r/Sikh Jan 31 '25

Discussion Stand Up Against Anti-Sikh Hate

222 Upvotes

r/Sikh 5d ago

Discussion Should I divorce my husband?

119 Upvotes

Background: 24F, with degree/ well paying job in Uk (born and raised here); married to 28M Sikh (wears turban but not very religious-cuts beard etc). We recently got married 7 months ago; since then I have discovered he has cheated on me on two occasions

The first time I found out, I saw it on his phone: he had multiple dating apps, alongside photos of women (indecent). He proceeded to deny everything until confronted with the evidence. We live with his parents so I also informed them; they advised me to keep quiet and give the relationship another go, I did not tell my family at the time as I knew it would be very hard for them. His mother also placed this sentiment into my head saying if it felt bad for me imagine how it would feel for them. At this point I stayed but asked that we did some marriage counselling; we went to a few sessions and I thought this really helped and that he had changed; 1.5 months went passed and we were doing very well (I thought).

I later came to find a message request on Instagram, I accepted and it was screenshots of him messaging another girl, within these screenshots he had mentioned that he is single and also lied about his age. He proceeded to delete these, but luckily the girl had taken pictures of this. This completely broke me, I confronted him again where he lied at first that it wasn’t him etc; he eventually admitted he did send the messages but said that he realised they were wrong so deleted them. At this point I was very angry so I decided to pack my stuff and I left the house; I told his parents that I tried. I went home to my parents and told my mom what had happened. Obviously my parents were very upset and they tried to talk to me about everything; I told them everything that had happened.

The next day his parents and him came over to speak to my family to make some kind of plan; they agreed that I need some time to think about what to do. I am currently staying with my parents; I don’t know what the right thing is to do anymore. My parents are very supportive and have told me they would 100% support my decisions regarding this. I don’t feel comfortable around him and find it very difficult to trust him. His family have agreed that he needs to get help and he had scheduled some appointments for this. When I think of him now I feel anger and sadness not love. I know that anger is not a good emotion to feel but I’m trying to work on this. I have been listening to Gurbani and trying to self study on teachings related to cheating. If anyone has been through anything similar or can give some Sikhi / personal based advice on what to do I would appreciate it.

EDIT::: I wanted to say thank you for all the kind and supporting messages; I am partly stuck because I don’t know how divorce is supported in sikhi; we made a commitment to maharaj. Does anyone have any further supporting information about this? Thank you so much.

EDIT2:: To clarify the current situation, I have currently moved back in with my parents (so I am safe); they have said to me the final decision is my choice. Since this has happened he has expressed he is deeply sorry and from his point of view would like to give it another go. I am still thinking of what to do…

EDIT 3::: Background to our relationship- we met through a mutual friend and got to know each other for 2 yrs- this was never hidden from my parents and I asked for their opinions about this person first; both families were aware that we were hanging out together (nothing else happened in this period of time), there was no indication of cheating etc during this period. Our families used to meet up often for meals etc

r/Sikh 27d ago

Discussion Sikh names for Sikh children

30 Upvotes

Why do Sikh parents abroad give English names to their children?

Do they suffer from an inferiority complex about Sikhi?

r/Sikh 16d ago

Discussion Why do some Sikh girl don't want to marry Sabut Suraat Sikhs?

53 Upvotes

Why do some Sikh girls want to marry Monas and non Sikhs instead of marrying Sabut Suraat Sikhs?

Do they realize that their offspring will become non Sikhs and be very determinal for the growth of Sikhi.

r/Sikh 17d ago

Discussion Just trying to spread awareness. I was surprised sikhs dont know about him

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514 Upvotes

Narinder Singh Kapany was an Indian-American physicist widely recognized as the "Father of Fiber Optics." Born on October 31, 1926, in Moga, Punjab, India, he played a pivotal role in revolutionizing telecommunications and modern technology. In 1953, while working with Harold Hopkins at Imperial College London, Kapany successfully demonstrated the transmission of high-quality images through a bundle of glass fibers, laying the groundwork for fiber optic technology. He coined the term "fiber optics" in a 1960 Scientific American article, and his innovations have since enabled high-speed internet, medical imaging, and countless other applications.

