Sikhi and nonviolence

Abstract

Arvind Mandair has done most to show the West that the common term “Sikhism” is itself a Western and colonialist term that ill-defines what Sikhs know as Sikhi. The Sikhs, who are more orthoprax than orthodox , are certainly not an “ism” in the way the West imagines, with a set of beliefs, a set of rituals, a set of taboos, and so on. The founder of the Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak, is iconically portrayed as a peaceful, benevolent father. A sequence of ten Gurus followed along after Guru Nanak, carrying the Divine Presence within them and guiding the community. The moment of resistance brought out his understanding of what Sikhi meant. The fact was, however, that Sikhs had spent the entire period of the Emergency in the 1970s peacefully protesting for a return to democracy. The panth today is global in scope, making Sikhi one of the “world” religions.