Government Oppression of Sikhs and Parallels with Māori
By Dr Harpreet Singh | drhsinghnz.substack.com | FB: @DrHSinghNZ
Sikhs have stood against oppression throughout history, often defending the innocent even when the cost was their own lives. This spirit of service and justice is not confined to the past. It was visible during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Sikh communities across New Zealand came together to provide free meals to those in need. A deep sense of justice runs through the Sikh identity, shaping both their history and their present.
This brief article reflects some of the reasons why I began writing this Substack. It explores the parallels between the experiences of Sikhs and Māori in facing oppression and marginalisation, and why the stories of marginalised communities continue to resonate so powerfully today.
History is filled with stories of communities who stood firm against overwhelming power. Among them, the Sikhs of Punjab and the Māori of Aotearoa, New Zealand, share a hauntingly similar journey. Both faced systematic attempts to erase their identity, seize their lands, and silence their voices. Yet both refused to disappear.
The Sikh Struggle for Survival
Sikhism was born in the Punjab as a faith of equality and justice, but from its earliest days it was tested by tyranny. In 1606, Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was tortured and executed for refusing to compromise his principles. Nearly seventy years later, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru, was publicly beheaded in Delhi for defending the right of others to practise their faith freely. These were not just deaths. They were declarations that conscience cannot be conquered by the sword.
The eighteenth century brought horrors on an unimaginable scale. The Chhota Ghallughara (The Smaller Massacre) of 1746 and the Vadda Ghallughara (The Bigger Massacre) of 1762 saw tens of thousands of Sikhs slaughtered by Mughal and Afghan forces. Entire families were wiped out. These massacres were designed to break the spirit of a people, yet they failed. Instead, they forged a community that would never bow.
Under British rule, the pattern continued. In 1872, during the Kuka uprising, Namdhari Sikhs were blown from cannons without trial. Even as Sikhs filled the ranks of the British army, their political aspirations were crushed. Independence in 1947 did not bring peace. In June 1984, the Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar during Operation Blue Star, killing hundreds and desecrating the holiest Sikh shrine. Months later, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, organised mobs hunted Sikhs in the streets of Delhi. Thousands were butchered while the state looked away. In the years that followed, Punjab became a killing field of disappearances and extrajudicial executions.
The Māori Fight for Mana
Across the oceans, the Māori story unfolded along a similar arc. The Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 promised partnership and protection, but those promises were soon broken. When Māori resisted land grabs, the Crown responded with war. After the New Zealand Wars, vast tracts of Māori land were confiscated under the New Zealand Settlements Act of 1863. These were not just acres of soil. They were the heartbeat of iwi identity, ripped away to feed a settler economy.
Cultural suppression followed dispossession. The Native Schools Act of 1867 enforced English-only education, punishing children for speaking te reo Māori. Generations grew up hearing that their language and customs were obstacles to progress. Political marginalisation ensured that Māori voices were sidelined while their lands continued to vanish through legal manipulation well into the twentieth century.
A Shared Pattern of Oppression
The parallels are stark. Both Sikhs and Māori were targeted because their distinct identities were seen as threats to state power. Both lost autonomy, land, and cultural space. Both saw their sacred traditions attacked, whether through the desecration of the Golden Temple or the silencing of te reo Māori in classrooms. And yet, both refused to vanish.
Sikhs institutionalised the Khalsa, carrying forward a martial and spiritual identity that no empire could crush. Māori fought back through cultural renaissance, reviving their language and reclaiming their rights through movements like Kōhanga Reo and the Waitangi Tribunal. These are not just stories of survival. They are stories of resurgence.
When states fear difference, they often respond with assimilation, dispossession, and violence. But history shows that identity rooted in justice and community cannot be erased. The Sikh and Māori experiences remind us that resilience is not passive endurance. It is active defiance, a refusal to let the past dictate the future.