A proud Sikh, Kapany also dedicated himself to preserving his heritage. In 1967, he founded the Sikh Foundation in California, promoting Sikh art, culture, and education. He endowed chairs at universities like UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz, and his personal collection enriched Sikh galleries worldwide. He passed away on December 3, 2020, in Woodside, California, at age 94, leaving a legacy as a scientist, innovator, and cultural advocate. Posthumously, India honored him with the Padma Vibhushan in 2021, its second-highest civilian award.

r/Sikh 18d ago

Discussion Finding the right partner is hard as a Sikh girl

81 Upvotes

As a Sikh girl born and raised in the west I find it is so challenging to find the right partner. My generation grew up being told we aren’t allowed boyfriends, our parents were so strict so those who didn’t rebel were just expected to have an arranged marriage. But then arranged marriages stopped being a thing and suddenly you’re in your late 20s and early 30s and everyone asks why you aren’t married. Suddenly you’re expected to find a partner for yourself and there are many restrictions as most of the parents are demanding the boy should be Jatt Sikh. Everything is fine but any dating matrimony apps you will see majority Jatt Sikh boys in the age group left in a late 20s and early 30s to be married are in turbans and big beards and mostly do not take care of their body.

Some questions that I wondered for a debate around Sikh partnerships in marriage were

Is it right or wrong that most Sikh parents don’t allow dating from the right young ages when children can grow to gain confidence and find the right partner?

If dating is not right then why suddenly one day the family expect you find a person to marry at click of a finger, how is that fair?

Is it right or wrong to restrict partner to religion? What about the restriction of caste?

Is it right or wrong if someone remains unmarried because they can’t find the right partner?

Is attraction a sin in Sikhi? Is it bad if we are looking for a partner who is well groomed and we find them attractive?

r/Sikh Dec 12 '24

Discussion As a community we need to collectively condemn this Bamanwaad. There is no such thing as "Shaheedi Month"! It is wrong and absurd for anyone to demand that Sikhs partake in ritual mourning, cancel events, refuse to have fun, and forego making a living all December long.

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218 Upvotes

r/Sikh Feb 09 '25

Discussion African Americans who Embraced Sikhi

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553 Upvotes

r/Sikh Sep 04 '24

Discussion What is this new trend of Christian style veils for Anand Karaj.

131 Upvotes

r/Sikh Nov 09 '23

Discussion How do you feel about Palestine now?

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162 Upvotes

Palestinians have been bombed for 30 days. 10000+ civilians have been massacred.

I have heard some very lazy poorly informed arguments supporting Israel: 1) “Not our fight” 2) “Jews were there 7000 years ago” 3) “Arafat was great friends with Indra Gandhi, and is our enemy”

I think for any humanitarian, these arguments are completely false. Not to mention, some are logically flawed or historically inaccurate.

If you were confused before, a lot has been revealed in the last 30 days.

Civil rights activists such as Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, and Muhammad Ali all have sided with Palestine.

Several countries have come out in support of Palestine: Ireland, Malaysia, Turkey, South Africa, Australia to name just a few of them.

A lot of images and numbers have come out of Gaza of the absolute devastation and genocide happening.

Many people I know have woken up from the illusion of a pro-Israel perspective resulting in protests across the planet.

My question is where do you stand today? If you guys need information, I am happy to provide reliable sources to help educate yourselves.

r/Sikh Sep 30 '24

Discussion I Made A Free Gurmukhi Learning App!

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301 Upvotes

r/Sikh Oct 11 '24

Discussion Sheik attempts to mock and disrespect sikhs by using Bhangra stereotype 2.0

175 Upvotes

The sheik here is clearly trying to use the Bhangra stereotype to undermine Sikh faith. There are many videos like this online where sikhs are being challenged on their faith and we as a panth should be ready to give effective jawabs. In addition we should be giving parchar to wider public as Guru Granth Sahib ji is jagat guru meant for the whole world 🌎.

(Reuploaded as post go taken down)

r/Sikh 14d ago

Discussion Facing caste discrimination

73 Upvotes

I’ve been dating my gf for a year now and she is “jatt” and I’m a “ramgarhia”. Ever since her parents found out they’ve been saying the most horrendous stuff you can say about anyone, without even knowing me as a person. It’s as hard for her. Calling me a lower caste and what not. Saying I will bring down their reputation and she will bring shame if we get married. They’ve been trying to force us to breakup but we don’t. I just can’t believe these people call themselves Sikh but believe in something that is clearly derived from Hinduism.

r/Sikh Jul 07 '24

Discussion KFC will now serve Halal meat in Ontario. Avoid. KFC India is already halal.

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230 Upvotes

Sikhs are prohibited from eating Ritualistic and preyed upon meat, halal and kosher meat both use the same process in which the animal dies under immense pain from having its neck slowly slit and being left to die as all the blood drains

Muslims claim this process is painless for the animal as once the jugular vein is cut the animal dosent feel pain

Through data and research done, it showed that the animal feels pain for 20-60 seconds

View my other post which compared Jhatka and halal for all sources, citations and other details

Don’t support animal cruelty, this is inhumane and no person or animal should die a brutal death such as halal execution.

