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Sikhism And Caste


kdsingh80

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  • 6 years later...

^^^Good!!!

There needs to be hard sentencing for this type of nonsense to send a clear message. Certain people need to be restrained from their backwards, pendu, feudal, rapist mentalities.  It shouldn't even exist in Panjab let alone letting it spread in the diasporas. 

I used to hear fudhoo comments like this from certain quarters (you can guess which) a lot back in the days, when they used to think I as one of their backwards biraderi.   That's when you get a good insight into the types of mentalities that exist in certain sub-communities in the panth. And when you'd mention it to their wider community, they'd deny it.

It's like what a lot of racist goray say when they are inbetween themselves.  

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On 4/12/2023 at 6:50 AM, dalsingh101 said:

^^^Good!!!

There needs to be hard sentencing for this type of nonsense to send a clear message. Certain people need to be restrained from their backwards, pendu, feudal, rapist mentalities.  It shouldn't even exist in Panjab let alone letting it spread in the diasporas. 

I used to hear fudhoo comments like this from certain quarters (you can guess which) a lot back in the days, when they used to think I as one of their backwards biraderi.   That's when you get a good insight into the types of mentalities that exist in certain sub-communities in the panth. And when you'd mention it to their wider community, they'd deny it.

It's like what a lot of racist goray say when they are inbetween themselves.  

If only Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj had clearly told us casteism takes you through hell....oh wait ...

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On 4/12/2023 at 11:09 AM, Premi said:

A 68-year-old Indian-origin Sikh in the UK has been prosecuted and sentenced to 18 weeks in jail for posting hate speech on social media targeting Dalit communities.

68!!!!!!

 

Just shows you, age doesn't equate to any wisdom for these types of people. 

 

Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne Movie Review: A sweet story that is comic but not  mindless

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/6/2015 at 4:15 PM, paapiman said:

Still bro, I won't mind a mona (patit) asking me about my caste, but it will hurt if a Singh asks.  A mona or a patit cannot be classified as a Sikh, so he can ask such a question. Not a big deal.

Bhul chuk maaf

Disagree friend. All are Sikhs. Khalsa lead. We're all working on the same expectations and same Gurmat. 

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Sikhs Must Outwardly Celeb

Sukhraj Singh: We Must Outwardly Celebrate The Radical Anti-Caste Teachings Of The Khalsa

I strongly believe that the spirit of an assertive anti-caste Khalsa tradition withers each year the less we affirm our strict commitment to the abolition of caste.

 

 

Vaisakhi is celebrated by Sikhs across the world. It was established by the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji to commemorate the birth of Khalsa. The day coincides with the Spring harvest, which is celebrated throughout Punjab and other parts of North India, including Bengal, with songs, dances, and other festive traditions. The representation of this day by the Sikh or Panjabi community has been contentious at times, especially when religious and cultural boundaries on what is appropriate have become blurred.

Fight for a fair representation of Vaisakhi

Two specific examples come to mind in relation to the fight for a fair representation of Vaisakhi. The first is a cultural expression of Vaisakhi at Punjabi Meleh (plural of Mela), which takes place immediately after the end of the Nagar Kirtan, a public procession performed in Sikh tradition to celebrate Vaisakhi. For example, Shamsher Singh from NSYF confronted this issue in April 2019 by challenging the organisers of the Southall Mela (shown here) at the main stage to ban music that promoted misogynist and castest lyrics, which is a violation of Khalsa principles.

The second example relates to an orientalist misinterpreted worldview of Vaisakhi, where it is frequently infamously misidentified as "The Sikh New Year," which SikhPA have rightfully debunked in the past. They fought British tabloids like The Times and the BBC over incorrect captions and titles in their articles and even filed successful complaints with the Independent Press Standards Organisation. They have launched a campaign and created resources (available here) to reinforce those arguments and dispel such myths in the future.

It clearly highlights the community's effort and struggles to authentically represent the Vaisakhi festival in a way that ultimately seeks to convey the principles and meaning of the Khalsa and Sikh philosophy.

Khalsa belief system celebrates radical anti-caste teachings

One could argue that we parade the Panj-Pyaareh at Nagar Kirtan as a symbolic gesture, but to what extent does that grand gesture truly address some of the stark and rigid social inequities that sinisterly continue to govern our way of life both in the diaspora and in the homeland? The caste system is undeniably prevalent in our community for a variety of reasons, but given that the birth of the Khalsa is a testament and frequently a reference to our anti-caste philosophy.

Similar to Gatka, there may be public discussions that question the prevalence of caste in the Sangat or speeches that explicitly criticise caste. In addition to this, there can be public displays of anti-caste resolutions passed by leaders annually that bring reforms for the Sangat or Gurdwaras to commit to that year, such as the renaming of caste-based Gurdwaras or open endorsements of allowing inter-caste weddings, to mention but a few.

These acts are just a few examples of how to publicly celebrate and affirm a proud anti-caste Khalsa identity, which is rooted in the Khalsa way of life. These demonstrations can help to address such a serious issue in the community, but there is a little outward celebration. The insistence on celebrating our anti-caste Khalsa way of life stems from a culture of silence and dismissal, which only fosters the growth of a casteist society due to the Sangat's lack of access to critical discourse.

As previously argued, a suitable beginning point could be to celebrate our anti-caste teachings in order to rediscover and revitalise this Khalsa ideal destined to consign caste to the dustbin of history. Instead, we risk confining our views to the "Sikhs don't believe in caste, so it doesn't exist” or  "I don't see caste" which is an exceedingly unfair and unjust portrayal of Vaisakhi. In truth, Vaisakhi is an initiative towards establishing anti-caste belief systems and ways of life in society. 

