Crisis of Identity in 20th Century: The Case of the Sikhs in India (original) (raw)

Dynamics of Ethnic Politics in India: Re-evaluating the Separatist Movement in East Punjab

Ethnicity is a political and sociological construct that helps in identifying the socioeconomic reasons driving violent conflicts that ultimately give rise to separatism elements. India has witnessed many conflicts since its inception in 1947 and lingual, cultural and religious identities have characterized its society which is divided so badly into caste and tribal animosities today. Sikhs are the vibrant community of India but they are neglected one community as well. They joined hands with the Indian National Congress, hoping for all the promises which were made with them but later on they were refused and dejected in the audacity of the situation. Although Sikhs considered themselves as the equal citizens but the policies of Indian Hindu mindset always reminded them as the second class citizens as like other minorities residing in Bharat. The treachery of the events led towards the feelings of separatism in the Sikhs and being snubbed they felt it necessary to vow for independent homeland. The atrocities ultimately led towards the separatist movement of Khalistan but the Hindu mind set butchered them without any mercy and even their religious places were not spared and Operation Blue Star which did not spared the most sacred sanctuary of the Sikhs had observed the massacre of the Sikhs at large scale which left the Sikh nation's tortured body in to quandary of equal citizens or second class citizens. This paper deals with the political and ethnic dynamics of the Sikh separatism and government policies to manage the happenings.

Politics of Identity & Independence: Sikh Political Activism at Home and in the Diaspora

The paper seeks to analyse the complex interconnection between the identity politics of the Sikh community in the diaspora and the Sikh homeland politics in India. Building on the history of Sikhism, the paper focuses on the continuity and changes in the nature of political activism of the Sikhs both in the diaspora and homeland in the context of globalisation.

The Sikhs -religion and nation

2019

The article attempts to estimate the influence of political and social conditions on transformation in a Sikhs community in the past few decades as well as in the present time. The authors have used mainly the results of their own field research, statistical analysis and scientific works. The main aim of the paper is to explain the specificity of functioning of Sikhs who despite extremely unfavourable political conditions and relatively small number have been able to maintain their own identity and achieve the level of social and economic development higher than average for India and Pakistan. Contemporary Sikhs are both – a religion and national community. Their main characteristics are sharp cultural and moral distinction and very strong awareness of their identity. They manifestate strong bond to their region. Sikhs play crucial roles in social, political, and especially economic and military functioning of India.

How Religion Became Ethnonationalism: Reflections on Sikh Calls for Statehood and Identity.

It is difficult to disentangle religion from politics in the troubled history of intercommunal relationships in Punjab. This entanglement is most apparent in the Sikh call for statehood and identity. This dissertation seeks to identify the processes by which religion became ethnonationalism in the Sikh context. It argues that the call for self-determination and statehood, sometimes expressed by the idea of ‘Khalistan’ is rooted in religion but expressed as a political aspiration shaped by the context of the rise of Hindu nationalism through Hindutva politics. Punjab has a long history of rule by external powers, most notably the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. The Sikh community experienced both flourishing and oppression at different points in these Empires, but this dissertation argues that the last act of the British Empire; namely, Partition; was catastrophic for the identity of the Sikh community. It argues that the rise of Hindu nationalism post-Partition, though an understandable reaction to Colonialism, has had significant negative consequences for the Sikh community; a minority in India, which now finds itself in many ways disenfranchised in what is left of its homeland. These and associated events have combined to generate the shift from the apolitical religious practice of the past to identity politics and ethnonationalism for contemporary Punjabi Sikhs.

The Sikhs -religion and nation Chosen political and social determinants of functioning

The Sikhs – religion and nation Chosen political and social determinants of functioning, 2019

The article attempts to estimate the influence of the geographical and political conditions on the transformation of a Sikhs community after the decolonisation of India in 1947. The authors have used, among other things, the results of their own field research, statistical analysis and scientific works. The main aim of the paper is to explain the specificity of the functioning of Sikhs who despite extremely unfavourable geopolitical conditions and relatively small number have been able to maintain their own identity and achieve a level of social and economic development higher than average for India and Pakistan. Contemporary Sikhs are often perceived as both-a religious and national community. In general, their main characteristics are sharp cultural and moral distinction and very strong awareness of their identity. They manifestate strong bond to their region. Sikhs play crucial roles in social, political, and especially economic and military functioning of the state. Due to their concentration on the India-Pakistan borderland, strong militarisation and separatistic tendencies, Sikhs play crucial role in the domestic and foreign policy of India.

The construction of a Sikh national identity

2000

In modernist approaches, the religious and cultural homogeneity upon which Sikh elites have based their claims for nationhood is itself a recent invention, a product of elite or colonial manipulation. Particular attention has been paid to the activities of the Singh Sabha movement in the late nineteenth century and their elucidation of a tat khalsa discourse which became hegemonic in the twentieth century.

Shiromani Akali Dal and Politics of the Partition of Punjab

isara solutions, 2023

In economic terms,the Sikhs are highly a secure community in India. The Sikhs have higher per capita income and higher life expectancy than the national average. The Sikhs constitute a higher proportion of the Indian army and of all central government employees. The Sikhs are about 2% of the population of India.The present paper discusses events during the Nationalist Politics in the Punjab and community perception during those times. The Sikh community has played a very important role in politics of the Punjab. Punjab was the seat of political powerof the Sikhs andcenter of their religious activitieswith the fresh awareness of identity based on religion, the Sikhs gradually became conscious of their religious, social and political limitations. In the Punjab the Sikh minority was trying to establish its distinct identity. The new institutions and leadership emerged among the Sikhs to reform and revitalize their community.It is believed that religion and politics are combined features in Sikhism. In India, political movements have been organized to fulfillthe claims of religious communities for sharing power and to fashion them in a way that would ensure the permanence of politics of IRJMSH