Santbir Singh

Research Associate

Santbir Singh is a Research Associate with SikhRI. He is currently doing his Ph.D. in Sociology at York University. His graduate research focuses on Sikh activism and the inherent relationship between Sikhi and anarchism explored through historical and contemporary Sikh movements, such as the Kisān Morcha (Farmer’s Protests) of 2020-2021. 

Santbir Singh has served as an educator and activist in the Sikh community for over two decades. He continues cultivating a deeper relationship with Sabad Guru while focusing on Sikh inspirations for social activism, feminism, and decolonization through a multifaceted critical analysis using different schools of thought and tradition.

Santbir Singh is a facilitator at Sidak and an alumnus of Sidak 2012. He lives on Wendat, Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee, Mississauga, Hiawatha, Alderville & Métis Territory on Williams Treaties land (colonially known as Toronto), Canada, with his wonderful wife, incredible children, and wild dog.

Videos

Monday
,
13
July
2026

Aftermath, Unintended Consequences, and Modern Critiques

How did ordinary Sikhs organize one of the largest nonviolent movements in Sikh history?

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Monday
,
13
July
2026

Mass Mobilization in the Gurduara Reform Movement

How did ordinary Sikhs organize one of the largest nonviolent movements in Sikh history?

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Monday
,
13
July
2026

Aftermath of the Massacre: Beginnings of the Reform Movement

The events of 1919 transformed Sikh political consciousness. But how did they lead to the Gurdwara Reform Movement?

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Monday
,
13
July
2026

Corruption & Discrimination: Sikh Institutions Under Colonial Rule

How did Sikh institutions come under the control of hereditary mahants during British rule? What conditions gave rise to one of the most significant reform movements in Sikh history?‍

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Tuesday
,
16
June
2026

Kirpan: Panthic Accountability & Developing Inner Grace

In this episode, join Jasleen Kaur, Harinder Singh, and Santbir Singh for a reflective and nuanced conversation about what this case has brought up about the Kirpan, Khalsa identity, masculinity, and our responsibility to one another.

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Friday
,
12
December
2025

Sikhi & Death: A Gurmat-Based Understanding

Death comes for all of us. Yet we live in a culture that endlessly tries to escape this reality—through our obsession with youth, medical interventions to delay aging, or the way death is sensationalized in popular media.

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Podcasts

Tuesday
,
13
April
2021

Countdown to Vaisakhi 2021: Santbir Singh

Santbir Singh, Sidak Facilitator at Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) shares his reflection on Vaisakhi.

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Friday
,
6
November
2020

Genocide

How do we remember? How do we advocate? How do we survive? In this episode we feature three leading voices in the November 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms study.

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Articles

Friday
,
7
February
2014

Crafting The Tools of Sikh Sovereignty

For many Sikhs today, there is little difference between being Punjabi and being Sikh. But this was not always the case. 

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Thursday
,
24
April
2014

Where Do We Go From Here?

We are not strangers to random acts of violence and discrimination. Although mass shootings have become far too common in America in recent years, rarely have these horrific crimes been targeted at one community.

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Sat
,
Oct 24

What Makes a Man?

Join us for an honest and reflective conversation, moving beyond polarizing discourses, exploring how the Wisdom of Bani and our history can help us understand masculinity, identity, and gender dynamics as we...

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