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BBC News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hundreds attend Vaisakhi event hosted by West Midlands Police
Hundreds of people gathered in Birmingham over the weekend for an event organised by police to celebrate the Sikh festival of West Midlands Police Sikh Association hosted the event at the force's Tally Ho! training centre in Edgbaston on Saturday, along with local gurdawaras and in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall contributed to a Langar, a community kitchen open to everyone who attended for also called Baisakhi, is a festival that celebrates the founding of the Sikh community, the Khalsa, in 1699. It was originally a harvest festival in the Punjab region of India until it became the Sikh community's most important takes place in mid-April each year, and various events have been held across the West Midlands to mark it in recent weeks. Saturday's event started with the raising of the Nishaan Sahib, a sacred flag, and a small also included sports activities such as kabaddi and weightlifting, as well as arts and crafts for children. Sundeep Kaur Cheema, from the Sikh Association, said: "The event, seamlessly blending tradition with education and joyous celebration, undoubtedly left a lasting impact on all who attended, showcasing the profound strength and vibrant spirit of the community." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
How caste permeated the Sikh community
In the heart of India's national capital, Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, draws a diverse crowd — the devoted, the distressed, and the day tripper. Piety, peace, and the absence of prejudice are aspects that bring them here. When Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhism, created the Khalsa (pure) in 1699, he envisioned something similar. Having selected a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, and three lower castes, whom he called the Panj Pyare (Five Beloved), Guru Gobind Singh baptised them. Part of the process included a promise to observe the five Ks: kesh (unshorn hair), kangha (comb), kachha (shorts), kara (steel bangle), and kirpan (sword). 'At the end of the ceremony, he hailed the five with the new greeting- 'Wah guru ji da Khalsa – Wah guru ji di Fateh' (the Khalsa are the chosen of God -victory be to our God),' notes author and lawyer Khushwant Singh, in A History of Sikhs. Sikhism, although a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, has since its inception denounced the caste system. Yet caste, as a social category, remains predominant among Sikhs. Thirty-nine castes in Punjab are officially listed as Scheduled Castes (SC). According to author Harnik Deol, in Religion and Nationalism in India: The case of Punjab, however, caste among Sikhs has no 'doctrinal injunction,' and is merely a 'cultural construction.' This raises some questions: how deeply has a 'cultural construct' influenced both public opinion and policy in Punjab? And, to what extent has caste permeated the Sikh community? Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century, is often considered one of the youngest religions in the world. After renouncing family life and pursuing asceticism, Guru Nanak took a low-caste Hindu and a Muslim musician as his companions to preach his experience to the masses. Not only did he reject caste distinction, but also the idolatry of Hinduism. For Guru Nanak, writes Deol, 'The Supreme Being was formless (nirankar) and reveals itself through its creation.' Guru Nanak's successors propagated his message. The fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, built a gurdwara in Amritsar, Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known as Sri Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple. It was designed to have four doors, instead of one, as observed in Hindu temples, to signal that the shrine was open to people from all castes. While Hinduism institutionalised the four-fold Varna and jati system, Sikhism rejected such hierarchies. Sikh Gurus preached anti-caste messages, and Sikh scriptures included writings of saints and poets who were formerly 'untouchables' in Hindu society. By the time of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, congregational worship (sangat), eating together (langars), and setting up large-scale pilgrim centres had become common practices which defied brahmanical ritual hierarchy and established Sikhism as distinct from Hinduism. 