|
On the
Forgotten Sikhs’ Trail
Jagmohan Singh
| |
This is the story of the author’s
search for Sikligar Sikhs over the last year and a half. He
says, “My story of the Forgotten Sikhs is the remarkable story
of forgotten Sikhs who have not forgotten their roots but whose
existence has been eclipsed from the memory and consciousness of
the Sikh community over the last few centuries.” |
|
 My
serious search for the Sikligar Sikhs started a year ago, when I
visited the Sholapur dera (habitat) of the Sikligar Sikhs. I
have since visited the habitats of these traditional weapon-makers
and weapon-polishers in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Pune, Gwalior,
Dabra, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Alwar, Sultanpuri area of Delhi and
Meerut.
Some twenty-five
years ago, I had visited a Sikligar Sikh dera in Nagpur. The image
that stayed in my mind was that of poor and determined Sikhs, with
minimal knowledge of Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh and Guru Granth
Sahib, hardworking, taking easily to liquor in the evenings to
overcome the fatigue due to their rigorous work and the families
having many children.
Etymologically
speaking, Sikligar is a Persian/Arabic word, comprising
Saiqal + gar meaning, ‘polisher/burnisher/furbisher of
weapons’. From weapon polishers -the Sikalgars, over the
centuries turned weapon-makers.
Where did they
come from? When did the Sikligars become Sikhs? Over the last year,
I did not get any firm answers either from the Sikligars or from
activists working in the field. Two schools of thought that are in
currency are that they came in touch with the Sikhs, first at the
time of Guru Hargobind Sahib and then at the time of Guru Gobind
Singh. Prior to that, they were residents of the Marwar area of
present day Rajasthan. Anthropologist Sher Singh Sher, in his
magnum opus, published in 1966, The Sikligars of Punjab,
which is the only such study of its kind, asserts both the theories.
A young Sikh
activist provided a very interesting angle, which certainly needs
more exploration. He surmised that the Sikligars may have first came
in touch with the House of Guru Nanak, when Guru Hargobind Sahib
visited Gwalior and the other is that they may have associated with
Gurughar, when Guru Gobind Singh Ji visited Nanded. If either of
this is true, it leads us to the corollary which needs historical
study and that is, whether the Sikligar Sikhs came to Punjab or did
they actually join the path of Sikhism when the respective Gurus
traveled through their lands.
The Sikligar
Sikhs living in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka know that “our fore-fathers were traditional
weapon-makers, so are we and we have come from Nanded.” The one
thing that has surely been passed on from one generation to another
is “Kesh nahi kaatne hai, chahe jaan chali jaaye.”
The Sikligars
living in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi trace their origin to
Rajasthan, though they too are more aware of their pre-British and
post-British pasts only.
The mobility of
the Sikligar Sikhs combined with their artisanship as weapon makers,
made them the cynosure of the eyes of the British. While I have yet
to understand their status and role during the reign of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh, or even before that during the times of Baba Banda
Singh Bahadur, it is quiet clear from my interviews with the elderly
Sikligar Sikhs in Ludhiana, Alwar and Sultanpuri in Delhi that a
large number of them were living in various areas of present-day
Pakistan, namely Multan and Sindh.
|
The entire Sikligar population, whatever their
numbers –in thousands or millions, lives below the poverty line.
I have yet to come across a Sikligar Sikh whose daily earnings
are more than Rs. 200 and who gets work for all days in a month.
|
|
Even today, some
of the elderly migrants speak fluent Sindhi, apart from their own
spoken language and dialects. Nihal Singh, the eighty year old
Granthi Singh of the Gurdwara Sahib in Sultanpuri, the seventy-two
year old man from Alwar –Hargun Singh (who knew the names of his
grand father and great grand father for 8 generations, namely Gharib
Singh, Hari Singh, Bhauja Singh, Nagaya Seonh, Chattar Seon, Poohla
Seon, Chatru and then Bhartu) both told me the interesting story of
their travels from Sindh to Karachi to Mumbai to Jaipur to Jodhpur,
before finally settling in Alwar and Delhi.
