London: Daily Sikh prayer books, called Nitnem Gutkas, have been issued to Sikh military personnel in Britain for the first time in 100 years, a media report said on Thursday. The BBC reports that the prayer books have been printed in three languages in durable and waterproof material to withstand the rigors of military life. While the British Army gutka has a camouflage cover, the Royal Navy and RAF gutka have a dark blue colour.
Major Daljinder Singh Virdi, who is in the British Army and has campaigned for two years for the return of books, said on Wednesday: “The army has been providing Christian religious texts for many years and I saw an opportunity to open the door there. To provide Sikh scripture for Sikhism.”
Nitnem Gutka was printed in Wiltshire and encased in a purpose-built vehicle for Sikh scriptures. The BBC reported that he was taken to the library of the Central Gurdwara Temple in London, where he was officially released to military personnel on 28 October.
Also the chairman of the UK Defense Sikh Network, Major Singh Virdi, who uses his Nitnem Gutka three times a day, said: “Our scriptures for Sikhs are not just words, they are living incarnations of our Guru. We are moral Reading scriptures every day gives strength and physical strength, it disciplines us and it develops us spiritually,” he said.
Along with other articles of Sikhism, including steel daggers, bracelets and wooden combs, Nitnem gutkas were first issued to military personnel more than a century ago, but have never been issued again since then. An original military-issued Nitnem gutka is in the archives of the National Army Museum in London.
According to the BBC report, Sikh soldiers had been recruited into the British Army since the 1840s. In response to the development, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Wednesday that it expects to “support Sikhs directly, a key component of their faith”.
The BBC quoted a spokesman for the ministry as saying, “By providing a Nitnem Gutkha to the service of Sikhs in the UK MOD, we expect Sikhs to directly support a key component of their faith, wherever they travel. And work under any circumstances.”