Columnists
The Silent Crisis
by JASMEET SIDHU
Although I often have struggled with my cultural identity in this patchwork nation of Canada, I have always retained a sense of pride and devotion to my religion, Sikhism.
The Sikh community's integral contribution to Canadian society in business, politics and philanthropy has helped me to maintain this unbroken connection.
As an ardent feminist as well, I have always been especially proud of the fact that Sikhism, a religion born in patriarchal 15th-century India, holds gender equality as one of its core tenets and explicitly advocates respect for women as equals.
But my pride in my religion has not been an unwavering one, especially when actions in the community are completely antithetical to what the religion advocates, and what I believe in as a person.
One of these is the seriousness of physical and emotional abuse of women in the Punjabi-Sikh community, and the accompanying complacency surrounding the topic in the community-at-large.
The Punjabi Community Health Centre (PCHC), an advocacy group based in Peel Region (Ontario), has called violence against women "the most silent kept secret within the Sikh community" and described the role of the Sikh community in confronting the problem and aiding abused women as "pathetic".
With a religion whose holy scriptures, written more than 500 years ago, explicitly challenged the inferiority of women and whose founders elevated and emphasized women's social status to that of equals, why then, in a research study conducted by the PCHC, is wife abuse in the Sikh community considered a serious problem by 75 per cent of the Sikhs surveyed?
Wally Oppal, British Columbia's attorney-general and a Sikh, has even called domestic violence a "cancer" in the community. His comments were made after a string of Sikh women were murdered, allegedly by their husbands, in the Vancouver area in 2007. After such blunt claims, Oppal was accused by some in the community as being a traitor to his ethnicity and culture.
On top of this troubling accusation of "treachery" and the obvious denial within the community, the harrowing possibility exists that gender-based oppression is not just limited to women in intimate partner relationships, but to unborn Sikh daughters as well.
While the nationwide average according to Statistics Canada is 105 male births to every 100 female births, a 2003 study by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada found that in Surrey, B.C. - populated heavily by Sikh-Canadian families - there were 109 boys to every 100 girls.
There is no conclusive public data that would prove these numbers were the result of sex-selective abortions. However, the statistics are deeply troubling in light of allegations last year that several Punjabi Canadian newspapers (including a Mississauga-based one) were carrying advertisements by ultrasound clinics promoting female foeticide. The allegations, made by the head of a B.C.-based immigrant society, were countered by one of the ultrasound clinics that claimed there was no proof regarding how couples were using ultrasound data.
The gap between the gender equality explicitly called for in Sikhism and its practice is deeply disturbing, though in some ways, not surprising. Indeed, other religions also have been labelled as racist or sexist, when in reality only a chosen few engage in these behaviours and there is absolutely nothing within the faith that promotes or supports such attitudes or actions.
Regardless of whether violence against women in the Sikh community is the result of a deeply rooted chauvinism in Punjabi culture or other reasons, what is more disconcerting is the complacency of Sikhs in terms of understanding and tackling the issue.
By publicly acknowledging what now are regarded as individual or private matters, by engaging Sikh men and challenging the still very male-dominated atmosphere of Sikh temples by including more women in leadership roles, a sense of community consciousness can emerge that will not tolerate the physical and emotional abuse of Sikh women.
In the more than one hundred years since Sikhs first immigrated to Canada, they have proven to be a resourceful, dynamic and engaged religious community that has tackled issues of external prejudice and religious rights in Canada.
However, the same level of will and leadership must be shown to end one of the most serious, yet least acknowledged problems within the Sikh community.
[Courtesy: The Toronto Star]
Jasmeet Sidhu is a university student and a member of The Star's Community Editorial Board.
May 28, 2008
Conversation about this article
1: Satvir Kaur (Boston, U.S.A.), May 28, 2008, 8:45 AM.
I hope the youth can join hands in this case and educate the masses using gurbani and Sikhi.
2: Kanwal Nain Singh (Lindsay, Ontario, Canada), May 29, 2008, 10:14 PM.
Thank you, Jasmeet, for highlighting the problem in the community. I have read your article in The Toronto Star's editorial page. I was also confronted by a few calls from my Canadian friends who were keen to know if such practice was common in Sikh community. Living in a small community of Lindsay for over forty years, I am the only turban wearing Sikh known to locals. Having retired from education, and so has my wife, we are usually asked questions related to ethnic communities. I wish to state that what has been making news in the media about treatment of females in the Sikh community is not a new phenomenan. This has been a prevelant practice in Panjab, U.P., Rajasthan etc, in Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities in India. It certainly is a shameful practice. In the last few decades, it has become more prominent as a matter of greed and dowry demands in matrimonial alliances. Another reason for such practice is uncontrolled use of liqour in Panjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, where wife abuse has become a problem. With liberal imigration of people from these areas in Canada after 1980's, such practice has crept in our communities, not as a novel idea, but as an imported practice. It is pathetic that Sikhi, which so prominently advocates not only equality among genders, but emphasises respect for females. I guess, Gurdwara mangements must take the initiative in openly discussing this issue, and propagate respect for the feminine gender as an integral part of the practice of Sikh . If the vice is not controlled, the whole Sikh community will lose out in more ways than one.
3: Sukhdev Singh Shergill (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), May 30, 2008, 12:05 AM.
