I have been told there is no caste system in Sikhism and each person is a Singh or Kaur. So why do people still use surnames such as Grewal, Dosanjh, Jassal, etc?
I have been told there is no caste system in Sikhism and each person is a Singh or Kaur. So why do people still use surnames such as Grewal, Dosanjh, Jassal, etc?
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Respected S. Harmeet Singh Ji;
Thank you for bringing up this question. Yes, there is quite a bit of confusion about this idea among a lot of Sikhs.
Your Question has two parts:
1) Yes, Sikhi does not believe in inequality of caste system.
2) Using last names other than Singh and Kaur does not automatically mean caste system in being followed.
First of all, all non-Indian societies that use last system do not follow or even know about caste system. Only in Hinduism the last name is caste based.
In Sikhi even when people use their last name other than Singh or Kaur, does not automatically mean they practice caste system.
Caste system meant people of certain cast could do certain tasks and no others could. e.g. only Brahmins could perform religious ceremonies. In Sikhi even though people use their last names different than Singh or Kaur, that restriction is not followed. Anyone in Sikhi can perform any tasks and take on any professions including performing the religious ceremonies.
Yes, to a certain degree Sikh community, Singh, Kaur or other last names, have some inequality practices based on groupism etc. which even though inconsistent with Gurbani message do exist.
there is no caste system in Sikhism it is the ignorance of the people who r going against the teachings of our guru