Articles by Paramjit S Judge

Religion, Identity and History Sikhism and History edited by Pashaura Singh and N Gerald Barrier; Oxford University Press, New Delhi,
PARAMJIT S JUDGE The study of Sikhism and Sikh history has emerged as an important area of research in social sciences. It has not only created a fuzzy distinction between Sikhs and Punjabis, but also lopsidedness in the trajectories of the issues that are raised with regard to Punjab. The Sikhs of Punjab are a dynamic and mobile religious community and their history has been shown as an account of struggles, sacrifices and finally the victory in the form of the establishment of the Sikh rule in the second half of the 18th century. A religious community that originated in the first half of the 16th century could establish its political domination within a span of two centuries obviously draws the attention of scholars. Some of the questions that can be raised in general with regard to the Sikhs are: What is Sikhism? What is the history of the Sikhs? These questions though interrelated, but have distinct orientations in terms of the subject matter. Whereas the study of Sikhism is the study of religious doctrine, the history of the Sikhs belongs to a different genre of knowledge. Combining the two in a volume gives us an inkling that perhaps the authors are of the opinion that in the case of Sikhism the two could be combined or are inseparable. An objective study of religion in which we also implicate history may explode certain myths.

Sikh immigration into Canada, now over a century old, has gone through various phases and shifts as policies towards immigration by successive Canadian governments have seen various modifications. While the Sikhs today constitute a big, easily recognisable community in Canada, indispensable as a vital economic force in the country, they have also tried to construct an 'identity' of their own. The articulation of identity in the case of immigrant Sikhs, however, may not simply be understood in terms of immigrants/host society dichotomy and its dynamics; the internal dynamics of the Sikh community in Canada too need to be considered. This paper also examines the various controversies that arose from the 1970s onwards, which helped define Sikh perceptions about themselves as citizens of modern, multicultural Canada.