Gender and Sikhi (original) (raw)
Related papers
2021
Religion and non-heterosexual and gender identifications have a complex relationship in most societies. The religious discourse in most communities condemns the LGBTIQ+ community and even deny them to access and practice their religious experiences/practices. In India, where religion and rituals are embedded in daily practices, religious identity can rarely be disassociated from other identities and added factor like caste and social class. India is if anything saturated with hundreds of religions which translates into multiple identities, sometimes overlapped and in confliction with each other. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the documentary Sab Rab De Bande (We're all God's Creation) (2020) produced and directed by Sukhdeep Singh to highlight the challenges that the queer Sikhs in India face when reconciling their religious identity with gender identities and sexual orientations. The corpus of this analysis sheds light on intersectionality, which allows us to see the collision of structures and the simultaneous interaction of identity avenues.
Interrogating Gender in Sikh Tradition and Practice
Religions, 2020
In contemporary Sikh society, what we consider religious is constantly being challenged, but for Sikhs, what remain constant are Sikhi's sacred texts-they continue to be the paramount teacher and guide. Within this consistency, I ask the question: how can Sikh feminist ideas of representation and identity find expression in response to our understanding/practice of our faith, our institutions, and of the everyday Sikh symbols? This paper critically examines the gendered nature of the Guru Granth, practices within the gurdwaras, and focuses on a part of the Rahit Maryada (Code of Conduct) as an area of exploration in the understanding of the everyday ascribed five symbols of Sikhi (punj kakar) through a feminist lens. I undertake this in order to gain a gendered appreciation of how the scriptures, religious institutions, and the articles of faith resonate with the feminine.
Sikh Formations Religion, Culture, Theory , 2017
At the 'Sikh Diasporic Feminisms' workshop in LA, we gathered to create a space where our experiences and perspectives could be voiced, heard, acknowledged and appreciated. We shared our stories and raised questions that we feel are of the utmost importance as we navigate multiple terrains within Sikh ideological, theoretical, normative and lived practice. Independently we have had many conversations that have interrogated notions of Sikh feminisms, and recognized this political, social and psychological mo(ve)ment as necessitating a collective effort to bring this conversation into public Sikh discourse rather than being silenced, shamed and shunned within families, homes and community spaces. We acknowledge and appreciate the work that has come before us and now look to continue this labor as we transition into a new paradigm pregnant with possibilities for greater equality, truth, recognition, acceptance and wholeness.
Sikh Identity: an exploration of groups among Sikhs
Sikh Formations, 2011
Opinderjit Kaur Takhar's Sikh Identity begins with the question 'Who really is a Sikh?' (1), and explores this question through a study of diverse groups with claims or historical connections to self definition as 'Sikhs'. This question of 'who is a Sikh?', and the related question of 'who has the authority to decide who is a Sikh?', run as continuous threads throughout the book. One of Takhar's central theses, that 'there is no authoritative yardstick with which to address the issue of Sikh identity' (4), will undoubtedly be provocative to many Sikhs, but probably less so to scholars of religion who have inclined in recent years toward talking about 'Hinduisms', 'Judaisms', and 'Christianities', etc. Takhar's Sikh Identity can be seen as an exploration of Sikhisms, not in the sense of multiple distinct religions, but in the sense of an analysis of multiple diverse ways of being Sikh (in her own wording, there are '.. .many varieties of Sikhs in the Panth' (34), and a recognition of the diversity within what a term like 'Sikhism' points to. The book's brief (three-and-a-half-page) 'Introduction' lays out the central questions Takhar will address. Most of these key questions relate to the Rehat Maryādā and whether its Khālsā-normativity can be utilized as an authoritative measure of 'who is a Sikh?' when a large percentage of those who self-identify as Sikhs either (knowingly or not) do not fully adhere to its prescriptions, or do not recognize it as authoritative. It is somewhat curious that Takhar begins the book by asserting that, no, the Rehat Maryādā, and Khālsā-normativity, cannot be held up as authoritative for all Sikhs, because in the later chapters she continuously utilizes the Rehat Maryādā as a measure of normative or 'general Sikhism' with which to compare each group in terms of their beliefs and practices. I will discuss this more below. The book's first full chapter, titled 'Who is a Sikh? Historical perspectives', charts an historical overview of questions and issues surrounding Sikh identity and self definition, from the time of Gurū Nanak to Gurū Gobind Singh, through the Singh Sabha reforms, and into the modern era. Citing the work of Harjot Oberoi, W.H. McLeod, and Pashaura Singh, Takhar discusses the increasing 'institutionalization' of the Sikh Panth under each successive Gurū. Takhar draws out the questions raised by Gurū Nanak's emphasis on 'internal devotion', and the seeming change presented by the external requirements of the Khālsā form instituted under Gurū Gobind Singh. Perhaps because 'institutionalization' is a delicate and potentially controversial issue, at times Takhar seems
