TejS

There's actually an interesting story about this. The Rig Veda, which epitomizes and praises Indra as supreme was written in Sapta Sindhu (Greater Punjab). However, after there was internal conflict among the Indo-Aryans (culminating in the Battle of the Ten Kings), the Bharatas, the victor tribe, established Vedic hegemony on all, and as they moved into the Gangetic plains, they came up with new practices to ensure segregation, such as caste. These new practices were rejected by the remaining Indo-Aryans living in Sapta Sindhu who revered Indra. And so in order to spite them, all further texts written in the Gangetic plains, such as the Ramayana, and Mahabharata, not only insult those remaining Indo-Aryans by calling them "mleccha", but also ridicule and bring down the status of Indra, their supreme God, and are instead replaced by a new Hindu trinity - Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu. So there is some history behind why Indra is portrayed as morally corrupt in later on texts of Hinduism.

Gurmukhi stems from the Sanskrit words "Guru" and "Mukh". Gurbani stems from the Sanskrit words "Guru" and "Bani". Sanskrit IS our heritage. Maybe not the Sanskrit of today, but Vedic Sanskrit and the Vāc spoken before that is. And here is even more obvious evidence: Salok Sahaskriti Mahalla Pehla

This is true. Also, I would advise the diaspora living in the UK to immigrate to Canada (better to have a stronghold in one area than be dispersed everywhere), although I know this is highly improbable but more Sikhs coming into Canada will only increase our political influence there.

As the question in the title states, what's the reason? Considering that both countries have roughly the same population (Canada does have a slight edge on the UK), why aren't we seeing as many Sikh politicians in the UK as we do in Canada?

3/5 of your choices aren't exactly that brilliant either. I'd rather have the "preet" "jeet" "inder" permutations than naming my children with Arabic names like Zorawar and Zayn, and Persian names like Sher. It's also for this reason, that many of our kind stray away from pure Sanskrit names like Arjan, Amar, Anand, Gautam and whatnot. Because they think these are Hindu names, but in reality, it is not Hindu, but Sanskrit - our heritage. But yes, I would choose pure Sanskrit names over prefixed/suffixed combination.

The Sikhi being practiced by most Sikhs today, including our own families, is basically a sect of Hinduism. This is the sad truth. We have lost our way in practicing Sikhi for centuries now.

You make some very good points, but I disagree with the assertion that Pakistanis don't have an identity. They do, and it's them being Muslims through and through. It's something I hope our people will do as well, and choose Sikhi over our Punjabi identity. Here's the thing, the Punjabi identity that we all seem to cherish is also the creation of the Mughals. From clothing to food, from language to our ethnic identity, all has had an overwhelming amount of Mughal/Persianate influence. Heck, even the name Punjab/Punjabi was given to us by Jahangir. It's for these reasons I think many Sikhs also stray away from their Punjabi identity. Punjabiyat and Punjabi is also an identity that has only been fully realized recently, the 18th century. If I could have a say for all our people, I would go the route of the Pakistanis, and have all of us identify solely as Sikhs over Punjabis. Language doesn't matter, as long as you can read the Guru Granth Sahib.

This is also a good point. However, this shouldn't stop Sikhs from investing/creating businesses right? It should actually serve as an impetus to build better/greater cities on our own. That sentiment however is not shared by our people in Punjab.

Agreed. But I would also argue that industry was flourishing in places like Ludhiana/Amritsar. However, Sikh Punjabis aren't interested in growing those cities to the levels of Chennai or Bangalore.

Punjabis are doing good from what I've seen. Most families in Punjab are doing great economically and are comfortable. And that is the problem. Many of them think this is all it should be. There is no desire to innovate, to create. Do something with that money for the Sikh community like opening up an institution to educate or starting a business to employ more youth, don't just spend it on depreciating items like cars and phones. Perhaps its having been raised in a Western setting that I cannot see eye to eye with the kind of mentality those people share.

What makes you think the Guru sahib wouldn't have already known of what was going to happen? It was the will of Akaal Purakh for things to happen as they did, nothing can change that. Of course, this is the religious interpretation. The skeptic's view will differ.

