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Lived Experiences of Sikh Women in Canada: Past and Present

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Women in the Indian Diaspora

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Abstract

It is a historical fact that Canada has been settled by immigrant communities. The process has been shaped as much by the geography of Canada as by the historical changes shaped by immigrant communities. The influx of South Asians—mainly Sikhs—to Canada, from the closing years of the nineteenth century, was the part of free migration. Initially, they faced racial discrimination and struggled for their rightful place in the host country. The coming of Sikh women to Canada was entwined with the struggle of early immigrants. Gradually, changes in immigration policies and the historical legacy of early settlers hastened the process of integration of Sikhs in the society, polity and culture of Canada. At the historiographical level, though the history and the role of early Sikh immigrants, mainly males, have been widely codified, the legacy of women and their role has been marginalised.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are several sites from which details about South Asians including Sikhs can be studied. Statistics Canada is one such site. In 2004 Ali Kazimi made a documentary on the Komagata Maru called Continuous Journey. See, www.statcan.gc.ca, https://www.nfb.ca/film/continuous_journey/.

  2. 2.

    The Khalsa Samachar was started by Bhai Vir Singh, the saint poet of Punjab in 1899. The paper was published in Gurumukhi from Amritsar. It was devoted to spread the tenets of Sikh religion, the Sikh way of life, the spread of Gurumukhi and played the main role in the construction of the Sikh identity. It focused on the lives of Sikh migrants in Canada and espoused their cause.

  3. 3.

    The oral narrations have been collected through random sampling. The narrations from family members are also based on observations.

  4. 4.

    It is a historical fact that the maximum migration from Punjab has been from the Doaba region. From my family, relatives have gone to Canada since 1960s. Harvinder Kaur is my first cousin from my father’s side. Her life journey has been culled from her observations and self-reflections on her life.

  5. 5.

    The survey is based on the collection of data of Sikh Canadians who have taken admission in various courses in the University of Delhi from 2014–2016. The data so collected shows that the diasporic Indian community is returning from developed countries for the education of their children in India. There is a desire to study in the University of Delhi under the facilities provided by the University. In some cases, it was observed that the entire family has decided to come back.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi, Netaji Nagar, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Amrit Kaur Basra

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Correspondence to Amrit Kaur Basra .

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  1. Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Amba Pande

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Basra, A.K. (2018). Lived Experiences of Sikh Women in Canada: Past and Present. In: Pande, A. (eds) Women in the Indian Diaspora. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5951-3_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5951-3_15

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