By Gurmukh Singh, UK

The Parliament of World’s Religions is a kind of smorgasboard of all religions where all religions, faiths and organisations of spiritual ways of life meet every five years. After being successfully held in South Africa and five years ago in Barcelona, the third consecutive event concluded on 9 December in Melbourne, Australia.

As the year 2009 comes to a close, I thought it would be useful to summarise the feedback received from some organizations and prominent individuals who attended this global event. No doubt, detailed de-briefings about the numerous papers presented would follow e.g. The World Sikh Council’s press release of 13 December, promises a related publication next year. Our concern here is with the Sikh presence at this major event of the year, the theme of which was, “Make a World of a Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth.”. Well, did it make a world of a difference and was the Sikh presence felt?

As the well balanced journalistic report by Manpreet Kaur Singh, (also reproduced at EMG link  http://emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=8267 ) mentioned, “Despite stiff 'competition' for time from larger delegations, Sikhs had an emphatic and very visible presence, participating in inter-religious debates, intra religious panel discussions, musical expositions and, of course, the amazing exhibition on Sikhism.”

Credit for this “very visible presence” goes to those like Gurdarshan Singh Gill of Melbourne who have been working behind the scenes since early last year. I still have his e-mail of 10 June, 2008, introducing himself and the theme of the Parliament, asking for contact names and addresses in the UK. It is a measure of the effort such unsung heroes would have put in to get the impressive Sikh presence, that of the eight most prominent organizations in the UK, only one, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha led by Bhia Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, attended!    

As is to be expected, some of the reports received so far (including that of the WSC-AR), appear to be rather partial, promoting own participation and contribution rather than giving an objective assessment of real impact from a global Sikh perspective.

One of the founding members of the Parliament of World Religions (PoWR), based in Chicago, USA, Sardar Balwant Singh Hansra, also of Chicago, attended. In Capetown, notable Sikhs who attended were Yogi Harbhajan Singh and the American Sikhs who accompanied him. In Barcelona, the Sikhs under the capable leadership of Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jatha of Birmingham, UK, caused a sensation by organising free langgar (Sikh community kitchen) for all delegates and attendees in marquees throughout the one week of the Parliament and also held continuous kirtan (religious singing).

Due to possible internal miscommunication, no langgar was arranged this time. This institution of langgar the Sikh faith attracted much publicity at Barcelona. As Manpreet Kaur reported, “But many delegates felt that despite the numbers, something was missing - the 'langar'! During the previous PoWR in Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jatha had provided 'langar' three times a day for the whole week, which became the highlight for each delegate.”

In Melbourne, Sikhs were remained prominent with Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh and his jatha of over thirty, some American Sikhs and also some leading Sikhs from UK, Canada and USA. UK Sikh personalities included Giani Gurbux Singh Gulshan and Sardar Sewa Singh Mandla. Amongst the other participating personalities mentioned in reports, it was re-assuring to spot familiar names like those of Dr Harnam Singh Shan, Dr Devinder Singh Chahal, Dr Harbans Lal, Mejinderpal Kaur (United Sikhs) and Jessi Kaur.

Visible Sikh presence was highlighted by Australia's own “Music Ambassador”, Dya Singh. He was asked by the management, firstly, to present the opening invocation prayer  on 3rd. December alongside the nine prominent faiths represented. These are Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and the indigenous people. Dya Singh group did the finale on Wednesday 9th December before 5000 singing the multi-chant of which the Sikh founding precept, the Mool Mantar, was the last item ending with “Satnaam”.

For the “Finale”, the official programme said:  "World renowned Interfaith and cultural Australian Music Ambassador Dya Singh is joined on stage by Alan Harris and other indigenous dancers, Tenzin Cheogyal, Jagdeep Singh, Vinod Prasaana, Shobha Shekar, Mathew Fagan, Joseph Tawardos and his daughters Jamel, Harsel and Parvyn."

Just before the grand finale, the Dalai Lama had come on stage and delivered his speech and then sat on one side of the stage alongside two of Australia’s most prominent Aboriginal elders. After listening to the Sikh group, and as applause broke out, he got up and walked  to Dya Singh and shook his hand. He said, "Thank You for reminding me of Amritsar." No doubt the head of Budhism meant Darbar Sahib.

As the Dalai Lama walked away into the audience the group sang 'Aadh Guray Nemaih".  It seems this conclusion from Sukhmani Sahib came by “divine providence” as Shoba Shekar, the Hindu representative did not turn up without notice and it was a last minute decision by the creative director to '...leave it to Dya to do what he thinks best'!

Needless to say, that was a perfect close for globalising Sikh identity! The pride felt by all attending Sikh delegates was visible and the praise loud and lavish. Amongst the delegates was also present Sardar Roop Singh, the official representative of the Jathedar of Akal Takhat.

Founding member S. Balwant Singh Hansra from Chicago remarked, "Dya Singh flew the flag for Sikhi with his appearance at the Opening and Closing ceremonies. First as the representative of the Sikh panth with his powerful rendition of the Ardaas (which can be seen on youtube) and as the Dya Singh Multifaith Ensemble in the closing ceremony. Sikhs should be justifiably proud of him." Apparently, the management team, more in tune with the “world music” ear, decided to stick with Dya Singh as they were familiar with his global reputation in successfully taking the universal message of Gurbani to world audiences.

However, not all was going well behind the scenes. Bhai Kultar Singh Ji and jatha had been exclusively flown down by the Sikh multifaith representatives. The jatha performed in the special sacred Music event and in one private session organised by Bhai Mohinder Singh ji. The 'sacred music' event was the one event organised by the Parliament management themselves.

To quote a communication, “It was a miserable failure because firstly it started 50 minutes late and then they had horrendous problems with the sound and lighting. Almost every group took more time than they were supposed to. By the time Bhai Kultar Singh did his shabad, it was midnight and there were barely about 50 audience left in an auditorium which seats 5,500! And almost all were Sikhs !!”  That is most regrettable. Bhai Kultar Singh ji continues in the footsteps of his great classical father, late Bhai Sahib Avtar Singh ji and deserved more exposure at an event like this.
We are told that according to Dr Tarunjit Singh Butalia, one of the three Sikh trustees on the Board of the Council of PoWR “more than 200 Sikh delegates took center stage in Melbourne”

From all accounts, even though this event did not get much publicity in the world media and may not have made “a world of a difference”, the Sikhs can be justifiably proud of yet another milestone achievement in promoting better understanding of visible, as well as ideological, Sikh identity.

One could argue with the Dalai Lama’s closing comment that all religious doctrines are remarkably similar; that their philosophies may be different but the core values are the same. Even after interpreting religious idiom, allegories and reading between the lines, comparative studies would show that such conclusions may be soothing but are somewhat removed from ground realities. There are “core parts” of religious ideologies which are not safe in the 21st century when tested against human rights, equality and dignity. The sooner some of these sacred cows are sacrificed to achieve global harmonization of religious values, the better.

Yet, change cannot be enforced by legislation but must come from within. The prophet may have received the right message whispered into his spiritual ear by his own variety of “God”, but it is doubtful if the priest heard it right from the prophet. (One reason why the Sikh Guru linked the Khalsa devotee directly with the Diety.) Dedicated religious scholars are likely to continue searching for the true spirit of religion at such global functions.   

Contributions at the Parliament of World’s Religions 2009 by Sikh scholars, sevadars and kirtanias will be remembered.