The Sikhs: Religion Culture and Politics in 20^th Century

A Special Studies Course at University of California, Berkeley

The Twentieth century is a time of significant developments in religion, culture and politics of the Sikhs. It was the first time that Sikhs engaged themselves in the dialogue with the western world. Sikh history and religion were written in a new idiom which had no direct connection with the local traditions. In the wake of new reform movements and a fresh political outlook Sikhs had an experience with the idea of Indian nationalism which was something alien to the inhabitants of South Asian Sub-Continent. The Sikhs started struggling to retain their sovereignty which they had lost to British India in 1849. However, this struggle passed through different phases. The current course will be an effort to understand how this struggle affected the religion, culture, and politics of the Sikhs.

The course will cover the changing perceptions of the Sikh people; their reformulation and reunderstanding of “religion”, culture and politics over the past century charting the implications of such transformations. The course will start with the Sikhs under British India in particular their struggle to liberate their own religious shrines, towards their involvement in the freedom struggle to liberate the whole sub continent from British occupation. The Sikh experience of 1947 partition between India and Pakistan and their situation in post partition India - which have intensified their search for meaning in a different manner – will also be explored.

Course Schedule:

Lecture 1

"Religion and History: A Discussion in Methods of Interpretation"

Reading:
- Jacques Derrida, "Faith and Knowledge: The Two Sources of Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone," in Religion, ed. Derrida and Vattimo. Trans. Weber. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998.

- Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, “The Repetition of Past Imperialisms: Hegel, Historical Difference, and the Theorization of Indic Religions,” in History of Religions 44.4. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2005.

Lecture 2

"Romanticism of Metaphysics: Arya Samaj, Muslim League, Christian Missionaries and Singh Sabha Movement"

Reading:
- Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, “The Unbearable Proximity of the Orient:

Political Religion, Multiculturalism and the Retrieval of South Asian Identities,” in Social Identities, Volume 10, Number 5, 2004

Lecture 3

"Translation of Sikh Voices: Gadar Movement and Babbar Akalis"

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom

Lecture 4

"Metaphysics in Action: Gurdwara Reform Movement"

Reading:
- Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, “The emergence of ‘Sikh Theology’: Reassessing the passage of ideas from Trumpp to Bhai Vir Singh,” in Bulletin of SOAS 68.2 (2005)

Lecture 5

"Codification of the Ethics: The Sikhs and Freedom Movement of India"

Reading:
- Navdeep Singh Mandair, “(EN)Gendered Sikhism: The iconolatry of manliness in the making of Sikh identity,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 1, Number 1, June 2005

Lecture 6

"Tragedy and the Nations: The Partition of 1947”

Reading:
- Ian Talbot, “Partition, memory and trauma: Voices of Punjabi refugee migrants in Lahore and Amritsar,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 2, Number 1, 2006

Lecture 7

"Punjabi Suba Movement: An Experience of the Otherness"

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom.

Lecture 8

"Hearing the Self: The Idea of Sikh Homeland and Anandpur Sahib Resolution"

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom

Lecture 9

"Beyond Time: Dharam Yudh Morcha”

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom

Lecture 10

"Indian Army Invasion and the Genocides"

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom

Lecture 11

"The Sikh Diaspora"

Reading:
- Brian Keith Axel, “Diasporic sublime: Sikh martyrs, Internet mediations, and the question of the unimaginable,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 1, Number 1, June 2005

- Giorgio Shani, “Beyond Khalistan? Sikh diasporic identity and critical international theory,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 1, Number 1, June 2005

- Gurharpal Singh, “British multiculturalism and Sikhs,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 1, Number 2, December 2005

Lecture 12

"Sikh Struggle after 1984"

Reading:
- Lecture Notes in the classroom

Lecture 13

"Memory and Trauma"

Reading:
- Darshan S. Tatla, “The morning after: Trauma, memory and the Sikh predicament since 1984,” in Sikh Formations, Volume 2, Number 1, 2006

Lecture 14

"Reading Zafarnamah: The Sikhs and their Fight"

Reading:
- Gursharan Singh Bedi, The Epistle of Victory (An English Translation of Guru Gobind Singh's Zafarnama in verse), G.S. Bedi Harbans Singh Road, Amritsar, 1961.

Lecture 15

“Conclusion”