Weaponization and civility

Sikhs are considered as one of the greatest martial races ever in the history of the world. Though the nature of religion and purity of its culture has been diluted over the years but one thing is for sure that there people who are trying to keep this glorious tradition alive. Undoubtedly, Guru Nanak Dev ji started a new philosophy of oneness of the creator and the creation and equality of all the humanity, never posed a threat of ceasing the political power to his contemporary ruling class. As, Sikhism was in the nascent stage it never got violent repression. Most of the time, Guru Nanak only has to rely on logic and common sense to prove the practicality of his philosophy. but as the time passed and sikhism started to gain ground, its repression too was started openly and the fifth guru, Guru Arjan Dev ji had to sacrifice his life to defend the faith. The era of making sikhs a martial community started with the sixth guru who encouraged his followers to hold wrestling bouts and get trained with the sharp edged-weapons.

But the martial character became utmost important by the time the tenth sikh guru assumed guruship and hence he had to formally institutionalize the martial character of sikhism by creating the "Khalsa". Though, he transferred guruship to Guru Granth sahib but there was another important religious text contained the actual heritage of the martial sikh history. "Dasam granth" or "Bachittar Natak" is the granth solely written by Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji unlike Sri Guru Granth Sahib which contains the verses of various sikh gurus and other non-sikh sages or seers.There are clear cut "banis" in "dasam granth" which prove that Guru Gobind Singh ji considered weapons or "shartra" to be the ultimate source of empowerment of his followers and some hymns are dedicated solely for the worship of weapons. Hymns like "Chandi di Vaar" and "Shastra Naam Mala" were written for purpose of weapon-worship as weapons were considered to be the ultimate protectors of the life and honor of the community. The nature of these hymns isn't at all aggressive but very moving and inspirational. The spirit behind these hymns clearly show that Guru sahib never advocated bloodshed but always inspired his sikhs to be ready to make war to restore peace. Even the olden days sikh warriors used to recite these hymns before going to the battlefield in-order to have that "Bir Rass" (also known as adrenaline rush in scientific terminology) to fearlessly

Now that the nature of society has changed so has nature of weapons. Some people even question the validity and existence of religion and consider it irrelevant and out-dated. Now the modern day weapons are far more destructive and hence there needs to be a mechanism to keep a check on its usage by the govt. In India, the civilians are only allowed to carry licensed NPB (Non-Prohibited Bore) weapons for self-defense. These weapons are much lesser in potency as compared to the PB (Prohibited Bore) weapons which are specifically meant for the armed forces.

Now, if we take the current scenario into account and realize the insecurities that a common man has to go through in day to day life, it is justified for him to carry a weapon for self-defense. Weapon doesn't only makes the person feel more secured physically but the weapon-holder also feels emboldened to express himself freely. The freedom of expression is definitely curbed many
 a times by either the religious fundamentalists or authoritarian govt. regimes. But, weaponization of civil society would ensure the empowerment of the common citizen provided there is some sort of moral guidelines attached with its usage. Those guidelines may not only be the provisions given in the Arms Act of 1959 or the Arms act of 1962, they could somehow be clubbed with the traditional religious values.

Now, militarization has been an Indian tradition much before the birth of Khalsa. The last names of "Singh" and "Kaur" derived from "Kuwar" were used primarily by the "Kshatriyas" of north India. Hence, there is sizable Indian population including both sikhs and non-sikhs that has weapons as a part of their heritage and they should be allowed to carry them out of their sentiments to carry forward their legacy.

Guru Gobind Singh ji has clearly said that "Shastran ke adheen hai Raj." which clearly shows that the political power of a country is directly dependent on its arms. We can clearly see the validity of his words if we consider the case of hegemonic domination of USA over the rest of the world. It is ruling the world because of its biggest artillery, maximum number of nuclear weapons and WMD's. Even the governments spending higher on their defense budgets are considered to be bolder than those who spend in some other areas. I'm quoting such examples because I can clearly see the validity of Guru Gobind Singh ji's wisdom in it and some other country else than India is taking advantage of that wisdom.

Guru sahib also said in Zafarnama written to Aurangzeb:
"Choo'n kaar az hamah heeltay dar guzasht,
Halaal ast buradan ba shamsheer dast."  which means,
"When all the other means fail, it is righteous to pick up sword (use force)"
but the motive behind the words of the prophet (known as "Sarbans-Daani") who sacrificed everything for the community and the country is based on complete selflessness.