India's Cannon Fodder: Sikhs Need to Wake Up

Indian Army Sikh Regiment Soldiers at Ladakh Border, between China and India

The saddest part about this article is that my delay in writing it didn't make it any less relevant. I could've posted this when tensions between India and Pakistan were at their highest. I could've posted this when India and China's border dispute ignited again. I could've posted it when nothing of the sort was at the top of the news cycle. It wouldn't matter. What I will attempt to (shortly) demonstrate is, in my opinion, ingrained in the very operations, policy, and mindset of India's socio-political sphere: that Sikhs are India's cannon fodder, so much so that we march to the drum of their destructive beat with pride.

Let's unpack cannon fodder a bit: Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as "an expendable or exploitable person, group, or thing." I would extend this definition slightly to include that the person, group, or thing is exploited for a goal or purpose that almost solely benefits those doing the exploiting or expending. How does this apply to the relationship between the Indian government and Indian Sikhs though? Let's break it down, beginning with some context.

A History of Military Tradition and Service

“Akalees (Akalis)”, from "Portraits of the Princes and People of India”, by Emily Eden, 1844, chromolithograph; Part of very famous British novel that was many Britisher’s picture of Sikhs for a while

What militarism means in Sikhi and its presence in Sikh tradition is its own article and is far too deep to dive into completely here. For those unfamiliar though, it may be worth to go over the basics. The ideal Sikh is a sant sapahi, a saint-soldier. This identity was codified in 1699 by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, when he created the Khalsa, meaning "the pure." This Khalsa "would be a disciplined body of God’s own saints and soldiers, men and women of courage and dedication who would adhere to the highest codes of conduct and the highest morality. Members of the Khalsa would never flinch in performing their duty to God and their fellow human beings...[1]" While the Sikh community had generations of military history already, the creation of the Khalsa marked a new chapter, as a series of righteous military campaigns ensued against the local hill rajas aligned with the opressive Mughal regime of Emperor Aurangzeb. When the tenth Guru left his earthly body, he proclaimed the leader of the Sikhs to be twofold: Guru Granth, Guru Panth; Granth meaning the scripture, and Panth meaning the community, specifically the Khalsa. This is the most clear example/declaration of the Khalsa's assumption of sovereignity: the saint-soldier is sovereign down to the very horse he sits on. This idea, along with the pursuit of justice for all and the survival of the Sikh community, motivates the military actions of the Khalsa for the next century. One way in which this culminates is the establishment of the Sikh Empire in 1801, which had one of the most impressive militaries of its era, so much so that it attracted some of Napolean's generals to join. Most importantly, it halted British advancement into their region for almost a century more than the rest of India.

When the British finally toppled the Sikh Empire through backdoors around 1849 is when another watershed moment in Sikh military history begins. When the dust of colonization had settled, the British realized and exploited both the military tradition of the Sikhs as well as the tensions with other communities due to, ironically, their battles with the Sikhs while under British rule. The British Raj specifically focused much of their military recruitment in Punjab, and the Sikh Regiments became a thing of legend, especially through World War I and II (along with other groups like the Gurkhas). Famously, when the first Canadian Prime Minister John Macdonald became fearful of a US invasion, he wrote British officials asking for an army of Sikh soliders to secure the border and seize San Francisco for leverage (how this hasn't turned into an anti immigration joke today is insane to me) [2]. After 1947 when India came into power, the trend continued and grew. Even today, Punjabi men, mostly Sikh, make up about 8% of the Indian military despite being 2% of the general population (and this is after quotas were put in place restricting the amount of Sikhs enlisting) [3]. The Indian Air Force used to colloquially be called the "Hair Force", refering to Sikh men's uncut hair and beards. India's famous victory against Pakistan in 1971 in which Bangladesh gained independence was captained by General Jagjit Singh Arora. 9 years earlier during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict Sikh soliders were on the front lines, most famously with Subedar Joginder Singh leading a legendary bayonet charge at Bum La Pass; similar examples exist as recently as 2020 with Havildar Gurtej Singh. It should also be noted that some of the tensest parts of the border between India and Pakistan lies in Punjab and its surrounding areas, affecting those areas and people most directly.

