Sikh Practices Research Articles

Kirpan Sikh in Indonesian Legal Context

This research delves into the nuanced interplay between religious freedom and legal norms in Indonesia, with a specific focus on the Sikh practice of carrying the kirpan. This ceremonial dagger, integral to Sikh faith and identity, presents a unique challenge within Indonesia's diverse legal and socio-cultural landscape, marked by the country's commitment to Pancasila, which emphasizes religious freedom, unity in diversity, and social justice. By employing a normative juridical approach, this study scrutinizes the tension between the kirpan as a manifestation of religious expression and public safety concerns, utilizing comparative analysis to explore international perspectives and solutions. The investigation reveals a critical need for Indonesia to refine its legal and policy frameworks to more effectively accommodate religious practices like the kirpan. Drawing lessons from countries such as India, the UK, Canada, the US, and Sweden, the research advocates for inclusive legal reforms, enhanced public education, and robust intercultural dialogue. These strategies aim to reconcile the practice of carrying the kirpan with public safety imperatives, reflecting a deeper understanding and respect for religious diversity. The findings underscore the significance of integrating Indonesia's foundational principles of Pancasila into the contemporary discourse on religious freedom and minority rights. The study posits that respecting the kirpan within this ideological framework not only aligns with Indonesia's commitment to diversity and tolerance but also strengthens national unity and social harmony. This research contributes to the broader discourse on balancing religious expression and public safety in pluralistic societies, offering a comprehensive blueprint for policy and legal reforms that honor both religious freedom and collective well-being. It emphasizes the importance of dialogue, education, and legal inclusivity in fostering a society that upholds the dignity and rights of all individuals, irrespective of their religious practices. Keywords: Kirpan, Sikh, Freedom of Religion and Human Rights (FoRB), Criminal Law, Indonesia

From charismatic hierarchy to autonomous Sangats: a personal reflection on the evolution of the 3HO/Sikh Dharma community

ABSTRACT This paper is a personal reflection on the establishment of Sikh Dharma and its place in the larger Sikh world. While Sikh Dharma developed unique expressions of Sikh practice and belief, it has increasingly integrated with the larger Punjabi Sikh community. The role of Yogi Bhajan in spreading key principles of Sikh philosophy and practice is examined. I conclude that Bhajan’s autocratic and exploitative behaviours distorted Sikh principles. In spite of Bhajan’s personal transgressions, Sikh Dharma has embraced the Sikh exultation: Sarbat Ka Bhalla (peace and well-being for all)!

Legitimacy in 3HO/Sikh Dharma

ABSTRACT The 3HO/Sikh Dharma International community has been mired in controversy since 2020. I study this community, focusing on efforts to cultivate and maintain legitimacy when it has been seriously undermined. Analyzing community-wide emails from key organizations within the larger 3HO/SDI community reveals legitimization strategies of community presentation. Specifically, my analysis of community-wide emails reveal an emphasis on portraying diversity, publicizing an interest in racial equity and DEI more generally, and linking Sikh practice in 3HO/SDI with Sikhs and Sikh practice in India. I find that, given their crisis of legitimacy, 3HO/SDI must adapt its community presentation and practices to survive.

Review: Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage. My Life with Yogi Bhajan, by Pamela Saharah Dyson; The Inner Circle—Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs, by Peter Macdonald Blachly

Review: <i>Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage. My Life with Yogi Bhajan</i>, by Pamela Saharah Dyson; <i>The Inner Circle—Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs</i>, by Peter Macdonald Blachly

Sacred distinctions: Law and the political regulation of Sikh Gurdwaras in British Columbia

