The Punjab Problem: A Case Study on the Rise of Sikh Nationalist Identity in India,

Sikhs are among the many religious groups present in India. They are also one of the many minorities who have suffered since India’s independence in 1947. Since then, issues including the keeping and maintaining of its identity, growing fears of assimilation by Hindu fundamentalists and religious discrimination has surrounded the Sikh minority. The events of 1984 have also presented a new development in the Sikh identity, particularly the emergence of a separate and nationalist Sikh identity. What has caused the feeling of insecurity and the sudden rise of Sikh nationalistic identity within post-independent India? Through the use of evidence, historical and detailed case analysis, this thesis attempts to answer the growing Sikh problem by analyzing the possible causes on the sudden rise of a Sikh nationalist identity. Apart from religious and political groups which have influenced the development and expansion of the Sikh identity, the author argues that the chosen policies by India’s Hindu-dominated political Center during the critical stages of the Punjab problem, including the use of both coercive and non-coercive methods have significantly contributed to the development of a Sikh nationalist identity, as well as influenced the growing turmoil, dissatisfaction and bloodshed faced by many members of the Sikh minority. Although calls for separatism have significantly decreased since the mid-1990s, relationship between the Sikhs and the Hindu-dominated Center has not been fully resolved. This study posits that the lack of minority-sensitive laws aimed in the protection of minorities in the country have significantly contributed to an insecure and aggressive minority resulting in the formation and development of a separate Sikh nationalist identity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Gill, Nimfa Amor Kaur Gill

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Zhu, Yuchao
• Blachford, Dongyan

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Onder, Nilgun

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.82465/4694

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/5758