Another interesting piece of context to point out is that the Punjab region, where the vast majority of Sikhs come from, has always been a primarily agrarian society. To keep it simple, if a landowner has 3 sons, it is not always the case that all 3 also become farmers because there is only so much land to divide. Without this, the next best thing for the youngest son to do that provides both pride and money is joining the military. This is another factor which has contributed to the overrepresentation of Punjabis and Sikhs in the military and sports in India.

Slide 1: Sikh Regiment Soldiers marching through France in WWI; Slide 2: Subedar Joginder Singh; Slide 3: Pakistani military leadership signing over surrender to General Jagjit Singh Arora

Betrayal at the Foundation

Online you will find a plethora of people incessently telling, declaring to you how "India views Sikhs", depending on what the propaganda machine is rolling out that month. What I will try to lay out (again, shortly) in my opinion demonstrates how the government views and treats Sikhs, consciously or unconsciously, from the VERY beginning. For a plethora of reasons too complicated to dive into, Sikhs did not recieve their own independent homeland like the Hindus and Muslims, and instead were promised a special minority status in India within Punjab. In the struggle for freedom from British colonization, over 80% of those killed or executed were Sikhs despite, again, being just 2% of the population. This outsized toll, although in congruence with Khalsa philosophy, was expected to be met with some sort of restitution.

There's 3 major events which I think highlight how the attitude of the centre towards Sikh life is integrated into the foundations of the country, the first being the Partition of Punjab between India and Pakistan, where multiple centers of power callously threw Sikh lives into the fire for their own gain. Of course we have Lord Mountbatten and Cyril Radcliffe, who drew a tenuous border within just 6 months. After recruiting Sikhs specifically to their forces to serve and die in their battles by appealing to their martial traditions, they deemed their requests for an independent state unfeazible, more interested in leaving quickly now that the colony no longer served its purpose as it was engulfed in tensions they themselves inflamed. Forget carving out a seperate homeland; Punjab was split, engulfing the region in some of the largest-scale communal violence and migration in history! Additionally, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru of course looked out for their own interests in this mahem the British ignited; one example that sticks out to me particularly is the cold negotiations over the major Punjabi city of Lahore. While having a Muslim majority, Radcliffe was leaning towards leaving it to India given its significance economically and culturally to its large Sikh population. Anecdotally, my grandfather was born in pre-partition Lahore and recounts his family not expecting having to move. Lahore was the capital of undivided Punjab, representative of its populations and way of life. When Jinnah felt that Pakistan did not have enough "big cities", Nehru and Mohandas Gandhi relatively easily negotiated away the jewel of Lahore because the power, culture, and lives lost would be majority Sikh, and that simply did not matter as much to them. Don't believe me? Nehru had previously promised "special consideration... [seeing] nothing wrong in their [Sikhs] enjoying a kind of autonomous status in the region where they are in a majority. [4]" While famously announcing India's entry onto the world stage however, Nehru declared the Sikhs to now be "a lawless people and a menace to law-abiding Hindus. The Government should take strict measures against them. [5]" He referred to the Sikhs and their agitations to have his own promises fulfilled as a threat to national security due to their "lawless" nature. Yes, read that again. It's a telling prejudice from the "father of the nation", a disgusting look at the thought process behind the machinery that relegated Sikhs to the second-class citizens he thought they deserved to be. The third major event surrounding Independence was the drafting of the Indian Consititution, where the Sikh delegates refused to sign because it explicitly declared Sikhi as a part of Hinduism and thus not its own independent community with its own rights. Further, it laid too much power in the hands of the federal center and not the states, which clearly went hand in hand to deny Sikhs and Punjab the rights Nehru and Gandhi had promised. India's founders realized they needed the Sikhs, who had disproportionately given their lives in the struggle for Independence, and aggressively courted them away from Pakistan or having their own state using false promises they admitted they never intended to keep. This was so India could get both the Sikh people and as much of their agriculturally plentiful and strategically advantageous homeland as possible, in the process dividing Punjab leading to mass migration and massacre, and then actively denying them the rights and privileges they were promised, relegating them to second class citizens. If thats a confusing and winding sentence, then in short: Sikhs were treated as cannon fodder, from the very foundation. And it didn't stop there.

