Recently, a video was taken of an individual at an online event about Sikh spaces and queerness who said “Fuck the Rehat Maryada”. As this video was taken secretly of what was supposed to have been a private event with no recordings, my disagreements with the statement aside, I have…

A few weeks ago, someone posted an intentionally provocative tweet regarding Guru Nanak Dev Ji (intentionally provacative in that it was explicitly done to attract controversy, as seen by the image macro that accompanied it). This led to many inappropriate abuses and slurs aimed towards the individual, as well as…

(This article was written in 2016) — BACKGROUND Many students of Sikhi will hit a point at which they are given two seemingly contradictory views of the faith. One view claims that God turns a blind eye to one’s religious identity and the religious rituals they perform; that devotional love for Waheguru, manifested through meditative experience and…

The Sikh faith is known for the external markers of the Khalsa identity, most prominently the uncut hair covered by a turban. It is a testament to the emphasis laid in the earliest Rehits (Khalsa code of conduct) on the turban as a mark of a warrior-king that the Sikh…

The basic idea of the Sikh religion having a martial component in addition to the spiritual is quite well-known in modern discourse to Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike. However, more often than not, this component is relegated to the historical realm, and is considered a temporary, time-bound, part of Sikh belief…

The role caste plays in the modern practice of Sikhi is an explosive topic that can inflame at really any point and create massive ideological divisions between people on various sides of the fence. What often ends up being a problem, however, is the poor understanding most people have of…