'The rise of Sikhism… was a 'political revolt' against the prevailing social order based on hierarchy and humiliation,' writes sociologist and professor Surinder S Jodhka in his journal article Sikh Religion and Contentions around Caste. Citing the Sikh dictum, Sikh Studies specialist Eleanor Nesbitt in Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction, writes: 'A Sikh should be a Brahmin in piety, a Kshatriya in defence of truth and the oppressed, a Vaishya in business acumen and hard work, and a Shudra in serving humanity…' In an interview with Jodhka, however, argues: 'Caste is definitely there in Punjab. It's there among Sikhs, it's there in Sikh institutions. It is not absent.' Khushwant Singh wrote, 'Although… it was closer to Islam than Hinduism, in practice, in ritual, and above all in social affinities, [Sikhism] never quite succeeded in freeing itself of Hindu influence.' The Sikhs emerged as a powerful political and military force by the late eighteenth century. By the first quarter of the nineteenth century, a Sikh empire with an efficient army was formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. However, caste too had a place in the empire. Deol argues in his book that under Sikh rule, 'a body of guru lineages and other holy men — the Sanatan Sikhs' were tasked by the aristocracy and landed classes to perform rituals. This group, unlike the Khalsa Sikhs, not only controlled Sikh shrines but also kept unshorn hair, believed in idol worship and considered the caste system central to the Sikh faith. 'Gurudwara priests [mahants] were accused of committing sacrilege by instating Hindu idols in the precincts of the Golden Temple, the premier Sikh shrine,' notes Deol. In British Punjab (annexed in 1849), caste and religion were employed not just as markers of identity but also as the tools of administration. The ten-yearly census, requiring inhabitants to identify their caste and religion, made Sikhs extremely conscious of their minority status as compared to the Muslim and Hindu communities. The rapidly increasing missionary activity in the region, which successfully 'converted' the untouchable castes in Punjab, further triggered anxiety among upper caste Sikhs. The colonial education and employment policies also favoured one section of subjects by labelling them as 'Martial Races,' indicating their suitability for the colonial army, while marginalising the others. The newly introduced British land revenue policies worsened the emerging caste division in Punjab. While agrarian communities, such as the Jats, were given ownership rights of agricultural lands, Dalits, traders, and moneylenders were excluded and classified as non-agriculturalists. The Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900 further prohibited the sale and transfer of land from the agriculturalist castes to non-agriculturalists. 'The colonial policies thus worked towards reinforcing the prevailing divisions of castes in Punjabi,' says Jodhka. The early twentieth century also saw the rise of Sikh reformers who sought to rescue Sikhism from the tyranny of priestly mahants. Not only did they revolt to eliminate mahants from gurdwaras, but they also formed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in November 1920 to manage the gurdwaras and, a month later, the Akali Dal as its task force. Notably, Dalits were now granted entry into the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a practice previously restricted under the rule of mahants. 'After the formation of SGPC, the reformist leadership made conscious efforts to recruit 'low-caste' Sikhs as religious functionaries in the Gurdwaras and perform the duties of pathis, ragis, and sewadars,' writes Jodhka. The presence of casteism within the community, however, was publicly acknowledged on the eve of Indian Independence. The Sikh representatives in the committee in charge of drafting a Constitution for independent India insisted that the 'untouchable' castes within the Sikhs be included in the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs). This recognition, they argued, would help Sikh untouchables pursue higher education and secure government jobs. The SGPC, too, reserved 20 out of 170 seats for the SC Sikhs. Several anthropologists conducting fieldwork in Punjab around the mid-twentieth century, cited by Jodhka, found that caste was deeply integrated with the agrarian economy. Tom Kessinger was one such scholar whose 1974 study, Vilyatpur (1848–1968): Social and Economic Change in a North Indian Village, established that the landowning castes of Sahota Jats were the dominant group controlling the village economy and subjugating the tenant, labour, and artisan classes. Anthropologist IP Singh's fieldwork (1950), in a village in Amritsar, revealed similar results. He found that the village was divided into two groups: the 'touchable' Sardars and the 'untouchables.' The latter comprised nearly half the village population, with the 'Mazhbis' being ranked the lowest. Singh found that they fetched their drinking water from a separate well, meant exclusively for their use. At marriages and social gatherings of the Sardars, they were made to sit in separate queues. Food, too, was only served to them at the end. 