AbstractSince the 1990s, a sizeable body of case law has formed in the Canadian province of British Columbia in response to disputes over the political leadership of local gurdwaras, the name for Sikh places of worship and assembly. Although the disputes stemmed from religious and political disagreements, the legal issues addressed by the courts concern the proper bureaucratic administration of Sikh institutions that have been legally incorporated as nonprofit “societies.” Through a textual analysis of 55 legal decisions related to gurdwara leadership disputes, this article explains how the courts have decided these cases without ceding the pretense of secular neutrality by mobilizing a series of shifting discursive distinctions between religion, politics, materiality, civil society, and bureaucratic procedure. Building on critical secular and sociolegal theory, this article tracks how law is able to establish and extend the state's jurisdiction over Sikh practices and populations through its capacity to inscribe and delimit the social and political parameters of religion. It illustrates how this case law serves as a mechanism of racial governance by extending forms of surveillance and legal intervention that work to embed the diasporic practices of Sikh communities within the spheres of Canadian state power.

THERE IS NO COLONIAL RELATIONSHIP: ANTAGONISM, SIKHISM, AND SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES

ABSTRACTThis article identifies how scholars have displaced antagonism within histories of Sikhism and South Asian Studies more broadly. In contrast to this displacement, this article foregrounds antagonism by taking into account a third element within the presumed colonizer and colonized relationship: a curved space of nonrelation that signals there can be no colonial relationship. By considering the constitutive nature of antagonism within social reality that remains unable to be demarcated, this article examines the generative principles of Sikh practices and concepts that both structure Sikhism's institutions and productively conceptualize this antagonism. Examining these concepts and practices, I consider the possibility of different modes of both historical being and becoming not bound within our current conceptual rubrics. These different possibilities culled through Sikh concepts and theories demand we reflect upon the rabble: those unable to be contained within colonial civil society or within attempts by the colonized for self‐determination in political societies. This void then fractured Sikh reform organizations historically, providing multiple avenues for politics unaccountable within our bifurcated and asymmetrical understandings of civil society and political societies and colonizer and colonized.

The Khalsa and the Non-Khalsa within the Sikh Community in Malaysia

In the pluralistic society of Malaysia, the Sikh community are categorised as an ethnic minority. They are considered as a community that share the same religion, culture and language. Despite of these similarities, they have differences in terms of their obedience to the Sikh practices. The differences could be recognized based on their division into two distintive groups namely Khalsa and non-Khalsa. The Khalsa is distinguished by baptism ceremony called as amrit sanskar, a ceremony that makes the Khalsa members bound to the strict codes of five karkas (5K), adherence to four religious prohibitions and other Sikh practices. On the other hand, the non-Khalsa individuals have flexibility to comply with these regulations, although the Sikhism requires them to undergo the amrit sanskar ceremony and become a member of Khalsa. However the existence of these two groups does not prevent them from working and living together in their religious and social spheres. This article aims to reveal the conditions of the Sikh community as a minority living in the pluralistic society in Malaysia. The method used is document analysis and interviews for collecting data needed.

‘Splashed with goodness’: The many meanings of Amrit for young British Sikhs

The importance of amrit ('nectar’, holy water) for Sikh children in Coventry illustrates the sanctity of water in Indian tradition in ways which challenge the understanding of amrit in publications on the Sikh tradition. For these young British Sikhs amrit is water which has been transformed and, in turn, transforms. It is a readily available means of channelling the Guru's power into the individual's life and is often associated with living masters (sants, babas), so providing insight into their controversial role in Sikh communities. Examination of the meanings of amrit in the lives of young British Sikhs raises two related issues for religious studies and education. One is the significance of ethnography for the representation of faith traditions, and the second is finding an appropriate model for understanding the spectrum of published and observed Sikh practice and belief concerning amrit.

The body: The Gurūs' teaching and contemporary Sikh practice

Gurū Nānak and successive Sikh Gurūs proclaimed the need for inner devotion rather than the external physical requirements of Hinduism and Islam. Nonetheless, Sikh worship involves particular postures and symbolic acts. Some tendencies in popular Sikh practice echo the ritualism and asceticism of Hindu tradition. Arguably, the stronger a Sikh's faith is in the scriptures as the Gurū's embodiment, the more striking these tendencies may appear to be.