It is generally
said and believed that like the Vanjaras, even the Sikligars were
also declared a Criminal Tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871
by the British, but the fact is otherwise.
Nihal Singh told
me that from Sindh upto their stay in Prem Nagar, Delhi, they never
had pucca houses and were essentially wanderers. Though he could not
confirm, he told me that his ancestors had gone from
Punjab
to Rajasthan and not the other way around. This aspect certainly
needs more verification. Another noteworthy fact that he proudly
narrated is that his maternal uncle used to teach him Gurmukhi and
Punjabi and his four sons are proficient in performing Kirtan
playing the harmonium and tabla, even though they are not
professional Kirtaniyas.
As there has
been no census studies of any kind, all talk of numbers is either in
the realm of wishful thinking or speculation based on hearsay or
statements of political and social activists without basis.
To my knowledge,
in post-1947 India, the first survey of any kind was done in the
last year and a half, by the National Commission for Minorities
under the initiative of its member Harcharan Singh Josh. The report
of the NCM on the Sikligar Sikhs, Vanjaras and others is still to be
tabled in parliament and made public. However, as per my
information, the team of enumerators of the NCM visited 286 centres
of settlement of the Sikligar Sikhs in the whole country. Attempts
are, however, afoot to charter a comprehensive survey.
One of the most
fascinating features of the Sikligar Sikhs is their language. Across
the spectrum that I visited, I found that they speak multiple
languages –the local language where they have their settlement, a
smattering of Hindi, their own language without a script -Sikligari
–a mixture of Marwari, Hindi and Punjabi with the Punjabi portion
containing Gurbani words and their peculiar internal secret
language, Parsee.
 Noted author of
The Other Sikhs, Dr. Himadri Banerjee says that their
language is an intellectual armoury and an even an inner protection
wall. It is my considered view that an understanding of Sikligari
and Parsee languages can provide us a totally new vista of
knowledge about the origin, settlement and history of the Sikligar
Sikhs.
The names of
Sikligar men and women, boys and girls are also unique –I have
hardly found a name with more than two syllables, as was the case
with most Sikh names of yore.
The Sikligar
Sikhs live in deras and each of these deras comprises of extended
families of one or two elderly grandfathers still living as heads of
the deras. The elderly sitting on charpoys appear to be idling but
are quietly monitoring the affairs of everyone and are very fond of
saying, “Yeh saare mere daade ke parivar ke log hain.” Most
of them live on encroached government land, lying vacant since
decades. Now the government and the land mafia are pressuring them
to go “elsewhere.”
A
significant feature of their lives in post-1947 India is that they
are no longer nomads. Despite difficulties they want to live a
settled life. With some exposure to the bigger world, they see the
possibilities of better jobs, but are still hesitant to make an
adventure. However, if one particular clan is asked to resettle
lock, stock and barrel, they would move out, if there are compelling
reasons to do so, for the inherent gypsy-like trait is still there.
Just as
education is a primary need for children of Sikligar Sikhs, and
basic literacy for adults, there is need for housing too. In all
the areas I visited, no Sikligar Sikh has had benefit from any of
the government housing schemes for weaker sections of society.
While the level
of education of the Sikligars in general is extremely low, that of
Sikligar Sikh women is virtually negligible. Only in the last few
years, one sees young girls going to schools. They are rarely sent
to colleges and thus their education ceases at standard tenth or in
some rare cases at twelfth.
The average
marriage-age of Sikligar Sikh women is around 14 years. Though this
is illegal, it keeps happening with impunity as they live within the
confines of their introvert settlements. Boys are to be married
before their beards sprout, for a bearded boy is considered “too
old” for marriage. In Pune, I came across the case of engagement of
a ten year old boy with a girl younger to him.
With their heads
covered with Dupattas all the time, the Sikligar women work in
unison with their husbands and even go to do menial jobs to make a
living. There is no gender discrimination and in case a family does
not have a daughter by birth, a girl-child is adopted. Surely,
Sikhs in Punjab and the Diaspora, particularly those committing
foeticide have an example to emulate.
