SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami on one side, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on the other – it was a picture of prowess as well as pride – when 22-year-old Japreet Kaur Brar, unmindful of societal norms and practices, volunteered and gave shoulder to the coffin of her ‘baaji’ and walked along till the pyre.
“For the world he might be a senior politician but for me he was my baaji, my grandfather who always loved me and my sister more than his life,” said Japreet, the granddaughter of veteran SAD leader Jathedar Tota Singh (81), who was cremated in Moga on Tuesday.
What stood out at the cremation of three-time MLA and one of the longest serving members of SGPC, was the inspirational role played by the daughters in the Brar family who volunteered to participate equally in all rituals. From giving shoulder to the body, organizing wood on the pyre, to putting saamagri for last rites, the leader’s daughter and granddaughter led from the front.
Japreet, the elder daughter of Tota Singh’s son Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, said that she and her younger sister Tapreet only implemented what were their grandfather’s teachings. A final-year MBBS student, Japreet said, “No one in our family has ever differentiated between a boy and a girl. If we had a brother, he too would have done the same. So why can’t we bid farewell to our grandfather the way we want? We did not think for a second what society would say or if anyone would object. For us he was our baaji who always loved us more than the sons in the family.”
Japreet and Tapreet had also campaigned for their grandfather and father during state Assembly polls this year.
Japreet added that she was not at all scared or nervous with the presence of the SGPC president. “Each human being is equal in the eyes of Akal Takht. My grandfather would say that it is not his grandsons but granddaughters who will make our family proud,” she said.
Tota Singh’s daughter Dr Paramjit Kaur Dhillon who came from the UK and his two other granddaughters – Harjus Kaur Dhillon (23), and Jasleen Kaur Brar (20) – were also present.
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Barjinder Singh said, “When my daughters told me that they want to participate in the rituals, I was very proud and told them that it was their right to do so. My three other siblings have one son and a daughter each but I have two daughters. My father always used to say that Barjinder’s daughters will take our family legacy ahead and make the family proud. Sikhism has always taught us about great women warriors such as Mai Bhago who had fought the Mughals. If a women can fight the Mughals, then performing these rituals is nothing.”
Dhami added that Sikhism does not bar a woman from participating in the last rituals in a family. “I am elated that both granddaughters of Tota Singh performed their duty today. Whenever I see a couple who has two daughters, I tell them they are lucky. These are the times when we have to respect daughters more than sons. People have started realizing value of daughters. Guru Nanak had himself written that ‘From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend, through woman the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman there would be no one at all’.”
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