At the beginning of its creation, the Sikh population was known for having brave and valiant warriors who fought for those who could not fight for themselves. Throughout the time they had lived alongside other ethnic groups in India, the Sikhs had provided the country with protection from their “enemies”. In approximately the last 70 years, there has been increasingly high amount of tension between the Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims living in India. The tension between these people has grown at such an alarming rate that approximately 31 years ago, the portrayal of the Sikh had completely changed. Where the Sikhs used to be seen as brave and valiant soldiers, they were now seen as traitors and terrorists who could not be trusted. The same individuals …show more content…
The views of the Muslims and Hindus on the Sikhs are still warped by the media. The Hindus see the Sikhs as temperamental individuals, who are less educated then themselves and whose main priority is their physical appearance, and managing crops. The Hindu’s depiction of the Sikhs can be viewed in their movies and their political news reports in which a small cartoon clip is added, where they show the Sikh most likely in a corner breaking something and steam coming out of their noses and ears. The Muslims had viewed the Sikhs as slightly temperamental individuals who were not as spiritual as most, and lazy. The misconceptions of both can be traced back to the media in addition to other things. The Hindus had believed that the Sikhs were less educated than themselves mostly because of the fact that it had some truth to it. The Sikhs mostly worked in farms to provide food for the population and themselves. They did not have the funds to send their children to schools in order to get an education. Those that did get an education still ended up working in the farms, because the farms were passed down from generation to generation. They viewed the Sikhs as temperamental because of their past actions, such as the rebellions of 1984. They also saw the Sikhs as individuals who were obsessed with physical appearance, because of the fact that most Sikhs were larger in stature. After having done so much physical labour, it is only natural to have a slightly bigger build, however thanks to the media, it was perceived as an obsession, and not as a consequence of physical labour. The Muslims viewed the Sikhs as temperamental for the same reason as the Hindus, and viewed them as not being spiritual because of their religion. Unlike most religions, Sikhism does not require for Sikhs to pray, instead it is a choice. They were seen as lazy because they
Violence like this is very common. Also, they have had their fare share of discrimination. According to The Sikh Coalition many have reported employment discrimination. Sikh Awareness.(2010). Retrieved from http://www.sikhcoalition.org/ .Most recently, Frank Singh was called a terrorist and fired by an AutoZone ...
On May 1, 2006, the Governor General in Council appointed John C. Major, as the Commissioner to conduct an inquiry to investigate the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The Commission’s mandate was to provide accurate and practical recommendations for the complicated policy issues, which connect to addressing the National Security matters in Canada (CIIBAIF 182, 2010). The first subject in the Commission’s mandate was to resolve the issue of whether there was any knowledge by Canadian government of the possible threats made by Sikh terrorist before or after 1985. One of the goals of the inquiry...
Cynthia Mahmood’s book, on the Sikh militant teaches us an important lesson, that is, the Sikh were not always as violent as they’re portrayed to be. The book teaches us that these are religious people, who have been oppressed for over 500 years and have now reverted to violent ways due to social, political, cultural, and economic inequality committed against by...
Another thing about discrimination is how people use stereotypes –the way people look- against them, such as certain religions have to wear a certain type of clothing e.g. turbans or burkas. These religions maybe Sikhs or Muslims and although most of them are perfectly harmless, a lot of people are scared of them due to the scares of the Taliban and bombings but these are all stereotypes put upon them by the societey. When in fact they are exactly like us; they are all human beings that deserve respect. And, although there will be bad people among them there are bad people everywhere so what’s the difference?
Since 9/11, there have been several attacks considered as hate crimes towards Muslim-Americans and Sikh-Americans within their own community because of the conflation that exists between both cultures, to be mixed or confused together which is the source of the similarity that they both share in the religious image. Prabhjot Singh, an Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a Resident in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital was violently attacked due to this conflation. Maria Alvarez, a writer for Newsday, states in article that, “The professor, whose lower jaw had to be wired, said he heard his attackers yell ‘Get him!’ and ‘Osama.’” (www.newsday.com). This makes him pariahs because they are attacked due to their image for being religious.But Singh only responded to his community and attackers by expressing his concern of the religious image that is targeted...
Despite being one of the world's largest world religions, Sikhism remains one of the most unknowledgeable and misunderstood traditions in America now. It is overseen and viewed in a lens based off assumptions of events that have occurred over the years. The lack of understanding has brought up too many serious consequences for their community including discriminatory policies, prejudiced stereotypes, shocking school bullying and violent hate crimes. To begin, Sikhism is a religion originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent about the end of the 15th century. It is known as one of the youngest of the major world religions! The vital beliefs of
Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world, but many people don’t know about Sikhism. Many people mistake Sikhs for terrorists due to their turbans. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion originating from Punjab, India. Sikhs do not cut their hair, and proudly wear turban as part of their religious and cultural heritage. It’s been about 13 years since 9/11 attack happened, but its affects can still be seen in modern USA. There are still many cases reported every year of killing of innocent people that are mistaken as terrorists. The Sikh Coalition, the group created after the ill-fated 9/11, said that almost 900 incidents have been reported in which American Sikhs are bullied and killed since 9/11. Just after an hour of 9/11 attack, Sikhs in New York were harassed, assaulted and beaten with bats. In fact, Muslims and Hindus were also tortured and killed after 9/11, and till today there are cases of bullying Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost the whole America. During the weekend of ill-fated 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona Sikh, was gunned down wh...
The Sikh community originate from Punjab, India and as a result of their Asian identify they were viewed as undesirable immigrants, placing them at the bottom of the hierarchy of preference.
According to the famous historian Carlyle, a worthy sovereign should be judged from a sole factor as to how he employs his sword after being victorious.
Lawrence Auster wrote an eye-opening blog excerpt titled India and Pakistan: Why the Mass Killing Occurred. The content of this excerpt explore the fundamental issues of identity and religion that led to the violence in 1947. The author makes his point by utilizing current event such as the train massacre in 2002, in which 50 Hindu women and children were burned alive. The blog is for an audience with some prior knowledge on the topic and continues to expand upon that knowledge. The blog is a secondary source because it introduces its own unique ideas regarding the issue and was written after the time of the event. It was very helpful to my research because it simplifies the wordy information often found on scholarly sites and condenses it into something comprehensible and relatable to the reader.
Sikh extremism enters mainstream Canadian politics. (2007, June 28). Retrieved December 4, 2009, from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/sikh-politics-canada/index.html
In the book Train to Pakistan, author Khushwant Singh recalls the brutal and unfortunate times when Muslims were being forced out of Mano Majra. They, along with the Hindu and Sikh population, were living in relative peace. But when there had to be change, chaos ensued. There were several key individuals that shared the total responsibility of the expulsion of Muslims from Mano Majra; Even though some had purer motives than others, they all took stock in the unfortunate process.
threatening the large majority of Indian-Muslims, disharmonising other.... ... middle of paper ... ... politicians. They are the best.
McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh identity, culture and thought. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.