Sikh leaders inside and outside India on most of the issues, including the issue of Sehajdhari, is based on their self-interest and unfortunately not in the interest of the Sikh community.

This translation was made possible with assistance from Ujagar Singh and Ranjit Kaur.