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Anti-Sikh Sentiment
[edit]Anti-Sikh sentiment, sometimes also referred to as Sikhophobia, is a negative perception, sentiment or actions against the practitioners or religion of Sikhism.
Definitions
[edit]The 2020 report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs had come up with a workable definition of hate crime: “Anti-Sikh hate is any incident or crime which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be religiously or racially motivated by hostility, hatred or prejudice against Sikhs or those perceived to be Sikh people, gurdwaras, organisations or property.”
Separate section. By Region. By Period. By each religion ???:?:
Background
[edit]Anti-Sikh sentiment has deep historical roots, beginning as early as the Mughal period in India. Sikhism, founded in the 15th century, faced persecution under the Mughal Empire, particularly during the reigns of emperors like Aurangzeb, who sought to impose Islam across the subcontinent. Two of the Sikh Guru's, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur were martyred for resisting religious conversion and defending the rights of Sikhs and others to practice their faith freely. This persecution cemented the Sikh community's resolve to defend their identity, leading to the militarization of the Sikh faith under Guru Gobind Singh and the formation of the Khalsa.
During the British Empire, Sikhs continued to face discrimination, both in India and abroad. One of the most significant examples is the Komagata Maru incident in 1914, where a ship carrying mostly Sikh passengers was denied entry into Canada due to racially discriminatory immigration laws. The passengers were forced to return to India, where they were met with violence from British authorities. The partition of India in 1947 also saw severe anti-Sikh violence, particularly in the Rawalpindi Massacre, where Sikhs were targeted in what is now Pakistan, leading to mass killings, forced conversions, and displacement.
The 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms in India marked one of the darkest chapters of anti-Sikh sentiment in modern history. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, thousands of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and other parts of India in orchestrated attacks. The violence left deep scars on the Sikh community, contributing to ongoing tensions. More recently, the global Sikh diaspora has faced challenges, particularly in the post-9/11 era. Sikhs, often mistaken for Muslims due to their turbans and beards, became targets of hate crimes in Western countries, including the United States. Additionally, the Sikh community in Afghanistan has faced severe persecution, with massacres and forced displacement continuing into the 21st century, underscoring the persistent nature of anti-Sikh sentiment across different regions and eras
Asia
[edit]Afghanistan
[edit]In February 1762, Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani perpetrated a massacre against the families and camp followers of the Sikh Army, killing between 10,000 and 30,000 people, in a massacre that is now known as Vadda Ghalughara.[1] Following the massacre, he attacked Amritsar and desecrated the Golden Temple by throwing cow carcasses into its sacred lake and then filling it with rubble from demolished gurdwaras and temples.[2]
According to Ashish Bose, a population research scholar, Sikhs and Hindus were well integrated in Afghanistan until the Soviet invasion when their economic condition worsened. Thereafter, they became the objects of "intense hate" as a result of the rise of religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan.[3] Their "targeted persecution" triggered an exodus and forced them to seek asylum.[4][3] Many of them started arriving in and after 1992 as refugees in India, with some seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and other western countries.[3][4] Unlike the arrivals in the West, the persecuted Sikh refugees who arrived in India have remained stateless and lived as refugees because India has historically lacked any refugee law or uniform policy for persecuted refugees, state Ashish Bose and Hafizullah Emadi.[3][5]
In 25 March 2020, ISIS-Haqqani network Gunmen and Suicide bombers attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (a Sikh shrine) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
According to reports, about 200 worshipers were inside the building, 25 of them were killed and at least 8 others were wounded after an hour-long siege ended when all of the assailants were killed by responding security forces. At least one child was said to have been among the people who were killed, according to the ministry of interior's statement
British Empire
[edit]India
[edit]The 1984 anti-Sikhs riots were a series of pogroms[6][7][8] directed against Sikhs in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. There were more than 8,000[9] deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi.[8]
The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of Indira Gandhi, India's prime minister, on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards in response to her actions authorising the military operation. After the assassination following Operation Blue Star, many Indian National Congress workers including Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath were accused of inciting and participating in riots targeting the Sikh population of the capital. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos. In the aftermath of the riots, the Indian government reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the People's Union for Civil Liberties reported "at least" 1,000 displaced persons.[10] The most affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi. The Central Bureau of Investigation, the main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi.[11] Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls (Mrs. Gandhi's death), the earth shakes (occurrence of riots)" thus trying to justify communal strife.[12]
It has been alleged that at that time, the Indian National Congress's government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The Asian Age front-page story called the government's actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"[13][14] There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathisers during the riots.[15] The government, then led by the Congress, was widely criticised for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator. The conspiracy theory is supported by the fact that voting lists were used to identify Sikh families. Despite the communal conflict and despite the record of the riots, the Indian National Congress claims that it is a secular political party.
