Nanak Shah Fakir: On the Construction of Taboos in Contemporary Sikhism

Occupation: Associate Professor, Department of South Asian History, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Asia and Africa Today

Edition

Issue 11

Pages

43-48

Abstract

The article focuses on controversies of the Nanak Shah Fakir (2018) biographical film dedicated to Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. Despite the approval of India’s Central Board for Film Certification, the film was banned by supreme Sikh authorities, the Akal Takht and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, on the ground that it allegedly violated Sikh tenets because Guru Nanak and members of his family were depicted through actors, i.e. human beings. Following the ban of the Punjab Government on releasing the film, the producer appealed to India’s Supreme Court, which cleared the film for release. Nevertheless, the film remains banned in Punjab and in some other Indian states.

The Nanak Shah Fakir controversy can be contextualized through the “construction of religious boundaries” (Harjot Oberoi) that is perceived by the author as the ongoing process in contemporary India’s Punjab. In the late XIXth century, the Singh Sabha movement immensely contributed to building up the Sikh religious identity. At the same time, “pure” Khalsa Sikhs started to dominate in the movement reshaping it and introducing their own vision of the Sikh history as well as “canonical” rules and regulations. This was further enhanced in the XXth century with the adoption of the Sikh Reht Maryada (Sikh Code of Conduct and Conventions). Subsequent hukams (decrees) of the Akal Takht and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee stigmatizing any - real or imaginary - “misinterpretation” of the Sikh tenets have implicitly been revealing the complexity and multifacetedness of the Sikh faith.

Keywords

India, Punjab, Sikhism, Guru Nanak, censorship

Publication date

02.12.2019

Number of characters

22717

Cite

GOST	Bochkovskaya A. 'Nanak Shah Fakir': On the Construction of Taboos in Contemporary Sikhism // Asia and Africa Today – 2019. – Issue 11 C. 43-48 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750007465-3-1 (circulation date: 20.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007465-3
MLA	Bochkovskaya, Anna "'Nanak Shah Fakir': On the Construction of Taboos in Contemporary Sikhism." Asia and Africa Today 11 (2019):43-48. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007465-3
APA	Bochkovskaya A. (2019). 'Nanak Shah Fakir': On the Construction of Taboos in Contemporary Sikhism. Asia and Africa Today (11), pp.43-48 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007465-3

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