Gurharpal Singh

Sikh Constitutional Theory: Gurmata to Modern Governance

An expert-level study of how the Sikh tradition has theorised legitimate collective authority — from the Gurbani vision of ਹਲੇਮੀ ਰਾਜੁ and the institution of the ਪੰਜ ਪਿਆਰੇ, through the deliberative sovereignty of the ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ and the binding ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, to the personalised statecraft of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the bureaucratic constitutionalism of the 1920 SGPC, and the unresolved dilemmas of Sikh political representation today. The course treats Sikh constitutionalism not as a borrowed liberal framework but as an indigenous theory of authority grounded in ਮੀਰੀ-ਪੀਰੀ, the doctrine of ਗੁਰੂ ਪੰਥ, and ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ as final sovereign.