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Religious and Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity

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RELIGIOUS AND HISTORICAL PARADIGMS OF THE SIKH IDENTITY A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences of the PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA In Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES Supervised by Submitted by Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu Jaswinder Singh GURU GOBIND SINGH DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES, PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA 2011 Dedicated to My teacher and friend Prof. Jagdish Singh Certificate It is certified that Mr. Jaswinder Singh has worked under my supervision and guidance on his Ph.D. thesis entitled “Religious and Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity”. It is further certified that no part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree/diploma to this or any other university/institution. I find it worthy of submission for Ph.D. degree. Date____/___/2011 Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu Reader, Guru Gobind Singh Dept. of Religious Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala Declaration I declare that this thesis “Religious and Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity” has been written by me and it has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree/diploma by any other university/institution. Date____/___/2011 Jaswinder Singh Countersigned By Date____/___/2011 Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu (Abstract) Religious and Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity 1. Introduction Study of identity and its reflections are becoming important in social sciences especially in religious study. Due to the recent developments in different religious groups and communities the study of identity has come in academic focus. The main problem of this study is to understand the nature and development of Sikh identity and to find out the connections in its religious and historical paradigms. 2. Concepts 2.1. Identity According to the Oxford Dictionary, identity is the characteristics, feelings or beliefs that distinguish people from others: a sense of national / cultural / personal / group identity. As a sense of uniqueness, a feeling of continuity over time and a sense of ego completeness. And fourth characteristic demands identification with the ideals of some group that affirms the sense of self that is the final achievement of a healthy sense of identity. In this research work we purpose to identify the uniqueness of Sikh identity and its religious and historical paradigms. 2.2. Paradigm The word ‘Paradigm’ is derived from Greek word ‘Paradeigma’ that means explanation of a pattern. In this research we are applying concept paradigm as a methodical framework to study the representive religious and historical patterns of the Sikh identity. 2.3. Religious Paradigm Religious paradigm of identity is a matter of religious identification or declaration. Those who believe or follow the specific doctrines of a particular faith are generally referred to as religious community. Every religious community has a specific identity that bonds their own faith. In this research we want to explore the distinguish feature of Sikh faith. 2.4. Historical Paradigm Almost every identity links with the history of his group, caste, tribe, class, nation and community because that attaches with these in the object of conscious and unconscious mind. According to J.S.Grewal, ‘It is based on peculiar doctrines, institutions and social attitudes – including sense of commitment to matters temporal as well as spiritual. It necessary to take into account the approaches and the views for a comprehensive treatment of the subject. The historiographical perspectives have been presented to be examined in the light of understanding the subject’. The purpose of this research is also to understand the historical development of Sikh identity. 3. Objectives: The main objectives of this study are: – 1. To understand the nature and emergence of Sikh identity. 2. To understand the religious paradigms of the Sikh identity. 3. To understand the historical paradigms of the Sikh identity. 4. To understand the connections of religious and historical paradigms of the Sikh identity. 5. Acknowledgements qU smrQu vfw myrI miq QorI rwm ] Thou art mighty and supreme; of little understanding I. With Thy perfect glance of grace, even those ungrateful dost Thou Cherish. (SGGS; 547) It is a matter of great privilege for me to acknowledge the encouragements, guidance and help which I received from eminent energies and sources throughout my research and study. I express my solemn gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu, who guided me to the topic. It is a great privilege to have worked under his methodological and scholarly guidance. Within this, I do thanks to the Head, all the faculty members, research mates and the students of my department for their encouragement to complete this dissertation. I extend my sincerest gratitude to Prof. Jagdish Singh, who accepted me as student and friend from the first day of my university life. I would like to thanks