Sat Sri Akaal - Bunga Azaadi

![[58aArtboard 1.png]] <center>Welcome to Bunga Azaadi's Official Vichaar Repository: </center> <center> A Curated Collection of Quality Vichaars on Sikhi, Statecraft, Economics and more! </center> **Navigation:** Vichaar Repository [[Raajniti Vidya]] [[Khalsa Revival]] [[(Not Just) The Basics of Sikhi]] ## About Bunga Azaadi (Institute for Azadist Studies) is a think tank set up to discuss, debate and do the necessary Vichaars (contemplations / research / opinions) to apply a Sikh perspective to the modern world. With the rapid rate of innovations in technology and a constantly changing geo-political landscape, it is imperative that the Guru Khalsa Panth is conscious and evaluating the world around us to keep up to date. Bunga Azaadi produces and curates Vichaars from a network of individuals passionate about using Sikhi to inform our positions so to navigate these changing times and make informed decisions moving forward. **Read** | [[Bunga Azaadi’s Mission]] ## FAQ ### What is a Bunga? In Sikh tradition, a Bunga is a building or facility used for resting, meeting, and other community activities. The word "Bunga" itself is a Persian term for a hospice or dwelling place, and they had been incorporated by Sikhs to initially provide places to stay for Misldhars around Harmandir Sahib. However, they also developed to fulfil a variety of functions from fortifications to telling the time of day. The most popular purpose was to be centres of learning in a variety of subjects such as raag kirtan, medicine, calligraphy and much more. Fundamentally, a Bunga was a place where people could come together to discuss ideas and share knowledge. Today, Bunga Azaadi serves as a modern-day example of this tradition, providing a space for Sikhs to discuss and deliberate on the challenges and opportunities facing the community in the modern world. Through its research, publications, and events, the Bunga strives to apply Sikh principles to contemporary issues and promote a deeper understanding of the Sikh worldview to a committed audience. As the world continues to evolve, institutions like the Bunga Azaadi are essential in ensuring that Sikhs remain connected to their roots while navigating the complexities of the modern world. ### Why is this needed? In today's constantly changing world, it is crucial to have a platform for discussion and debate that is rooted in Sikh principles and values. Bunga Azaadi serves as a space for Sikhs to come together and engage in intellectual discourse on contemporary issues. By applying Sikh perspectives to challenges and opportunities facing the community, the Bunga aims to promote a deeper understanding of Sikh philosophy and values in relation to modern issues. It is through institutions like the Bunga Azaadi that Sikhs can stay connected to their history and culture adapting and navigating the complexities of the modern world. Additionally, the Bunga helps to foster a sense of community among like-minded Sikhs and encourages collaboration and cooperation in finding solutions to common challenges. Overall, the Bunga Azaadi is an important institution that helps Sikhs to remain informed, engaged, and connected to their heritage while also looking towards the future. ### How does it work? We aim to produce and curate a collection of quality outputs in the form of publicly available _Vichaars._ Some will communicate the positions members of the Bunga reaches on different topics and how we reached them, whereas others will be incorporated in our knowledge base (Vichaar Repository) with the permission of collaborators. We will also host regular debates to discuss current events and different subjects in order to help explore and test different ideas and interpretations. It is crucial to understand that the author of each respective Vichaar represents no one but themselves, and there is no claim to hold the single authoritative opinion on behalf of the whole Panth. Instead, contributors can set a solid stance for themselves, and share their reasoning for others to assess as part of their process of reaching their own conclusions. Whilst we may also include Vichaars in our repository that not all members of the Bunga may disagree with, the Bungai — the director(s) of the Bunga — may feel they are still valuable for the Sangat to consider within certain parameters. Through our outputs, we aim to establish the world's most advanced and quality collection of Vichaars related to Sikhi, Statecraft, Economics and more! ### How can I get Involved? #### Monthly Darbars Each month, the Bunga hosts a online Darbar. This is a session held for Sangat and members of the Bunga to attend and discuss any topic, answer questions and debate. These are now held publicly, live on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@azadism/">Youtube</a>. #### Seva Board There are some Seva Opportunities to get involved in and help Bunga Azaadi. Currently these are mainly unpaid volunteering. In time, I hope to attach “payments” for tasks to help incentivise commitment and reward contributors for their time and effort. [View Seva Board](https://marbled-step-603.notion.site/Seva-Board-157ea62e3e928073adf6d91267657962) In the meantime we can give you a reference for your CV / Resume if that interests you. Some jobs/projects may also result in an offer to join the Bunga itself and you can skip aspects of the application process. If you are already a Bunga member, taking on any of these will also contribute to your level progression as well. #### Collaborate With Us If you operate a Sikh organisation, project or are just a independent researcher or scholar, we would be honoured to host your Vichaars. The Bunga is a Vichaar aggregator of sorts but curated in specific ways relevant to our purpose and mission. We want to avoid having just a singular opinion, and start collaborating with others and offering multiple perspectives — even ones we may disagree with but feel is valuable for Sangat to consider when informing their own conclusions. Your contributions will be fully credited of course, whatever you submit will be attributed as distinctly