‘Here for Uber pickup?’: How Sikhs are responding to stereotypes

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Sikhism is a fast-growing religion in Australia, but remains poorly understood. Credit: Avani Rai

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Sikhism is a rapidly growing religion in Australia, but it's still poorly understood. How are community leaders responding to misinformation and discrimination?

Sikhism has been the fastest-growing religion in Australia since 2011, primarily due to migration.

But it is still considered a minority faith, according to the latest Census in 2021, which found Sikhs accounted for 0.8% of the population.

There is a discrimination where sometimes they see a turban or they see a brown skin, a bearded person. There's a lot of unreturned, unspoken discrimination.
Jasbir Singh Suropada, Chairperson of the Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria

Jasibir Singh Suropada, chairperson of the Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria, said Sikhs can face both overt and subtle forms of discrimination.

He is working to increase the public’s understanding of Sikhism, along with other community leaders.

“So the misconception is these people are a problem, whereas we are actually a benefit. Anybody who sees a person with a turban tell yourself, this person with somebody you can approach to for help,” he said.

“We have three basic principles, meditation on the divine, honest earning, and then sharing our earning with the needy.”

This episode of Understanding Hate looks at the impact of discrimination on the Sikh community in Australia, and how community leaders are challenging misconceptions.

Transcript

spk_0

SBS acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia.

Jasbir Singh Suropada

The misconception people have is that 'okay, this guy is turban, bearded, he must be dangerous, he must be up to no good'.

Nic

From SBS Examines, I’m Nic Zoumboulis, and in this episode of Understanding Hate, we’re looking at Sikhism. It's the fifth largest religion in the world. And the latest Census found Sikhism is the fastest growing religious group in Australia. But many Sikhs here are still grappling with prejudice and false assumptions.

Jasbir Singh Suropada

There is a discrimination where sometimes they see a turban or they see a brown skin, a bearded person. There's a lot of unreturned, unspoken discrimination. There is also discrimination where taxi drivers have been abused. Uber drivers who have been abused physically, verbally.

Nic

That’s Jasbir Singh Suropada, he’s chairperson of the Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria. It’s an organisation that works to create greater understanding of Sikhism, while working alongside other faiths.

Jasbir Singh Suropada

So the misconception is 'these people are a problem', whereas we are actually a benefit. Anybody who sees a person with a turban tell yourself, this person is somebody you can approach to for help. You can approach any Sikh, he'll never say no. We have three basic principles, meditation on the divine, honest earning, and then sharing our earning with the needy.

Nic

Gurinder Kaur has been an active member of her local community since moving to Australia in 2006. At times, she's felt that people treat her differently on the basis of her Sikh identity.

Gurinder Kaur

While I've mostly felt welcomed and respected during my professional as well as my personal activities, but there have been instances where I have felt that there is discrimination or your identity prevents your recognition in some ways.

Nic

Gurinder delivers workshops in schools, workplaces, and interfaith organisations to increase the community’s understanding and familiarity with turbans.

Gurinder Kaur

We do demonstrations of how do we tie a turban, what the Sikh code of conduct is, why do we keep hair, what is the purpose of kirpan as well.

Nic

In Australia, Sikh articles of faith like the turban and kirpan have faced legal challenges and school bans in the past, but today they are largely recognised and accepted with some restrictions, as part of religious expression. Kirpans are a ceremonial dagger and for Sikhs, they are a religious symbol. They’re generally eight to 10 centimetres long and have blunt points and edges. But to people who aren’t aware, the kirpan can simply look like a weapon.

Gurinder Kaur

Kirpan is one of the five articles of faith that a baptised Sikh person does wear all the time, 24/7. That's part of their uniform. So I think that kind of awareness is definitely needed and that can only come when we are doing some forums, some sessions, workshops and it becomes really important because they're misconceptions, they really turn into respect once these sessions are conducted.

Nic

Udaybir Singh, a Sikh man, has been stereotyped by people making judgements around his appearance.

Udaybir Singh

When I go to pick up my click and collect, I've been asked, oh, you are here for Uber pickup. It does hurt sometimes and it's more of a stereotype because they see a lot of Indian immigrants coming in and doing Uber, but that doesn't make all Indian immigrants doing Uber.

Nic

A few years ago, Udaybir wondered how his son would adjust to the many changes when starting primary school.

Udaybir Singh

He was the only turban wearing child or patka wearing child in the entire school. And I'm sure the other kids haven't seen someone with a different head style or a head gear before.

Nic

Udaybir and his son created a presentation and short story book he could show his classmates, that explained why he wore a headpiece.

Udaybir Singh

So he does a presentation every year whenever he goes to a new grade and it's very child-friendly. So it's not about teaching religious values, it's just about teaching inclusiveness. So it's just that this is my family tradition and I'm doing this and please accept that this is how I look. And the story ends in a way that he finds out that kids are no longer interested in his looks and they're more interested in what kind of sports we play together, maybe it's soccer or footy.

Nic

This episode was produced and presented by Nic Zoumboulis. To find out more, visit sbs.com.au/sbsexamines

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