Guest guest Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 The relationship between Hinduism and Indian-born religions in non-symmetrical. Since Hinduism to begin with is a non-defined , non-founded religion, it cannot reject any reaction to itself.More specifically, Hinduism cannot disown Sikhism , even if the latter does so. A Hindu cannot disown Guru Granth Sahib even if a Sikh disowns the Vedas. The distance between Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs increased in relatively recent times , because of Hindus' disowning Punjabi as their mother tongue . It would be useful to look at the caste structure among Sikhs. All Sikh Gurus were Khatris by caste., even though today the Punjab power is in the hands of Jutt Sikhs. ( I am advisedly using the spellings to denote Punjabi-speaking Jaats,because this is how they call themselves .) Almost all Jutts in Punjab are Sikhs ,while Khatris ( and the related castes known as Aroras) are Hindus as well as Sikhs. For a Jutt Sikh , Juttism is synonymous with Sikhism. For Khatri- Arora Sikhs ( derisively called Papas ) ,however, caste and religion identities remain separate. Religious self=consciousness has crept in now. But till a decade back, caste ties convincingly cut across religion. Thus a Khatri / Arora wedding would be arranged even if the two sides professed different isms. Rajesh Kochhar ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ As far as I >know, Sikhs don't regard themselves as Hindus. Punjabi Hindus can identify themselves better with Punjabi Sikhs than with South Indian Hindus. A Punjabi Hindu friend of mine has a Sikh guru whose framed photograph he worships daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.