Canadian Sikh or Sikh Canadian?
Writing by shinda on Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006
I was having a discussion with a Singh about comments he left, in an article on The Panthic Otpreka, in which he raised an interesting conversation point:Are we Canadian Sikhs or Sikh Canadians? Now for many this may seem like something pretty redundant and petty, but are we Canadians then Sikh? Or are we Sikhs then Canadian?
I would like to think the latter. Although we make home in Canada; a Sikhs first and foremost allegiance should be too their Guru, but I agree that this is just making note of a grammatical nuisance considering by no means does being a tall Sikh or a fast Sikh make one less of a of Sikh rather describes a characteristic of that Sikh.
However, regardless of how we formulate the sentence the real discussion revolves around the intent behind it. Do we intend to say that we are Canadians who happen to be Sikh? Or Sikhs who happen to be Canadian? Although both can be said using either line, the meanings for each is quite different. Whereas one implies loyalties to Guru Gobind Singh and the Panth first the other implies loyalties to the host nation first then after to the Guru and the Panth.
So where am I going with this. As Sikhs we need to realize that we have our own nation. Guru Sahib made and created us as Nyara, and not just in looks and philosophies as they apply in the religious sense, rather Nyara in the independent sovereign nation sense.
- We have our own distinct identity and dress. (Panj Kakaars, Bana etc).
- Own language, with its own dialect (Singha dee boli, atey Singhaa de Bol Balay)
- Own musical traditions (Gurmat Sangeet - Partaal)
- Both a political and pseudo religious system (Punj Pyarai & hierarchy of a justice system, Takhats).
- Etc.
(A great read alluding to this can be read on solariders blog – The Revolutionary Sikh Spirit)
???? ???? ?? ??? ? ????, ??? ??? ???? ??? ????
They are not subservient to anyone, They are either purely sovereign or in a state of rebellion
??? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ???????, ??? ??? ???? ???????
To these Sikhs I have blessed sovereignty; They shall never forget their prophet,
I think the above just speaks for itself, we are either free, or we are fighting for that freedom, there is no middle ground, which brings things back to what caused this whole conversation in the first place, the Sikhs and the Kirpaan.
With the Supreme Court decision coming out anytime now, there is no accepting a verdict that bans or puts unacceptable limits on the Kirpaan or any other kakaar for that matter. After all that would go against the fact that we have already establishished we are soverign.
So where is this all going and what does this all mean? Well it means that we need to identiy who we are. Unlike what many like Mr T Sher Singh have said,
“With the utmost respect, Mr. Vedanti and the Akhal Takht have no understanding of the Canadian context on this issue and have no jurisdiction to tell Canadians how to deal with it,” T. Sher Singh, a Guelph lawyer and trustee of the Sikh Foundation International, said.
“He’s no more a priest or high priest than I am the Queen of England,” Singh added. He noted that Sikhdom does not have a religious hierarchy.
Sri Akaal Takht Sahib has every right to dictate to Sikhs abroad especially those who have pledgded there allegance to the Guru Panth (by receiving Amrit), how to behave and act, after all any less would be us moving away even further from the system established by Guru Sahiban themselves.
So think, are you a Canadian first or a Sikh?
- Add this post to
Anonymous from 
Made Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006 at 1:20 pm
There are a few issues in this post that have to be addressed separately.
Firstly, any Khalsa is sovereign. They offer allegiance to no one except the Panth. That’s why I don’t believe that Sikhs should join any State’s army, becuase in that case, they have to be loyal to that state no matter what it does.
The laws of any state are only applicable to us so much as they are in line with Gurmat. If a State decides that it will make a law that is not inline with Gurmat, Sikhs cannot follow it.
So clearly I am a Sikh and I may hold Canadian citizenship, but I don’t consider myself a Canadian. Just a resident of Canada.
Then you brought up the issue of Akal Takhat and if it can order us while we are here. Again, it’s my belief that Akal Takhat can only act within Gurmat and can only issue legitimate orders if it is being operated according to the Gurmat way. Right now I’m not sure we can say Akal Takhat Sahib is being operated according to Gurmat. Vedanti is under the control of Badal. The recent hukumnama to boycott the Sarna brothers was rejected by the Panth because it was clear that it was not issued according to Gurmat.
There have been times when the Takhat has fallen out of Panthic hands like before the Akali movement when the parshaad of “low castes” was not accepted. Or when Gen. Dyer was honoured.
So in the present time I think Akal Takhat Sahib isn’t anti-Panthic but it’s not completely going according to Gurmat either.
