#SikhsForGreen Green Values are Sikh Values?

[Originally written in 2015. Edited in 2019]

The UK general election is less than a month away, it's Vaisakhi and the Green Party Manifesto has just been launched. There are many aspects of the Green Party that resonate with my personal beliefs. Reading through the manifesto really made me reflect on the religious principles that shape my strong sense of justice and compassion.

In this post, I hope to share my views on how the core guiding principles of Sikhism are closely aligned to the views of the Green Party. Note: this is merely a discussion about values and thus their policies are largely omitted from this post. I have left the link to the manifesto at the end, have a look at their policies for yourself. If there's enough demand, I'll write another post about their policies.

On the first page of the manifesto Natalie Bennett (Green Party Leader) goes straight in to talking about equality, humanity, supporting people in need, environmental sustainability, working towards a society that works for the common good and fighting for a global deal that secures humanity's shared future. The Greens outline three connected crises which they hope to address, these are:

Healing the planet from the effects of an unstable and unsustainable economy

Creating a more equal society

Creating a truly democratic, central and local government that governs for the common good.

I am only on the second page of the manifesto, and already my thoughts are drawn to a key guiding principle of Sikhism, this is;

"Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhane Sarbat da Bhalla" where "Chardi Kala" means maintaining a positive attitude or being in high spirits and "Sarbat da Bhalla" translates to "prosperity and peace for everything in the world". These two sentiments are closely connected for me. In my opinion, being in a state of optimism and high spirits can only be achieved when there is peace between everything in the world - peace amongst humans, peace with other species, peace with nature and of course, peace with yourself. The Greens remain positive and have faith in humanity, in their own way, they are maintaining chardi kala through making a move towards more sustainable living, reducing environmental degradation, redistributing the country's wealth and fostering a more compassionate society for the greater good - sarbat da bhalla.

Moving deeper in to the manifesto, the Greens place a big importance on ensuring "respect for everyone whatever their ethnicity, gender, age, religious belief or non-belief, sexual orientation, class, size, disability or other status". This one line alone encompasses my entire understanding of Sikhism. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji says:

"recognise the Lord's Light within all, and do not consider social class or status; there are no classes or castes in the world hereafter" (349)

and

"All beings and creatures are His; He belongs to all" (425).

Put simply, Sikhs are encouraged time and time again to remain compassionate to all mankind and to encourage equality amongst people regardless of orientation, background or colour. We are one, we all bleed the same colour, we all have the same beginning, we will all have the same end. 

In recent times, especially with the rise of extreme right wing parties (such as UKIP), the "easy targets" in society have been increasingly demonised. Groups such as immigrants, people of colour, people who claim benefits, pensioners and the LGBTQ community are all scapegoated for one reason or another, be it for plunging the economy in to recession, taking jobs, draining resources or causing floods....I could go on.

I personally believe that the media over-exaggerate the impact that the aforementioned groups have, to divert attention away from the unethical and exploitative practices that the rich, powerful elite are involved in. The Green Party have addressed this issue by stating in their manifesto:

"we know that it's hard to think of others when we are pitted against one another and sold the lie that individuals are to blame for misfortunes" and further go on to assert that selfish interests of the elite have made the common person more "impatient to the suffering of others, tolerant of inequality, prone to prejudice and suspicious of difference".

The bankers plunged us in to economic disaster, the politicians claim the most benefits and wealthy tax-dodgers keep over £25bn a year from the Exchequer. So why, on the instruction of the powerful, do we continue to blame the weak? 

One of the 5 Articles of Faith in the Sikh religion is the Kirpan - the Kirpan is a sword, it is symbolic of courage, dignity and the willingness to always defend the weak and the oppressed. A Sikh is supposed to fight against oppression and injustice; and always defend the truth. A Sikh should help those in need regardless of a person's background.

In the UK making life difficult for the oppressed comes in the form of: cutting benefits for those in need, providing inadequate working conditions, limiting access to healthcare and education, discriminating against well meaning immigrants and excusing casual racism, sexism and homophobia. All of these things are addressed in the Green Party manifesto. As we are no longer in an age where we use our swords to defend the truth, our power to vote for a party that is RIGHT, FAIR and JUST to all member of society is the most effective way to stand up to oppression. To quote Desmond Tutu "if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor". 

I feel that it is important to state that I am in no way claiming to be an excellent spokesperson for the Sikh community. I was raised in a multi-faith household - but I am trying to become closer to my Sikh faith every day. I do, however, have strong belief in the core principles of Sikh philosophy. I believe in equality, anti-discrimination, compassion, love and respect for nature, standing up for what is right and speaking for those who do not have a voice.

These are the values that I live my life by, and fiercely defend on a daily basis, as such, I intend on voting for the party that most closely represents these principles. I do not claim to be unbiased, I am sure there are features of the other parties that match Sikh ideology too. However, for the reasons stated in this post, I support the Greens, will you join me?

Some Policies: These are some of the policies that appeal to me. This is not a representative list, just some of the things I am passionate about.

• The abolition of university fees and cancelling existing student debt (this one actually brings a tear to my eye). Education should be free, not limited to those that can afford it. This makes inequality worse.

• Encouraging small business.

• Charging large corporations more tax.

• Increasing the minimum wage & ending zero hour contracts.

• Stopping the privatisation of the NHS and increasing the spending on it. Returning to a more person-centred approach to treatment and increasing funding for mental health too.

• Ending exploitation of young people through unpaid internships.

• Diversity and equality lessons mandatory in schools. As well as sex and relationship education.

• Steps to tackle institutional racism, particularly in the criminal justice system.

• Implementation of UK wide strategy to tackle violence against women- inc domestic violence, fgm, rape and trafficking.

• Equal pay for women.

• Anti-fracking.

• Re-nationalising the railways.

• Encouraging reducing, reusing & recycling.

• Reducing spending on military research, increasing funding for scientific research re environmental issues.

• Increasing regulation of the meat market to reduce cruelty to animals.

• A ban on hunting for sport, primates for pets and animal circuses.

The Green Party on Tax: "Tax is not a punishment and its not stealing by the state. It is our money, spent on our behalf by the government we elect. Tax redistributes wealth and pays for services that are important to us all. There are services we share but don't always use, such as roads, healthcare and schools. We don't all drive, we don't all go to the doctor and we don't all have children. But we do know these things are important for our common life; sharing these things binds us together. Taxation pays for them. And, to be fair, taxation needs to be progressive, taking proportionately more from those most able to pay". 

The Green Party believe that equality is more important than growth, they state "growth doesn't bring equality, in fact it helps to justify inequality". The Greens place an obvious emphasis on people, rather than wealth, there is no shortage of quotes from the Sikh faith (and any other faith for that matter) that encourages social and spiritual well-being over materialistic things. The Greens do have a good economic plan that features (but is not limited to) reversing cuts to public service, restoring lost jobs and investing in green technologies.

Key Sources:

Sustainable Development and Sikhism: http://www.sikhfoundation.org/featured/sustainable-development-of-environment-evidence-from-sikh-religion/ http://www.realsikhism.com/index.php