'The landowning Jats occasionally visited the houses of their Mazhbi labourers as they needed them for work in their fields. However, they did so as a gesture of patronage,' writes Jodhka. However, on festivals like Lohri and Holi, and at gurdwaras, Singh did not find the observance of untouchability. The caste landscape of the Sikhs can thus be divided into three broad categories: the Dalits (SCs), the Backwards (OBCs), and the upper castes. Thirty-nine communities are listed as Scheduled Castes, while other groups such as Ramgarhias, Labanas, Kambojs, Jhinwars, and Gujjars are among the 70 communities listed as OBCs, and a majority of whom identify as Sikhs. The third cluster of caste groups, as listed by Jodhka, is the upper castes. The most prominent among these are the Jats, Khatris, and Aroras. 'When it comes to questions of institutional power, the ones who have political power, the ones who have economic power, are the Jats,' says Jodhka. Yet, Jodhka cautions, 'Although caste is very much present in Sikhism, one must not conclude that it's a Brahmanical hierarchy system. There are no Brahmins among Sikhs, and Sikh institutions are proactively anti-exclusion and anti-hierarchy. Sikhism is a non-sectarian religion.' It is kinship practices, marriage alliances, and electoral politics that characterise contemporary Punjab as a caste-based society. Arranged marriage alliances are in strict accordance with caste norms, and with a few exceptions, chief ministers of Punjab have all been Sikh Jats. WH McLeod, Western historian of Sikhism, in his study, The Evolution of the Sikh Community: Five Essays, remarked: 'A reasonable conclusion appears to be that whereas they [Sikhs] were vigorously opposed to the vertical distinction of caste, they were content to accept it in terms of its horizontal linkages.' While Khuswant Singh argued that 'Sikhism did not succeed in breaking the caste system,' Jodhka suggests: 'Sikhism has the resources to deal with casteism and has also been doing it.' Further reading Sikh Religion and Contentions around Caste by Surinder S. Jodhka Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction by Eleanor Nesbitt Religion and Nationalism in India: The Case of Punjab by Harnik Deol A History of the Sikhs (Volume I: 1469-1839) by Khushwant Singh
CBC
19-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Yellowknife's Sikh community turned a gym into space for prayer to celebrate Vaisakhi
Members of Yellowknife's growing Sikh community gathered to celebrate Vaisakhi this weekend, transforming a gym at the city's multiplex sports facility into a space for prayer on Saturday. The annual harvest festival of Vaisakhi is one of the holiest days in the Sikh calendar. For Sikhs, the festival marks the creation of the order of the Khalsa in 1699 — a defining moment in Sikh history which gave the faith its final form. But it's also an opportunity to come together, with large events acting as opportunities for people from different communities to meet and celebrate. Also called Khalsa Sajna diwas, the holiday is usually celebrated in mid-April, but Yellowknife's celebration is a bit later because of the time it took to find a space and get everything ready. "We are a bit late, but at last we are celebrating so we are happy for that," said Mangot Kaur, who helped organize the event. Kaur said it was a lot of work getting the gym ready for the event, but many volunteers helped. "They all came together and worked really hard to make this place look like this," she said. There were prayers in the gym in the afternoon and evening, with some of the prayers read by gurus who flew in from Vancouver to lead hymns. There was also a food drive outside, with volunteers serving homemade vegetarian food free to anyone who passed by, another important tradition on Vaisakhi. "These events are really important for us so we can get together, united, and celebrate our values," said attendee Darwinder Kaur, (No relation) who moved from B.C. to Yellowknife a year and a half ago. She said it was hard to adjust to her new home at first, but events like this where she can observe her religion in community make it easier. Yellowknife's Sikh population has grown a lot in the last few years, says Pankaj Sohi Seth, and events like this help the community come together. "We moved in 2012 to Yellowknife from Vancouver, and it was a big change to us. In the beginning, we actually started doing prayers in our own houses," she said, with the few Sikh families hosting in turn. But a few years ago, they started renting a hall from a church or other space once a year. They now try and hold celebrations like Saturday's two or three times a year, Sohi Seth said. But without a permanent Gurdwara, the community isn't able to come together and pray as much as they would like. Sohi Seth said she and others are working to bring a Gurdwara, or temple, to Yellowknife, but the the project is still in the early stages. They are currently in the process of registering a Yellowknife Sikh Sangat society as a non-profit. Once this is done, she said, they will begin the work of fundraising for a Gurdawara. Darwinder Kaur said for her, a Gurdwara in Yellowknife would be more than just a building. "It's not about going somewhere out, it's about inner peace, to give something to my soul."