In Sultanpuri,
Delhi,
there was talk of widow remarriage, otherwise in all other deras it
was said that widow remarriage is traditionally not done. In
Sholapur, I met
a woman, who was a widow at a young age, but even with a kid in tow,
she said that she wanted to maintain her self-respect and dignity
and would not ask for help from the men around, unless there is some
urgent dire need. With her child in her lap, she keeps beating iron
to eke out a living.
The
death and destruction of Sikligar Sikhs as a class of Sikhs attacked
during November 1984 needs a more thorough and detailed study and
analysis and I am doing so. I have found that all those Sikligars,
who were able to present a picture of strength and portray
themselves as strong weapon-keeping Sikhs, were able to protect
themselves, whereas others, steeped in poverty and visibly
vulnerable in their settlements, were brutally attacked and killed
in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and even in certain parts of
Mahrarashtra, though the numbers in all other areas except Delhi was
small.
 Sultanpuri,
today mocks at the Sikh nation. Sultanpuri is only one of the many
deras, where these beloved traditional weapon makers, the Sikligar
Sikhs –the protectors of Sikh honour and dignity, were made sitting
ducks in an organized manner, which has shattered not only their
lives but has become instrumental in the elders letting their
children shorn their hair, forgetting their age-old message passed
onto them from generation to generation –Kesh nahi katane hai,
chahe jaan chali jaaye. During my recent visit to Sultanpuri, I
forced myself not to cry. Generally the parents express
helplessness and the womenfolk are the ones who are most saddened by
this situation. Their plea to me was, “hamare bacchon ko kissi
tarah kesh rakhana sikha do, hamko bahut sharam aati hai.”
Historically,
Sikligar Sikhs have preserved the outward appearance of Sikhi
remarkably well, particularly outside
Punjab.
In Punjab,
however, some numbers in
Ludhiana have
been influenced by the neo-Nirankaris and a handful by Christianity
too. While the prevalence of apostasy is palpably visible in Delhi,
Gwalior, Jaipur and to a very small extent in Alwar, it must be
mentioned that the situation in many areas of Mahrashtra and
Chattishgarh is diametrically opposite. In Pune, where the Sikligar
Sikh population is nearly 5000 plus, it is difficult to find a
patit, though they live and survive under very trying
circumstances. Even those in prison have not shorn their hair.
Ravinder Singh, the sheet anchor of Akhar SOH, made a significant
observation, “the nearer to Punjab, the more the chances and
incidences of apostasy.”
There are many
castes and sub-castes amongst the Sikligar Sikhs and the castes
determine their work. A large section of them being illiterate, they
cannot negotiate their way through the corrupt systems and therefore
are devoid of BPL (below poverty line) certificates, caste
certificates and in some cases ration cards too –all of which are
essentials for obtaining government benefits of all kinds. Even
during the last census, they were classified as “others” for no
fault of theirs as despite their Sikh appearance; the enumerators
did not enlist them accordingly.
Somehow, working
for the poorest of the poor does not seem to be on the agenda of the
community. Somehow, working for the so-called lower castes or those
different from the majority, does not seem to catch our fancy. This
attitude to a very large extent explains the abandonment of the
Sikligar Sikhs over the centuries. We are aware of the
Taale-Chaabi wale Sikhs, but never does it occur to know more
about them, isn’t it?
In
Pune, there are around thirty young Sikligar Sikhs, in the age group
of 20-30, who have been working as Caddies in the Poona Golf Club
for the last decade or so. They double up as ironsmiths on lean days
to augment family income. Earning a hundred rupees a day, these
young golfers, desire to become players and trainers of this game,
for which they look askance for sponsorships and patronage.
Around 45-50
Sikligar Sikhs are languishing in Yerwada jail in Pune –some for
petty crimes and some for internecine murders, which is being
documented.