Sikh diasporic feminisms: Provocation 1
Sikh Formations, 2017
On 14th May 2017, Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa and myself helped to organize a small group of US and UK-based Sikh intellectuals and scholars to meet at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to discuss the problem and project of Sikh diasporic feminisms. We were interested in thinking through the possibilities and limitations of this political and intel-lectual project in relation to the politics of knowledge production in the university and inacademia, the broader public spheres within which we engage, and in the context of ourown communities.Indeed, despite the ground-breaking work of an earlier generational cohort of feminist-oriented Sikh scholars who have developed original and innovative analyses of gender andsexuality studies in relation to Punjabi Sikhs in both Punjab and its diaspora communities(Axel 2001; Das 2006; Grewal 2005; Jakobsh 2010, 2003; Mahmood and Brady 2000) and in relation to Sikhi and Gurbani (Singh 2005, 2008), we find it necessary to continue to create space for ongoing conversations about the intersections of feminism and Sikhismin our current historical moment and political crossroads. While there have been intermit-tent events and initiatives in Sikh Studies which have compelled critical conversations onSikh feminisms and Sikh feminist politics, including a workshop on gender and SikhStudies at Yale University and series of conferences organized around themes of Sikhi,gender inequality, and feminism sponsored by the Canadian organization Sikh Feminist Research Institute (SAFAR) in 2011, 2012, and 2014, we hope to continue to develop research agendas in this field as a younger cohort of feminist-oriented scholars interested in Sikh Studies join the academy. We believe that the project that we name, ‘ Sikh Diasporic Feminisms has the ability to cross-cut scholarly interventions in academia, engage with multiple transnational public spheres, and speak to the general community and Sikh youth’s interests in questions of patriarchy; feminism; and gender and sexuality issues.Most recently, this general interest in issues of feminism and gender and sexuality equality among Sikh youth can be exemplified by numerous new websites and blogs devoted to transgressive and transformative writing about social issues impacting local Sikh communities
Community Within Community: Politics of Exclusion in the Construction of Sikh Identity
POLITICS AND RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA
The article examines the construction of religious identity among the Sikhs from the socio-historical perspective. It has been argued that the Sikh identity was constructed as a result of the colonial intervention in which the emphasis turned to the appearance instead of faith as such. The new identity was a product of the politics of the times and it was perpetuated in order to maintain the hegemonic domination. Sikhism, despite its egalitarian ideology, failed to create a casteless community. Discrimination and exclusion of lower castes continued. An empirical investigation into the conditions and perceptions of the lowest caste, namely Mazhabi clearly demonstrated their exclusion, whereas discourse of equality among the Sikhs is used to create a moral community. Despite the equality of worship among the Sikhs, the Mazhabis at the local level are denied the equal religious rights in the gurdwaras (Sikh temple) owned and controlled by the upper dominant castes. Roots of the exclusi...
Sikhism, Interfaith Dialogue and Women: Transformation and Identity
This article locates the study of Sikhism and gender within the wider milieu of 'women and religion'; in this context, the question of interfaith dialogue, women, and Sikhism is examined. Further, this article focuses on a recent controversy at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. Two British amritdhari (initiated) women were refused the right to participate in the Sukhasan procession, a ritual in which Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, is formally taken from its public platform and carried to its nightly resting place. The incident prompted a media uproar, particularly in India; it also became a hotly debated issue on the Internet. Given that the women at the centre of the controversy were 'Western' Sikhs of Punjabi origin, the incident led to a widespread petition within the diaspora. This article addresses the question of Sikh women's religious and ritual rights within the context of the apparent divide between the concerns of Sikhs in diaspora and Sikhs in the Punjab as well as interfaith concerns. It questions whether this incident is perhaps a watershed in terms of Sikh women's active engagement and resistance to discrimination within Sikh institutions and the community at large.