Arjun used to spend his nights partying. He had short hair, a clean-shaven face, and little interest in religion. “I was big into weed, smoking it every day. And then come Friday, it was all about chasing the weekend’s motive.”
It is difficult to picture him that way now. A compact navy-blue turban is wound tightly around his head; a dense beard falls to his chest. He is slightly shy.
“I was lost,” he says. “I had no direction, no goals. I didn’t see anything bigger than myself, nothing beyond tomorrow. So I went out every night.” He describes how his old lifestyle warped his relationship with money and his health. He was kicked out of university. “It wasn’t a fulfilling way to live,” he adds. So he turned inwards, to the religion he was born into, and quickly discovered he wasn’t alone.
Across Britain, a growing number of young Sikhs are embracing a more observant faith, inspired by social media posts and YouTube videos. For Arjun, 28, that journey led him to become an Amritdhari Sikh: an initiated member of the Khalsa, a community of baptised Sikhs who dedicate themselves fully to the teachings of their faith. One of their core missions is standing up to oppression in all its forms, which is why they are sometimes known as the “Sikh Army”, and can legally carry a ceremonial dagger called a kirpan.
“My family were worried at first,” Arjun, not his real name, explains. “They didn’t want me to become an extremist. And by ‘extremist’, I knew they meant a Khalistani.”
Khalistan is the proposed independent Sikh homeland that Khalistanis believe should be formed in India's historic Punjab region. Inspired by the borders of the former Sikh Empire, proposed maps of Khalistan are far bigger than the current north Indian state. The idea has existed since the 1940s, but in recent years it has re-emerged across the Sikh diaspora in Britain, Canada and elsewhere. To its supporters, Khalistan represents self-determination and justice for historical wrongs. To its critics, including many Sikhs, the movement is associated with violence and misguided nationalism.
Those tensions have become particularly sensitive in recent weeks. Following the murder of Southampton student Henry Nowak by a Sikh man, the diaspora community has been placed under intense scrutiny. Community leaders and MPs have expressed fears of a backlash against British Sikhs and public expressions of their faith. Some Sikhs are reportedly afraid to leave their homes, while others have faced abuse at work.
Yet at the same time, a growing number of young British Sikhs are moving in the opposite direction: becoming more visibly religious, more engaged with questions of Sikh identity, and, increasingly, more sympathetic to the idea of Khalistan.
Smethwick’s Guru Nanak Gurdwara seems to defy the laws of physics. It is huge. To take it in without craning your neck requires crossing two roads — seven lanes of traffic in total. Only then do its swollen, pumpkin-shaped domes come fully into view.
It is the largest of Birmingham’s 23 Sikh temples. It is also the most controversial.
“All this area,” says Kuldeep Singh, gesturing towards the streets outside, “was full of thousands of people. It was like a flash mob. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Kuldeep is the former President and current Education Secretary of Guru Nanak Gurdwara, known locally as the “GNG”. He is describing the funeral of Avtar Singh Khanda in 2023, a prominent figure within Smethwick’s Sikh community.
“It was a difficult time,” he says. “The impact was felt everywhere, and by everyone.”
Khanda arrived in Britain from Punjab in 2010 after seeking political asylum. He claimed he and his family were being targeted by the Indian authorities because of his political activities. An outspoken advocate of Khalistan, he was viewed as a terrorist by the Indian government.
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