Listen, I know about all those events. But looking at the current state of Punjab in the last decade, they have had no upheaval. Their lagging economy is theirs to blame only. Look at the past decade of growth of economy in Punjab and Haryana and you will see how Haryana trumps Punjab. How? Because it diversified the sectors its investing into. It has opened up new markets for people to trade in. What has Punjab done? Still the same old sectors from half a century back being dragged on without any innovation. Why are drugs spreading to Punjab? Because Punjab is on the border. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are not. There may be attempts to spread drugs into Punjab selectively, but then one has to ask, who is really to be blamed? The people offering the drugs, or our people accepting them? I can understand our community has been through a lot, but looking at how people have absolutely no recollection of it in present day Punjab and are too absorbed in meaningless pursuits, I don't think it would be right to use it as a reason to mask our people's current lack of achievement out of narrow mindedness rather than upheaval.

What does something that happened 34 years ago that the people of Punjab have already forgotten and are instead too indulged in their menial riches/showoff and drug abuse have to do with the economy? The economy of Punjab is falling because our people are, and I have said it many times on here, not interested in any worthwhile pursuits. Farming? Nah we'll let that migrants do that. Education? Nah, we're going to Canada. Business? Nah, that's what Banias do. The only constant thing they pursue is selling off their lands for materialistic interests and drugs. There are no businesses being started and grown in Punjab by Punjabis themselves. No initiatives set up by the gov't to attract foreign investment. Even Canada, the beloved country of our people, did not invest into Punjab in their last trip to India. The gov't of Punjab simply could not secure Canadian investment that Haryana, Gujarat, Bangalore managed to do. But then again what do I know? I'm the one lacking in common sense right, so please educate me.

Obviously. But I don't see that happening with our poor leadership who are too self-absorbed.

I see nothing wrong with men walking around in their chadars with rifles. It is much better than men with funky hairstyles who are glued to their cellphones.

I don't think water being taken away is going to affect their economy. They are invested into many other fields other than agriculture unlike Punjab,

There are Rajput Sikhs, I'm friends with one. Not sure about other Rajasthani Sikhs. However its imperative that Sikhism spreads out in the Northwestern corridor of India, be it Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kashmir and Gujarat. It allows for a concentrated area of Sikhs rather than sparsely populated which makes them more vulnerable, and unable to have a support system. It will also then be easier to spread it from there on to other regions.

You're in denial. Haryana is doing far better economically than Punjab. It is far more developed too. The politicians of Haryana are far less corrupt than Punjab and are actually working to better the lives of their people. Here, look at the GDP of Indian states, Haryana is richer than Punjab: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_and_union_territories_by_GDP

I personally feel that it would be quite easy to convert Haryanvi Jats. They are after all outcastes in the Hindu caste system, and they can feel at home with many of their ethnic counterparts being Sikh. The Arya Samaj used a similar tactic to convert them to their sect. They were not given the Kshatriya status they hoped to be given by other Hindu denominations, however the Arya Samaj gave them what they desired. We need to do something similar, not only with Haryanvi Jats but with all downtrodden communities in India. Give them what they fervently desire: a status within society. Sikhi provides that.

All Gujjar nomads in Punjab regardless of whichever religion.

Sikhs in India should be targeting incoming migrants especially Gujjar nomads who are poor to embrace Sikhism. I say open up Punjab to migrants but only if they convert to Sikhism. Letting in migrants of different faiths is just asking for more religious trouble. Its basically undoing the partition and disrespecting the victims who stood their ground to create a Sikh majority state in the first place. Preaching of religion is something Indian law allows and that is something Sikhs should take full use of.

Terrible solution in my opinion. Afghan Sikhs need to be brought over to the West so their lives are out of danger. We have no need to be in Afghanistan in the first place.

Ugh, now that you put it that way...haha. But in all seriousness, meat eating, like you said, is not encouraged in Sikhi. Not sure why some of our people bring up obscure references to prove their meat eating habits. I mean it's fine you personally want to, but don't contort religion to sanction it.

I can understand that it is their land for centuries, however the wisest thing to do is move on from there. Life is far more important than land. We should instead be focused on bringing our people to safety. If the Western governments are so willing to accept Syrian refugees, we should definitely be asking our respective governments (UK, USA, Canada) to bring these remaining Sikhs over. They're lives are at serious risk.

Why live in unwelcomed territory in the first place? A little bit of history will tell you what the Afghans actually think of Sikhs.