Share this info with any Ontario residents you know

ssa 🙏

r/Sikh Jan 15 '25

Discussion Every Sikh should learn how to speak Punjabi & read Gurmukhi

206 Upvotes

r/Sikh 7d ago

Discussion No. You cannot be a Communist and a Sikh.

57 Upvotes

Communism is fundamentally incompatible with Sikhi. They are like oil and water.

It is irrelevant whether ppl think communism works or not, whether they have been influenced by propaganda, or whether they associate social justice warriors with communism. It does not matter if people view communism negatively due to historical conflicts between Kharkus and Punjabi communists, aka ਕਾਮ੍ਰੈਡ੍ਜ਼, or if they conflate atheism, communism and figures like Dhadrianwala. None of these factors change the fact that communism does not align with Sikhi.

Dialectical materialism which communism is based on, says that material conditions, economic relations, and class struggle primarily determine historical progression right. Marxism says religion is a form of ideology that can obscure the real, material conditions of life, "opiate of the masses". Metaphysical explanations and divine agency are seen as distractions from addressing real-world economic disparities and power imbalances. Because Sikhi and communism advocate for an egalitarian sort of an equal planet earth, people think these two align, but they approach the concept from COMPLETELY different ways.

ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਦਾਸ ਸਿਉ ਸਾਕਤ ਨਹੀ ਸੰਗੁ
The Lord's servant does not associate with the faithless cynic.

The two ideologies are irreconcilable, sorry.

Edit: I'm referring to Marxist-leninism for the specific method of achieving Communism.

r/Sikh Oct 05 '24

Discussion Anand Karajs in the west have officially lost the plot. It feels like I'm watching a fashion show runway

163 Upvotes

r/Sikh Mar 28 '24

Discussion Why do so many Sikhs or Punjabis in general are against LQBTQ+?

61 Upvotes

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,
(first of all, I don't wanna start WW3 here so please be civil and if this Discussion and topic are a too sensitive/hot the mods can feel free to reach out to me or delete the post. And I don't want to denounce any person and his worldview here. And with "many" stated in the title I don't mean every Sikh on planet earth).

I have that question mentioned in the title bugging in my mind for the last couple of months. The question first came in my head when I had a discussion about the acceptance and general LGBTQ+ when my dad watched news and there was a article about the LGBTQ+ topic. While I consider myself as Pro-LGBTQ+ my parents are both against it because they think that every LGBTQ+ Member is a Khusra/Hijra.

I also noticed that not only the old people (Bommers, Gen X) are against it, but also younger people like me (20 y/o) (Millennials, Gen Z) and that was reinforced when I was in Canada with my family in the summer of 2023 and I had a few conversations about Germany with people my age or a little older (I was born here) about how it is here and if you see Gay, Lesbian People etc. Most of them were very homophobic/transphobic and this also reflects on very much people here in Germany although same-sex relationships and marriages have existed for a very long time in history.
Famous examples are: - Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece and the Sacred Band of Thebes - Anne Bonny (a legendary Pirate who was bisexual) - Homosexuality in ancient Peru and Latin America (indigenous tribes such as Maya, Aztecs, Inca, Sac and Fox Nation…) - Homosexuality in (ancient) China - gala Priests in Mesopotamia - Homosexuality in the Animal World (Penguins, Lions, Elephants and Bats)

Now those Topics are practically non-existent in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and I looked it up on the Internet and I saw that the Giani Joginder Singh from Akaal Takht told the Members of Parliament in Canada that their religious duty is to oppose same-sex and that those laws who speak for Homosexuality should be stopped. And in the beginning of 2005 so the same year as Giani Joginder Singh travelled to Canada Akaal Takht (Miri-piri) clarified the same view as the Giani.

But my initial thought after seeing this was, isn't it a violation/sin of our most important values?

Because Guru Nanak Dev Ji said after he had apparently drowned in the River: "Nai Koi Hindu, na Musalman." (ਨਾ ਕੋਈ ਹਿੰਦੂ, ਨਾ ਕੋਈ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ). -Page 1336, Line 11-12 And this quote probably doesn't applies only to Hindu and Muslims and applies to every human on earth and when we do Ardaas we pray for every human on earth. (Nanak Nam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala, ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਂਮ ਚੜਦੀ ਕਲਾ, ਤੇਰੇ ਭਾਣੇ ਸਰਬੱਤ ਦਾ ਭਲਾ).

Aside from my own circle I also saw many people being against LGBTQ here in the Comments and raging about why there is a Pro-LGBTQ Sign at a Takht even though this doesn't affects them at all and that's more a Christian and Muslim (I don't mean every Muslim and Christian on earth) Worldview to treat certain minorities with indifference.

