Bir Singh Controversy: Those who take martyrdom from selfies to bhangra?
Today, we have before us the issue of Bir Singh performing and having bhangra performed at the commemoration of the 350th martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib on the soil of Srinagar.
On the invitation of the program, this was described as ‘spiritual singing’ (aatam gayan) of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s bani and Sufi singing. Did this spiritual singing suddenly change into a colourful entertainment program, or is there a pattern to this?
This is not the first incident. We will be discussing Bir Singh’s issue later. Let’s pay attention to the first incident!
On April 27, 2025, at the Punjabi Sahit Academy in Ludhiana, a Kavishri Darbar (poetry court) was organised in commemoration of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s martyrdom. In this Kavishri Darbar, too, alongside Guru Sahib’s martyrdom, we witnessed the naked dance of the literary society’s ego and disrespect for decorum.
The stage in the Kavishri Darbar was arranged such that three-member groups of poets, standing in a corner in a space as small as a dice for one person to speak, narrated the glorious history of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s martyrdom through poetry with both devotional and detached feelings. The central part of the entire stage was occupied by a presidium of more than a dozen presidium members, who were busy laughing and joking on stage and taking selfies with each other. They had no concern that a Kavishri Darbar was going on in a corner to their right; their selfie and mockery court was running in the center of the same stage.
It’s no surprise that this presidium included the main organiser of the assembly – a so-called communist intellectual, a great master of Kavishri and permanent personality, head of some board of Aam Aadmi Party, and a young leader running his own Kavishri school and group, many NRI sponsors, writers and journalists were included. Not only this, as new presidium members kept arriving, chairs kept being added to the stage. At one point, there was no space even to stand on the stage, let alone place chairs.
Even more surprising is that the convener of this Kavishri Darbar was a religious stage poet associated with Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, who is known for going to gurdwaras worldwide to sing verses and kabitt in praise of Guru’s glory.
When I questioned him on the occasion and asked whether there was any tradition of seating such an undisciplined presidium in Kavishri Darbar, he admitted there wasn’t. When he was told that the dignity of Guru Ghar’s glorious Kavishri was being violated in this manner, he thought it better to laugh it off. Seeing him evade, I had to question him: “Communists can wash their hands by calling it a literary event, but why are you, being a Sikh of the Guru, following these comrades and becoming a party to violating Gurmat Maryada’s decorum?” He had no answer to this.
How could his attention turn to answering – he was enchanted by the praises being showered on him from the stage by his friends and admirers who had come from abroad. Moreover, while hosting the stage, his repeated claim was that for the first time in 72 years, the Kavishri Darbar being held in Punjabi Bhavan was being broadcast live on his personal channel. He didn’t pay attention to the fact that under his very conduct, the decorum of Gurmat Maryada was being violated for the first time in centuries since Guru’s time. Nor did he have the slightest realisation that people sitting around the world watching his YouTube live were also seeing the indiscipline and selfie poses of the presidium members that were distracting from the Kavishri Darbar.
Moreover, the academy’s communist general secretary, main organiser, and the so-called intellectual, in his speech from the stage, said nothing about Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s bani or martyrdom, but put all his energy into making political comments about different factions of the Sahit Academy’s writers.
Similarly, about a dozen people sitting in the presidium also said nothing about Guru Sahib or Guru Sahib’s martyrdom in their presidential speeches. Everyone’s attention remained focused on praising themselves or reciting their poetry. Perhaps only one or two people spoke about Guru Sahib.
Thus, the Kavishri Darbar of Punjabi Sahit Academy Ludhiana, dedicated to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s martyrdom and held for the first time in 72 years, was completed in violation of Kavishri’s Gurmat Maryada.
What Bir Singh did in Srinagar – singing romantic foot-tapping songs and instilling an instinct in the audience to lose their feet and dance – and what happened in the presence of the organisers who were present, although they were not part of the Punjabi Bhavan Kavishri Darbar – in terms of literary society nature, they are just like these.
The apology video released by Bir Singh also seemed fake. Just as the government dismisses lower-level employees to pretend action while protecting big faces and positions in major scandals, similarly, today Bir Singh has dismissed his personal team to try to clean himself.
The thing to think about is: if Bir Singh doesn’t even know where he’s going and what program is there, then what is he going to do there? Doesn’t his management team tell him whether it’s a wedding program booking or a religious program booking? When Bir Singh goes to judge singing competitions, doesn’t he know he’s going as a judge? It seems everyone believes the sangat (congregation) is naive and can be fooled. While the December 2nd action of Sri Akal Takht Sahib has shown that the sangat is not that naive either. What Bir Singh should do is present himself at Sri Akal Takht Sahib to seek forgiveness (which he later did) – Guru is forgiving, he himself has said this. But Guru will forgive only if Guru’s Sikh admits his mistake… mistakes cannot be forgiven by passing the blame on the management team…
This whole issue is of literary society circles. About which I have repeatedly raised my voice, warned against circles, and taken the brunt for speaking and writing about the misdoings of literary circles. Here, too, Bir Singh is a person from a particular literary circle.
Moreover, management only has to arrange the calendar and travel arrangements; what to sing on stage and what not to sing – this arrangement has to be made by the artist himself, not the management. Doesn’t an artist like Bir Singh do any homework? This is very regrettable.
The circle’s intention and problem is that it has to fit every person in its circle to every situation. The circle never does this – that scholars or experts related to the subject of the program should be included in it. Rather, the circle does this – that people from its own circle should be found who can be fitted to that subject. The circle doesn’t say that so-and-so person is not knowledgeable about that subject, but the circle says this is the ‘other side’ of that subject. The circle justifies every behaviour contrary to decorum by calling it the other side rather than calling it indecorous.
If you carefully look at the history of such literary circles, some scholars of this circle are experts in every literary, social, cultural practice and ideology from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, scholars of every subject from political upheavals to technology. When the opportunity comes, they become scholars of everything from art to artificial intelligence, from media to social media.
Governments, institutions and practices change, new subjects and places get added, but the scholars and faces remain the same. They fit everywhere, get fitted everywhere. This is why everyone in the entire circle is a scholar, but no one believes in correcting each other.
What Bir Singh has done – performing and having bhangra performed on martyrdom – is the result of this very circle-binding. If history is explored, many instances will be found when circles had to present themselves at Akal Takht. It’s a different matter that they must have emerged triumphant before and will continue to emerge triumphant in the future. This is the power of the circle.
But now this illusion should not remain that the sangat doesn’t know anything. Guru knows that the sangat, even after seeing everything, remains in Guru’s will.
On this occasion, I would certainly request the collective Sikh youth to definitely give their full response as humble Sikhs about this behavior, but certainly keep hold of the bibek (composed wisdom) blessed by Guru – otherwise the old tactic of circles is that first they hurt the hearts of the sangat, and when the angered sangat shows passion, the circles use the passion as an excuse to condemn and get busy trying to reject the anger.
We pray that Satguru, the true Sovereign, bless us all with wisdom!
Forgive the mistakes that have occurred!
Leave a Reply