I’ll elaborate on this point. First of all, I personally believe the first distortion is to claim that Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Dicas *instead of* Divali - IMO, Sikhs celebrate Divali. I’ve already discussed this, so let’s move on: https://twitter.com/JungNihang/status/1327802225658359814

My problem with celebrating Bandi Chhor Divas as “prisoner release day” is that, even in the celebrations for the Guru’s release from Gwalior jail, it was a celebration for the release of the GURU. The history of the 52 Rajas shows the ingenuity and humanity of the Guru, yes -

- but it’s hard to take THAT as the sole reason for celebrations in the context of the Sikh sacred.

I’m not sure if the term “Bandi Chhor” was used prior to Guru Hargobind, but it indeed has been used to refer to Sikhs who liberated others throughout history (like Jassa Singh Ahluwalia). So connections to the symbolism I don’t take problem with. https://twitter.com/JungNihang/status/1186367836387794945

But even for those who celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas - just celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas. Why do we on the one hand cry about needing to dilute Sikh terminology with substitutes like “God”, “temple”, “baptism”, then do it ourselves and hail it as such?

If you’re viewing the Guru’s release from Gwalior in terms of generic modern political sentiment as “Prisoner Release Day,” one may also note that the first thing he did after freeing the 52 rajas was to kill Chandu, the man who tortured and murdered his father.

Would said politicians celebrate that occasion as “Wishing everyone a happy Capital Punishment Day”? I can hazard a guess that they probably wouldn’t....

Thinking of the political element on Divali in addition to listening to kirtan and lighting divas is prudent - after all, Divali was traditionally the date for the official Sarbat Khalsa along with Vaisakhi. And the release of the imprisoned is an apt political element

But to reduce it *solely* to a celebration of that, and that too with the need to break it down into English as “prisoner release day”? i used “modern Western political Sikh*ism*” for a reason - the sacred is used as a prop for the political, and that too the modern political