In April, Sikh Heritage Month is celebrated nationwide. According to a 2021 census, 771,790 members of the Sikh faith live in Canada. Sikhism is a religion and philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of India. Its followers are known as Sikhs, and they refer to their faith as Gurmat.
By designating April as Sikh Heritage Month, Canada is reflecting on, celebrating and educating future generations about the significant contributions Sikh Canadians have made communities across the country.
“It’s essential in our faith because in the Sikh faith we have a concept called Sangat. And Sangat is pretty much having good people around you who are going to give you good advice, guide you in the Sikh faith and guide you in Sikh practices,” said Simrat Grewal, a third-year political science student at Wilfrid Laurier University and co-president of the Laurier Sikh Advocacy Association, emphasizing the importance of creating a space on campus where Sikh students can connect.
“There’s quite a big population of the Sikh community here in Waterloo. So, at these universities, it just creates a space for them to get together and grow in their individual journey in Sikhi,” said Parminder Singh, a master’s student in political science at the University of Waterloo, former president of the University of Waterloo Sikh Association and current general member of the association.
“The Indian government fails to recognize us as our own sovereign faith. When we come to these foreign places and build our own families, we build our spirituality here,” Grewal said. “Being able to say that, yeah, the Canadian government recognizes us, it’s a huge step.”
Sikh Heritage Month has been celebrated in Ontario since 2013 and across Canada since 2019. Despite the strong presence of Sikh communities in Canada and their meaningful contributions, anti-Sikh hate is present.
Grewal shared the Sikh Advocacy Association and University of Waterloo Sikh Association’s experience on Sikh Awareness Day, celebrated in both the fall and winter terms.
“One [event] was at the Waterloo campus and one was at Laurier campus. We found the response on the ground was very positive, but for both events there were very hateful reddit posts on some reddit communities and they surprisingly got a lot of attention,” she said.
At the event, many hate comments received were in regard to the Khalistan flag present at the event. The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement advocating for an independent Sikh homeland.
“India hasn’t always been privy to the Sikh community and it’s something that Sikh community has been advocating for,” she explained. “We just had the flag there. We weren’t preaching much about it. … We’re living in Canada, we have the freedom of speech and we have the freedom of expression, which isn’t something that a lot of Sikhs have the privilege to back home.”
Singh and Grewal added that while the hate comments come from a small group, they can often be the loudest group.
“A lot of people who might not be connected to the Sikh faith yet and are still on their journey, these types of things do deter them, they do scare people away and they might push them away from joining our club or clubs in Waterloo. It is kind of fearmongering,” Grewal said.
Canada has reported that members of the Sikh faith can be found in every province and territory.
Communities nationwide host events in honour of the month. Most notably, Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives exhibition honouring Shaheed Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra, a fearless Sikh activist who exposed the Indian state’s brutal counterinsurgency in Punjab during the 1990s, is running from April 5 to June 29.
Contributed Photo/Motilal Books on Flickr
