ABSTRACT
Sikh religion originated in the Punjab (‘five rivers’) region of northwest India five centuries ago. It is a monotheistic faith that stresses the ideal of achieving spiritual liberation within a person’s lifetime through meditation on the divine Name. It is also oriented toward action, encouraging the dignity of regular labor as part of spiritual discipline. Family life and social responsibility are important aspects of Sikh teachings. Notably, the Sikh tradition is the youngest of the indigenous religions of India where the Sikhs constitute about 2 percent of India’s 1 billion people. What makes Sikhs significant in India is not their numbers but their contribution in the political and economic spheres. The global Sikh population is approximately 23 million; that is more than the worldwide total of Jewish people. About 18 million Sikhs live in the state of Punjab, while the rest have settled in other parts of India and elsewhere, including substantial communities established through successive waves of emigration in Southeast Asia, East Africa, the United Kingdom, and North America. In the last century, about a quarter of a million Sikhs immigrated to the United States of America.