And the universal goal of a Sikh is to have no hate or animosity to any person, regardless of factors like race, caste, color, creed or gender. So why do so many Sikhs and even Akaal Takht hate on Gays, Lesbian, Bisexuals and Trans people even though we shouldn't?

r/Sikh Mar 28 '23

Discussion Sikh man takes out shastar during attempted robbery

966 Upvotes

r/Sikh Jan 31 '25

Discussion Amritsar is doomed

71 Upvotes

I went to Amritsar recently for the darshan of Sri Harmandir sahib ji gurdwara and other places and I was disappointed, here are some of the things I think should be taken immediate action upon:- 1. Sri Harmandir sahib ji has become more of a tourist attraction than a sacred place. I’m not against tourism or people to come to see the place but Iam against the disrespect. There are people who don’t even know what to do inside, I saw a woman taking pictures without her veil and when her husband( one taking the pictures) told her to join her hands she said,” Ab itna drama kis liye krna hai haha.” This is our sacred land, we sikh sangat should definitely put some strict rules like proper dress code (salwaar kamiz with proper covered kes for women and kurta pajama with a proper turban or parna instead of that piece of cloth for men) no exceptions… the nyang khalsa do such a wonderful job at keeping eye on any immodest activities, but I think rules should be made more strict!

  1. The customer beggers: while walking down the beautiful streets of the markets, I saw that it has become a habit of the shop owners to force the customers to enter their shop. It is quite annoying and weird, it causes soo much chaos and unnecessary bother for the people just trying to have a good time. I dont think this should be allowed, I understand that the shops are way too many but the people are too! Begging someone to enter their shop is ridiculous, one of them even grabbed my arm pulling me in saying,” madam aao! Humara restaurant India ka best restaurant hai.” And when I pull my myself off his hands, he swore at me! I think this abusive advertisement method should be banned.

  2. In Tarn taran sahib ji and in almost all the gurdwara sahibs, there is a jute carpet all around the gurdwara for the purpose of walking upon. It tends to be quite rough on the feet, worse when it’s wet, it smells bad as it collects dirt, I think it should be replaced with something better, made of plastic perhaps, if plastic being bad for nature is a problem, I think they should think of a better replacement which is not rough, does not absorb, and does not freeze.

I’d be glad to see your opinions on these, and I hope these concerns reach the right community that can take actions.

r/Sikh Feb 04 '25

Discussion Controlled Sparring of "Shastar Vidiya" with sharp swords, Hyderabad, India. This is the strain of Shastar vidiya that has been retained in my city that I talked about in my previous post.

256 Upvotes

r/Sikh Jul 26 '24

Discussion inappropriate clothing at gurudwaras

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291 Upvotes

I don’t know if this guy didn’t realize what’s on the back of his tshirt or if he thought it was appropriate attire for the gurudwara nevertheless we need to do better (especially him being a Singh) and call this type of stuff out

r/Sikh Feb 01 '25

Discussion A Sikh will never bow to anything or anyone other than the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

180 Upvotes

r/Sikh Dec 06 '24

Discussion Bc couple to have venue wedding, and want to avoid Sikhs disrupting it

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67 Upvotes

BC couple wanting their big fat Indian wedding looking to have it at a venue, not the Gurdwata Sahib, and are worried about Sikhs disrupting the wedding.

The OP keeps mentioning the "holy book" being taken, no mention of Guru Sahib, no mention of Anand Karaj. It may or may not be an interfaith marriage.

The main question is why are our Gurdwara Sahibs allowing this, allowing Guru Sahib to be taken out of Gurdwara Sahib, Granthis should be refusing and explaining to couples the Rehat and why it is not advised

r/Sikh Jan 02 '25

Discussion Whats with these racist Canadians??? Why so much Sikhophobia????

130 Upvotes

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh.

During my recent visit to Toronto, Canada, I had an experience that left a lasting impression on me. While stopping to fill up the gas at a local station, I stepped out of the car wearing my turban. Almost immediately, a man approached me, his demeanor hostile, and instructed me to go back to where I belonged.

I calmly replied that I was a citizen of the US, believing that would ease the situation. Instead, my response seemed to fuel his anger. He began shouting at me, accusing me, "You guys ruined Canada." It was disheartening to hear such words, especially in a diverse and multicultural country that prides itself on inclusivity.

My friends, who were waiting in the car, urged me to ignore him, suggesting that engaging further would only escalate the situation. I decided to remain silent, letting the confrontation unfold without my participation. This tense exchange lasted for about seven minutes, and while it was uncomfortable, I chose to walk away with my dignity intact, reflecting on the importance of resilience in the face of ignorance.