The Chittisinghpura massacre, the murder of 35 villagers who were members of the Sikh faith, was committed on 20 March 2000, in the Chittisinghpora (Chittisinghpura) village of the Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on the eve of President Bill Clinton's state visit to India. The identities of the perpetrators of the massacre remain unknown. The Indian government asserts that the massacre was conducted by the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Pakistani accounts accuse the Indian Army and RSS of the massacre.[16][17][18][19]
Mughal Empire
[edit]Sikhism is a Dharmic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent[20]: 207 around the end of the 15th century CE. The Sikh religion developed and evolved during periods of religious persecution, gaining converts from Hinduism and Islam.[21] Mughal emperors of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—Guru Arjan (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)—after they refused to convert to Islam.[22][23][24][25][26]
The persecution of Sikhs during the Islamic era triggered the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, the Khalsa is an order which was founded for the purpose of protecting the freedom of conscience and religion of the Sikhs,[22][27][28] with members expressing the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī—a saint-soldier.[29][30]
Pakistan
[edit]On 7 November 1947, thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were targeted in the Rajouri Massacre in the Jammu and Kashmir princely state. It is estimated 30,000+ Hindus and Sikhs were either killed, abducted or injured.[31][32][33] In one instance, on 12 November 1947 alone between 3000 and 7000 were killed.[34] A few weeks after on 25 November 1947, tribal forces began the 1947 Mirpur massacre of thousands more Hindus and Sikhs. An estimated 20,000+ died in the massacre.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]
Malaysia
[edit]Europe
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]France
[edit]Poland
[edit]Spain
[edit]In 2023, a Sikh boy was asked to remove his turban during a football match in Spain. According to a FIFA ruling, men football players can wear turbans during matches. [43]
Italy
[edit]Portugal
[edit]Greece
[edit]Switzerland
[edit]On August 3, 2013, a Swiss man named Buchler Max assaulted Ranjit Singh Masuta after shouting racist remarks at him near a Gurdwara. The attack left Masuta critically injured. The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland sentenced Max to 10 months in jail and imposed additional fines, including compensation for Masuta. [44]
Germany
[edit]Sikhs in Germany have previously faced violence which includes a bombing at a Sikh temple in Essen by three Muslim teenagers in April 2016. This injured three people.
In April 2019 in Cologne, Germany, a Sikh temple was vandalized with racist graffiti, with the words "must leave" sprayed on the main gate. The Indian Consulate in Germany promptly addressed the issue with German authorities and assured protection for the gurdwara. [45]
North America
[edit]Canada
[edit]Anti-Sikh sentiment in Canada has a historical and contemporary presence marked by several key events and ongoing issues. Early instances include the 1907 Bellingham Race Riot, where South East Asian and South Asian immigrants, mostly Sikhs, were violently targeted by white mobs in Washington, United States, spilling over into Canadian anti-immigrant sentiments and the Pacific Northwest. [46][47][48]
The 1914 Komagata Maru incident incident further highlighted Anti-Sikh sentiment when 376 Indian passengers, mostly Sikhs, were denied entry into Canada and forced to return to India, where many faced persecution. [49]
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Since then, Canadian Sikhs have experienced increased racism and hate crimes particularly with those whose appearance includes a turban and beard.[50] This includes key events such as the 1990 Herman Bittner calendar controversy, the 1999 murder of a Sikh caretaken by Neo-Nazis, the ongoing vandalism of Sikh Gurdwaras and the Quebec Bill 21.
