Nishan Sahib
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
What is the Nishan Sahib?
IP Singh , January 27, 2021: The Times of India
From: IP Singh , January 27, 2021: The Times of India
Nishan Sahib is found in every gurdwara
A Sikh flag which is found in every gurdwara and people carry it almost invariably during religious processions. In gurdwaras, it is hoisted at a height with a ‘khanda’ (a doubleedged sword). The flag flies at the top of this and is called Nishan Sahib.
The type of flag that was fixed atop the pole in Red Fort is usually carried atop vehicles when people go for religious processions or even for religio-political gatherings, or during any movement.
Sikh flag in the Indian Army
• Nishan Sahib aka the ‘Sikh flag’ is there at every gurdwara of the Sikh Regiment. When the contingents of the regiment move their gurdwara, they also carry the Sikh Flag along the ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib and it is treated with great respect by officers and jawans. Nishan Sahib is found at every gurdwara in any Army cantonment.
The war cry of Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light Infantry is the Sikh war cry, ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’. Motto of the Sikh Regiment is ‘Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karoon (With determination, I will be triumphant) which is taken from a hymn by Guru Gobind Singh. The regimental motto of the Sikh Light Infantry is ‘Deg Teg Fateh (prosperity in peace, victory in war)’. Protesters also raised the slogans of ‘Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal’ throughout the tractor march and also at the Red Fort.
A backgrounder
Kamaldeep Singh Brar, Aug 18, 2024: The Indian Express
Gurdwaras run by the SGPC are changing the colour of the Sikh flag from a shade of saffron to the bright yellow hue of spring, the colour of sacrifice with deep cultural resonance in Punjab. But these colours have a political significance as well.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) changed the colour of the two iconic Nishan Sahibs in front of the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex from kesri (saffron) to basanti, a bright yellow that is associated with spring, and which has historical, cultural, and religious significance in Punjab.
On August 4, five days before this change, the historical Gurudwara Ber Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district, which is associated with Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion, had become the first to “restore” the basanti colour of the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag that flies at every gurdwara.
All gurdwaras managed by the SGPC — in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh — are in the process of changing the colour of the flag, an official of the committee said.
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), which manages the gurdwaras in Delhi, is likely to follow the SGPC’s lead.
From kesri to basanti
Prior to the ongoing change, most SGPC gurdwaras had kesri Nishan Sahibs, a shade of bhagwa (saffron) that is very similar to the flag of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
However, in 2020, Gurudwara Sacha Dhan Sahib in Sector 60 of Mohali under its president Rajinder Pal Singh changed the colour of the Nishan Sahib to basanti from kesri. After his successor, who was elected in 2022, went back to kesri, Rajinder Pal Singh approached the Akal Takht and asked that basanti should be restored in accordance with the official Sikh Code of Conduct (Rehat Maryada).
On July 6 this year, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht wrote to the SGPC asking it to resolve the confusion over the colour of the Nishan Sahib. Xanthic (relating to yellow) and greyish blue are prescribed in the Code, but both kesri and basanti can be considered as shades of yellow. Kesri, which resembles the Hindu religious shade of bhagwa, is used in most gurdwaras, while Nihang sects mostly use blue Nishan Sahibs.
Debate with a history
An article published in the SGPC publication Gurmat Parkash in 1995 suggests the disagreement over kesri and basanti goes back to pre-Independence times.
As the Congress, which was leading the freedom struggle, debated the colours of the Indian national flag, Akali leaders wanted the Sikh colour to be included. There is some evidence to suggest that the Congress had agreed to the Sikh demand; however, during its general house meeting in August 1930, the SGPC, which was then led by Baba Khadak Singh, passed a resolution asking Sikhs to participate in the freedom movement under the Sikh flag.
In 1931, saffron (kesri) became one of the colours in the (still evolving) national flag. Master Tara Singh, who had become SGPC president, agreed to kesri; however, Baba Khadak Singh insisted that only basanti was acceptable.
In 1936, the official Sikh Code of Conduct laid down that the cloth of the Nishan Sahib should be either of xanthic (basanti) or of greyish blue (surmai) colour. However, over the decades, kesri became the most common colour of the Nishan Sahib.
“We don’t want to create a new confusion. We will sit with the Akal Takht Jathedar and other experts to decide which shade should be used for the Nishan Sahib. There are different shades of yellow and blue. We will confirm the right shade and then let the Sangat know,” Bhagwant Singh, manager of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), had told The Indian Express earlier.
Contested colours The kesri shade is seen to have gained popularity during the militancy in Punjab. According to the pro-Khalistan writer Sarabjit Singh Ghuman, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale often referred to kesri in his speeches, and asked Sikhs to gather under the kesri flag.
“After the attack on Akal Takht (during Operation Blue Star), there was anger in the community, and kesri became a symbol of resistance. Sikh youth started wearing kesri turbans,” Ghuman said. Indeed, post 1984, police often suspected anyone wearing a kesri turban or dupatta of being a sympathiser of militants.
Many popular songs eulogising militants mentioned the kesri colour. Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans, former BJP MP from North West Delhi, sang ‘Patta patta singhan da vairi’ wearing a kesri turban. Although the song was about 18th-century Sikhs who were targeted by the Mughals and Afghans, it was understood as referring to contemporary Sikh militants who wore “sunehri” turbans.
In the 18th century, the Udasi and Nirmala sects, which are considered more aligned with Hindu traditions, played a role in the spread of the kesri shade among Sikhs. While their kesri was not identical to today’s bhagwa, some Sikh scholars have argued that the popularity of the shade among Sikhs was a consequence of the hegemonising influence of the Hindu religion.
Rajinder Pal Singh said, “All gurdwaras used to have a basanti colour Nishan Sahib until the late 1970s and early 80s. It has changed only recently. I also feel that in the name of kesri, the saffron shade is being used in gurdwaras under the influence of right-wing Hindu bodies. This was the reason why I approached the Akal Takht to implement what is written in the Sikh Code of Conduct.”
Ghuman pointed out that basanti, kesri, and bhagwa can all be broadly considered shades of yellow. “When Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale popularised kesri, it was not the shade that is now in use, which is almost like the bhagwa used by right-wing Hindu bodies. The kesri shade that is now in use is different from what the Sant advocated. Kesri became closer to saffron in the 90s, and now is no different from saffron,” Ghuman said.
Colours in politics
Basanti has always been popular in the culture of Sikhs and Punjabis. The association of the colour with the bravery and sacrifice of Bhagat Singh — the popular ‘Mera rang de basanti chola’ was written by Ram Prasad Bismil while in jail, and was sung as a patriotic anthem by Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary comrades — led the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to seek to appropriate it; party leaders including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, wear basanti turbans and dupattas.
A white turban has traditionally been associated with the Congress in Punjab. The SAD flag is kesri, but party leaders wear blue turbans.
Sikh writer Bhabhishan Singh Goraya said, “An article was published in the English magazine ‘Sikh Monitor’ in 1998, in which then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra was accused of changing the colour of Nishan Sahib in SGPC gurdwaras from basanti to kesri. Even SAD had a blue colour party flag. I am not sure when they switched to kesri.”
After the SGPC’s switch from kesri to basanti, the colour of the Nishan Sahib in gurdwaras is closer to the shade adopted by the AAP in Punjab than that of the SAD party flag.
