A viral video released in early 2015 shows a young American Sikh boy being harassed on
the school bus by other kids.
One young girl points at him and chants “Terrorist!
Terrorist!”
This event, and the video’s spread online, serves to illustrate the general ignorance
of Sikhism.
So who are the Sikhs?
The Sikhs are a people from Northern India, who subscribe to the dictations of 10 important
Gurus.
Their philosophy is encapsulated in the Guru Granth Sahib , which is the holy book of Sikhism.
In general: Sikhs believe in one god, equality among all, freedom of religion and community
service.
The Sikh religion is independent from the other major monotheistic religions, as well
as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Sikhs are well known for a few distinct physical attributes.
Men usually wear a specific type of turban called a Dastaar.
And both men and women often wear a steel or iron bracelet called a Kara.
A Sikh’s uncut hair and the bracelet are two of five articles of faith that they are
expected to wear at all times.
The other articles include a wooden comb, cotton undergarments and a stylized dagger.
These five articles symbolize a Sikh’s commitment to their faith.
Sikhism originated in the 15th century in the Punjab (pun-jab) region of what is now
northern Pakistan and India.
Following the independence of the south asian colonies from Britain in 1947, Punjab was
split between Pakistan and India.
This caused civil unrest and violence for a long time, although tensions have cooled
since the ‘90s.
The most holy Sikh gurdwara (goo-roo-dwa-RA), or place of worship, is the Golden Temple
in India.
The Pew Research Center reports that Sikhism is the fifth largest religion worldwide, and
there are about 25 million adherents.
The religion is considered the 5th largest internationally.
Nine out of ten Sikhs reportedly live in India, but there are large communities abroad, especially
in the UK, the US, and Canada.
In the video from the beginning, the original upload by the young Sikh boy included a description
saying, (quote) “Kids being racist to me and calling me an Afghani terrorist…
If u don’t know I’m not Muslim I’m Sikh” (end quote).
Since the September 11th attacks, there have been an increased number of hate crimes against
Sikhs.
Many people still don’t know just how vastly different their religion is compared to Islamic
extremism.
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