your work. Treat the Bunga as a platform for Vichaars, bit like how you may share Vichaars on Substack, Instagram or YouTube currently. Bunga Azaadi, is a Sikh alternative. All content is reviewed before being (re-)published, and organised into specific areas/domains within our Vichaar repo. #### Contribute Vichaars We are seeking to build the best resource for all things related to Sikh, Statecraft and Economics more. Both Miri and Piri perspectives are being sought after. So that, when the Guru Khalsa once again gets to the stage where we are implementing our own experiments in statecraft, we will have a robust knowledge base to draw from. **University Students** Dissertations! So many students put in so much effort to write about something that could be genuinely quite useful for others to know. However, the issue is once they are written and graded, they are usually filed away and forgotten about. Instead, consider submitting them to Bunga Azaadi if you have completed one related to the topics covered by us. We can then work with you to generate summaries in digestible formats that we can share with Sangat, as well as host the full piece itself in our Vichaar Repo. You will be given full credit and can link to any of your pages or social media handles. The same applies for anyone, student or not. If you would like to submit an essay, article or a project to help us with this goal, please get in touch via email. #### Become A Member If you would like to become a formal member of the Bunga, you will be able to engage more closely with the work we are doing behind the scenes. Azadism is just theory, but we want to eventually put it and other ideas we Vichaar on into practice. Therefore, we have developed and are progressing a "Grand Strategy", a long-term roadmap with an ultimate end-goal of true _Azaadi_ (or as close as we can get it). For us, that means a prosperous and just Khalsa Raaj. But this needs the correct foundations, since without it, it will fall like a castle of sand. What we are trying to do is plant seeds of trees that we in our lifetimes may not see all the fruits of. But what would that fruit taste like? That is what Azadism, and Bunga Azaadi's Vichaar Repository is detailing at the moment. Whilst the specific details of this plan is still mostly Gupt, we are open to support with it if you have the skills and passion for it. Becoming a member of the Bunga requires some proof of competence though. Not just anyone is allowed to join. Much of this doesn't need to be said in the open, it needs to be shown through actions. In time, our results shall do the talking. We also want to filter out those with little commitment, loyalty to Masandic organisations, and those who simply do not know how to think properly. However, although entry is restricted, applications are open to anyone. We reject credentialism and focus only the quality of the mind presented. Anyone is free to apply no matter your background. All prospective members of Bunga Azaadi must complete the following steps: **(01) Application Form** ‍ ‍The application form will test your ability to commit time and effort to grapple with the subject area. Therefore, as part of the form you will be made to write short summaries of each section of the Azadist Manifesto. You don't have to agree with everything (in fact, disagreement is encouraged!) — but you need to at least prove you have understood the material. **‍(02) Video Interview** ‍In addition to discussing your summaries, this will be an opportunity to introduce yourself, tell you more about how it all works and discuss what you can get involved in. You can also ask us any questions you would like to know before you decide to officially join as a member. **‍(03) Offer / Rejection** ‍After this, you will be informed whether you are successful or not. If you are, then you will have some time to formally accept. **Alternatives** If you have read the manifesto but don't currently have time to do these summaries, then if you can show us something equivalent (e.g. dissertations, essays or projects related to Sikhi), we can take that into account instead and just drill you more on Azadism specific questions in the interview to check familiarity with the content. Send us an email evidencing this to [email protected]. Alternatively, contributing towards any Seva to help the Bunga out can also count towards an application. See what opportunities are available on our Seva Board. There may not be many of you, to begin with (or ever), and this is fine. We are not looking for everyone to join, nor even a lot — just enough. With the calibre of individual we are looking for, each Singh or Kaur is worth 125,000. Lastly, membership is pretty flexible, you can use the Bunga as a Vichaar Hub or to access and contribute to our various projects and Vichaars. The more you do the more we can bring you in and give you responsibility — its all commitment and engagement based. We have an internal clearance levelling system also based on this. At the lower levels, members are more like a contact list that can be reached out to for specific and valued perspectives on things. Higher levels are those who are more closely working on projects or the Grand Strategy. #### Associates / Advisors If you want to support us in a less committed capacity and also have experience or Gyaan you think could help us, then consider becoming associated with the Bunga in an advisory capacity. This can range from specific advice on development to gathering and feeding us intel. ## Contact Us If you have any questions, feedback or want to discuss more about any of the above, you can contact us via email or social media: E-mail: [email protected] Instagram: [**@bunga_azaadi**](https://www.instagram.com/bunga_azaadi/) Twitter: [**@Bunga_Azaadi**](https://x.com/Bunga_Azaadi) Substack: [**substack.com/@azadism**](https://substack.com/@azadism) We can even jump on a **Zoom/Discord** call as well! ## Links [Website: www.azadism.co.uk](https://www.azadism.co.uk/bunga) [Instagram: @Bunga_Azaadi](https://www.instagram.com/bunga_azaadi/) [Substack: @azadism](https://azadism.substack.com/)