Is
it necessary to keep a full-length hair intact?
(A Dialogue between Bhai
Sahib Randhir Singh Ji and the Prison-Superintendent Mr. Gupta at Nagpur prison.)
One day, it so happened that
the Prison Officer bought a poor quality and a cheap brand of hair-oil for our use while
in prison. I refused to accept it, and asked him to get a better quality hair-oil in
replacement. I had already washed my hair with a strong soap, which had made my hair very
rough and dry. I was to comb my hair only after it had been softened with hair-oil in
order to avoid damage to it. Without combing hair, I was not going to take my meals. The
Prison Officer, jailer and other staff with the exception of the new
Prison-Superintendent, knew well about my problem.
I had washed my hair early
morning, mid-day came and passed and it was now late afternoon; nobody bothered to supply
me requisite hair-oil. As a result of their negligence, I had to go without lunch and
supper as well. Next morning it was Sunday and the Prison-Officer did not turn up on duty
and the Prison-Superintendent usually stayed away on Sundays. On the third day, the
Superintendent kept himself busy inspecting another section of the jail and nobody
bothered to enquire about me. Everybody, perhaps, took it as a trifling matter and nobody
brought me good quality hair-oil. The Prison-Superintendent knew nothing about it at all.
On the fourth day, when the
Superintendent was on a round to our ward, the Prison-Officer and others joined hands to
complain against me telling him that, under protest, I had been on hunger strike for the
last four days. The helpless yet kind Superintendent came to see me and the succeeding
dialogue commenced between us.
Prison Superintendent:
Well, Randhir Singh! Ever since I have taken over here in this prison, this is the first
time that someone has bothered and harassed me with a protest in the form of a
hunger-strike. Why haven’t you taken anything for so many days and why have you made
me carry the burden of it all?
Myself: Good
Sir, I haven’t done anything to make you feel the burden of my not eating anything
for the last four days, nor have I harassed you in any manner. It just happened that I had
washed my hair four days ago and I could not obtain proper hair-oil for my use. Had I
known that I was not likely to get proper hair-oil, I would not have washed my hair with
caustic soap on that day. After washing hair with caustic soap, hair becomes rough, dry
and entangled, and unless hair-oil is applied, combing of hair becomes rather impossible.
Hair-oil softens the hair and they do not suffer from dropping off or breaking off during
combing process. We, the Sikhs, have a strict religious order to comb our hair twice a day
and we are forbidden to eat with our hair uncombed. So I could not eat anything out of
respect for my religious commandments. It is not correct to say that I resorted to this as
protest to your authority.
On hearing this, the
kind-hearted Superintendent got very much displeased with his prison-staff and
Asked them why he was not
informed of this problem earlier. He immediately ordered for a good quality hair-oil.
Within half an hour good quality oil was brought and the Superintendent himself came and
while handing it over to me he said very humbly, "Please forgive me, you had to
suffer this trouble undeservedly because of my unawareness and absence. I should have
respected your religious sentiments. I am sorry for what has happened this time. I promise
it won't happen again."
Myself: Thank
you very much. The fact is that both in the prison department and in other government
departments, sense of responsibi1ity and integrity have vanished and the employees in
general have become selfish and dishonest. The prison store-men buy the cheapest items for
prisoners and charge the highest price from the government. Nobody bothers to investigate,
especially in a prison. The poor prisoners cannot dare make complaint, and even if they
do, no one listens to them. I have had bitter experience during my prison sentence. There
is a lot of mean-ness going on. There are only eight political and criminal Sikh prisoners
in this prison. They would need hardly one large bottle of coconut oil for their use
throughout the month, but these people depict such mean-ness that they bring the poorest
quality oil and in this way, they cheat the government and exploit the poor prisoners.
The prison Superintendent
listened to this all and accepted the criticism of the misdeeds of prison management. He
assured me that he’d be taking steps to remedy these shortcomings. Then, all of a
sudden, he raised a question and asked me, 'IS IT NECESSARY TO KEEP LONG HAIR?’
Myself: Is it
necessary to keep the head on the human body?
Supdt: The body
cannot survive without the head.
Myself: If,
however, it could survive, would you be willing to get rid of it? (If the body could
survive without the head, would you remove the head?)
Supdt: The head
is more important and is an integral part of the body. With the head the body becomes
complete and without the head, body cannot survive at all.
Myself: Have
you placed the head on your body yourself?
Supdt: No, God
has placed it there.
Myself:
Undoubtedly God has placed the head on your body. If, however, it were placed by you,
perhaps, you could afford to remove it as an unwanted burden.
Supdt: Of
course. But how can we remove or afford to get rid of something given to us by God?
Myself: Well,
suppose, if someone removes that God-given head from the body, what would you call that
person?
Supdt:
Undoubtedly, he would be called a tyrant, oppressor, murderer and an assassin.
Myself: If
someone asks you questions as to why you have kept a head on your body, what will you
think of him?
Supdt: It would
be a sheer stupidity on the part of the questioner.
Myself: Just
the way, our heads are placed on our bodies by the Creator Himself, the same way, the hair
on my head and yours as well, have been grown by the same God - the Creator. Therefore,
your question regarding keeping of long hair is irrelevant in itself, because it is not I
who has grown it there, but the hair is God's gift. Just as the head on the body is God's
special gift, so is the hair given by Him. It is our first and foremost duty to look after
the hair (God's gift) as we would like to look after and protect our head. Those who do
not maintain God-given gift on the head, (cut off or completely shave off their hair),
are, in my well-considered view, ungrateful and disloyal to the supreme will of God. I
consider them murderers.
Supdt: No, they
cannot be called so, you can give them some other name, because in cutting hair no blood
is spilt.
Myself: You
mean if blood is spilt, then alone it can be called a murder or assassination. What if
someone is strangled to death? Would you still not declare it a murder, because in
strangling a person, no blood is spilt, though death does occur? It is no use indulging in
verbal arguments. You know very well that in certain methods of murder, not even a drop of
blood is allowed to spill. Would you not call perpetrators of these crimes as murderers?
If not, what else will you call them?
...continued in Part Two |