Top Left: Congress Party leader Jawaharlal Nehru and de-facto Sikh representative Master Tara Singh; Top Right: Mohandas Gandhi's promises to Sikhs, appealing them to join the Congress' independence push; Bottom: overflowing train of fleeing refugees during the Parition of Punjab

While I could walk through every single era of Indian history outlining a betrayal of the Sikhs, I will try to keep it brief highlighting the disposable attitude towards Sikh life for some external gain.

The Green Revolution

While a young India struggled with intense famine, Punjab became known as the "breadbasket of India." Punjab's economy even today is around 25% agriculture based, but in the 1970s that number was closer to 60%. The name Punjab literally means "land of the 5 rivers." While the Punjabi Suba movement for civil/language rights and federalization of India was actively being demonized and suppressed, the food and water Punjab produced was being disproportionately funneled to other states without proper compensation or reperations. As famine spread across the country, the situation worsened when countries like the US leveraged food exports to India due to their percieved cozying up to the Soviet Union. They were worried about a potential "Red Revolution" gaining hold and wanted to instead foster a "Green Revolution." Seeing a desperate situation, Western corporations whose fertilizers had been banned in the US sold their dangerous fertilizers to the Indian government, who in turn covered up the concerns and used it en masse in Punjab. In the immediate short term, Punjab's crop production skyrocketed, slowly bringing the country out of extreme famine and transforming the economy and lifestyles across Punjab. In the long term? Punjab may be losing groundwater faster than any other region in the world, making it extremely difficult to irrigate crucial crops, as underground reservoirs support 40% of agriculture and are being depleted faster than they are replenished [6]. This has contributed to a farmer suicide rate of well over 16,000 between 2000-2015, and it remains high. In 2015, an average of 11 farmers committed suicide every day [7]. Since then, in 2025 Punjab was overcome with major floods in no small part due to the federal government control of canals and water, resulting in huge loss of land, livelihood, homes, and life. Worse, the water in Punjab is contaminated with arsenic, uraniam, chromium, and lead stemming from runoff of fertilizer and pesticide. Some sources even allege 62.5% of Punjab's groundwater contains uranium. The depleting levels only worsen pollutant concentration. The terrifying result? Cancer rates in Punjab are astronomical, with the overall crude incidence rate from 2012-2016 being 92.7 per 100,000 compared to the national rate of 80; the age-adjusted rate for males stood at 108.2 and 124.6 for women. The mortality to incidence ratio was 26.9% overall [8]. The problem has only gotten worse, especially in rural areas where cancer treatment can be very difficult to access and afford. Personally, my mom's Punjab-residing parents were diagnosed with aggressive forms of cancer within 24 hours of each other, to which my grandfather succumbed to in 2020. This shocking circumstance is in fact not so alien to many Sikh Punjabis, many of whom shared similar stories. These deadly fertilizers were used while concealing its effects to exploit the resources and people of Punjab for the benefit of the government's short term bottom line without proper compensation, while suppressing any movement for Punjab and Sikhs to reclaim their rights and resources. This directly resulted in the "exploitation of an expendable group for a goal or purpose that benefits those doing the exploiting or expending." In short: cannon fodder.

Sikh Punjabi farmer standing on his field after obtaining ever-depleting groundwater

1982 Asian Games Incident

Commemorative stamp of the 1982 Asian Games hosted in Delhi

I want to highlight this grievance in part because the humiliation of it was felt deeply by many Sikh veterans. In 1982 the Dharam Yudh Morcha had been launched by the Akali Dal party, an agitation peacefully advocating for Punjabi and Sikh rights, especially as outlined in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (its own article in the future). After negotiations failed again, the Akali Dal announced in November 1982 that they would hold peaceful demonstrations in Delhi while the city hosted the Asian Games to bring their grievances to the world stage. The government wanted to avoid any disturbances and ordered every train, bus, and vehicle entering Delhi to be stopped, and every Sikh to be pulled out and searched. Many reported frisking so aggressive their turbans were removed. This humiliation was also suffered by retired sportsmen and veterans who were attending the games, people who just 10 years earlier had put their lives on the line in the war against Pakistan. Among these men were General Shahbeg Singh and General Jaswant Singh Bhullar, who had instructed Bengali rebels in geurilla warfare tactics in 1971, as well as the aforementioned hero General Jagjit Singh Arora. Shahbeg Singh later cited the Asian Games incident as a factor in his decision to join Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's movement. One month later, when the Akali Dal organized a convention of Sikh ex-servicemen, a large response of 5,000 people was evoked, 170 of them above the rank of colonel, almost all citing reports of discrimination in government service [9].

