Criticism of Sikhism
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Sikhism has often been criticized by non-Sikhs regarding texts, practice, and societal norms, but Sikhs and other scholars find these criticism to be flawed and based on a biased and poor understanding.
Academia
A few Sikh groups have put pressure on universities to stifle academic criticism of popular Sikh literature and theories of Sikh history.[1] In the early 1990s, Pashaura Singh, an academic of the "Macleodian school," was campaigned against for "challenging the authenticity of Guru Granth Sahib", which he denied, and pressured to withdraw sections of his thesis at University of Toronto supervised by W.H. McLeod, his mentor.[2][3][4] Another academic also praised by MacLeod, Harjot Oberoi, was also campaigned against for his removal by parties which denounced his methodology towards the study of Sikhism.[5]
According to the Indologist Mark Juergensmeyer, the largest group of scholars dedicated to Sikh Studies are based in and near Punjab, but these scholars project themselves as proud Sikhs and predominantly focus on showing distinctiveness of their faith rather than examine the connections and similarities of Sikhism to other religious traditions based on comparative studies of texts and manuscripts.[6] Sikh writers criticize methodologies to "coldly dissect" their personal faith and Sikh history by "methods of social science" and by critical comparative textual or literary analysis.[6] This, critiques Juergensmeyer, has set the stage for an "unhappy confrontation" between the academic scholars versus those motivated in defending the dignity of their faith, including publications by Sikh institutions that are hostile to W. H. McLeod and other scholars who are based outside India,[6] and as Juergensmeyer states, some conservative Sikh scholars have made important contributions to the scholarship of Sikhism by discovering old Sikh manuscripts and publishing their analysis.[6]
See also
References
- ^ John Stratton Hawley; Gurinder Singh Mann (1993). Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America. State University of New York Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-7914-1426-2.
- ^ Pashaura Singh (2002). The Bhagats of the Guru Granth Sahib: Sikh Self-Definition and the Bhagat Bani. Oxford University Press. pp. Foreword by WH McLeod. ISBN 978-0-19-908772-3.
- ^ Professor of Sikh Studies Pashaura Singh refuses to honour Akal Takht decree, India Today (15 September 1993), Viji Sundaram
- ^ Sikh bodies object Punjabi University's call to controversial Sikh scholar at International Conference, The Times of India (22 November 2019)
- ^ Pashaura Singh; Norman Gerald Barrier (1996). The transmission of Sikh heritage in the diaspora. Manohar Publishers. pp. 281–282. ISBN 978-8-17304-1556.
- ^ a b c d Mark Juergensmeyer (1993). John Stratton Hawley and Gurinder Singh Mann (ed.). Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America. State University of New York Press. pp. 12–21. ISBN 978-0-7914-1426-2.
