Sikh Missionary Society (U.K.)
ਸਿੱਖ ਮਿਸ਼ਨਰੀ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ (ਯੂ.ਕੇ.)

Guru Gobind Singh ji completed Guru Nanak Sahib's mission of establishing Sikhi as the global Khalsa Panth, the egalitarian Order of the Khalsa.

Today, Sikh identity, ideology and institutions continue to face challenges in India and in the Sikh diaspora. For British Sikhs, as for other UK communities, year 2018 will be remembered as the year of the Brexit negotiations, and the countdown for the UK to leave the European Union (the Brexit) was approaching its end. In the US, minority communities including the Sikhs, have been apprehensive following Donald Trump's victory to become the President due to his extreme right wing views. Other countries can follow this trend to the extreme right to cause problems for the minorities by challenging the very ethos of multi-culturalism.

Terrorism in the name of misguided "Islam" which has been spreading since 9/11, has posed challenges for Sikh identity in the West. Yet, as a recent Sikh Network survey has shown, Sikhs continue to remain invisible to the government of the UK and other Western countries because they are not counted and monitored reliably as "Sikhs" under the current system. For example, many crimes against Sikhs are recorded as crimes under "Islamophobia".

There is a new awakening to push Sikh identity at global level. There is a global Sikh reaction to being lost in figures as "Indians" or "Asians" or misidentified as "Muslim" or even mis-profiled as "terrorists".

The challenges to main stream Sikh ideology and the independence of central Sikh institutions have been only too obvious for more than a century when Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha was compelled to write "Hum Hindu Nahi". There are Snatan dharmi Sikhs who are now openly preaching Brahmanic thought.

Internal controversy about the Dasam Granth must be avoided by fully accepting the Guruship of Jugo Jug Attal Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib in accordance with the Command of Guru Gobind Singh ji. Dasam Granth should be researched and celebrated as an invaluable source of literary heritage but not placed at par with Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Otherwise, today, Sikhs are better engaged with governments in the diaspora countries. We look to Year 2020 as the year of Chardhi Kalaa of the global Khalsa Panth.

Let us "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."(Albert Einstein)

May the Khalsa be imbued with humility and high wisdom. (Sikh Ardaas)

Have a promising and fulfilling New Year.

Further reading -

• Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Mission: Connecting the Dots
• Challenges to Sikh Identity in The West under Articles
• Guru Granth - Guru Panth & the Institution of Sri Akal Takht Sahib under Articles
• The Saint Soldier under Publications
• Saint Soldier under Publications
• Sarbans Daani Guru Gobind Singh Ji under Articles
• The Sikh Manifesto

Parkaash = illumination. Birth of a saintly person who becomes a source of spiritual enlightenment.

Gurpurb (or Gurpurab) is a religious festival commemorating a Guru.

For Sikh word concepts refer to the glossary

The anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur's shaheedi is observed on 24 November each year. Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75 C.E.), the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, gave his life for the religious freedom of all. He saved the sub-continent of India from religious bigotry and thus, according to Bhai Gurdas II, "Stabilised the world."

That message of Bhai Gurdas II is particularly relevant today in the context a destructive war around the world in the name of religion. Today, the world can learn from the shaheedi of Guru Tegh Bahadur who opposed the religious bigotry of Emperor Aurungzeb.

To quote from a study, "The martyrdom was a momentous and unique event in the history of human evolution towards a just society in which everyone has the right to practice own religion, subject only to the mutual respect between diverse religious paths. Never, in the annals of human history has a religious head of one belief system given his life for the religious freedom of another religion. In desperation and unable to invoke their numerous gods and goddesses, one leading Pandit made it known that in a dream he had been told by Lord Siva to go to Nanak IX, Guru Tegh Bahdur for protection."

The debt which humanity and India owes to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji has yet to be fully acknowledged.

For further reading:

• Life and the Unique Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675) under Publications
• see The Supreme Sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur under Publications
• see Martyrdom in Sikh Tradition under Articles
• Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyr And Teacher under Publications
• The Sikh Martyrs under Publications

Current Affairs advisories from Sardar Gurmukh Singh OBE, Chair of the Sikh Missionary Society Advisory Board -

• The Sikhs; Their Religion and Tradition
• Guru Granth Sahib
• Who is my Guru?
• Sikh religious titles, duties and related skills
• Sikh weddings: Anand Karaj
• Mixed-marriages : Professing Non-Sikh Faith But Married in Gurdwara
• Women in Sikh Tradition
• Sikhism and the Status of Women
• Heritage of the Sikhs - The Sikh Martial Tradition
• Role of Sikh Women in 18th Century Khalsa Struggle
• The First Anglo-Sikh War - Amarpal Sidhu - Book Review
• A Sikh Approach to War and Peace
• Radicalization & Confused Government Policy
• Sikhism & Care of the Planet
• Sikhism & Ecological Issues
• Sikhism & The Earth Charter
• Understanding types of Gurdwara and main Sikh groupings in the UK (Report: Research into Sikh Presence and Relationships in the Region for East of England Faiths Council)

Further Reading

• His study about the Life and Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, published as a book by The Sikh Missionary Society UK with the title - Guru Tegh Bahadur: The True Story"
• Articles by S. Gurmukh Singh can be read under Articles on Sikh Idealogy & Identity
• His weekly Current Sikh Affairs "News & Views" column in Panjab Times
• His monthly articles on SikhNet

The Sikh Missionary Society (U.K.) is now affiliated to the Sikh Council UK supporting the principle of Sikh unity to pursue Sikhi miri-piri objectives in the UK & Europe (following the Paris Sikh Summit of 26 November.

Sikhs worldwide remember the 1984 pogrom in which, according to official figures, at least 3,000 Sikhs were killed by organized mobs in Delhi in the first 3 days of November 1984. Thousands of Sikhs were also killed in other cities of India. While the terror of the human slaughter within such a short time was horrifying, the contrived completeness of the failure of the Indian administrative system was inexcusable.

In an ever shrinking world, no one can remain immune from large scale selective massacre of one community and prolonged delay in the delivery of justice. We remember those who lost their lives in the Sikh genocide of November 1984 and their families who continue to be denied justice to this day.

Further Reading

• Sifting the Dust of 84 Pogrom for Some Positives
• I Accuse...The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984 - Jarnail Singh journalist - Book Review

Achieving this Guidance on the wearing of Sikh Articles of Faith in the workplace and public spaces by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is an important step forward in recognition of the Sikh religious identity in the UK. The Sikh Missionary Society UK was represented by Gurmukh Singh (UK) in the drafting of the Equality and Human Rights Commission guidelines.

Further Reading

• see Guidance on the wearing of Sikh articles of faith in the workplace and public spaces under Articles (also available in Panjabi)
• Turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from the need to wear head protection in the workplace

  Sections 11 and 12 of the Employment Act 1989 as amended by Section 6 of the Deregulation Act 2015 exempts turban-wearing Sikhs from any legal requirement to wear head protection at a workplace.
  

• Sikh Rehat Maryada also available as PDF in English  and Panjabi