 

*Based on an article by Sukhraj Singh, published in Baaz on 14th April 2021

https://www.baaznews.org/p/celebrate-anticaste-khalsa-vaisakhi

https://www.sikhnet.com/news/sikhs-must-outwardly-celebrate-radical-anti-caste-teachings-khalsa

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4 hours ago, dalsingh101 said:

Sikhs Must Outwardly Celebrate the Radical Anti-Caste Teachings Of The Khalsa
Vaisakhi is celebrated by Sikhs across the world....

 

Vaisakhi is celebrated by Sikhs across the world. It was established by the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji to commemorate the birth of Khalsa. The day coincides with the Spring harvest, which is celebrated throughout Punjab and other parts of North India, including Bengal, with songs, dances, and other festive traditions. The representation of this day by the Sikh or Panjabi community has been contentious at times, especially when religious and cultural boundaries on what is appropriate have become blurred.

Fight for a fair representation of Vaisakhi

Two specific examples come to mind in relation to the fight for a fair representation of Vaisakhi. The first is a cultural expression of Vaisakhi at Punjabi Meleh (plural of Mela), which takes place immediately after the end of the Nagar Kirtan, a public procession performed in Sikh tradition to celebrate Vaisakhi. For example, Shamsher Singh from NSYF confronted this issue in April 2019 by challenging the organisers of the Southall Mela (shown here) at the main stage to ban music that promoted misogynist and castest lyrics, which is a violation of Khalsa principles.

The second example relates to an orientalist misinterpreted worldview of Vaisakhi, where it is frequently infamously misidentified as "The Sikh New Year," which SikhPA have rightfully debunked in the past. They fought British tabloids like The Times and the BBC over incorrect captions and titles in their articles and even filed successful complaints with the Independent Press Standards Organisation. They have launched a campaign and created resources (available here) to reinforce those arguments and dispel such myths in the future.

It clearly highlights the community's effort and struggles to authentically represent the Vaisakhi festival in a way that ultimately seeks to convey the principles and meaning of the Khalsa and Sikh philosophy.

Khalsa belief system celebrates radical anti-caste teachings

One could argue that we parade the Panj-Pyaareh at Nagar Kirtan as a symbolic gesture, but to what extent does that grand gesture truly address some of the stark and rigid social inequities that sinisterly continue to govern our way of life both in the diaspora and in the homeland? The caste system is undeniably prevalent in our community for a variety of reasons, but given that the birth of the Khalsa is a testament and frequently a reference to our anti-caste philosophy.

Similar to Gatka, there may be public discussions that question the prevalence of caste in the Sangat or speeches that explicitly criticise caste. In addition to this, there can be public displays of anti-caste resolutions passed by leaders annually that bring reforms for the Sangat or Gurdwaras to commit to that year, such as the renaming of caste-based Gurdwaras or open endorsements of allowing inter-caste weddings, to mention but a few.

These acts are just a few examples of how to publicly celebrate and affirm a proud anti-caste Khalsa identity, which is rooted in the Khalsa way of life. These demonstrations can help to address such a serious issue in the community, but there is a little outward celebration. The insistence on celebrating our anti-caste Khalsa way of life stems from a culture of silence and dismissal, which only fosters the growth of a casteist society due to the Sangat's lack of access to critical discourse.

As previously argued, a suitable beginning point could be to celebrate our anti-caste teachings in order to rediscover and revitalise this Khalsa ideal destined to consign caste to the dustbin of history. Instead, we risk confining our views to the "Sikhs don't believe in caste, so it doesn't exist” or  "I don't see caste" which is an exceedingly unfair and unjust portrayal of Vaisakhi. In truth, Vaisakhi is an initiative towards establishing anti-caste belief systems and ways of life in society. 

 

*Based on an article by Sukhraj Singh, published in Baaz on 14th April 2021

 

https://www.sikhnet.com/news/sikhs-must-outwardly-celebrate-radical-anti-caste-teachings-khalsa

Excellent. Next year all the caste based Gurudware can host their own separate event to celebrate this. 

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21 hours ago, GurjantGnostic said:

Excellent. Next year all the caste based Gurudware can host their own separate event to celebrate this. 

You're not understanding. There are plenty of caste based Gurdwaras that hide their affiliation. What we don't want is a return to all panthic donations/funds/resources being directed towards one well known, self-entitled greedy caste. That's what this would probably lead to, and what is being planned. 

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I'd also like certain Gurdwara networks to honestly own up to their colonial era antecedents, and an honest exploration of how this compromise (to put it kindly) led to all manner of nonSikh thought to enter the panth in the guise of 'theology'.   

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^^^^

 

Given their history, you can pretty much guarantee that they are infiltrated by groups like freemasons etc. too. 

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2 hours ago, dalsingh101 said:

You're not understanding. There are plenty of caste based Gurdwaras that hide their affiliation. What we don't want is a return to all panthic donations/funds/resources being directed towards one well known, self-entitled greedy caste. That's what this would probably lead to, and what is being planned. 

Agree. I was joking. Daswandh should be highly decentralized period. Or we're just buying narcicissts hookers and benzies and paying politicians. 

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1 hour ago, dalsingh101 said:

^^^^

 

Given their history, you can pretty much guarantee that they are infiltrated by groups like freemasons etc. too. 

I'm masterminding some anti narc protocols, to make us or any system more immune, but really Purtan Gursikhi is narc kryptonite. We just have roll back the changes like large churches with collection plates, I mean modern Gurudware ahem. 

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It's interesting to note how sikhnet changed the forthright title of that last piece I posted from Sukhraj Singh. I put it in now..... 

 

I strongly believe that the spirit of an assertive anti-caste Khalsa tradition withers each year the less we affirm our strict commitment to the abolition of caste.

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