Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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suffused by ideologies, training, educ ation, a mindset, and rights, whic h are
radic ally different from t heir Sikh sist ers in India? Cert ainly, some members of t he
Sikh Dharma are c onvinc ed t hat t heir inc reasingly c lose t ies wit h Punjabi Sikhs will
lead to raising the status of women among Sikhs (Singh Khalsa). Further, Gurdev
Kaur, founder of the Sikh Nari Manc h in the UK, insists that ‘‘today Sikhi is not
limit ed t o Punjab only but t he Sikhs live in all c orners of t he world and it is an
int ernat ional Qaum. When the women of Punjab have not done anything about
these rights, no wonder that the women from western c ountries had to do
something.’’ This development may well present a c ause for c onc ern for the millions
of Sikh women who either are indifferent or rejec t outright the demands whic h this
small, but powerful and highly voc al minorit y of Sikhs makes.
...Inst ead of simply invoking t he exalt ed posit ion of Sikh women in soc iet y, as
rec orded in sc ript ure and t heologic al doc t rines, t hese inc ident s at t est to the
st rengt h and persist enc e of misogynist ic at t it udes t owards Sikh women, espec ially
within the most sac red plac e for Sikhs, the Harimandir Sahib. As a result of these
occurrences, women appear to have become emboldened to question and question
other inst anc es of pat riarc hal at t it ude and prac t ic e. T he low birt h rat e for girls in
Punjab, translated by a Sikh woman writer as blatant evidence for males being
more highly valued than females and ‘‘hatred against women’’, has bec ome a
c entral issue, as has the fact that no female granthis are employed at major Sikh
shrines; further, no females are to be seen offering seva through kirtan at the
Harimandir Sahib (Kaar Kaur Khalsa^25 ). Ac c ording t o Carol Christ , t his progression
is very nat ural. Most c rit ic isms ‘‘originated in an often inartic ulate sense of
exc lusion from t radit ional religious prac t ic e of t heology’’ Once awakened to these
injust ic es, women ‘‘t urn privat e pain int o a syst emat ic feminist c rit ique of
religion’’(ibid). Women c an then begin to examine the arguments whic h are given
for their subordination and rejec t teac hings that deny their full personhood.
At least a small minorit y of women wit hin t he Sikh c ommunit y appear t o have
found a voic e through the debilitating events at the Darbar Sahib, whic h for many
t ranslat e far beyond t he spec ific inc ident t o a muc h larger indic at ion of oppression
within Sikh institutions. If the amount of public ity surrounding this issue is anything
t o go by, t he movement for egalit arianism in all fac et s of Sikh rit ual life is growing.
As the realization of women’s oppression in Sikh institutions and the c ommunity at
large c ontinues to grow, Sikh women may turn to their c ounterparts in other
religious t radit ions and t hus ac knowledge t heir bond wit h t hose who fac e similar
inequalit ies in t heir respec t ive religions. From t he perspec t ive of int erfait h dialogue,
this process can take place while women are fully rooted and engaged in their
t radit ions.
...Women are then enabled to criticize these repressive structures, for religions,
dogmas, and ideologies c annot only be explanat ions of t he meaning of life, but also
ways... to live according to that explanation’’ (ibid). The goal and purpose of
dialogue wit h ot her religions are, ac c ording t o Leonard Swidler, ‘‘joint ac t ion on...
concrete problems’’ (16–7). T hese ‘problems’ must inc lude any aspec t of religion
and its practices that are oppressive to women...