United States
[edit]
Africa
[edit]Whilst there have been instances of Anti-Indian sentiment in Africa such as the Expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972, there have been no reported instances of specifically targeting Sikhs.
South America
[edit]Argentina
[edit]The influx of Sikh laborers in 1912, along with Japanese and Chinese immigrants in the preceding years, triggered significant responses from Argentine politicians and immigration officials. These reactions resulted in entry restrictions, efforts to exclude them from the labour market, and diplomatic exchanges with British imperial authorities.[51]
In 1912, British Diplomat Reginald Tower wrote ‘On the subject of the immigration of Sikhs into the Argentine Republic, I have the honour to report that the Director General of Immigration, Senor Manuel Cigarraga, addressed a letter on the 21st instant to each of the foreign shipping companies represented in this Capital, urging them to refuse passages to any Asiatics to the Argentine Republic.’[52]
Statistical Data
[edit]United States
[edit]In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that Sikhs were the second most targeted religious group in the U.S. for hate-motivated crimes, estimated 214, following Jews. Hindus and Muslims accounted for 1% and 9.5%, respectively, of the 1,005 hate crimes recorded that year.[53]
United Kingdom
[edit]In 2020, Anti-Sikh hate crimes in Britain increased by 70% over two years, with 117 incidents reported in 2017-18 and 202 incidents in 2019-20.[54]
Organisations
[edit]There have been various Anti-Sikh hate and sentiment prevention organisations involved through legal cases, coalition with the police or involved in political decision making.
United States
[edit]- Sikh Coalition
United Kingdom
[edit]- National Sikh Police Association UK (SikhGuard)
- Sikh Helpline
- Shere Punjab UK
Canada
[edit]- World Sikh Organisation
Media Sentiment
[edit]Recognition
[edit]United States
[edit]New Jersey
[edit]United Kingdom
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Lee, L. Jonathan (2018). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 128. ISBN 978-1789140101.
- ^ Lee, L. Jonathan (2018). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 128. ISBN 978-1789140101.
- ^ a b c d Ashish Bose (2004), Afghan Refugees in India, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 39, No. 43, pp. 4698–4701
- ^ a b Emadi, Hafizullah (2014). "Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan". Nationalities Papers. 42 (2). Cambridge University Press: 307–320. doi:10.1080/00905992.2013.858313. S2CID 153662810., Quote: "The situation of Hindus and Sikhs as a persecuted minority is a little-studied topic in literature dealing with ethno-sectarian conflict in Afghanistan. (...) the breakdown of state structure and the ensuing civil conflicts and targeted persecution in the 1990s that led to their mass exodus out of the country. A combination of structural failure and rising Islamic fundamentalist ideology in the post-Soviet era led to a war of ethnic cleansing as fundamentalists suffered a crisis of legitimation and resorted to violence as a means to establish their authority. Hindus and Sikhs found themselves in an uphill battle to preserve their culture and religious traditions in a hostile political environment in the post-Taliban period. The international community and Kabul failed in their moral obligation to protect and defend the rights of minorities and oppressed communities."
- ^ Emadi, Hafizullah (2014). "Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan". Nationalities Papers. 42 (2). Cambridge University Press: 315–317. doi:10.1080/00905992.2013.858313. S2CID 153662810.
