By Gurmukh Singh | OPINION |
In one of his essays, Dr I J Singh of USA, wrote that as the focus of these scholars is Sikh religion, culture and history – in other words, all aspects of Sikh existence, therefore, they have to necessarily keep in touch with the community. They need to nurture, their ties to the community and the gurdwaras. However, he felt that most Sikh academicians do not take the trouble to connect with the community.
In isolation, academician tend to develop a narrow outlook and can become insensitive to community feelings and interests. They can even frustrate community initiatives and add to the controversy surrounding certain issues. This happened during the consultancy phase in UK of the need for a Sikh ethnicity tick box in Census 2021.
It is not that specialist advice should not be sought but that the final advice given should be with full knowledge of different arguments. It is for that reason that in the public sector, academicians, scientists and specialist work closely with policy civil servants who consult widely before advising ministers. For the reasons given by Dr I J Singh, Sikh Chairs must have their finger on the pulse of the community. The worst case scenario is when these Chairs are influenced by “other” considerations. The damage done to community interests can be long term.
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Recently, a student from Birmingham University has expressed concern “about the amount of academic freedom allowed if the financiers [Indian Government] are given majority control, considering the many issues the Sikh community has faced within India since the partition of India and Pakistan. How would the University develop a community involvement panel, and who would be part of such a panel?”
That is a most valid question from the British Sikh community’s viewpoint.
Following the Canadian and USA community experience of Sikh Chairs, amongst others, Dr Jaspreet Kaur Bal of USA has addressed the question, whether it matters who funds a chair position.
Regarding the selection process, she wrote that “rigorous systems and boundaries would ensure that a Sikh who wholeheartedly rejected the genocidal attitudes of the Indian State would have an equal shot at being the chair. The truth is, like every other realm, decisions are made through networking, whispers at tables, informal conversations, internal promotions; essentially, funders have vetoes that never leave paper trails.”[i]
In other words, directly or through other means, those who fund such university chairs are allegedly able to influence selection. Dr Bal is of the view that, “Controlling the means of knowledge production helps control the narrative….All researchers, whether qualitative or quantitative have a process where they selectively lose data until it tells a story. The author shapes the story the data tells……It is imperative that we are at the heart of telling our own stories.” She believes that University research also needs community validation.
According to the Birmingham University advertisement, “It is anticipated that the Chair holder will extend and develop the University’s work in Sikh Studies, Interfaith Relations, Religion and Politics, and Peace and Reconciliation.”
In November 2019, India’s union minister for civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri made the announcement during a lecture on Guru Nanak’s teachings organised by the university’s India Institute, that, “The very fact that Guru Nanak was able to anticipate the major challenges that we face as a country today — gender empowerment, environmental protection, checking radicalisation — means that there is substance to his message. We are utilising the anniversary to get it to resonate.”[ii]
It is not clear what is meant by the cryptic reference to “checking radicalisation” in the context of setting up a Sikh Chair at Birmingham University in the UK. Otherwise, Guru Nanak Sahib Himself was a revolutionary – a progressive “radical” – who sought religious, social, economic and political reforms.
Let there be no misunderstanding. The establishment of the Sikh Chair at Birmingham University is a most welcome next step in area of Sikh studies in the UK. However, British Sikhs would wish to satisfy themselves regarding community involvement and transparency in the light of community experience of such chairs in Canada and the USA.
[i] Dr. Jaspreet Bal: Counter India’s Attempt to Control Knowledge Production On Sikhi – by Baaz – Baaz (baaznews.org)
[ii] India sets up Guru Nanak Chair at University of Birmingham | Latest News India – Hindustan Times
Gurmukh Singh OBE, a retired UK senior civil servant, chairs the Advisory Board of The Sikh Missionary Society UK. Email: sewauk2005@yahoo.co.uk. Click here for more details on the author.
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
RELATED STORY:
US council oppose foreign state funding for Sikh studies endowment (Asia Samachar, 9 March 2019)
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Many thanks for sharing your excellent balanced argument in which you make a convincing argument for more community engagement in the establishment of academic posts directly linked to researching issues related to Sikhs. My only slight reservation with the logic of your argument of greater ‘community consultation’ is that more often than not, the organisations that claim to represent the Sikh voice lack representation, are often conflicted, both internally and externally on such issue’s doctrine and Sikh history and so on.
What we need is a panel of capable people to scrutinise these processes. In truth, each Sikh organisation want scholarship insofar as it represents their word view. As an academic I have always felt that, though we must always be courteous and sensitive, our job is not to represent a particular viewpoint, but to set out a coherent, reasoned and evidence-based arguments and analyses of any range of issues. It is then left to the community or anybody else with an interest to like or reject what the academic had produced.
Clearly there is good and bad research, but again without developing community expertise, it is difficult to make distinction between polemical, ideologically drive and objective scholarship. Take for the example the debate surrounding the Sikh ethnicity box, all round there was a lot of smoke but little light. Sadly, the inability to engage in serious intellectual debate/dialogue by putting aside our emotions is something that seems to have deserted Sikhs.
I can only hope that the real prospect of an Indian Government sponsored Sikh Chair will help Sikhs in the community to up their game and challenge the authorities with the kinds of robust and balanced arguments that you epitomise in your writings. If only we had more public intellectuals like you Gurmukh Singh.
Dr Gurnam Singh, UK
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