The first step is to start identifying ourselves as Sikhs and not as Punjabi Sikhs. It is for this reason (above any other reasons) that Guru Gobind Singh initiated the Khalsa Baptism on March 29, 1699. Taking this baptism means a person is making a complete transition from being a Punjabi (or whatever background one hails from) and its residual beliefs and practices to being a pure Sikh, i.e, a Khalsa. Taking Amrit is about making a conviction on being a Sikh which means doing only what a Sikh is supposed to do and discard what is contrary to Sikhism. It's not about the five kakaars only or endlessly quarreling over meat eating. Any form of identity derived from our skin colour, genetic composition, social status, etc., should not be perpetrated. We are all the same and our only identity that should stand is that we are Sikhs. The first step in our conviction is being proud of being Sikhs. I am glad that, Jasmeet, you're proud to be a Sikh but this also means that one should not shy away from identifying himself/herself as such all the time. A name such as 'Jasmeet Sidhu' fails to identify the Sikh identity of this person. At best, it can only identify that this person is a Punjabi. To the Canadian mainstream - an Indian. Sidhu, or in my case Shergill, are remnants of our Hindu ancestory. It identifies the social status/standing of these persons. Guru Gobind Singh aimed to discard these Hindu family indicia for Singh/Kaur. He himself became Gobind Singh from Gobind Rai. Now you see, that not only we have failed Guru Nanak in according equality and respect for women, we have also failed Guru Gobind in not discarding our former Hindu social status. My full name is Sukhdev Singh Shergill. I always make sure that 'Singh'is always in my name. Fortunately the practice of omitting the so-called middle names is not prevalent in Malaysia. If such happens I will personally speak to the person to express my disenchantment and that such should not happen again! Jasmeet Kaur Sidhu, I'll make sure my children do not carry 'Shergill' as their last name but Singh/Kaur by discarding it altogether! Female infanticide is very much linked to Punjabi Culture and women's preference for a son or grandson. It has to do with preference for the opposite sex. It is found that some of these women are highly educated and belong to the upper strata of society. Female infanticide does not happen among Malaysian Sikhs and I believe it is due to the closed door immigration policy of the Malaysian government that prevented such culture taking root on our shores. It seems to me that it is a problem among the Sikh communities in Britain and Canada where open immigration policy is in place. I am not against an open policy but actually a proponent of such based on fundamental principles of human right!. Well, after all, our beloved Sikhi also stands up for Human Rights. Punjabi Sikhs will say Vaisakhi falls on 13/14 of April due to their attachment to Punjab's Hindu calendar and the sangrands. Sikhs should know better that Khalsa Day was on 29 March 1699AD!
4: Harinder (Bangalore, India), May 30, 2008, 1:26 AM.
Nobody in life gives his comfort zone easliy. The Punjabi male is used to a certain way of being brought up ("with a gender superiority complex"), which he will not part with easily. It will have to be taken away from him, this unique royal life style he enjoys because of his "XY" chromosomal composition.
5: Dr. Birinder S. Ahluwalia (Canada), June 02, 2008, 4:41 PM.
An insightful article which will - and should - stimulate spirited debate and commentaries. But what is missing from this context is recognition that undeniably every community has, besides other shortcomings, gender inequality issues. Histories and current situations across both eastern and western civilisations have stark examples of this. The Sikh community is no exception. Is gender inequality more prevalent in the Sikh community, as compared to other groups/communities? - By raising this query, I am in no way condoning or rationalizing the blight that effects our community too. Zero tolerance should be our goal: we as Sikhs have no excuse - our Gurus have been clear, emphatic and unequivocal on this issue, leaving no room for distortions or the mental gymnastics normally resorted to, to support male advantage!
6: Baldev Singh Mutta (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), February 13, 2009, 10:51 PM.
We Sikhs have allowed ourselves to slip and slide into "empty rituals" rather than into "awareness and knowledge". This has led to a degeneration of morals, ethics and values at an unprecedented level. I am the founder of Punjabi Community Health Services (formerly Punjabi Community Health Centre) and the violence against Sikh women and children is getting worse day by day. At PCHS, there is not a single day when we do not hear a Sikh woman seeking help for abuse, or Sikh children who need help, or young Sikh girls victims of incest and rape, Sikh women who are forced to abort their pregnancies for the fear of giving birth to girls, Sikh women divorced because of dowry. These Sikh women are being treated as "objects" by their uneducated fathers, brothers and husbands. They can be "used as baits" to bring "men" to Canada and then discarded. Within the community, particularly here in Brampton, alcohol use and drug use is rampant. Drug dealing is becoming a profession of choice. Violence is becoming an acceptable norm. Denial and silence is frightening. But, there is hope. Still we have many good Sikh men and women who are courageous enough to fight for the great principles of Sikhi. My appeal to every good Sikh man and woman is that they should not be silent; they should speak out against injustice against women and children. Good Sikh men MUST take a stand against those who perpetuate violence against Sikh women and children; also against their own kith and kin. Only then we will be able to assert our principles, morals, ethics and values. I can be reached at 905.790.0808 in Brampton, Canada. [Editor: Baldev Singh himself is one of those "good men" and does extraordinary work in the community. He deserves our support unequivocally and totally!]