Sikhism: A Sociological Analysis

An individual in the wider spectrum of the society defines himself by his specific identity as it plays a major role in the thoughts, actions and orientation of a particular individual existing in both the public and the private life. It can be defined as the ‘condition of sameness’ with other individuals and something that would continue over time and space.

This essay explores the construction of identity, in particular religious identity. I would take the case of Sikhism and its construction over the years and the way in which the identity has been changed by reinterpreting the religious ideals. I would start from the origin of the religion providing details about its rituals and ideals. The next part focuses how religion constructs the

The most significant among them is George Herbert Mead. According to him ‘the self’ is made out of a number of identities and the self is constructed through social interactions through the means of language, play and games. He introduces the concept of ‘ME’ and ‘I’ where ‘me’ is the social aspect of the individual and represents learned behaviour, attitudes and expectations of the society whereas the ‘I’ is the individual identity in response to the ‘me’.

Sheldon Stryker provides the theory of ‘salience hierarchy’ where the identities at the top are more likely to be evoked than those low in the order. He believes that identity is a link between the individual and social structure as identities are designations that people make about themselves in relation to their social structure and the specific roles in relation to their locations. The case of Bhindranwale can be related. For him his religious identity was the foremost which was a source of positive identification for

Instead of welding classes across religious and ethnic lines, agricultural prosperity added a new edge to the old grievances and reinforced the parochial identities. By increasing the demand for water by farmers it intensified the existing dispute. Political competition was intensified under the Green revolution and strengthened the various ethnic and communal identities in Punjab. The rich Jatt Sikh farmers were thwarted in their attempts to join the industrial workforce by the other communities, leading to massive unemployment within the youth pushing them towards communal advocacy and drug abuse.

There were also the unreasonable cases of the Bhakra Nangal Dam and the Ropar Thermal plant causing contention among the states. Punjab wanted the distributing authority and wanted the canal to be in their control.

While the Sikhism was majorly recognised as a separate religion, under the Article 25 of the Indian Constitution all persons were equally entitled to freely profess and practice their religion but under the explanation, a reference to a Hindu would include Sikhs, Jains and Buddhist religions This placed the Sikhs in the wider variety of Hindus in general which was not acceptable to the Sikhs.

Gurnam Singh Tir wrote ‘Sikhs do have blood relations with Hindus and spiritual relations with Muslims, but they are decidedly a separate religion. We are a distinct identity in appearance, thought, faith, mode of