The Sikh military tradition dates back to the time of the founders of their religion with the 6th Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind (1595 to 1644) when Sikhs fought their first battles against Mughal oppression. Highly skilled Sikh soldiers were quickly integrated into the British Indian Army and proved invaluable and loyal. Sikh regiments have served in the British army in battlefields around the world including: Sudan, fighting slave traders in Central Africa, in Persia and the Middle East.
By Ken Herar
Having a cadet group called the (Surrey Sikhs) would fit into a history of loyal military service. Sikhs have had a long proud military tradition and using the word ‘Sikh’ to identify a regiment within the Canadian military would prove to be an asset for the forces. Doing some research on the Sikh military it becomes very obvious that the Sikh military has existed for centuries and has stood proud in many wars including, “Battle of Sargarhi”. The Sikh military tradition dates back to the time of the founders of their religion with the 6th Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind (1595 to 1644) when Sikhs fought their first battles against Mughal oppression. Highly skilled Sikh soldiers were quickly integrated into the British Indian Army and proved invaluable and loyal. Sikh regiments have served in the British army in battlefields around the world including: Sudan, fighting slave traders in Central Africa, in Persia and the Middle East.
Over 65,000 Sikh soldiers fought in WWI as part of the British Army and over 300,000 Sikhs fought against German and Japanese tyranny in WWII.
The Gurkhas who reside from the Nepal region of India have been part of the Indian contingent of the British Army for over two centuries and have proven that defending a multicultural nation can come from a particular ethnic regiment of soldiers. The Canadian Forces have also proven this with at least 15 regiments that reflect ethnic diversity.
For example: Seaforth Highlanders, Canadian Scottish Regiment and Sudbury’s Irish Regiment of Canada just to name a few.
Building an inclusive, diverse community can be very complex. By allowing cadets from a particular religious faith to form their own unit to hopefully one-day serving and protecting our nation would definitely be a Canadian thing to do. I see nothing wrong with their name being called ‘Surrey Sikhs’ or with this group to exist for that fact.
Looking at some of the past history of the Sikh military, Canada would be a fortunate country to have such a fighting force on its side. As one letter writer put it: “ These people are willing to put their religion on the line for Canada. Particularly when you consider that they would rather wear a turban instead of a steel helmet on the battlefield.” At times unfortunately I believe the Sikh community in Canada struggles with a perceived image problem. With encouraging Sikh youth to join the cadets and be passionate about their commitment towards Canada we will hopefully see positive changes on how this sect is viewed.
Where I identify a larger issue in all of this is when one of the organizers spearheading this discussion commented that, “without Sikh in the name the cadet corp wouldn’t have drawn as much interest.” This directly points us to a greater issue within the South Asian community. Our diverse communities need to become more involved in activities that not only pertain to their own culture or religion. To support initiatives such as this should not limit us to reach out to mainstream causes. In this case I honestly believe diversity can work in isolation and in partnership with the Canadian Forces for the betterment of our nation and keeping with British tradition. Let us not allow a name/religion to become a stumbling block for the greater good.
Ken “Kulwinder” Herar is a Mission-based writer and a winner of the champions of diversity award for his columns in the LINK newspaper and other Fraser Valley newspapers. Herar can be reached at [email protected] or view his blog at http://www.kenherar.blogspot.com