CBC
17-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Spring comes later in the north — and so do Vaisakhi celebrations, with thousands gathering in Prince George
Thousands of samosas, more than 400 pounds of potatoes and weeks of preparation: those are just a few of the ingredients that go into planning northern B.C.'s largest Vaisakhi celebration. The annual festival marking the spring harvest is generally held in April. But in Prince George, where it takes a little longer for the weather to warm up, the event is held in May to avoid snow on the roads during the morning procession, and to avoid competing with larger events held in Surrey and Vancouver, which many local residents also attend. But over the years, the Prince George event has grown into its own, attracting people from all across the region looking to connect with the Sikh community. "It's a beautiful, colourful, spiritual experience," said Rashpal Bains of the Guru Nanak Darbar Society, who says they are expecting up to 5,000 attendees with RSVPs from people as far away as Vancouver, Prince Rupert and the Peace River regions. "We are inviting the whole of B.C." For Sikhs, Vaisakhi marks the creation of the order of the Khalsa in 1699 — a defining moment in Sikh history which gave the faith its final form. But it's also an opportunity to come together, with large events acting as opportunities for people from different communities to meet and celebrate. Prince George's Sikh community dates back decades, with some early members coming to the region more than a century ago. It grew to new levels in the 1960s and 70s when an influx of new immigrants from the Punjab region arrived in Canada, with many taking jobs in the region's burgeoning lumber industry. The Guru Gobind Singh Temple Society was established in 1974, and the city's first gurdwara opened on Christmas Day in 1978, with ground being broken on a second in 2002. Approximately 2,500 people in Prince George reported their religion as Sikh in the 2021 census, making it the largest non-Christian religion in the city of about 77,000. But Bains says participation in the celebration is not limited, and this year it was actually city officials who took the lead on planning for the event, months before she was involved. Other community groups, including the RCMP, will be taking part, and aside from food, there will be music, dancers and a martial arts display. "I'm so proud this event isn't about only the Sikh community," Bains said. "This event has become a part of Prince George." A procession through the city is scheduled to begin from Guru Nanak Darbar at 10 a.m., travelling down Ospika Boulevard and ending at the CN Centre/Exhibition Park site around noon, where celebrations will last until at least 2 p.m.
CTV News
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Calgary Sikh community celebrates with annual Nagar Kirtan parade through northeast
Tens of thousands of Calgarians are attending Nagar Kirtan, one of the largest parades in the city Saturday. The event started at Dashmesh Cultural Centre at 10 a.m. and goes to Prairie Winds Park. 'Nagar Kirtan is basically a celebration of the Khalsa (or Sikh nation),' said Talvir Singh, team lead for the parade. 'This is a time when we can get together as a community and do Kirtan – just do favours for each other.' 'Everyone is more than welcome and just come together and share with love and compassion for everyone,' Singh added. Singh said the parade in Surrey B.C. broke the world record, so he was expecting a huge turnout for Saturday's event -- because it's for everyone. Talvir Singh Talvir Singh says everyone is welcome at the Nagar Kirtan parade Saturday in the northeast. (CTV News Calgary) '(It's) for the community,' he said. 'Anyone that wants to enjoy the Kirtan, enjoy the company of everyone – come out, maybe even ask what the celebration is for, get a better understanding (of Sikh culture and tradition), and just overall, there's a lot of ways to connect with the community. 'Just get to know more people.' Singh said it's a good time to have a parade, because the world needs one. 'I feel like especially now, after so much has happened after COVID and all of that, it really helps bring the communities together,' he said. 'Especially (to raise) the awareness in Calgary, where's such a diverse community. 'It really allows for everyone to come to celebrate each other's religions, the diversity that we have, as Canadians – that's the one thing we're known for: embracing all differences." With files from CTV's Tyler Barrow
