Issues faced by the non-Punjabi Sikhs
Few days back, I watched a video of a Sikh, who adopted the religion recently, about the issues that she faced within the Sikh community. It came up on my Facebook timeline and I went to watch it on YouTube. I thought it’d be some sort of news, but then I found a YouTube channel with one video where a poem was sung by the Sikh girl. She said she wrote it on SikhNet and the poem was I was lonely at the Gurudwara. I checked couple of her articles on SikhNet and checked another website (Embracing Sikhism), which I think is run by her. Her name is Gurpreet Kaur.
I thought of sharing my thoughts on this and how the non-Punjabis look at the Sikh religion and what type of experiences they might have to pass through to fully aware of the Sikh customs as well as the Punjabis (their way of living, understanding, joking, judging, etc.) in general.
Sikhism: a universal religion
I don’t think I have to emphasize here that the Sikh religion is not limited to the Punjabis. Although, some attempts have been made in the past when people tried to limit the Sikh religion as an Indian religion, just to bind all the people of the country and give them the same shade under the guise of nationalism. For political purposes or nationalistic agendas, of course.
The message of Sikhi is for all. Sikhism is not an ethnic religion. People from all the backgrounds are welcome in Guru Nanak Dev ji’s House. The prime example of this is the Guru’s travels around the world. Had it been only limited to Punjabis, the Guru wouldn’t have travelled to different continents to spread the message of the One. That makes it very imperative to understand that any person who is ready to follow the path of Sikhi is hugged and guided by the Sikh Gurus.
I would applaud the work of the Sikhs in the UK who are consistently working on to spread the message of Sikhi by doing the discourses in English. It not only helps the non-Punjabis but also most of the population on earth because English has become a ubiquitous language. Even if the non-native folks can’t speak the language fluently, they can at least understand it to some great extent.
I hope in near future we will have the young Sikhs who are ready to spread the message of Sikhi in the national languages of other countries to make it simpler for the rest.
I have seen people adopting Sikhism from different racial backgrounds. But what there is in the Punjabi Sikhs that some non-native Punjabi people find odd or not acceptable in some way. To understand that we must understand the Punjabi culture. You won’t be able to see it clearly if you don’t separate the Punjabi community and Sikh community.
Punjabi culture and Sikhism
For many people, it gets very hard to separate the Sikh community from the Punjabi culture. We have seen Boris Johnson’s remarks on alcohol inside the Gurudara. Wasn’t he aware of the Sikh Rules? About no-alcohol-at-all rule?
Did he mix Punjabi culture with the Sikh religion?
According to The Telegraph, Boris Johnson said he knew many Sikhs who drink. The worst part is some Sikhs laughed when he said ‘clinkie’. This is the effect of the Punjabi culture. There is no doubt, and I would be lying if I say otherwise, that there are a lot of ‘Sikhs’ who drink, both in Punjab and outside of India. I don’t know where more drunkards are, but that is really shameful. With a beard, and a turban over the head, they would do all sort of things which are against the Sikh religion, and then they would raise the concerns how Sikhism is declining in terms of Sikh Values.
For many non-Punjabis, means people living in other Indian states, Punjabis mean Sikhs. When I had to go out of Punjab, within India, I met few people who really thought that Sikhs were living there, or when they said Punjabi, they meant Sikhs. Thanks (sarcasm) to the Bollywood for portraying the Sikhs or Sardars in bad light; and that fake ‘Punjabi’ accent in the movies would always represent a Sikh that is going to do some stupid stuff. Those people were so ignorant of the region of Punjab, and one of them even asked me what language non-Sikh Punjabis speak there. They either had no knowledge of the matters, or they had unbelievably bad knowledge.
This general perception of the Sikh-Punjab term is there throughout India, and abroad too. This is so mixed by the people that a non-native person can’t even imagine it to be different. You have to sit in a quiet place to read the materials to know what Punjabi and what Sikhi is. Most of you folks who are new, it would take time to consume everything that differentiates between the things. However, if you are lucky, you can go and ask any Singh or Kaur about this, and they would gladly answer.
It won’t be wrong to say the Punjabi culture is the closest culture to the Sikh religion. For non-Punjabis, it might feel odd, but it is true. Some issues of the Punjab/Sikh are related to the Sikh/Punjab politics, which is more like a cultural aspect, but it is so intwined in Sikhi that you can’t run away from it. Both politics and religion go side by side in Sikhi. No denying there.
