Patrons:
Lord
Karan Bilimoria
Lord
Bhikhu Parekh
Mr G. P. Hinduja
Mr J. S. Sangar
Mrs.
Jasbir Vohra
Advisors:
Dr.
Daljit .K Maudgil
Chairman:
Lord Rami Ranger CBE
Vice
Chairmen:
Hardyal
S Luther
Joginder S. Vig
President:
Amarjit S. Dassan
Vice Presidents:
Surinder S. Aujla
Surjit
S. Pandher
Jasbir S. Johal
General Secretary:
Pritpal Singh
Joint Secretary:
Dr. Peter S. Chadha
Finance Secretary:
Hardip Singh
PRO:
Satbir S. Bakshi
Social Secretary:
Parshotam S. Dhillon
Cultural Secretary:
Arun Luthra
Interfait & Charities
Secretary:
Ravel S. Ahuja
Fund raising Secretaries:
John Athwal
Anant Sra
Harbhajan Dhillon |
Speech by Dr. Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman of the British Sikh
Association delivered at the Vaisakhi Dinner on 30th
April 2009.
Your
Excellency, Lords, Members of Parliament, Ladies &
Gentlemen, it is good to celebrate an event, which changed
the course of mankind for ever.
The
creation of the Brotherhood of the Khalsa, by the 10th
Guru, Gobind Singh Ji was one of those events which not
only changed the lives of so many millions but also gave us
the blue print for modern India- secular and democratic.
Our
Gurus never wanted to divide India nor did they want,
a Kingdom for themselves. Instead, they created Sikhs, to
defend the unity and integrity of Mother India.
The
profound changes, our Gurus brought in the minds of a down
trodden community are still being felt in our society today
and I dare say will be felt forever.
This
was not an easy task when the oppression was perpetrated by
the very powerful ruler of the day. Sikh Gurus paid, the
ultimate sacrifices in order to bring an end, to tyranny and
injustice faced by the people of the then India. The 10th
Guru sacrificed his father his wife 4 children, and
eventually himself in order to defeat the powers of
darkness. This was the type of atrocity, faced by the people
of India at that time, that two of his sons were buried
alive at the tender age of 5 and 8 for refusing to convert
to the religion of the ruler. This must also shows the
strength of character, of the Sikhs.
It
is a fallacy to suggest, that our Gurus were against any
particular religion. As a matter of fact our Gurus were
against the deeds of the ruler and not against the religion
of the ruler. In other words, they were against human
oppression by religion or state.
It is worth remembering, that our Gurus
battles were not to spread the Sikh religion. Their battles
were to uphold the basic human rights of the people. It just
shows that over 3 centuries ago our Gurus were the first
to put human rights into practice. Our Gurus were ahead of
their times and as a result, Sikhs are the envy of society
but never the enemy of society.
At
the G20 conference when leaders of the most powerful
economies met in London over a billion Indians were
represented by 2 Sikhs – The Prime Minister, Dr Mahmohan
Singh and Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Director
Planning.
The
latest figures from the Office of National Statistics shows
that the Sikhs are the highest home owners in Britain. 82%
of them own their own homes followed by the long established
and extremely high achieving Jewish Community. These facts
bear testimony of our Guru's teachings that we must never
use religion to get something for nothing. Instead, we must
always use merit for our achievements.
Sikhism
is the first religion of the world, based purely on the
interfaith ideology. Our founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji,
travelled the length and breadth of India and beyond in
search of truth. In the end, he came to the conclusion that
no one person has a monopoly over truth and as a
result, Sikhs have been taught to adopt the teachings of all
faiths. Our holy book contains teachings of Muslim and Hindu
scholars, as well as teachings of people from higher and
lower castes to show that Sikhism is an all inclusive
religion. The British Sikh Association in line with the
teachings of our Gurus has taken patrons from different
faiths. Sikhs believe
that all religions are equal and if practiced in their
correct spirit can lead to salvation. Our Gurus said that if
we fail to respect people of other faiths, then we will be
in permanent conflict with them. Great faiths of the world
have a great deal in common. We must celebrate what unites
us and makes our society worthy of living.
Equality
for women is enshrined in the Sikh religion. Our founder
said,” Why consider women inferior when they give birth to
prophets and kings?”
We
must always practice global values by protecting our core
values of hard work, self reliance and sharing our success
with the less fortunate. In this ever shrinking world we are
increasingly becoming dependent on people of different
faiths to lead our lives. Therefore, it is important to make
efforts to promote inter-faith dialogue to generate a better
understanding amongst us.
Tonight
some of you, from different faiths have come to honour us
and by doing so you are honouring your own faith which has
taught you to respect that of others.
Finally,
it is our duty to add value to our host country which has
given us a place to reside and the opportunity to realize
our dreams and ambitions.
We
must feel proud of being Indian, British, Sikh and above all
good human beings.
Thank
you and enjoy the rest of the evening. |
