No tail should ever wag the dog

Let's be clear - stupidity is secular.

It was, is, and will always be true that in every group, tribe, or community, a few will go deviant.

At that moment, the first job of the many is to condemn the few who have gone rogue. That should be both an instant reflex - born of anguish and embarrassment, and a mature, thoughtful response keeping the distant future in mind.

And at that delicate moment, outsiders must not try to justify why some apples have turned rotten.

That is so, as then the rogue elements get an encouragement and there is a risk that the entire community’s reputation could get damaged globally.

We can take a clue from how the Sikhs handled it.

They did not allow the dreaded reputation of the tiny fraction of Khalistanis, which had spread as far as the UK and Canada, to stick to the larger Sikh community.

They also showed the world how to fight the mistaken-for-Taliban identity in foreign lands.

Barring the fringe, most Sikhs were always aligned with the mainstream. But those few Khalistanis had the potential to damage the reputation of the whole community.

And so the wise among the Sikhs, through the clarion call of elders and religious leaders, became consciously aggressive in positive posturing all over the world. 

They did not remain mute spectators to a forming narrative. 

They took it head-on. 

They set themselves up as powerful, positive examples for others to emulate.

A 2020 PEW Research survey showed that 95% of Sikhs are proud Indians.

Had the elders not done their job, those few deviants would have been encouraged to march on, setting the tone for many others to be swayed by negative propaganda - especially the next generation. 

That would have given a bad name to the entire Sikh community.

Today, Sikhs are viewed as folks at the forefront of national security, people who never beg, but selflessly serve wherever they go.

Their deeds cement the stereotype and helps build into a positive reputation. And with time and consistency, that reputation has ripened into a brand.

No wonder the turbaned Sardar is today a proud and solid global brand!