- ^ "State pogroms glossed over". Times of India. 31 December 2005. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
- ^ Basharat Peer (9 May 2001). "Anti-Sikh riots a pogrom: Khushwant". Rediff.com. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- ^ a b Bedi, Rahul (1 November 2009). "Indira Gandhi's death remembered". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing
- ^ "Delhi court to give verdict on re-opening 1984 riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler". NDTV.com.
- ^ Mukhoty, Gobinda; Kothari, Rajni (1984), Who are the Guilty ?, People's Union for Civil Liberties, retrieved 4 November 2010
- ^ "1984 anti-Sikh riots backed by Govt, police: CBI". IBN Live. 23 April 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ "1984 anti-Sikh riots 'wrong', says Rahul Gandhi". Hindustan Times. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ^ Mustafa, Seema (9 August 2005). "1984 Sikhs Massacres: Mother of All Cover-ups". Front page story. The Asian Age. p. 1.
- ^ Agal, Renu (11 August 2005). "Justice delayed, justice denied". BBC News.
- ^ "Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots". BBC News. 8 August 2005. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ SAM Staff Bangla (March 23, 2021). "Retired Lt Gen says Indian Army was involved in Sikh Massacre of Chittisinghpura". Southasian Monitor. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
- ^ "Retired Sikh Gen says Indian Army involved in Sikh massacre". Radio Pakistan. March 21, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
- ^ Humayun Aziz Sandeela (March 22, 2021). "Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS". The News. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
- ^ News desk (March 22, 2021). "Chattisingpora massacre masterminded by RSS". Pakistan Observer. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
- ^ Arora, Balveer (2010). "Republic of India". In Moreno, Luis; Colino, César (eds.). Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries. McGill-Queen's Press. pp. 200–226. ISBN 978-0-7735-9087-8.
- ^ Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Abingdon-on-Thames, England: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-04945-5.
A large number of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).
- ^ a b Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pp. 29–62
- ^ Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 236–238. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
- ^ Fenech, Louis E. (2001). "Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 121 (1): 20–31. doi:10.2307/606726. JSTOR 606726.
- ^ Fenech, Louis E. (1997). "Martyrdom and the Sikh Tradition". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 117 (4): 623–642. doi:10.2307/606445. JSTOR 606445.
- ^ McLeod, Hew (1999). "Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 22 (sup001): 155–165. doi:10.1080/00856408708723379.
- ^ Johar, Surinder (1999). Guru Gobind Singh: A Multi-faceted Personality. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-7533-093-1.
- ^ Gandhi, Surjit Singh (1 February 2008). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. pp. 676–677. ISBN 978-81-269-0857-8.
- ^ Chanchreek, Jain (2007). Encyclopaedia of Great Festivals. Shree Publishers. p. 142. ISBN 978-81-8329-191-0.
- ^ Dugga, Kartar (2001). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms. Abhinav Publications. p. 33. ISBN 978-81-7017-410-3.
- ^ Prasad, Sri Nandan; Pal, Dharm (1 January 1987). Operations in Jammu & Kashmir, 1947–48. History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. pp. 49–50.
- ^ Singh, Vijay Kumar (2005). Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers. SAGE Publications. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7619-3322-9.
- ^ D.P. Ramachandran (2008). Empire's First Soldiers. Lancer Publishers. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-9796174-7-8.
- ^ Maini, K.D. (12 April 2015). "The day Rajouri was recaptured". dailyexcelsior.com. Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
- ^ Gupta, Jyoti Bhusan Das (6 December 2012). Jammu and Kashmir. Springer. p. 97. ISBN 9789401192316.
- ^ Snedden, Christopher (15 September 2015). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. p. 167. ISBN 9781849046213.
- ^ Puri, Luv (21 February 2012). Across the Line of Control: Inside Azad Kashmir. Columbia University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 9780231800846.
- ^ Madhok, Balraj (1 January 1972). A Story of Bungling in Kashmir. Young Asia Publications. p. 67.
