This incident exposed some of the darker elements within the cultural milieu in Punjab and in the diaspora. Three things in particular continue to trouble me.
Firstly, the tendency of people within the panth to escalate violence. This was a non-violent situation which escalated to a murder. People seem to lack an understanding of the sanctity of life. Gurbani tells us how precious and rare a human life is. I am not saying the victim was making the best use of her life, but it doesn't matter: nobody had the right to take it from her. At the end of the day this is one case, but how many other people (Sikh or otherwise) have been killed in Punjab over things that didn't warrant it? This lackadaisical approach to violence has a cost that we have been paying for a long time.
Secondly is the hypocrisy within many Sikh men. Many of the same people who celebrated this killing are consuming content produced by women just like her. You cannot reward such content with internet fame and money and then turn around and condemn the people who make it. An especially odd segment of this group are the men who had more of an issue with her adopting a Punjabi/Sikh performing name than with her content itself. When the reality that there are plenty of actual Sikh women working as sex workers is pointed out, their response is along the lines of "those women aren't performing under a Sikh name." To me this speaks to an empty concern for saving face rather than with anything real.
Finally I think the social media backdrop to all of this warrants real concern. It is clear to me that many young people in the West, Middle East and South Asia have been radicalized in various ways by social media. Sikhs are not immune to this sort of propaganda, which has allowed for literal nobodies and lowlifes to project themselves as panthic heroes. This risks a situation where people are radicalized and misled from Sikhi in favor of some agenda. (This case is frankly a minor example of such things, there are far more pernicious cases of this going on right now).
First, I want to make it clear that I’m absolutely against the murder — it was wrong, and it should not have happened. There was no justification for killing her.
However, I do understand why some people feel that a strong response was needed. Obviously, that does not mean violence — but I’m saying this as someone who also struggles to think of an effective alternative.
What worries me is that our religion is starting to become something people feel comfortable mocking — like what has happened to Christianity, where offensive jokes and disrespect have become common, and people expect no real backlash.
While I personally don’t agree with many things in Islam, I’ve noticed that people do respect it — often because they know there are strong reactions if they cross certain lines. That respect, or at least caution, is something I believe we’re losing.
You mentioned that a Taliban-like mentality is dragging us down — and I see your point. But at the same time, I also feel that at least some people are standing up and showing that we will not accept being disrespected so easily. Again, I'm not in favor of honor killings or any kind of murder — but I feel that unless we have serious consequences for clear disrespect, any softer response is seen as weak or ignored.
We shouldn't be pushovers. We should hold firm and show that we deserve respect. I believe some form of strong consequences are necessary — though I agree we can and should debate what those should be.
Thank you for sharing your view! I do completely understand what you are saying and it is a good, moderated perspective.
I would push back slightly on the point regarding Islam is respected because of the knowledge of strong reactions. I would ask, is that respect, or fear? To many, Muslims who can not control their emotions appear more insecure than anything.
Whilst I like most, would be pained to see Sikhi mocked in anyway, I still believe that the best way to mitigate it is truly by earning respect through our actions. For instance, a fool who has no knowledge or experience with Sikhs or Sikhi may mock it, but that very same fool would sing praises if a Sikh saved his life from disease, took him out of poverty, or destroyed a tyrant he was suffering from.
If you provide value, the propensity to mock or issue disrespect dissipates. If we are going to exert effort, then I believe it is more useful to allocate time and resources as a Panth towards inspirational forward advancement rather than policing what fools may think or say. As I mentioned in this piece, we should be assessing the opportunity cost of different actions we take, asking "what is a better use of our time?".
Additionally, we could perhaps set metrics and measure, year-on-year the rate of nonsense we experience as a Panth, so that as we conduct actions that bring us honour, we should expect to see a decline in that rate over time, which in turn validates whether or not we are heading in the right direction. Without data we are operating blind, relying on anecdotes and echo chambers.
Whilst there are limits, I do agree, I believe the attitude we should adopt as our baseline is that of a lion in the presence of barking dogs. The last analogy I will give is "you catch more flies with honey than poison".
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh
Happy to hear their reasoning, but I reject this mindset that simply because something is western influenced it must therefore be disregarded. As a member of the Khalsa I will use my Bibek Buddhi to extract value from wherever in the world wisdom comes from, so long as it is interpreted through and be justified by GurMat - which I can do for all my arguments.
Secondly, Khalistan is also a western influenced idea since it is a post-colonial conception for a Sikh nation-state, and an expression of Sikh nationalism. Nation-states and nationalism are western inventions. This doesn't disqualify the demand for Khalistan though.
The key is in synthesis, and then debate to stress test if ideas hold up to scrutiny (hence why I am thankful for your comment and push back).
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh
Excellent post!
This incident exposed some of the darker elements within the cultural milieu in Punjab and in the diaspora. Three things in particular continue to trouble me.