Puppetry, Genocide, and Police Brutality

Like I said, I can't go through the whole laundry list of events and grievances without this turning into a book. In June 1984, the Indian Army stormed Darbar Sahib (aka The Golden Temple), the most significant place of worship for the Sikhs, and over 10 days slaughtered countless pilgrims visiting the gurudwara on a major holiday, including women and children, along with many political and militant leaders like Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and General Shahbeg Singh. Despite the government's claims, this attack was not spontaneous and had been planned for years, specifically designed to inflict the most casualties on their own citizens and break the spirit of the Sikhs. One such example is the inconsistent curfew designed to trap as many people as possible in the Darbar Sahib Complex. In November, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (daughter of Nehru, and goddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi) was assasinated by 2 of her Sikh bodyguards for orchestrating the June attack, and a widespread pogrom of Sikhs ensued in which thousands of Sikhs were killed, often in the most brutal manners possible. Sikh homes, schools, and businesses were set aflame. The scale of the violence was worsened as government officials provided the mobs with kerosene gas, weapons, and a list of Sikh home addresses from voting registries, along with police protection. It was later uncovered that a massacre of this scale had been planned ahead of time anyways, and was just unleashed after Gandhi's assasination. Indira's son and succeeding Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dismissed the ethnic cleansing saying "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes a little", and Congress Party leaders' organizing of the violence was an open secret. The result? Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress Party were rewarded with the largest electoral victory in India's history. The public had shown what they thought the value of Sikh life was, and the ploy to sacrifice Sikh lives for political gain Gandhi designed before her death was a success. To this day, justice and accountability has been absent for either 1984 massacre, and why wouldn't it be? Widespread killing of Sikhs means more votes!

Left: Remains of the Akal Takht after the June 1984 Attack on Darbar Sahib; Center: Scenes from the 1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom; Right: Grieving families holding up photos of relatives who have been "dissapeared" by the police

In the following decade, tensions erupted between the Indian government, Punjab government, Kharku militants, and civil rights activists in a very complicated period. During this period, Punjab was transformed into a police state, with every Sikh's civil liberties stripped as the violence worsened. Police brutality and fake encounters were the norm; police would kill Sikh political prisoners and stage a shootout before dumping their bodies in a river. Worse, young Sikh men from 16-35 would be arrested on flimsy suspicions en masse, with reasons as arbitrary as having a long beard (which most Sikh men do) or riding a Bullet motorcycle (which was the popular brand), and then dissapeared. In a society where bodies are cremated instead of buried, keeping track of and presenting the scores killed or missing was difficult, but the effects were evident [10]. With no checks and balances, whenever the government forces needed a facade of a political victory, the Punjab Police could easily dissapear some Sikh youth and declare that they had stopped seperatism in its tracks. The cost was low: a few measly Sikh lives was all it took. The government simultaneously suppressed and fueled the violence as it suited them, but either way, Sikhs were treated (say it with me this time) as cannon fodder.

Manipulation of Pride

With the timeline and context of Sikh status in India established, we get to the element that many Sikhs in India need to wake up to: the manipulation of pride, both nationalistic and religious. Its a strategy stemming from the days of the British Raj. As mentioned, many Sikhs served in the British army to the point where parts of the British Commonwealth still recognize Sikhs for those feats. Some may say though, that ultimately much of that service ended up serving a colonial end-goal. To serve another sovereign's preservation of power that actively supresses your own sovereignity is seemingly antithetical to the Khalsa way. The British knew from experience that adding the Sikhs to their army would be a massive addition. However the Khalsa identity and ethos had been diluted in some factions of the Sikhs, ironically through the crumbling Sikh Empire, and one could say the British knew they needed to use this to their advantage: Tap into the pride of being a Sikh and the spiritual reverence with which they hold the saint-soldier ideal, but only to a very specific extent; enough so that they remain the stuff of legend on the battlefield, but not enough so that they are able to coalesce and realize their personal sovereignity to band against you. They did this through controlling and bastardizing the Sikh identity. During much of the British Raj, Sikh identity and practices were almost unrecognizably twisted, changed to be more aligned with the Hindu or Christian ways of life; even the gurudwaras were under British control. This was at least a partly successful strategy until the Singh Sabha Movement gained steam as a reaction, becoming a major force in the Independence movement. This is not to discount or color in any sort of way the service and sacrifices of the Sikh Regiment soliders; we have already outlined the context in which this occured. Besides, the British did not perfect their methods enough to supress the Sikh spirit, and they had to learn the hard way. Almost immediately after the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Bhai Maharaj Singh aroused a people's revolt against the British with the support of many local leaders and a detailed 5-point plan to expel the Raj, but he was betrayed and exiled to Singapore. From this the British realized the fire they were playing with, as the then British Resident at Lahore wrote:

