By Jai

Further to the recent Pickled Politics article highlighting the EDL’s “Sikh” spokesman Guramit Singh’s admission of hatred towards other South Asians, some further information about Guramit himself is continuing to come to light.

Originally published by Pickled Politics

Doublespeak in action

A new Youtube video focusing specifically on Guramit is an excellent compilation and definitely worth watching in full. The repeated juxtaposition of Guramit’s disingenuous assertions about the EDL compared with the ugly reality demonstrates the point particularly effectively. You can watch the video via Youtube here.

“I consider the Guru Granth Sahib to be my Guru”

In response to the recent ultimatum, Guramit subsequently released a public statement on the EDL’s main blog declaring that he refuses to leave the EDL irrespective of the ultimatum and threatening retaliation (including making a sinister threat to involve unspecified supporters from “outside the Sikh community”) if any attempts were made to excommunicate him.

Along with claiming that the EDL are the modern-day ideological counterparts of Guru Gobind Singh’s historical Khalsa — an assertion which is not only highly presumptuous but also extremely inaccurate — Guramit also referred to various aspects of Sikh theology and history in an attempt to justify his own behaviour to date as a high-profile member of the EDL. Guramit’s statement included the following self-contradictory remarks:

Although I am not a practicing Sikh myself, I consider Guru Granth Sahib Ji to be my Guru. This religion has taught me a lot, and continues to be an inspiration to me.

As a Sikh myself, let me make the following indisputable fact absolutely clear for the public record: There is nothing whatsoever in the entire Guru Granth Sahib supporting any of the obscenity-laden claims Guramit has repeatedly been making about Islam, Muslims, the Prophet Mohammad and Allah. Not even remotely.

Bear in mind that Guramit is on record as publicly describing Islam as “evil”, along with publicly claiming that there is no difference between Islam in general and “militant Islam”.

His recent public statement on the EDL’s website responding to the aforementioned ultimatum also includes a derisive reference to what he terms “Islam-apologists”.

Therefore, by Guramit’s own warped definition, that would make Guru Gobind Singh himself an unequivocal “Islam-apologist”.

And the same allegation would apply to – for example — the Sikh Guru who invited a Muslim saint to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Or the Sikh Guru who had a mosque built for the Muslim population of the town he’d founded in Punjab. Or the Sikh Guru who gave military assistance to the Mughal crown prince Dara Shukoh during the war of succession against Aurangzeb, after the latter had imprisoned (and ultimately successfully overthrown) their father Emperor Shah Jahan.

The Letter of Victory

In his recent public statement attempting to justify his own conduct, Guramit also mentioned the Zafarnamah, meaning the “Letter of Victory”. This was a defiant letter which Guru Gobind Singh wrote in Persian to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, condemning him for his religious bigotry, false piety and abuse of power.

Guramit stated that, in the letter, Guru Gobind Singh condemned Aurangzeb for breaking oaths he’d taken on the Quran. However, what Guramit conveniently failed to also mention is the fact that the same section of the letter includes the following remarks by Guru Gobind Singh:

“If the Prophet [Mohammad] himself were here, I would make it my special object to inform him of your treachery.”

Guru Gobind Singh’s eloquent condemnation of Aurangzeb, of course, also has pertinent ramifications for Guramit’s similarly bigoted, dishonest and self-aggrandising egotistical behaviour.

Failing that, Guramit would do well to heed the following famous advice by President Abraham Lincoln:

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”