In Pune, we also
have 30 year old social activist Bachhu Singh, who should be
rechristened as Bhai Bachau Singh. He has single-handedly saved the
lives of around 78 people, so far, who would have otherwise drowned
after falling into the unprotected
Hadapsar
Canal,
which carries the water of Moola Mutha River alongside his house. He
has removed 118 dead bodies too, not to mention carcasses of dead
animals.
Caddie Ravinder
Singh Tak, who is also a commerce student, speaking in chaste
English told me, “We want to put back our notoriety as criminals and
I know that we can do it. Our pride as Sikhs is intact and so is our
hard working approach. If the Sikh community continues to bless, I
would like to become an IAS officer and change the face of my
fledgling community.”
 The entire
Sikligar population, whatever their numbers –in thousands or
millions, lives below the poverty line. I have yet to come across a
Sikligar Sikh whose daily earnings are more than Rs. 200 and yet to
come across someone who gets work for all days of the month.
Time and tide
has snatched from them their armoury and ammunition making
skill-set, reducing them to repairing drums, buckets, making locks
and keys and other agricultural implements, except amongst those
still engaged in weapon-making in parts of Maharashtra. Now with the
young taking to education in a small but sure way, I foresee the
disappearance of their traditional artisanship, if no major step to
adopt and patronize the same is taken.
While delving
deep into the lives of the Sikligar Sikhs, and empathizing with
them, due to our collaborative efforts, the Forum for Forgotten
Sikhs, with other activists like Nanak Singh Nishter from Hyderabad,
Mohinder Singh from Chandigarh, Ravinder Singh from Bangalore and
Kulwant Singh from Mumbai as coordinators and with all member
organizations as constituents has been formed.
I venture to
mention that for the amelioration of the lives of this section of
Forgotten Sikhs, the following areas need immediate attention:
1.
Demographic Survey of Sikligar Sikhs.
2.
Participation of Sikligar Sikhs in various Employment Schemes of the
government for the marginalized sections.
3.
Participation of Sikligar Sikhs in various educational loan,
scholarships and funding Schemes of the government for the
marginalized sections as well as those of non-governmental
organisations.
4.
Participation of Sikligar Sikhs in various housing and housing
-funding Schemes of the government for the marginalized sections.
5.
Building health and sanitation needs in the habitat of Sikligar
Sikhs.
6.
Identification of government rules and regulations and the means to
be adopted to procure caste and income certificates and then
ensuring their use for education, empowerment and employment.
7.
Study
and adaptation of Micro-Finance methodologies for overall
development of Sikligar Sikhs.
8.
Identification and employment of women activists as the women
section continues to be largely unattended.
9.
Usage
of traditional talent of Sikligar Sikhs in making metal crafts.
10.
Identification and sponsorship of children of Sikligar Sikhs in
education, sports and adult education activities.
11.
Training young Sikligar Sikhs in Gurmat missionary activities
amongst their own people and in other areas.
12.
Involvement and engagement of local Sikhs in programmes for Sikligar
Sikhs.
13.
Research into the life and times of Sikligar Sikhs, Vanjaras,
Satnamis and other marginalized sections.
 On
the basis of the NCM survey and the work done by various
organizations, it is my well-calculated estimate that there are
around 500-600 deras of Sikligar Sikhs in the country. According to
what I have seen and worked, it is my considered opinion that we
need at least one educated and trained, fully engaged co-ordinator
cum missionary cum educational counselor, handsomely paid and
provided with resources to directly touch the lives of the Sikligar
Sikhs on a day to day basis, who would live with them, to handle the
multi-faceted tasks needed for change and transformation of their
lives.
God willing, I
am determined to continue my journey into the lives of the Sikligars
and also to involve others.
I urge you to
answer the call of the Sikligar Sikhs. If we do not answer this call
of history, then we may end up adding another century to the story
of Forgotten Sikhs. If we unite and the community as a whole
responds honestly, honorably and aggressively, we may manage to
travel a century back in time and give them the honour and dignity
which they have so ably provided us in the past. We do not have a
choice, do we?
Jagmohan
Singh is the Editor of World Sikh News. He may be contacted at
jsbigideas@gmail.com
13
January 2010
|
Read Also
