The Sikh Education Council announced the publication of a new academic journal titled ‘International Journal of Sikh Studies’ earlier this summer in May. Launched in Punjab by Sikh leader Daljit Singh Bittu, former Jathedar Giani Kewal Singh, historian Sardar Ajmer Singh, and author Sardar Jaspal Singh Sidhu, the journal is an international, peer-reviewed work covering the full scope of formative thought and leading research in the field of Sikh Studies. The aim is to publish original articles that significantly further academic work as a whole on an annual basis.
Speaking at the launch, the panel of leading figures in Punjab had said that the journal was a most welcome initiative in the field of Sikh academics and approved of its release. Chair of the Sikh Education Council, Dr Pargat Singh added, “I am delighted to have been selected as the Chief Editor by my peers and am confident that this journal will very quickly become renowned for publishing the highest calibre of scholarly research in Sikh Studies.”
On Saturday 30 July, the Sikh Education Council joined representatives of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall who formally welcomed the publication of the ‘International Journal of Sikh Studies’ in the UK. Speaking on stage at the event, Gurdwara Vice President Harjit Singh Sarpanch stated that today’s society is in the hands of highly educated individuals and for the Sikh Panth to flourish, an environment where the ideas of Sikhi can be propagated in the academic World needed to be encouraged. Evoking the memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, Sarpanch proclaimed, “Sikhs never fail when they have sharda in the Guru“, and went on to congratulate the students and Sikh Education Council members present in the sangat.
Also speaking from the stage, Chief Editor Dr Pargat Singh commented, “It is important that this journal is appreciated by the Sangat and so we are pleased that the Gurdwara Parbandhiks here welcomed it, giving us the opportunity to present it in the Guru’s Darbar.”
The first edition of the journal has now been distributed to leading institutions and academics in the field of Sikh Studies and was enthusiastically welcomed on stage at the World renown Gurdwara on Havelock Road in Southall, just as when it was launched in Punjab. The journal has a dedicated website – http://internationaljournalofsikhstudies.com/ – with information for academics wanting to make submissions, and abstracts from the first edition. Copies of the jounral can be requested directly from the Sikh Education Council here.