Jab lag Khaalsaa rahe niyaaraa, tab lag tej diu mein saaraa
Anonymous from
Made Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006 at 7:10 pm
dhan dhan baba .::singh::. jee
Anonymous from
Made Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006 at 8:40 pm
jab eh gaae birpan kee reet, mai na karon in kee parteet
Anonymous from
Made Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006 at 9:00 pm
I don’t think anyone should totally disregard or hate on T Sher Singhs comment without analyzing the scenario of the Akal Takht. Right now, in my opinion the Akal Takht is not running in the fashion it was set up by Guru Ji. It is become a total political institution without the basis or piri or spirituality. So in this case I do agree with T Sher Singh. However, the vagueness with which he said this is not tolerable. He should have stated that ideally Akal Takth is the Sikh governing body and it is there to govern issues however, at this point in time it has no say because of its inefficiency and political scandals. I personally feel that we need to bring akal takth into the domains of the Global World and to do that we need to eliminate politics without spirituality. We need to run politics the way the Gurus would have dealt with it. Of course we are not the Gurus but we can run it close to what they would have liked by using our Eternal Gurus advice. Just a Singhs two cents. Tolerance is the only approach to bringing about unity in the panth so don’t hate appreciate. And do not bring up points to bash a person (like you have done with T Sher Singh) without knowing that person on a personal level you just do not have the credibility.
Anonymous from
Made Wednesday, 22 of February , 2006 at 9:34 pm
To the person above. your pretty much saying, you cant quote anyone without knowing them.
makes no sense
well the article was published in the paper, its public knowledge what was said.
your post makes no sense
people on the internet who say dont quote someone unless you know them are annoying, if someone says something why cant someone quote it
Sikh AND Canadian from
Made Thursday, 23 of February , 2006 at 10:59 am
I fail to see practical significance of the discussion in question.
There is a distinct dichotomy between faith and patriotism; there exists no natural or logical association.
Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by individuals to their own civic or political community, to its culture, its members, and to its interests.
Religion is commonly defined as a group of beliefs concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. It is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system not patriotism.
I cannot comprhend why followers of the Sikh faith (one of the most open-minded belief systems) entertain such left-wing conservative questions. What is next? Are you a Gurmukh Sikh or Manmukh Sikh?
It’s time to leave the ignorant exteremist ideas and ideals behind and with it the inability to differentiate between politics, religion, and the politics of religion.
I am Sikh AND Canadian.
I am Canadian AND Sikh.
.::singh::. from
Made Thursday, 23 of February , 2006 at 12:56 pm
its not a distinct dichotomy …faith and patriotism can b thought of as one ..thas what guru gobind singh jee has proven..thats what u hav to understand..the point of this post was to say that sikhs are sovereign..they are patriots of the guru..loyal to god..they hav a positive attitude towards the whole world not just america canada or any particular country..they are akaal purkh kee fauj (knights of god) but only thing that limits ther abilities today is living on foreign land and by foreign i don’t mean we would b any better in india..or panjab..jus a land of our own..or atleast be independent..b anywher but independent..do what they want and by that i mean walk around in any kinda clothes..carry any kinda weapons they like..but as spidermans uncle once said “with great power comes great responsibility” ..so u can’t jus go around carrying an AK47 n scaring the **** outta evryone..thers gotta b tht balance.. saintsoldier..sant-sipahi..baanee-baanaa..seva- simran…u gotta do it all together or ther is no point in discussing all this.. but thas all a dream.. y r we not doing thtt rite now ? cuz we’re not pooran..we don hav the jeevan..again the quote comes “jab lag khalsa rahe niara..tab lag tej deeo main sara”.. b different b proud of it.. yes we’re open minded..yes we do look at logic..but foremost we listen n follow our gurus baanee..n if guru sahib says we’re not gonna b sheep..then we aren’t gonna b..if u’ve ever seen a herd of sheep..u can never tell the difference between them.. sheep follow sheep ..thas y guru sahib made us lions..he knew it was needed for the future(now) when ther will b mostly sheep around i knw its not easy to comprehend as we’ve grown up in a society where these views are thought to b obsolete..but jus think what your guru saying to u.. king of all kings … i jus kept writing for a while.. lol..i don wanna read evrything n edit.. so if i’ve hurt anyones feeling.. maafee..forgive me..vaheguru
Anonymous from
Made Thursday, 23 of February , 2006 at 1:18 pm
vah jee vah…..
Anonymous from
Made Thursday, 23 of February , 2006 at 7:16 pm
for real tho nigga, u gotta learn how to talk to people
.::singh::. from
Made Thursday, 23 of February , 2006 at 7:30 pm
sorry..i’m from malton…we weren’t taught how to talk to white ppl.. not my fault
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