Author: Feven Worede Student at MacEwan University Part of the Student Series on the “Brampton Renaissance” About the Author Michael Kramer is a 4th-year Psychology and English student at MacEwan University in Edmonton, AB, Canada. This blog post is the final project from his class, “The Brampton Renaissance,” taught by Dr. Sara Grewal, which covers Sikh artistic and cultural production coming out of Brampton, ON. Michael loves coffee more than is strictly advisable and never misses a chance to get to the mountains. Home and Hateful Tides Looking for the promised land and found false promis ..read more

Author: Kumool Abbi (abbikumool@gmail.com) Professor at Punjab University, Chandigarh Figure 1: The members of the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha The fifth players who have recently entered the political arena are the 22 farmers unions which spearheaded the year-long agricultural protest symbolized by the “discipline of the states left and the Sikh fighting spirit” (India Today Dec 28, 2021). This includes the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha under the leadership of Balbir Singh Rajewal. While “transforming itself into a political group” the morcha avoided the word “party” in its “political nomenclature” instead ..read more

Author: Kumool Abbi (abbikumool@gmail.com) Professor at Punjab University, Chandigarh Figure 1: Akali Dal Amritsar leader Simranjit Singh Mann (Courtesy of The Quint from Feb. 25, 2022) A very interesting and sociologically significant development during the Punjab election was the sudden death of actor turned activist Deep Sidhu in a car accident. In his death he acquired cult status among the Sikhs and almost attained the glory of a ‘martyr’ for the community. In a surreal reversal of events his untimely death redeemed him before the guilty community which venerated him to the status of a ..read more

Author: Kumool Abbi (abbikumool@gmail.com) Professor at Punjab University, Chandigarh Figure 1 (Courtesy of The Print Jan. 31, 2022) The Punjab consists of three prominent geographical, cultural and political regions comprising Majha between the rivers Beas and Ravi, Doaba between the Sutlej and Beas rivers and the Malwa beyond the left bank of the Sutlej River. Figure 2: Political Divisions Of Punjab Figure 3: The number of seats in terms of regions in Punjab (Courtesy The Tribune) Malwa is the region which usually springs up a winner for the Punjab elections. It is the state’s “biggest ..read more