to Dr. Gurbhagat Singh, Prof. Himat Singh and Dr. Meher Singh Gill for their valuable discussions on my work. Their constructive, profound and the depth of thoughts around the study table and the cup of tea illuminated the way to understand and to learn the language of universal research. I present my great respect to my painstaking father S. Rajinder Singh and Mother Manjeet Kaur, whose blessings and love always remind me, objective of my real life. I am indebted to the affectionate love of my elder brother, Upkar Singh, his family and my younger brother, Satwant. I am completely ineffectual and have not any word to express my emotions, feelings and regard towards my friends, who are creditworthy to complete my dissertation. My friends are countless like stars and trees but I would like to mention some quasars, such as Bhaji Paramvir Singh, Goru, Bakhshish, Kanika, Simran, Lakha, Nimma and Adarsh. Within this, I do very much thanks to the trees, birds, fauna and living energies of this university, who enriched my faith, blessed and injected into me the poetic flashes of life. I express my respected feelings for the dedication and sincerity of Dr. Pritpal Singh for the genuine research. I would like to thank the United Sikhs for fulfilling my needs throughout the study. There is also effective contribution of ICHR, New Delhi, to award me scholarship for this research. At last, it is obligatory to thanks of the libraries of various universities, institutions and their cooperative and helpful staff. Jaswinder Singh Religious and Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity 1. Introduction 1-9 Significance Objectives Methodology 2. Chapter I - Identity: Concepts and Theories 10-54 Meaning and Concept of Identity Theories of Identity Sikh Identity in the Sikh Studies Conclusions 3. Chapter II - Religious Paradigms of the Sikh Identity 55-92 Sikh Faith and Identity Commitment and Sikh Identity Spiritual Foundations of Sikh Institutions Conclusions 4. Chapter III - Historical Paradigms of the Sikh Identity 93-150 The Experiences of Sikh Faith Institutions in the Sikh History Sri Harmandir Sahib/Sri Darbar Sahib Sri Akal Takhat Commitment towards Guru/Waheguru Experience of Sangat to Khalsa Symbols of Sikh Identity Conclusions 5. Chapter IV - The Sikh Identity: Mediations in Religious and Historical Paradigms 151-182 Early Sikh tradition of Sikh identity The Creation of the Khalsa and Sikh Identity Raj Karega Khalsa Conclusions 6. Summing Up 183-186 7. Bibliography 187-207 Introduction Significance: The issue of identity has acquired an unprecedented significance in the contemporary academic world. Its historical genesis can be traced in the holocaust in Germany and the two World Wars. Although the resonances of this concern are faintly conspicuous in ancient and modern world but post-modernity has to grapple vigorously with the some given to the conflict, violence and political recognition of crisis in the wake of post-colonial resurgence and globalized pluralistic co-existence mobility as a way of life. Post-modernism attempts to de-centre and re-interpret the whole structures of thought. It may be called the revolutionary phase in the present discourse. Due to this, to define and to find the solution of the complexes and crisis of philosophy, identity becomes a major issue. About the post-modern framing of identity, Ali Rattansi observes that ‘this mode of analyzing identities in intrinsically connected to a decentring and de-essentializing of the subject and social. Decentring refers here in the first instance to the deflation of a rationalist/Cartesian pretension to unproblematic self- knowledge. It also involves a critique of the conception of a linear connection of subjects to the external world, in which reality is made transparent form a uniquely privileged vantage point through the application of rationality and empirical disciplines. De-essentialism is an intimately related manoeuvre, cutting the ground away from conceptions of subjects and social forms as reducible to a timeless, unchanging, 1 defining and determining element or ensemble of elements – ‘human nature’, for example, or in the case of the social, the logic of the market or mode of production. Altering is important here because subjects and the social, and thus both individual and collective identities, are seen not as essentially given, but as constantly under construction and transformation, a process in which differentiation from Others is a powerful constitutive force’.1 The conceptualization of decentring, de-essentializing and altering is very important to frame the identity in the present thought. The perspective of other is becoming important to understand the phenomena of identity. The issue of Sikh identity is becoming significant in Sikh studies. It has taken a serious turn after the attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib and Sri Akal Takhat in June 1984. Sri Harmandir Sahib and Sri Akal Takhat are highly respected and sacred places for the Sikhs. Kirpal Dhillon writes that ‘operation Blue Star finally concluded on 6 June with the death of Sant Bhindranwale, Shabeg Singh and a few others in assault on the Akal Takht, where they had been living for several months.
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