"So great is their own pride of race, and of a long unchecked career of victories that if every Sirdar and Seikh in the Punjab were to avow himself satisfied with the humbled position of his country, it would be the extreme of infatuation to believe him, or to doubt for a moment that among the crowd who are loudest in our praise, there are many who cannot forgive our victory or even our forbearance and who chafe at their own loss of power in exact proportion as they submit to ours."

The Governor General of India Lord Dalhousie later concurred:

"Every hostile demonstration against us in every portion of the Punjab must be met, encountered and utterly crushed as such a manifestation of the British power was essential not only for the British stay in the Punjab, but also necessary to its continuance throughout India. [11]"

An elderly Bhai Maharaj Singh, still defiant after years of British captivity

Of course, as also mentioned above, Sikh freedom fighters disproportionately sacrificed their lives for the freedom struggle, with some of India's most remembered heroes coming from the Sikh community such as Udham Singh and Bhagat Singh. Seeing this, when India assumed the position of the next colonizers of Punjab, they not only preserved this strategy but sharpened it, as they did with many colonial policies. When the Punjabi Suba struggle was reaching its height, Akali leader Sant Fateh Singh declared he was going on a hunger strike unto death until his demands were met after a series of unsuccesful meetings with both Nehru and his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri. What postponed this strike was not the success of the agitation but Sant Fateh Singh himself once the war with Pakistan erupted, urging Sikhs to set aside their grievances for the time being to serve their infant country. In fact, in his dialogue with Shastri before declaring the strike in 1965, Sant Fateh Singh points out "we feel the responsibility of defending this country even more than you do. On the one hand we were preparing to meet the Pakistani attack and exhorting the people to be ready for the defence of India, whereas on the other hand, Punjab’s Chief Minister and other ministers issue statements everyday threatening to crush us down." He continues: "The Sikh community was all rage and it would have retaliated and wrought havoc, but we pacified the Sikh masses, in view of the Pakistan aggression." When Shastri pushes back with examples of inclusion such as occasionally playing shabads (Sikh hymns) on the radio, Sant Fateh Singh bluntly lays out the point: "They are relayed, no doubt, but only when China and Pakistan invade India and the Government needs the co-operation of the Sikhs. Mr. Kairon who always threatened to crush us, himself recited the Sikh hymns at the Radio Station and the records of those were relayed every day. (Here Santji quotes passages from the stirring, patriotic hymns that were recited by Mr. Kairon.) But when the danger is over, the hymns are forgotten. [12]" This pandering is representative of India's strategy which continues today as they further refine it. When India needs soldiers to stand on the frontlines at the borders of Punjab or Kashmir, or it needs voters to elect a nationalist government, convoluted narratives using Sikh history are peddled everywhere tapping into a sense of pride in being "protectors" or harbringers of justice. But when India's leaders or systems are being challenged for their inequeties and transgressions, which is just as much a part of Sikhs being these "warriors of justice," Sikhs as a whole community are labelled anti-national security threats. In 1962 and 1965 Sikhs are war heroes because they give their lives for India; in 1966 they are dangerous anti-nationals for fighting for their language and state rights. In 1971 Sikhs are once again injected with this fervor as they serve the nation, but when Indira Gandhi declares Emergency right after and Sikhs protest the usurpation of power, she dedicates much of the rest of her reign to labelling them as a seperatist terrorist strawman.