Punjab: the hub of Sikhs
Punjab is the only place in the world where majority of the Sikhs live. The politics of the Punjab not just affect the Sikhs in Punjab but also the Sikhs around the world. We can decline it, but the truth is the hearts of the Sikhs bleed for the Punjab. I am in no means declining the existence of the Sikhs outside of Punjab, or saying their problems aren’t as big as the problems of Sikhs in Punjab. No.
I am just trying to say the complex nature of the Sikhs and the politics in Punjab, which circles around the Punjab and its culture. The best examples are of the Punjabi Sooba Morcha and Dharam Yudh Morcha. Both were the agitations and struggles of the post-independence of India. The struggles had both the Sikh demands as well as the demands from the perspective of Punjab.
These two events had the attention of the Sikhs from abroad also. Although, not all the demands of the Morchas were related to Sikhism, but still the Sikhs outside of Punjab participated in that. Who wouldn’t want to see the land of the Gurus flourish? The Sikh Gurus travelled throughout India, and outside of India also, but most of their time was spent in Punjab. There is a reason it’s said Punjab jeonda Gurua de naam te.
However we want it, we can’t ignore the link of the Sikh religion with the Punjab. It won’t be wrong if I say Punjab is the motherland/fatherland of Sikhi. This is the place where the Sikh religion was started. This is the place which has seen many histories but none like the history of Sikhs. Many of us won’t grasp this or think of it more like absurdities, but the truth is we can’t fully separate Punjab from the Sikh Faith. This doesn’t mean I am including all the traditional values of the Punjabi culture in the Sikh faith, but the closeness of the Sikh religion with the land of Punjab and its politics and its tradition.
Some might hate this and take it as the monopoly of the Punjabi folks. Other would contemplate it better after going through the history of the Sikhs and may align with what I am trying to say here.
Majority of the Sikhs living outside of India have the origins in Punjab, or their ancestors were Punjabis even if they can’t read or write in Gurmukhi. It changes with time. If you don’t keep the traditional values alive, it shapes a new way of living. And that will affect you greatly in terms of your religious thoughts and living.
Some Sikhs leave their Punjabi roots as well as the Sikhi roots. I remember there was this trend back in my childhood that the very first thing a young Sikh would do after setting his foot on a foreign land is to cut his beard and head hair. I won’t blame the Western thoughts and ideologies for that, because if there had been any ideological differences or bullying by living there and experiencing it at first hand, then we can say the Western thoughts had its role in that. But it is not always true. I feel like those Sikhs were not happily sporting the beard while living in India, as if they were forced to keep their hair, otherwise they wouldn’t have removed hair so easily and so early.
Those people didn’t have it in them; they didn’t respect the Sikh Thought. But the orthodox Sikhs that I have seen in the UK and Canada had kept both the traditions alive. I say it because their thoughts are influenced by the incidents happening in Punjab. They will be physically living in Canada or other countries, but their minds will never leave Punjab and the Panth.
Second is the Punjabi language. Those who are unaware of this, let me give few definitions to clear this out, because the following three terms are extensively used in the Sikh discourses.
1. Gurbani: Gurbani is the Holy Verses written by the Sikh Gurus, and the other saints who were accepted by the Guru.
2. Gurmukhi: Gurmukhi is a religious script of the Sikhs. Almost all the religious and historical scriptures of the Sikhs are written in Gurmukhi. Gurmukhi is not a language, mind you, it is just a script, which you can use to write any language. Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Guru Granth Sahib have the words from different languages, but they were written in Gurmukhi.
3. Punjabi: Punjabi is the language of the people of Punjab, like German is for German folks, Spanish is for Spanish people, Chinese is for Chinese. The languages originate from a land, or majorly they are spoken by the land of the people. But now it is not limited to the land. The universities all over the world let you choose the second language as you want.
So, the point I was making was the Punjabi language. Although the Sikhs in the diaspora live in English dominated countries, language-wise of course, but they still don’t forget their cultural language. And that’s not just because of their cultural background. No.
Some might argue learning Gurmukhi is required, but not Punjabi. I don’t agree with it. Punjabi puts you at an advantage if you know it, not merely because of the discourses, but because of the original language of the historical scriptures. Many of the scriptures are written in poetry style, but some are also written in prose, where the exact structure won’t be like the Punjabi these days because the language has evolved over the years, but you will still be able to understand it.
The books like Mehma Parkash Vartak and Twarikh Guru Khalsa, they are written in Punjabi, especially the latter one. You might find an English translation of many Sikh scriptures, but the translation would miss many things, or overlook on purpose. W. H. McLeod’s books are the best examples to understand how the meanings can be twisted to give it a different shade. I always believe you should read your religious scriptures in their original languages. There are a handful of historical books written in Urdu and Persian as well and their English translation is available. But I believe the Sikhs should explore those languages rather than relying on the translation. The learning of the languages should be in this order.
