Our illustrious father Shaheed Nanak Singh www.shaheednanaksingh.com was a visionary and could foretell the consequences of religious disharmony. He pleaded with the then Muslim leaders not to cut and run and fall for the British policy of ‘Divide & Rule’. He said that after independence, India would be a secular and democratic country with one person one vote, and as a result, together we would make our destiny. He further warned that a country created artificially with the help of bloodshed would continue to generate more hatred for its very survival. In the words of our father,” India’s diversity is like the colours of a rainbow, its charm will diminish if one is removed”.

Mr Pannu does not believe in learning from history and would like to repeat the mistakes of the past. He seems content to see the death and destruction of 1947 happen once again in Punjab and Sikhs massacred outside Punjab just as we witnessed in 1984. He also does not seem to care what happens to the Sikh holy shrines outside Punjab as, according to him, the Sikhs should be confined to Punjab only. Does he think there will be no reaction in the rest of India against the poisonous ideology of the Khalistanis in Punjab?

It is worth remembering that the Sikh Gurus never stood for any single community, not even for the Sikhs as Mr Pannu does. The Sikh Gurus always stood for humanity and as a result, are revered by the people of every faith. Guru Teg Bhadur Ji paid the ultimate sacrifice to uphold the religious freedom of Hindus in India, and Guru Gobind Singh Ji established the Brotherhood of Khalsa to defend the religious freedom of every Indian. According to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, “diversity must be accepted, respected and if need be, defended”.