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Summary of Question:	What are the rights of Sikh women among us?
Category:	Other
Date Posted:	Friday, 4/28/2000 8:06 PM MDT

Wjkk wjkf. I would just like to know why arent there any women panj pyares and women granthis around?? I always see the males giving out Amrit at baptismal ceremonies and performing full time service of Guru Maharaj in the gurdwaras. I know that we are all equal but can we have women panj pyares?? One other question, what are the rights of Sikh women among Sikhs?? I'm asking this because I still see many sikh women being discriminated against(eg: in certain Gurdwaras there is complete segregation of men and women and if a women sits at the "male side" she is asked to move away. ) Why is this happening?? Arent we all equal?? What can we do to change the mentalities of such Sikhs who still discriminate against women?

Thank you. Wjkk wjkf

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Reply:
Good question and I am so glad that you asked.

I would like to point out to you that this is a cultural situation and not a Rehit Maryada.

When Guru Gobind Singh gave us the Rehit Maryada, he gave the Guruship to the "Khalsa" and he said, " Khalsa has no gender".

Five Amritdhari Sikhs are the Guru, not, just men and not women. This practice of making women secondary to men is an old Asian custom. A women was seen as an extension of her husband (like a limb of his body). Women lived in seclusion,purdah, and did not lead social lives. She even had to immolate herself on the cremation pire of her husband at his death at one period of Indian history.

However, Guru Nanak, and all the successive Guru's changed all this for women.Guru Nanak said," how can you call that one bad, from whom all kings are born...?" The wife of Guru Amar Das established the Manji system and had many women as missionaries for Guru Amar Das.

There are women serving as Granthi's and serving as Piara's in the Amrit Sanchar in America and in Europe. This is not a problem for those of us who are from Western origin and who do not have the Asian perspective of women being secondary to men.

Take heart....I am a woman, and I have been the Guru Granthi for 15 years in our Los Angeles Gurdwara, and now for the past 8 years for our Gurdwara in Manhattan, New York. Guru Gobind Singh made no mistake when he said that "Khalsa has no gender".

Khalsa will rise in the West, for this old idea of keeping women separate is very limited. God has no limit, so this limited practice will limit itself. This practice of limiting women has no place in the Gurudwara. The house of the Guru is not a place for social customs to overide the true teachings of the True Guru. It will have to die out and it will.