1. Gurmukhi/Punjabi
2. Shahmukhi/Urdu
3. Persian
4. English
5. Any other language you want to learn.
The sequence might change if your first language is Urdu or English, but you got the gist.
So, can we survive as a Sikh if we just adopt Gurmukhi but not Punjabi? What about ardaas? It is truly in the Punjabi language. How will you do the ardaas if we remove Punjabi language from the Sikh religion? Or if we don’t want to learn the language?
The other aspect is the baana of the Khalsa, that’s closer to the Punjabi lifestyle than Western. Would we create a new baana to fit our needs because of our European or Western origins? The diets included in the bhog are not of European or Western origin also. We can’t say we’re living outside of India, let’s do the bhog ceremony with pizzas or potato fries. To some extent you have to leave your cultural background and adopt the Punjabi lifestyle. You can’t say I am ready to adopt a new religion but not a new culture.
What people, both Punjabi and non-Punjabi, have tried to do is they want Sikhi to be how they want it to be rather than following what the Guru said.
Mem, staring, and judging culture
If you go among a different set of people, you invite judgemental stares. Think of a country full of white people and a turbaned guy goes there (I don’t need to tell the prevalent racism and 9/11). Think of a country full of black people and a white guy goes there (I don’t need to remind you the apartheid). Now think of a brown country and a white person coming there (know the history of British India?).
I don’t know why, but in Punjab there is a mem (Punjabi word) culture. Mem is a word which was used for a white woman decades ago. These days, people add one more set of people: girls who wear so much of makeup and are not white.
Whenever there is a mem (a white woman), the Punjabis go crazy and go to her to click pictures. The stares will be so embarrassing sometimes, I know. But they will be there, if you’re coming to Punjab, or going into the Punjabi community. This problem is so serious, and so much stupidity oozes out of it, that when the foreigners visit Harmandir Sahib, they would be surrounded by the people to take pictures, around the parkarma. They will even forget they are standing inside the Gurudwara, and they should refrain themselves from doing this. For them, it will be like a star has come there. I remember during the elections a film star visited the Gurudwara (not Harmandir Sahib) and a person entered the place with his boots on to see him. Where are we going with this? So, the presence of the actor/mem is more important than the maryada of the Guru? Have we really forgotten the Sikh Values? It is okay though to approach them to ask how they learned about Sikhism and their experiences.
Also, the outsiders really made the eyes raise in the Sikh Kingdom, before the annexation of Punjab in 1849 by the British. Some Sikhs knew the intentions of the British but the treaty after treaty was signed anyway; and with betrayal and backstabbing, the Britishers were able to conquer the land. This might have made few Sikhs very hostile, silently, towards the other race. And this didn’t end here.
Ernest Trumpp, a Christian scholar, translated Guru Granth Sahib and published it with his introductory essays about the Sikh Gurus back in the 19th century. His writing and statements were so repugnant in nature, and it lacked the sincerity about the matter. Many Sikhs raised their voices about this. Later, Max Arthur Macauliffe wrote the Sikh history and translated the Gurbani in a way which was accepted by the Sikhs.
This didn’t stop at Ernest Trumpp either. During the same time the Singh Sabha Movement was started in response to the Brahminical rituals happening in the Sikh Places, and an attempt to label the Sikhs Hindus. This was another chain of events that drew a line between the Sikhs and Hindus, not in terms of religions because it’d been there for so long but in terms of social relations that they wouldn’t be allowed to do something in the Gurudwaras which was against Sikhism. Till date, that line is there (Remember Punjabi Sooba Morcha, Operation Bluestar, extrajudicial killings, etc.?). Arya Samaj’s founder Dayanand’s bad remarks about Guru Nanak Dev ji fuelled the events.
The latest example is the work of W. H. McLeod, who walked on the same path as Ernest Trumpp.
So, the judging nature and the stares didn’t develop in the Punjabi community, especially in the Sikh community, without any reasons or within a day. If a person who’s different from the Sikhs comes to them, they (some Sikhs) look back and see what really happened, and their instincts tell them to be beware of the person. But it, however, doesn’t mean the Sikhs/Punjabis are not welcoming. Once they know you, you can’t even feel you’re in a different cultural community. In the beginning, of course, it is going to be a little tough. And I hope there would be proper channels available to start a talk between the different communities to narrow down the gap.