It goes deeper than just this hot and cold approach though; India needs strategies to effectively make the Sikh population ignore and forget that element of their identity while also pushing them take controlled pride in it.

1. Controlling Education

   They control the history being taught in schools, dropping bits and pieces here and there to fit their narrative (when they even acknowledge Sikh contributions) to create a cognitive dissonance stronger than the Berlin Wall. Udham Singh fought for India to be free from British tyranny... but he actually believed in an Azad Punjab setup. He was right to go to London and kill General Dwyer in a just act of vengeance... but Satwant Singh and Beant Singh are terrorists for killing Indira Gandhi, and the whole Sikh community needed to be taught a lesson. Guru Tegh Bahadur was the protector of the Hindu community (Hind Di Chadhar) sticking it to the Muslim Mughal rulers; but for Sikhs that notion is almost disrespectful as the Guru is the shield of the world (Shrist Di Chadhar, as he was historically referred to) and would have made the same sacrifice even if those who asked for his help weren't Hindu. The 21 brave Sikhs at Saragarhi stood strong to protect the integrity of India... an idea that didn't even fucking exist yet. The drip feeding of history is a manipulation of pride and facts. Another anectode: I have a few members of my extended family that have served in the Indian Army. They will confidently tell you these half-histories and how they have a duty to be ultra-patriotic and not accept any other reality with a scary intensity.

2. Controlling Media

   The idea of a truly free press only really existed in India for a short time, if that. The Indian national media, colloquially called the "Godi Media" (a play on the word for lap and PM Modi's name) may as well be considered the same as the time when India only had one TV channel, Doordarshan. By in large the narratives and information are completely controlled by government and corporate interests to keep them in power and the masses in check. Have you noticed how the major uptick in anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh sentiment in media, especially as related to being "anti-national", occurs just in time for elections? Suddenly people flock to the ultra Hindu nationalist party (BJP) over and over, its just such a mystery how they keep winning! Politicians saw what happened for the Congress Party in 1984 and copy and paste the method every cycle, inflaming communal sentiments however they please.

3. Good Old Bollywood

   Another section that could be its own piece. Bollywood is another facet of society more controlled by the government than people realize. Included in the recent excess of cartoonishly chest-thumping nationalistic action movies is the occasional Sikh character (note: not enough to be representative of how many Sikhs are in the military, and rarely played by a Sikh actor). If they have more than a few lines of dialogue its in praise of "Bharat Mata", showing how "one of the good ones" should act to prove they belong. Here we have the often deceptive "positive minority representation" in Bollywood. For the past 10-15 years you will see either cartoonishly evil or exaggerated "nation before all" portrayals of Muslim characters with no nuance, as that is the primary minority bogeyman; the public needs to have a certain perception of them. Sikhs older than me can remember when that was reserved for them though, along with the offensive "joker" and "quick to anger traditionalist" tropes, and in that time there was an uptick in "positive minority representation" for Muslims, because THAT was what the public needed to see at that time. Don't get complacent thinking you belong; your narrative is never in your hands. Movies like Kesari take historical events like the Battle of Saraghari and invent some bullshit nationalistic message as the theme of the movie. YOUR history is being twisted here and there to fit THEIR narrative, a narrative which inherently puts the culture they are taking from down. Add in the fake beards and readymade turbans as a cherry on top and its an insulting piece of propaganda that we ourselves parade around as if it should be honored, instead of honoring the actual history and people and doing the work they actually believed in. When an equally powerful and important story attempts to be told in a more authentic manner such as Punjab 95 centered around the life of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, with an actual sardar playing the part, it is mercilessly censored and banned in India for the past 3 years under the guise of preserving national security simply because it is not in their control and doesn't fit their narrative. They can't let the Sikh populace or even the general populace get curious about a man who rallied against an opressive system using the very Sikh values they try to manipulate on their own terms. The only acceptable products are those that half-represent to manipulate pride and values towards giving their lives and/or rights for a country that ultimately doesn't even respect them enough to give them equal rights or freedoms.

