Redefining Honour/Izzat through the Experiences of Second Generation Punjabi Females in Canada. This research is based on the experiences of second-generation Punjabi females who were born and raised in Canada, more specifically the Greater Toronto Area. The research sample included 7 females from the ages of 16-30, all by birth Canadian, all identifying as a part of the Punjabi culture both linguistically and culturally, all whose parents emigrated from Punjab, India. I explored how the migrating parents’ cultural understanding intertwined with the Canadian culture affecting the raising of their daughters. I examined  whether the concept of honour is heavily embedded in the transmission of the Punjabi culture.

The findings highlight how being raised in a household that upheld the values and teachings of Sikhi that was distinctly different than the Punjabi culture, allowed the Sikh religion to be used as the means to break the traditional and cultural expectations and to redefine the honour code. The semi-structured interviewed reveal various ways in which females broke the gendered and cultural expectations by using religion to redefine what honour/ izzat meant to them.

In a post 9/11 world, Sikhs in the diaspora are now visually profiled through media representations as “terrorist look-alike” or as those who “look like terrorist” to be disciplined [and] outlawed” (Jasbir Puar Terrorist Assemblages 175).  From being “Saint Soldiers” and “Lions of Punjab,” the transformation of Sikhs into “terrorist” that must be “disciplined” and “outlawed” will be examined in Anita Rau Badami’s Can you hear the Night Bird Call? How do Sikhs, terrorized throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s, attempt to belong to the nation?  How does gender configure in the feminization of the Sikhs—both male and female—in India and in transnational geo-political territories?  This paper will attempt, in part, to understand Sikhs and their attachment to the sacred in a seemingly post-secular and globalized world.

Political violence directed specifically at Sikh women during the period of the counter-insurgency has received limited attention within academia[4], despite widespread reports by international human rights agencies. Highly disturbing episodes unfolded during the period of the counter-insurgency where state security forces were directed to target the families of suspected insurgents, political activists and their sympathizers.

In this work I seek to examine the largely untold narratives of Sikh women as both witnesses, subjects and resistors of violent atrocities, sexual assault, illegal detention, forced estrangement from their families and as agents in the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Through a critical feminist lens I seek to connect individual cases to a meta-narrative of how individual responses to trauma and humiliation affect collective psyche, societal dynamics and influence individual and collective resilience.

Patriarchy is both reinforced and reproduced through socio-cultural practices and institutions. The institution of marriage (wedding) is one such institution, which when deconstructed, illustrates a number of patriarchal routed rites and constructions (Routledge, 2004). This paper will deconstruct one specific ritual found within a wide array of South Asian and Southeast Asian weddings: doli. This paper will engage in deconstructing doli as per its specific function, nature and traditionalization in Punjabi Sikh weddings.

Through de-constructing doli, the paper will illustrate how this culturally endemic practice is problematic. The paper will expose how doli plays a key role in reproducing and reinforcing patriarchal socio-cultural systems reflected through unchallenged (written and un-written) laws and rules that regulate a woman’s power, autonomy, livelihood, safety, mobility and socio-political-spiritual value. Systems that inevitably strip women of socio-political agency within their domestic spheres before and after marriage; as well as, further defining and deepening inequity within meso and macro levels of society. Thus, rendering women as largely valueless and simultaneously, burden-full.

This paper examines post 9/11 articulations of Sikh American politics and ethics, the emergence of a Sikh American civil society, and, in particular, the roles and significance of Sikh women in the emerging political landscape.  I will present an overview of what constitutes Sikh American civil society, including a discussion of the distinction between Sikh American civil society and Sikh participation in American civil society. I will present preliminary findings from my ethnographic research on institution building in the Sikh American community.  In order to contextualize post 9/11 political engagement, I propose that institution building is a process of “creative agency” in which Sikh doctrines such as seva, sangat-pangat, miri-piri and sant-sipahi, are reframed dialectically with American traditions of civil disobedience, non-violent protest, activism, and coalition-building rooted in the civil rights and women’s movements (Frederick, 2003, p. ix).  Finally I will discuss the roles of Sikh American women in the emerging civil society through the following questions: Is the emergence of a Sikh American civil society – defined by an ethics of peace and equality – enabling new and more equal gender formations?  To what extent, if at all, is the public and private distinction being disrupted and does this help or hurt Sikh women? Finally, is it possible that the gender equality articulated by Guru Nanak will be re-imagined, redressed, and realized here in this diasporic moment?

In line with the second section of this conference on unheard voices, my presentation will look at the children of Punjab and their lack of participation in the international children’s rights discourse. Although the right to participation is one of the key principles of the CRC, no children were involved in the drafting of it and since its’ ratification by India no children have been involved in the process of interpreting it. Childhood in Punjab is complicated and layered with the varying experience of being Sikh, female, lower caste or tribal. Most importantly, and what my work looks at, is that children in Punjab do not have access to knowledges rooted in text, such as the Convention. The world of text-based realities is accessed by the privileged; the material realities of children in rural Punjab, specifically my village of Butala where I did my fieldwork, are largely outside these bounds. This creates a fundamental disconnect in which the Convention, which was written for children, has no actual influence in their lives. This presentation will explore this disconnect in further detail.

Sikhs are a part of the diversity in Ontario and the focus of this study. This paper will use a critical race and Sikh feminist perspective to answer these questions. When looking at critical race perspective in the education setting,  the main objective is not to determine whether racism or in this case “faith” as an “ism” exists but to determine the manner in which racial (or faith) meanings and identities provide the basis for action, (in this case being educational decision making) (Evans, 2007).  We also situate ourselves in Sikh feminism where we believe that our purpose as educators is to play our part in the vision that Sikh principles of egalitarianism and empowerment are realized for all, regardless of ability, caste, class, ethnicity, gender, race, sex, and sexual orientation (SAFAR, 2014). Data will be collected through using both our autoethnography narratives of our experiences in the Public Ontario Education system.

Violence against women is complex issue that has become an increasing social justice concern in Canada and across the global community.  There is little research  in the area of intimate partner violence research that attempts to understand faith-based perspectives, particularly the views of Sikh religious leaders.  Sikh Gurdwaras are predominantly controlled by men and have come under criticism by South Asian women activists for their lack of leadership in addressing the issue of gender violence (Kang, 2006, p. 157).

This research study was conducted in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.  The research objective was to gain insight on the views of violence against women, and what would comprise a community response by interviewing Sikh religious leaders.  This research study focused on seven interviews with Sikh religious leaders to understand their perspective on domestic violence in the Sikh community, the role of Gurdwaras  in addressing this issue and prevention strategies.