- ^ Sharma (2013), "Growing overlap between terrorism and organized crime in India: A case study", Security Journal, 26(1), 139
- ^ Hasan, Khalid (2013) [2007]. "Mirpur 1947". In Gupta, Bal K. (ed.). Forgotten Atrocities: Memoirs of a Survivor of the 1947 Partition of India. Lulu.com. pp. 141–144. ISBN 978-1-257-91419-7.
- ^ Prakriiti Gupta (8 September 2011). "Horrific Tales: Over 3,00,000 Hindus, Sikhs from PoK still fighting for their acceptance". Uday India. Archived from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Ram Chander Sharma (April 2011). "Kashmir History and Politics". www.koausa.org. Extracted from a survivor Bal K. Gupta's accounts. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
- ^ "Sikh boy asked to remove turban during football match in Spain". Tribune India.
In Spain, a Sikh boy was asked by a referee to remove his turban during a football match. The whole situation was "humiliating" for 15-year-old Gurpreet Singh.
- ^ Rana, Yudhvir (30 April 2017). "10 Month Jail to Swiss Man for Assaulting Sikh". Times of India.
- ^ "Gurudwara 'Vandalised' in Cologne, Germany". The Quint. 4 April 2019.
- ^ Dutt, Nirupama (1 September 2017). "110 years after racial riots against early Sikh immigrants, an Arch of Healing in US city". Hindustan Times.
This has been reported by the Bellingham Herald newspaper which incidentally had also reported the 1907 riots. At that time the early Sikh immigrants were termed Hindus and the banner headline of the daily on September 5, 1907, cried out, Hindus hounded from city, with the subhead saying, Mob drives foreigners from lodging houses and mills.
- ^ Englesberg, Paul (1 January 2015). "The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest". Walden University.
if something were not done soon the agitation started in Bellingham would spread all over the Sound country and massacres of the Eastern aliens was likely to result. Fowler was one of the speakers in Vancouver and some blamed him and League organizers from the U.S. for setting off the riot in Canada.
- ^ Ledger-Lomas, Michael. "If These Streets Could Talk: White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver". Library Review of Canada.
This hate speech reflected a broader phenomenon, as the retired professor Paul Englesberg shows in his contribution to the book. The mob had listened that Saturday night to A. E. Fowler, an activist from Seattle who gave an "impassioned speech," in which he invoked a riot against Sikh workers in Bellingham, Washington, just days earlier. Beyond the West Coast, white supremacism existed throughout the British Empire — personified by the presence of a New Zealand clergyman at the league's meeting
- ^ "Komagata Maru incident (1914)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
- ^ Sian, Katy (2017). Surveillance, Islamophobia, and Sikh Bodies in the War on Terror. Vol. 4. Center for Race and Gender, University of California, Berkeley. p. 4.
Both the US and Canada have seen a sharp increase of hate crimes waged against the Sikh population who have been 'mistakenly' targeted in racist attacks directed at Muslims – for example the first person to be killed in a 'revenge attack' following 9/11 was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh turbaned man in Arizona
- ^ Bryce, Benjamin. "Undesirable Britons: South Asian Migration and the Making of a White Argentina". HAHR. Duke University. pp. 247–273. doi:10.1215/00182168-7370225.
- ^ Singh, Khushwant (2 May 2016). "The Argentinian Komagata Maru ought to be revealed, writes Khushwant Singh". Hindustan Times.
Tower writes: 'On the subject of the immigration of Sikhs into the Argentine Republic, I have the honour to report that the Director General of Immigration, Senor Manuel Cigarraga, addressed a letter on the 21st instant to each of the foreign shipping companies represented in this Capital, urging them to refuse passages to any Asiatics to the Argentine Republic.'
- ^ Singh, IP (24 February 2024). "Sikhs 2nd Most Targeted Faith group for US Hate Crimes". Times of India.
- ^ Phillips, Noel (5 December 2020). "Anti-Sikh hate crimes reported across Britain rise by 70% in two years". Sky News.