SOLVING THE PROBLEM

Whether it is called “The Sikh New Year” or “an annual spring festival” or even “the harvest celebration”, Vaisakhi is usually described as anything other than the creation of the Khalsa.

These descriptions are all inaccurate. The Sikh New Year is in March and largely, no one outside of India celebrates Vaisakhi for reasons of harvest or the coming of Spring. So when it is mentioned by western media what is the reason that it is predominantly written about as everything except the birth of the Khalsa? 

One of the key reasons for this is that Sikhs are not joined in a national narrative that is the same across the board. There are numerous instances of people that are being interviewed that are mentioning it as the "new year"  or not enough emphasis on the reason behind Vaisakhi. The result is an inaccurate portrayal and more often that not, coverage which talks about the serving of langar and processions through town and not the reason of celebration.

This is why the likes of the BBC, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and many others still to this day write Vaisakhi is “The Sikh New Year/Sikh Harvest celebration”. Thus, the Sikh Press Association is campaigning to rectify such inaccuracies and ensure that any coverage of Vaisakhi remains true to the narrative of what it really means to Sikhs – The birth of the Khalsa.