Colors TV channel wants to give Sikhs a new meaning for the 5 Ks given to the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. In the forthcoming serial Chotti Sardarni, these 5 Ks will be five adjectives in Hindi to describe a woman who wants to protect a child born out of wedlock. Unless the Sikhs have a full-fledged, full-time dedicated team to challenge such excursions or indulge in advocacy to create awareness of the nuances of Sikhism, there is no stopping such blasphemy.

COLORS TV is particularly guilty of coming up with serials with Sikh themes without research. Some footloose intellectuals, over-enthusiastic Sikh actors and actresses, from Bollywood and the TV world are apparently their guides. In Chotti Sardarni, the makers of the serial misinterpret the 5 Ks, which is core to Sikhism.

By giving such nasty ideas of how a religion’s basics can be flouted, Colors TV channel is not only undermining Sikh fundamentals but also laying the foundation for others to indulge in more denigration.

As if the mockery of the Sikh image was not enough in Bollywood, it has now started with full vigour on the Indian small screen. In their endeavour to reach audiences in Punjab and the Diaspora, satellite TV channels are indulging in twisting and tweaking the fundamentals of Sikhism.

In the official promo, reproduced here, one can see how the story misinterprets the 5 Ks, which is core to Sikhism. Sikhs, Sikhism and Punjab are the new found love of Bollywood and TV channels and they have consciously taken this route to dismount the high ethics of the Sikh religion through their trivial stories and irreligious actors and actresses. The general secretary of Taksali Akali Dal -Karnail Singh Pirmohammed has said, “This blasphemy and sin is unacceptable and we will not allow this serial to make it to the screens.”

Just because the protagonist heroine in the serial is Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia does not mean that you can get away with murdering Sikh basics by shooting around a Gurdwara. Double entendre may be a tool of Bollywood cinema to gain eyeballs, but to stoop down to give such meanings to religious text is downright sacrilegious.

Singh Sabha Mumbai has reacted strongly and in a missive, to the Colors Channel the general secretary of the body has said that “We fail to understand the reason for Colours TV to keep indulging in such excursions every now and then to mock Sikhs and Sikhism. This is not the first time that the channel is hobnobbing with Sikh themes with a twist and tweak that denigrates the fundamentals of Sikhism.”

Singh Sabha Mumbai General Secretary Manmohan Singh has apprised Colors TV saying, “We learn that the release of the serial is imminent. In the interest of peace and harmony amongst the Sikhs and to protect Sikh interests, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Mumbai, as the representative body of the Sikhs in Western India, calls upon you to withdraw this serial in its present form immediately.”

As Sikhs are very upset, should Colors TV not relent, it should be prepared to face the wrath of the Sikhs through public protests and legal challenges.

As per media reports, the SGPC and the Akal Takht Jathedar also has received several complaints against the forthcoming serial, but so far, there has been no official reaction in this regard.

Unless Sikhs challenge the brushes and artists who paint the Sikhs in a bad light, such “colors” will continue. We have had too many wake-up calls. When will enough be enough? The moot point is, when will the Sikhs wake up? Will we?