Sikhi(sm), Sikhs and Sikh Studies: Contextualizing diversity of histories, practices and identities

Abstract

Much of the public sphere of global Sikh engagement presents a dichotomy of defining a "true" Sikh in the light of largely hegemonic definitions of the term "religion" and as a consequence of the historiography of the development of Sikh identity. As Singh highlights, both India and Pakistan exercise control over Sikh sacred shrines, since the Partition of India in 1947 resulted in key Sikh historical shrines being situated in the newly created Pakistan. A lived religion approach is based instead on the notion that "religion is the handiwork of people", that it is ongoing "cultural work" and that its value lies in "distinguishing the actual experience of religious persons from the prescribed religion of institutionally defined beliefs and practices". According to the Sikh Rehat Maryada, only amritdhari Sikhs are regarded as being "proper" or "true" Sikhs; as such, it is this form of Sikhi/sm that is generally called upon to speak for "the Sikhs.".