So, if you’re not Punjabi, and you’re not brown, you might have to go through this. But with proper intentions and frankness, you might not even see this. It will all depend on who you are meeting, how you are meeting, how you are starting the conversation, what methods you are using to approach to talk/meet, how sincere you are about Sikhi, and how much you know about do’s and don’t’s when you talk about Sikhism to Sikhs.
Learning material about Sikhi
Where can the new Sikhs learn about Sikhism? What are the sources that can be beneficial for them? How to understand Sikhism in its original form and meaning?
There are many ways to connect with the message of Sikhi.
Discourses: There can’t be a better material to learn about Sikhi than discourses (katha). Unfortunately, many preachers in Sikhism use their first language i.e. Punjabi. And some of the great discourses have been delivered only in the Punjabi language. However, the Sikhs in the UK have taken steps to start the discourses in English. Basics of Sikhi and Nanak Naam are the two YouTube channels that come to mind, and you can check their content. It would be the first baby step that you can take towards the Sikh Faith.
Don’t forget that the awesome content is available only in Punjabi. Why I am emphasising on this is because the Punjabi preachers would have so many relationships with other Sikhs and have their personal experiences in the spiritual world, and they have learned so much in their young years. On the other hand, the discourses in English are new and some people do the discourse by changing the perspective and bringing the 21st century context to the meaning of the Gurbani. This doesn’t change the whole message of Gurbani though, but some terms and rules are generalized by some people. Although, these people would share their amazing transformations that happened in their lives through the Sikh Thought, but, again, those transformations may or may not resonate with the teachings of Sikhi. Another reason to learn the Punjabi language.
I am not discouraging you to not go and listen to the discourses in English. You should do that. That is the very first baby step. But don’t stop it there. Don’t think I am having a source now to learn about Sikhi and this’s gonna be the same source throughout my journey as a Sikh. Take the English discourses as the first step, and later, by learning the Punjabi language, you should and you must move to the discourses in Punjabi. Because in there you are going to have numerous sources to learn about Sikhi. In English, especially in terms of the discourses, you have limited sources.
So when you have chosen which channel is good for you to learn about Sikhi, start with the discourses on the Nitnem Banis. Both the aforementioned channels have completed the discourses on some fundamental Sikh banis that we read every day. Without understanding the message, the words won’t make sense. Give an hour every day to listen to the discourse. You can extend that slowly. But be consistent with it. Don’t do it once a week, or after two or three days. Consistency is the key if you want to have a bond with the Guru.
Books: In the Punjabi community, the number of the readers are plummeting. They just finish their high school and university programs, and then no step is taken by the youth to explore the books on Sikhism. That is very disheartening. The Sikhs have such a great history, and such a great number of books are written by both Sikhs and non-Sikhs. They are of no use if they are lurking in the corner.
In this, the people who adopted Sikhi and aren’t Punjabi are at an advantage because they start their journey into Sikhi by either listening or reading. But the question is: what books to read? Are we saying all the books are good which are published so far? Can we rely on them as the authentic history or interpretation of the Sikh Values just because they were published by the prestigious universities? I remember a YouTuber, who adopted Sikhi recently, was recommending the books of those who had a very bad image among the Sikhs. This wasn’t the person’s mistake. The person wouldn’t have known it. And when nobody is there to guide you, you do what you feel like is right according to what you have read or heard.
If I am a newbie in Sikhi, I would just Google the stuff and find the books published by the universities, depending on the country I am living in, and maybe I will take those books as the truth and start believing in them. It happens. It will happen with all the people irrespective of if they’re newbie or born in the Sikh families. When you start reading, you stumble upon all type of stuff. I have read some anti-Gurmat books too, not because I wasn’t aware of them, but because I wanted to see why they are anti-Gurmat in nature.
So what to read? Who to read? We will answer them later. First let’s see who not to read and what points you should remember while evaluating if a book is going to be accepted by the mainstream Sikhs or not, and if it’s going to tell you the genuine history or not.
Never believe everything that W. H. McLeod, Pishaura Singh, Harjot Oberoi, and all the people associated with the McLeod lobby (trust me, they would have a branch in your country as well) have written. And Khushwant Singh. They all have biased views about the Sikh scriptures and Sikhs in general. They would quote the verses from the Sikh scriptures – which I would say the selective quoting and ignoring the rest – to prove their point. There are tons of other references that will refute their theory and argument, but they won’t talk about them at all. As a new person, who can’t read Punjabi, I won’t know if there are other stories associated with one particular incident in history or not, because I haven’t read those original scriptures.
