The Source Book On Sikhism

Observations of McLeod

(a) Forged Guru Granth

(i) Long time back in his book, The Evolution of the Sikh Community, McLeod alleged that a portion of a hymn in the original Sikh scripture was later on deleted by the Sikhs, because it mentioned the hair-cutting ceremony of (Guru) Hargobind. To justify his baseless assumption, he has also given "reasons" for that:

“This feature is in obvious contradiction to the later prohibition of hair-cutting...the reference in the hymn could only be regarded as intolerable.” Page 77.

It was a very serious allegation to decree the credibility of whole Sikh leadership. It was made with great irresponsibility, without looking at the Pothi itself. It was an allegation, presented as history, and that too disregarding the facts known to him. It challenged the genuineness of the Guru Granth Sahib.

That is what surprises the reader most. Having been assured of the fact (no obliteration) the “research scholar” insists not only on telling the reader of the “well established” obliteration but also cites reasons for doing that by the Sikhs. Further, he wants the readers to accept all these assertions, as “academic questions for discussions.”

(ii) The language and tone McLeod uses in his writings hurts every Sikh, the Sikhs feel he is doing that intentionally. He knows well that the Guru Granth is the “living spirit” of the Gurus, it is to be respected and consulted (studied) for spiritual guidance. But still he writes:

As the world changes, they (Sikhs) will find their inherited faith further and yet further out of harmony with it, and that is assuredly a guarantee that many at least will be compelled to relinquish the substance of their faith. Some will remain and lend credence to the voices of those who insist upon no change. They will, however, be a dwindling band. Studying the Sikhs, page 53. (Emphasis mine)

Unless I interpret it wrongly, it looks like a threat to the Sikhs that only their “research” can “save” the Sikhs from being a “dwindling band”. This kind of disrespectful terminology has been lavishly used by McLeod. He also writes that if Sikhs object to his “scholarly” approach to the study of their scripture, they will publish it in North America. By this, he indirectly makes a false allegation that Sikhs will stop them from studying and publishing their research in Punjab. No one has ever told him that. However, many Sikhs have reported the research done by these scholars to be irresponsible. If exposing their blunders and baseless allegations is considered an objection to their “research”, then Sikhs confess being guilty of that. Further, they will do the same in North America as well.

McLeod is forcing himself to give Sikhs a certificate about the genuineness of their scripture. Do the Sikhs need authentication from McLeod and his associates to accept their Guru Granth as a genuine scripture authored by the Guru? Even if they voluntarily offer it, the Sikhs will reject it because their integrity is doubtful with Sikhs. For these scholars, the issue of the genuineness of the Guru Granth Sahib is like a football with which they play for their pleasure and also for proving their scholarship. Sometimes it seems they enjoy teasing the Sikhs by spreading misinformation under the cloak of "research" results. The words and phrases used by them more than prove it.

(b) Jat Phobia

Further evidence of the premeditated negative approach by McLeod towards the Sikh faith may be seen in another unfounded statement in the same book:

“This is widely regarded as a great pity, even within Sikh society where the numerically preponderant Jats commonly bewail the fact that there was never a single Jat Guru.” The Evolution of the Sikh Community, page 87-88. (Emphasis mine)

This is a cheap and mean comment. It seems McLeod intends to plant this malicious idea in the minds of a section of the Sikh Community. Permit me here to say something about myself. I am a Jat. My relations and in-laws are Jats; my children’s in-laws are also Jats. I have a large number of friends in Punjab and outside, both Jats and non-Jats. This idea was never heard anytime from any person, Jat or non-Jat, for 70 years of my age. Less than a decade ago, I read it for the first time in his book that “Jats commonly bewail...widely regarded as a great pity.” Perhaps his writings have an ulterior objective.

These Western scholars suffer from the Jat-phobia. They allege that because of the entry of large numbers of Jats and their character, later Gurus took the militant path. All Sikhs, not just Jats, do bewail when they read such allegations cooked by McLeod and his associates.

While making all these wild imaginations, these “scholars” seem to conveniently forget the basic nature of society in Punjab. Their writings reveal they fully understand that it was an agrarian culture. Most people in a village were Jats, with some non-Jats, traders, carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, calico printers, even Brahmins, etc. to make it a self-sufficient unit. Trading class, Kshatris, lived mostly in the cities. More than 80 percent of the population depended on agriculture. In such a society, what is unusual about the fact that a large number of Sikhs were Jats?

Actually, it would have been unusual only if the Jats, being a major section of society, did not enter the Sikh faith proportionately in large numbers.

With everything said above, this is not to deny or underrate the contributions of McLeod. He is a great scholar and a great author. No one has or can dare to put a question mark on his scholarship. He has done an excellent job in presenting the Sikh faith and the Sikh community to the world. However, he has made, as Sikhs see them, many blunders which hurt the feelings of their community and can misguide Western readers. We are not sure whether this misinformation is due to his ignorance or motives. Readers differ on this. Some do not think them to be “blunders” but consider it his “fearless interpretation” as he himself says it. Others give him the benefit of doubt. They think that, being an outsider, his ignorance is the reason for that. While some others argue that a person of his experience and knowledge cannot be believed to be ignorant of the facts. His preconceived notions are considered to be reasons for his misrepresentation of the Sikh faith. The extreme view is that McLeod is using academic freedom and Western methodology for research as a license to spread misinformation about the Sikh faith.