Sikh View

 At the outset, I am a Sikh, an Indian and do not agree to the view that there should be a Khalistan, or a Sikh homeland. This thought in itself is what needs to be disgusted upon, along with its parallels that are being created by some people who want a Hindu Nation!  But, at the same time, I am worried and concerned about the religious polarisation where one should either fit in the definition of 'Hindu' or be labelled as a non-Indian. Sikhism is an independent religion and not a sect of Hinduism or a part of Hinduism. And, the attempts made by any Hindu "cultural" organisation to end the minority status for Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists and assimilate the same into the Hindu fold is a existential suicide for Sikhs in India. In the Hindu fold, Sikhs will have to go through the vagaries of caste system, ritualistic hypocrisy and a departure from monotheism. These are the very principles that Sikhism has revolutionised against to create a new and independent religion.  T

Before even getting into Sikh philosophy, let's look at the Hindu reform movements and what they had in common.  Going backwards, the Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, during the Times of Bengal Renaissance worshipped 'the nameless, eternal, immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the universe.' Brahmo Samaj has no faith in Hindu incarnations, denounced polytheism and idol worship and was against the brahmanical caste system. This is a movement that had left an impression even on Swami Vivekananda during his early days.  Second is Arya Samaj, which was also a monotheistic Hindu reform movement, which also denounced idol worship and rituals. These had their influence from the Advait Vedanta , whose proponent was Adi Shankaracharya (who also had a debate with a ritualistic Brahmin about rituals and dualism, with him negating these) which stated that there is no duality, but the ultimate reality called Brahman (not to be confused with a Brahmin) which is

 My elder sisters studied in a school in Delhi run by the Sikh Gurudwara body. These schools are minority run institutions which are supposed to be run to promote the students of particular minorities to get education. The mission of the school where my sisters studied has fourteen points. The point about Sikhism is only one, at point number 10 which states the school mission to 'encourage students to follow the Sikh Religion and belief.'   The other points are about important professional and social goal related missions. But interestingly, the first one is 'To provide secular education to students from all communities.' For survival, educational institutions of minorities must open themselves up and talk the language of inclusiveness and secularism. But, at the same time, the reason for creation of the minority institutions as per the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee Act of 1971 must be highlighted. The Act states the purpose being 'to spread education,

Well, I want to first start with a confession:  The last time I went to my local Singh Sabha Gurudwara was not very recently and I may be preaching something I may not have myself practiced. Nevertheless, the issue needs to be spoken about.  The issue is of Singh Sabha Movement and how it led to many very good changes in the Sikh social and religious structure. Gurudwaras around the world, after the Singh Sabha Movement became the extension counters of the message of moneotheistic Sikhism and brought the local area Sikh Sangat close.  The movement also standardised the Sikh symbolism, architecture and practices of Sikh worship. Today, every Gurudwara has the Guru Granth Sahib at the highest pedestal, with easy access to all. There is also a stage for Sikh leaders for bringing Sikh issues and another stage for Kirtan and Katha.  But there is a sad story about Singh Sabha Gurudwaras that are in low Sikh population areas or are sometimes in large cities too, (which need a management to ru

Guru Gobind Singh created an egalitarian religion which believed in one God and ended all castes and religious differences through the Amrit Ceremony. In an Amrit Ceremony, the members are initiated as Khalsa by drinking from a same pot which is water and a sugar (patasa) stirred with Khanda. By this process, the people partaking it become equals and the males remove the caste surname and put 'Singh' and the females put 'Kaur' But, this form of egalitarism may be just theory in today's everyday masses, especially when they are looking for a marriage partner. Offcourse there are exceptions with the initiated Sikhs with Amrit. Some of them I know by experience, who would not consider caste, but this seems to be a minority. The biggest proof of the plague of the caste system, as mentioned before, is visible twice every week as documentary evidence in the form of matrimonial advertisements in newspapers.  The picture above is a copy from a newspaper matrimon

The 5 kakkars or the 5 Ks are a fundamental tenet of the Sikhism and is a mandatory requirement after taking Amrit and initiating into the Sikhism. This Amrit is a voluntary action by Sikhs today and not all 'Sikhs' who wear a turban today or have a beard wear the 5 kakkars. This may sound strange to the other religions where baptism may be the prerequisite to call yourself belonging to a particular religion. This strangely is, but should not be, the current way Sikhism is. Somehow we see a picture being painted that people taking Amrit are ultra orthodox, super religious or even may be categorised as people who may affiliate themselves to separatists. This is something that must be denied by all Sikhs both consiously, and also unconsciously in their heads when they think about it.  Due to the aftermath of the Sikh insurgency in Punjab and the 1984 Sikh genocide in Delhi, there were many Sikhs who even did away with their turbans and beards, let alone taking Amrit a