American Journal of Sociology, 2005

Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry , 2020

This article adopts a subjective and reflective voice to convey my emotional response (in Boler’s, 1999 terms) to the passing of a recent Bill in Quebec. The article explores the question: How does one reconcile a Sikh identity that is worthy, respected and admirable in Quebec, and by extension in Canada, in light of Quebec’s Bill 21? Further, through the lens of a racialized minority, that of a Sikh woman calling Canada home, and from the perspective of my family who have lived in Canada for several generations, I contest the recent legislation in Quebec’s Bill 21, for having erected a very strong, man-made cage that effectively bars anyone with a Sikh identity from working in the civil service.

The perceived interconnection of Sikh religion and extremism, and the mistaken association of Sikhism with Islam impacted Sikh consciousness and historically, these have presented challenges to Sikh identity, representation, and intercultural negotiations in Canada. With reference to Anita Rau Badami’s Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? (2010), this article investigates Canadian Sikh diaspora’s collective memories, specifically: (i) the return of the Komagata Maru ship from Vancouver (1914) (ii) partition of India (iii) the death of passengers in Air India 182 (23 June 1985) from Toronto to India; (iv) Operation Blue Star (1984) and (v) the 1984 Sikh carnage.

Sikh Formations, 2011

In 1993 a number of Sikh Canadian veterans were barred from entering a Legion Hall in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada because they refused to remove their turbans. Using a postcolonial lens to explore this meeting and the historical factors leading to it, this paper offers some important reflections on both the evolution of Canadian multiculturalism and the nature and meaning of Sikh identity in a seemingly postcolonial context. The paper suggests that the Sikh veterans involved in this event were effective at strategically constructing a subject position that relocated them simultaneously at the centre of Empire and Canada's multicultural order.

The Patriot, 2019

Review by Akhtar Hussain Sandhu The book entitled An Uncommon Road: How Canadian Sikhs Struggled out of the Fringes and into the Mainstream by Gian Singh Sandhu offers variety of subjects in ten chapters along with glossary and bibliography. The author has decorated his writing with logic and rationale while talking of historical, political, religious and social subjects. It is neither an autobiography, political history, religious history, family history, travelogue, cultural and social accounts of Punjab and Canada nor study of Sikh diaspora but all because it is a blend of all the subjects including history, politics, regional and international politics, sociobiology, anthropology, culture and theology and so on that is why this involves a reader in the matter once someone starts. The academic language and civility in the tone beautify the text and the meanings. The mention of blood, massacre, discrimination, violation of rights, injustice and other inhuman incidents require sometimes harsh and furious diction, emotional stance and verbosity but I admire the author on the decency, civility and docility he adopts while talking of the painful experiences and bitter moments. Nothing hard and poignant could be more than the massacre of Darbar Sahib and Delhi but the author writes all this bloodletting moments and news with smooth and pacific waves of tears. The notable point is that the author concludes every move, learns from the conclusion and plans a new direction of the future. Usually, religionists or traditionalists feel hard to bring any revolutionary change but this book testifies the prudent and zealous adaption of his mind regarding specific situation.

1990

Includes bibliographical references.This research is an anthropological ethnographic study of Sikhism as practiced in Chicago suburbia. Sikhism is explored as a separate cultural group, focusing on what it means to be a Sikh in the U.S. today. The initial interview was conducted with Mohinder Singh, a Sikh priest affiliated with the Chicago chapter of the Sikh Society. Areas explored are religious tenets of faith, cultural differences, as well as political issues affecting Sikhs. Mrs. Rani Singh is a mother of 3 and the wife of a hospital radiologist in Aurora. She is an outspoken defender of minority rights and an active member in the Sikh community. Rani and her children, Ravi, 17; Savina, 15; and Simer, 10; also participated in this study. These investigative interviews, along with extensive background material, are presented alone with my findings and conclusions. Issue headings are divided into 4 areas: 1) Cultural Group Identity as Evidenced by Unique Sikh Appearance; 2) Relig...

The Journal of Asian American Theological Forum , 2020

2012

Abstracts und Kontakte der 25. internationalen Konferenz „Frühbronzezeit in Mitteleuropa“, 10.-13. 10. 2017 in Mistelbach