 SIKHS AT LARGE: RELIGION, CULTURE, AND POLITICS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
By Verne A. Dusenbery, Oxford
When the fifth Guru, Arjan, succumbed to the fatal injuries he sustained during torture by the forces of Jehangir, his son, Hargobind, succeeded him. At the succession, he was given two swords, one representing temporal power (miri), the other spiritual authority (piri). They were known as the Miri Piri, the political and religious sides of Sikhism.
The Miri Piri Academy that we find today in Amritsar was founded by Yogi Bhajan (né Harbhajan Singh Puri), an Indian customs official who left for Canada in 1969 to take up the job of a yoga instructor. Finally, he settled in Los Angeles, where he set up the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization. As his follower base grew, he began to send the ‘Gora Sikhs’ — as the western converts are commonly called by ‘Punjabi Sikhs’ — to Amritsar to study Khalsa asceticism at the Miri Piri Academy. Crossed swords — the symbol of Sikhism — and a lion form his emblem, bearing the motto “In God I dwell”. Yogi Bhajan — Siri Singh Sahib to his followers — wanted to create an academy of warrior saints, and even though the young gora converts made a journey from the promised land of consumerism to the land of the pure, a Punjabi Sikh would pull a face and comment, “They are not real Sikhs.”
Verne A. Dusenbery in this collection of essays explores two related topics: Sikh “ethnosociology” and Sikh identity as minority far and near. His research is thorough, and his assessment objective. He illustrates how under globalization, the overseas Sikh community becomes a subject of deterritorialization and reterritorialization.
The volume is divided into two parts, each consisting of six essays. The first part, “Sikh Ethnosociology”, opens with, “Punjabi Sikhs and Gora Sikhs: conflicting assertions of Sikh identity in North America”, which examines how the relationship between Punjabi Sikhs and Gora Sikhs has evolved through heterogenous cultural creeds and belligerent interactions. “On the moral sensitivities of Sikhs in North America” comes as a sequel, as it depicts how the diasporan Jat Sikhs still uphold the value of izzat (honour) as a moral principle, while Gora Sikhs hardly bother about it. In “The word as Guru”, Dusenbery discusses the controversy regarding the translation of the Adi Granth.
A couple of essays explore the concept of the ‘diaspora’ and analyse various issues related to Sikh identity and self-representation in a contemporary ethnosociological context. “Through wisdom, dispense charity ” depicts how the Sikh religious teachings and practices help motivate diasporan Sikhs to show solidarity with Punjabi Sikhs.
In the second part, says Dusenbery, “I have brought together a series of articles that focus on the ways that Sikhs living outside India have experienced and dealt with modern nation-state ideologies, policies, and practices of religious and ethnic management in various countries of residence.” Thus, the first three essays deal with the intersection of multiculturalism and transnationalism.
The final essay shows how collective representation has been achieved by Sikhs, especially in Singapore, Canada, Australia and in America. However, a serious book like this should not have so many instances of sloppy proof-reading and copyediting. Otherwise, this volume is an engaging read.
| Comments () >> |
 |
| Write comment |
| You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet. |
 |
