Our Heroes
Bhai Kanhaiyya, The Precursor of The Red Cross
by NAVEEN SINGH GAREWAL
The Punjab Government, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee may not see eye to eye on most issues politically, but when it comes to Bhai Kanhaiyya (a disciple of the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh) all stand united.
All three of them are demanding - albeit, belatedly - the recognition of his services to mankind in the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) charter and literature.
Besides, all the three have independently written to the ICRC, which celebrated the International Red Cross Day on May 8, 2011, to recognise and register the services of Bhai Kanhaiyya who initiated the concept of first aid and medical assistance and protection to the wounded in the battlefield 300 years ago - long before Florence Nightingale or the very idea of the Red Cross germinated.
Bhai Kanhaiyya served water and provided first aid not only to the wounded Sikh soldiers, but also to the enemy, in the late 1600s and early 1700's. The same concept was later adopted by Sir Henry Dunant during the war of Solferino in 1859 and it became the basis for the Red Cross movement.
The SGPC wrote in a letter to the Secretary General of ICRC: "The philanthropic principles of the great hero are being followed by various missionary organisations in India. The SGPC, which is an apex body of the Sikhs, requests you to introduce the Bhai Kanhaiya Ji Mission to the ICRC and also to register Bhai Kanhaiyya's selfless service to humanity in the ICRC literature."
The SGPC letter reads that the values and ideals followed by Bhai Kanhaiyya, which are being observed and followed to date by the Bhai Kanhaiyya Mission, should find mention in the ICRC charter and the international body should include this information of the Guru's disciple in literature of the Red Cross, Red Crescent and have it incorporated in the International Humanitarian Law.
According to Prof. Bahadur Singh, President of the Bhai Kanhaiyya Mission, the body is involved in spreading the principles followed by the devout Sikh who served under both Guru Teg Bahadar and Guru Gobind Singh. It runs day care centres, dispensaries, diagnostic centres, senior-citizen homes and holds blood donation camps.
Besides bringing honour to all Sikhs living across the globe, the recognition of Bhai Kanhaiyya would help strengthen the concept of serving the humanity, international brotherhood, love and peace, Prof. Bagadur Singh says. As Dunant's ideas led to the creation of world's greatest voluntary relief organisation of today in 1863, which was also incorporated in various international humanitarian laws, Bhai Kanhaiyya's seva, who brought this concept almost two centuries before Dunant, should also be recognised, he feels.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Government, too, has written to the Geneva-based ICRC that the Red Cross and the basic tenets of Sikhism were the same: service to humanity, equality, brotherhood, love and peace. It has also pointed out that a decade ago the Punjab Health Department had directed all civil surgeons to ensure that the portraits of Bhai Kanhaiyya were hung in all emergency wards of civil hospitals and emergency wards be named after him.
[Courtesy: Tribune]
May 10, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), May 10, 2011, 10:52 AM.
The picture on top of this article, we need to publish in western media, to increase awareness of Sikhism and the turban. There are many such historical stories and pictures that need to be better disseminated.
2: M.K.S. (New York, U.S.A.), May 10, 2011, 3:53 PM.
Wouldn't a Red Khanda on the ambulance be wonderful? Just like the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Star.