Once you have grasped the basics of Sikhi, once you have read the scriptures in their original form, then you can go read any stuff you wish to. Because you will know if a person is trying to be biased in his research or genuinely putting the facts. But it might take few years before you can reach that stage, depending upon your knowledge of Gurmukhi and Punjabi. Or, if you are eager to get your hands on those anti-Gurmat writers and their books, you can go and read them, but make sure you have a book/article for the rebuttals of their claims also.
What are the points you have to consider while choosing the writer of Sikh studies? I think following will do.
1. Check his background, who he is before reading his books.
2. He should be believing in the writing of the tenth Sikh Guru.
3. He should understand the different dialects of the Sikh scriptures and shouldn’t extensively use the words ‘perhaps’, ‘maybe’, and ‘probably’ in his writing while making a claim.
4. He shouldn’t make a claim out of the anti-Gurmat stories in the Sikh historical scriptures as he pleases, and saying on the other hand as traditional books.
5. He should believe in the distinct identity of Sikhs.
6. He shouldn’t ignore the original Sikh historical scriptures while writing about the Sikhs.
7. Some authors, including McLeod, outrightly reject the miracles because they can’t explain their occurrence. All the ‘scholars’ and ‘academic’ writers would reject the miracles as an imagination of the devoted Sikhs, just thought of saying this because you’re going to find it in almost all their books. I believe if you decline miracles, you can decline God also, and then presume the Sikh religion is just about the moral values, like the McLeod lobby does. That’s why Sikh View of History is also important.
8. He shouldn’t twist the meanings of Gurbani to make his claims.
These are some of the points that I think will be helpful for the newcomers.
The English authors that I can recommend are: Dr Ganda Singh, Dr Trilochan Singh, Fauja Singh, Teja Singh, Professor Puran Singh, Dr. Noel Q. King, Max Arthur Macauliffe, Hari Ram Gupta, J. S. Grewal, etc. Please note, some of them might have some theories/conjectures which will not resonate with the Sikh belief too, but mostly their work will be extremely helpful to the new Sikhs. We are having a list of books that we have reviewed/read, a small list as of now though, that you can check it out. It had the markers too which will help you to know if the book is a go or a red flag. (We add the new books regularly as we finish reading them.)
Some books might not be available in your country or on the e-commerce websites, so here are few websites where you can download the books from.
Seminars and discussions: Try to attend as many seminars as possible. The best thing about them is they are held both in Punjabi and English. And in almost everywhere. They will include both the religious as well as the political aspects of the Sikh religion. They would have a Q&A session as well, where you can ask your questions.
You might not be interested in all the topics of the discussion, so it would be better if you can enquire what type of seminar or discussion it is going to be. If you feel like you want to attend it, then go, otherwise you can attend the one in future that you are interested in. Many of the seminars and discussions are already available on the Internet. Go through them.
These seminars or discussions are the perfect way of collaborating with the Sikhs or learning more about Sikhi. Because in Gurdwara, you usually don’t talk around but sit and listen to the discourse. You can connect with Sikhs there as well though. Knowing Sikhi will be far easier if we have the Sikh buddies to help us out in every manner. Not all the Sikh friends you got would be knowing everything, that’s the reason your networking shouldn’t limit to a few people, unless he/she is a Brahm Gyani.
Sikh forums: Sikh forums are good to understand different aspects of Sikhism and variety of opinions on them. Books, discourses, seminars are storytelling of one man. But the forums are different. You can see a clash of thoughts as well. It gets hard too for some new Sikhs to see who is telling the truth. But the most debated topics are available on the forums with tens of references.
I won’t recommend the Sikh forums unless you have enough knowledge of the Sikh Faith. If you are going to learn Sikhism from the forums, you will end up with contradictory thoughts. Remember, Sikhism is not contradictory in either philosophy or rules. The Sikh Gurus, whose time in the human form is more than two centuries, gave abundance of rules, but none of them cancel each other. The new rules were added though, whose philosophical aspects might be present in the writing of the earlier Sikh Gurus.
For the beginners, this will suffice. When you enter the Sikh Thought House, you will find more and more to expand your understanding of the Sikh History and its philosophy. But don’t stop. Read. Ask questions. Have faith. Trust the Guru. Don’t indulge into the secular affairs as much as the religious ones. Once you move away from the religious philosophy, you will end up with more questions and opinions than facts.
You will meet some people, either directly or indirectly, once you decide to tread on the path of Sikhi, who will take you away from the Core Principles of the Sikh Religion. That will be the deciding moment in your life that can either take you close to Sikhi, if you say no to them, or away from it, if you nod to their opinions established as facts.
I hope this article will help.
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