Firstly, the tendency of people within the panth to escalate violence. This was a non-violent situation which escalated to a murder. People seem to lack an understanding of the sanctity of life. Gurbani tells us how precious and rare a human life is. I am not saying the victim was making the best use of her life, but it doesn't matter: nobody had the right to take it from her. At the end of the day this is one case, but how many other people (Sikh or otherwise) have been killed in Punjab over things that didn't warrant it? This lackadaisical approach to violence has a cost that we have been paying for a long time.
Secondly is the hypocrisy within many Sikh men. Many of the same people who celebrated this killing are consuming content produced by women just like her. You cannot reward such content with internet fame and money and then turn around and condemn the people who make it. An especially odd segment of this group are the men who had more of an issue with her adopting a Punjabi/Sikh performing name than with her content itself. When the reality that there are plenty of actual Sikh women working as sex workers is pointed out, their response is along the lines of "those women aren't performing under a Sikh name." To me this speaks to an empty concern for saving face rather than with anything real.
Finally I think the social media backdrop to all of this warrants real concern. It is clear to me that many young people in the West, Middle East and South Asia have been radicalized in various ways by social media. Sikhs are not immune to this sort of propaganda, which has allowed for literal nobodies and lowlifes to project themselves as panthic heroes. This risks a situation where people are radicalized and misled from Sikhi in favor of some agenda. (This case is frankly a minor example of such things, there are far more pernicious cases of this going on right now).
Well said! Thank you for sharing 🙏
Good post
🔥🔥
First, I want to make it clear that I’m absolutely against the murder — it was wrong, and it should not have happened. There was no justification for killing her.
However, I do understand why some people feel that a strong response was needed. Obviously, that does not mean violence — but I’m saying this as someone who also struggles to think of an effective alternative.
What worries me is that our religion is starting to become something people feel comfortable mocking — like what has happened to Christianity, where offensive jokes and disrespect have become common, and people expect no real backlash.
While I personally don’t agree with many things in Islam, I’ve noticed that people do respect it — often because they know there are strong reactions if they cross certain lines. That respect, or at least caution, is something I believe we’re losing.
You mentioned that a Taliban-like mentality is dragging us down — and I see your point. But at the same time, I also feel that at least some people are standing up and showing that we will not accept being disrespected so easily. Again, I'm not in favor of honor killings or any kind of murder — but I feel that unless we have serious consequences for clear disrespect, any softer response is seen as weak or ignored.
We shouldn't be pushovers. We should hold firm and show that we deserve respect. I believe some form of strong consequences are necessary — though I agree we can and should debate what those should be.
Thank you for sharing your view! I do completely understand what you are saying and it is a good, moderated perspective.
I would push back slightly on the point regarding Islam is respected because of the knowledge of strong reactions. I would ask, is that respect, or fear? To many, Muslims who can not control their emotions appear more insecure than anything.
Whilst I like most, would be pained to see Sikhi mocked in anyway, I still believe that the best way to mitigate it is truly by earning respect through our actions. For instance, a fool who has no knowledge or experience with Sikhs or Sikhi may mock it, but that very same fool would sing praises if a Sikh saved his life from disease, took him out of poverty, or destroyed a tyrant he was suffering from.
If you provide value, the propensity to mock or issue disrespect dissipates. If we are going to exert effort, then I believe it is more useful to allocate time and resources as a Panth towards inspirational forward advancement rather than policing what fools may think or say. As I mentioned in this piece, we should be assessing the opportunity cost of different actions we take, asking "what is a better use of our time?".
Additionally, we could perhaps set metrics and measure, year-on-year the rate of nonsense we experience as a Panth, so that as we conduct actions that bring us honour, we should expect to see a decline in that rate over time, which in turn validates whether or not we are heading in the right direction. Without data we are operating blind, relying on anecdotes and echo chambers.
Whilst there are limits, I do agree, I believe the attitude we should adopt as our baseline is that of a lion in the presence of barking dogs. The last analogy I will give is "you catch more flies with honey than poison".
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh
Happy to hear their reasoning, but I reject this mindset that simply because something is western influenced it must therefore be disregarded. As a member of the Khalsa I will use my Bibek Buddhi to extract value from wherever in the world wisdom comes from, so long as it is interpreted through and be justified by GurMat - which I can do for all my arguments.
Secondly, Khalistan is also a western influenced idea since it is a post-colonial conception for a Sikh nation-state, and an expression of Sikh nationalism. Nation-states and nationalism are western inventions. This doesn't disqualify the demand for Khalistan though.
The key is in synthesis, and then debate to stress test if ideas hold up to scrutiny (hence why I am thankful for your comment and push back).
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh
It is different to the general perspective with western influence in thought, it could be balanced with understanding the reasoning of local intellectuals on the matter from punjab. Like Ajmer Singh