The spectrum of Bollywood movies inspired by Sikh history, never quite right

It is a dangerous reality when a group doesn't have access to their own unfiltered narrative. What it leads to is the ability to treat the Sikhs like cannon fodder while making many think that it is stemming from their community's pride and values, when in fact they are being warped for exploitation. It is a fact that many Sikhs within India and abroad need to wake up to and at least be aware of. I am not saying it is a bad thing to serve your country, or that it is somehow "un-Sikh" just based on that. But that has to come from a real authentically Sikh place, not a manipulation wielded by colonial powers depriving a Sikh of their precious sovereignity. Its a spit in the face of the Khalsa values we claim to strive for. Even discounting the military service element, we have outlined how Sikh lives are viewed at the foundation of this country's system and why they are so disposable for political means. Indian government leaders would rather slaughter Sikhs than give them their promised rights or even justice for the past, and the denial of rights is not disconnected from their need for Sikhs in agriculture, sports, business, military, etc, because they are aware of what a Sikh community truly adhering to their full principles may mean for them after their transgressions. It continues to this very day, and will continue for the forseeable future unless we wake up as a community and stay true to our Sikhi beyond the aesthetic.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and Sikh activist assasinated by India in 2023

Even abroad, India has engaged in a sloppy campaign of violent transnational repression, most famously with the assasination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 and their subsequent efforts. Despite initial Canadian sanctions and uncovering of multiple plots by the FBI, at this point it seems like India has escaped any real consequences for operating the way Russia and Saudi Arabia do in favor of trade deals. Domestically, while calling the US and Canada delusional for accusing them on the world stage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah use this to increase their power and openly brag about "going into their homes and killing them." Even Bollywood's most recent blockbuster Dharundhar is hard to enjoy for me because the movie ends with the same message to provoke their audience and warm them up to the idea using a Sikh character. While the government is of course threatened by the Khalistan movement and sentiment, realistically how much closer were Nijjar or any other targets like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (US) or Avtar Singh Khanda (UK) to significantly increasing their support or efforts? Their murders/attempts were to drive home how much they can suppress the movement, but moreso to be used as a political win to their bloodthirsty Hindu nationalist base, at the usual small cost of a few Sikh lives.

No matter how much one may feel they have progressed in that society financially, politically, or famously, ultimately you are the very definition of cannon fodder no matter how much you suck up to their narrative. It pains my heart when tensions rise between India and Pakistan to the levels they did earlier this year, especially because I know Punjab will bear the brunt of the strikes on both sides, soldiers on the Wagah Border may never return home, Sikh people and celebrities will have to overly prove their patriotism again and again and again and be under constant scutiny having their livelihoods and reputations threatened, all for what? It would be one thing if these sacrifices had to be made for an entity that didn't treat you like second class citizens, refuse your rights, gatekeep your history, and value your life as much as a chess piece, but that's not the reality today, and so it is that deep. The government and people will come to you in their hour of need and immediately shoot you right back down the next hour. Again I present to you the Merriam-Webster definition of cannon fodder: "an expendable or exploitable person, group, or thing," along with my extension that the group is exploited for a goal or purpose that solely benefits those doing the expending. What else can the Sikhs in India be defined as if we do not wake up? And is that not antithetical to the very definition of a Sikh, of a Khalsa? As tensions continue to boil from every angle described, I urge you not to get caught up in a fervor designed to manipulate you which ultimately serves you no purpose, or worse, serves to destroy you.

References

1. "The Khalsa," The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, https://pluralism.org/the-khalsa

2. "That time Sir John A. Macdonald called for 'an army of Sikhs' to save Canada," CBC News, Published April 13, 2017, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/skihs-heritage-poster-army-1.4069072

3. "Turbans or helmets? Indian army purchase revives debate over Sikh headgear." Gerry Shih and Anant Gupta, The Washington Post, Published January 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/23/india-army-sikhs-helmets-turbans/

4. Singh, Kushwant. A History of the Sikhs, p.214.

5. "Proof of Discrimination Against Sikhs In India," Sikh24, Published April 3, 2012, https://www.sikh24.com/2012/04/03/proof-of-discrimination-against-sikhs-in-india/

6. "First Person: Farmers Running Out of Water in Punjab, India," United Nations News, Published October 25, 2023, https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142782

7. Brar, Charankamal, "The Dark Harvest: Uncovering the Tragic Reality of Farmer Suicides in Punjab" (2023). Sociology Student Work Collection. 94. https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/gender_studies/94

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