(The following presentation was made on “The Religious Identity of Sikhs” by Dr. Mohan Singh, vice president of Singh Sabha Society Edmonton and member at large Sikh Federation of Edmonton at the “Equal Minority Constitution Rights Conference” held on January 21, 1990 at The Sikh Society of Alberta Gurdwara (Sikh Centre) Edmonton, Alberta Canada. The subject was “the Sikh turban in the R.C.M.P.” There were about 30 speakers ‘from different communities and organizations representing multicultural character of Canadian population.)

Since Sikhism’s beginning during the last {quarter of the fifteenth century, uncut hair, beards and turbans have been an integral part of religious identity of Sikhs. All the 10 Gurus from Nanak to Gobind Singh and most of their followers whose names appear in recorded Sikh history kept uncut hair, beards and wore turbans.

Sikhism began as an egalitarian movement with promotion of social justice (opposition to Hindu caste ideology and caste structure), political justice (fight against violation of human rights), economic justice (earning an honest living and sharing it with the needy) and spiritual justice (freedom of conscience) as its principal aims and objectives. The oppressed and suppressed people of India found the “Sikh Movement” a “great liberating and civilizing force” and joined it in increasing numbers. This was perceived as a threat by the political system of the day and Arjan the fifth Guru in succession to Nanak had to sacrifice his life, like Lord Christ, in defense of Sikh ideology, identity and aims and objectives of the Sikh movement,

Guru Arjan’s martyrdom proved a turning point for the Sikh movement and it became a radical political movement, while maintaining and enhancing its egalitarian character. For achieving the aims, objectives and goals of the movement, “the use of arms” (When necessary) became an integral part of the Sikh movement as it was sanctioned by Guru Arjan before his martyrdom,

In order to enhance the effectiveness of the Sikh movement, the last Guru in human form, Gobind Singh “the lawgiver of the Sikh people” institutionalized Sikhs in 1699 as sociologically, psychologically and politically liberated people by shaping them in his own image and in the images of the nine gurus proceeding him, Thus, the status of uncut hair, beards and turbans in addition to “ethical code of conduct” got further enhanced as an integral part of religious identity of Sikhs and symbol of free people. At that time only free people could wear turbans, carry arms and ride horses.

Every Sikh religious service concludes with supplication acknowledging the sacrifices of those Sikhs who preferred martyrdom over comprise with Sikh identity with regard to uncut hair, beards and turbans.

During Sikh sovereignty in Punjab cradle of Indus valley civilization, in the first half of the nineteenth century, many people ‘of European origin sought and received high positions in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and kept beards, turbans and abstained from smoking in public as a mark of respect for Sikh religious identity,

The “Kohinoor” or “Mountain of Light” jewel currently part of the British crown used to be part of the Sikh sovereign Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s turban. According to the autobiography of King Babur, who possessed “Kohinoor” in 1526, it had the purchasing power to feed the population of the world known to him for a couple of months,

The turban has been internationally accepted as an integral part of religious identity of Sikhs. Sikhs in the police and military forces of The United Kingdom, Malyasia, Singapore, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania perhaps some other countries and many cities in Canada including Edmonton, wear turbans or have no restrictions in ‘wearing turbans as part of their uniform,

As wearing turban is an integral part of Sikh religious identity, a Sikh is able to enhance his self-concept a necessary ingredient for enhancing performance of Sikhs at the workplace. The employers of Sikhs could enhance performance of Sikhs at the workplace by encouraging and helping their Sikh employees maintain their religious identity to get higher performance at the workplace a nearly universal goal of employers everywhere.

(The author is an Organizational Psychologist by profession and lecturers on Sikhism in both Punjabi and English in Canada. He can be reached at 743-0455 (residence) and at 791-4813 (business), ‘area code 403.)

Article extracted from this publication >> March 9, 1990