The Development of Nationalist Ideas Within Sikh Community 1940s-1980s

The Sikhs are devotees to Sikhism, Sikhism is the youngest of the world’s religion with 25 million followers. Sikhism is only five hundred years old. The founder of Sikhism is Guru Nank, he was born in 1469. Guru Nank spoke a message of “Ek Ong Kar”: we are all one, created by the One Creator of all Creation. Guru Nank was the first of the ten Gurus in Sikhism. Throughout my research I have discovered what each Guru represents to the Sikh community and where Sikhism originated from. The appearance of Sikh devotees is a very important part of the Punjabi Sikh culture. Sikhs are very misunderstood in America and when people see images of Sikhs they are often mistaken for Muslims or terrorists, which often times leads to hate crimes. I’ll be focusing on the history of the Sikhism, Sikhs appearance, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism. In the end I would like my audience to have an understanding of the Sikh religion, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism.

On April 9, 1946, Muslim League's Central and Provincial Legislators had requested through a determination that the six territories of Bengal and Assam in upper east and Punjab, N.W.F.P, Sindh and Baluchistan in the northwest be constituted into a sovereign and the autonomous condition of

The Ottoman and Mughal empires were two of the greatest and most successful empires to ever form in history. However, they both had some similarities as well as differences. Both empires went through tough periods of time, but at some point they also went through times of growth and prosperity. Although the Ottoman and Mughal Empire both did not force conversions into Islam, the Ottoman’s development relied on their tough military force, while the decline of the Mughal Empire was caused by Aurangzeb’s policy of religious persecution and high taxes.

The Mughals ruled over much of India more than 300 years who through seven generations remained in power over the subcontinent and tried to integrate Hindus and Muslims into a united Indian state. According to the text; “Muslim’s spiritual and philosophical life in India evolved together with the religious life of non-Muslims”. The Delhi sultanate as well as Mughal’s didn’t intervene in the religious obligations and believes of their people. The reason for the conquest of India by Mughals was purely a factor to strengthen their power over the region. The promotion of religion was not a major factor in the state policies.

The government should take strict measure against them. (add citation). He said despite promising before independence to improve the treatment of Sikhs and give them their own country. The government proceeded to utterly destroy the state of Punjab. Due to the partition Punjab was ruined both economically and socially. Instead of receiving even the minimal amount of government help, Sikhs began facing economical, social, religious discrimination. Punjab's agriculture industry was completely broken by the central government. Farmers faced unjustly higher taxes on their produce and had lower selling prices forced on their crops. the central government even went as far to banning selling their produce in other states because that would give them higher prices for their labour. Even the electricity produced in Punjab by dams in Punjab was not given to them, majority of it was diverted to neighbouring states and the small amounts given to them still cost more, a problem that still exists today. In addition to this seventy five percent of the water available in Punjab is given to other states. Also seventy percent of revenues produced by the people of Punjab to improve their states was given sent to other states, less than one percent of that revenue is used for the development of Punjab. the investment was the lowest in all of India, yet Punjab is also the state with the highest taxes. Soon Sikhs faced restrictions if they wanted to join the armed forces,

The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. The empire Islam in South Asia, and caused the spread of Muslim arts and culture as well as faith. The Mughals were Muslims who ruled a country with a large

The Mughal Empire: Zahir al-Din, also known as Babur, was a Chagatai Turk that, unlike the Ottoman and Safavids, was just a soldier of fortune not fighting on behalf of Islam. He wanted to use his fortune to transform a glorious central Asian empire. Although, he did not succeed at that goal he then focused on India. Babur took Delhi in 1526. He did not like the land that he had conquered, it was a hot and humid climate but, Babur decided to stay. By the time of his death he had embraced most of the Indian subcontinent. The height of the Mughal power and influence came from Babur’s grandson Akbar. He gained power in Gujarat and Bengal, destroyed the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in order to later expand in southern India. He was a thoughtful man who tolerated the religious differences in

Sikhism remained relatively clustered in the Punjab, where the religion originated. After it became an independent state, the British took control but let them fight in the British army.

Turkish people known as the Mughals extended their authority and their empire to much of the subcontinent.

rebellion and there pretty much was a war. One of the most interesting events that the Sikh extremists did was the attack on the Romanian ambassador. The Sikhs are extremely violent in all their means and a lot of it is also retaliation. But the founder of the religion was a gentle soul. This shows just how easy it is for religion to turn violent. The younger activists had taken over pretty much and now the older Sikh leaders were just there. That is how the religion got so messed up. That 's why they were all about violence and none of the original Sikh views. They did not even achieve any political views. The Sikh terrorist are mainly in India. So even if the government is not the best doesn 't mean people can do whatever that want.

Although it could be argued that Britain unified India 500 million diverse Indians, and built a strong Indian army, they had an extremely strict cruel government that eliminated Indians freedom and used their own army against them as punishment. According to Dr. Lalvani imperialism in India resulted in “the bringing together of several different states into one unified India” However before the British came to India Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace for centuries. And while Britain was present and after they left the two religious groups were extremely divided and violently fought. Including wars that resulted in “5,000 people dead and 12,000 people hurt” (Gandhi). Britain encouraged separation and division of Muslims and HIndus because of the attack strategy, “divide and conquer” upon the idea that it would be easier to take over and govern a country that was fighting among

Chipaux, F. (2007). L 'islamisme essaime en Inde [Islamism in India]. Le Monde. Retrieved from http://www.lemonde.fr

The invasion of the Punjab by the British during the Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 led to the annexation of the Punjab to Britain in March of that year. The ferocity and tenacity of the Sikh warriors greatly impressed the British, and the fierceness of the British earned the mutual respect from the Sikhs as well. The British considered the Sikhs a “martial race”, and Sikhs were allowed to enlist in the British Indian Army. At it's highest point, Sikh enlistment represented 33% of the British Indian Army, despite the fact that Sikhs only accounted for around 2% of India's total population.[4] Sikh regiments were eventually dispatched throughout the colonies of the British Empire. Many of these Sikh soldiers remained in the colonies after completion of their military duties. Their reputation as soldiers and warriors put them in demand as employes in police and various other security services throughout the British Empire. These soldier-sojourners represent the first phase of Sikhs being scattered across the globe.[5]

This article tells about Sikhs holding a turban tying event in New York to educate more Americans about their faith. Sikh means “disciple” or student and followers are called this because the religion was founded by a line of gurus or “teachers. A survey given by the National Sikh Campaign showed that 60% of Americans are unaware of the Sikhism religion. A 24-yr. old founder of Sikhs of New York held this turban tying event in hopes to educate and answer questions of their faith. Turban day has been going on now for 5 years attracting 8,00 people to learn more about this religion and the numbers seem to grow each year. The event is held on the Vaisakhi which is a monumental celebration among those who practice the Sikh faith. Vaisakhi usually falls on the 13th or the 14th of April and is marked by colorful celebrations to help remember the past.

However this harmony was short lived. By the seventeenth century Muslim rule under the strict rule of Mughal leader, Aurangzeh, over the Hindus began. Aurangzeh imposed taxes upon the Hindus, destroyed their temples often converting them to mosques, and sometimes even forced them to covert to Islam. By the eighteenth century the Mughal empire had disbursed and the British began to obtain increasing power. The British colonialism of India led to the unification of Hindus and Muslims, for both opposed the British officers and resentment grew as they were denied jobs and high positions government.