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Repatriating Heritage
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Jagdeesh Singh of Sikh Community Action Network, UK writes to
Queen Elizabeth seeking repatriation of various heritage items
of the Sikh nation taken away by the British royalty and British
Indian government after the annexation of the Sikh kingdom in
1849. |
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 Dear Queen Elizabeth
We
write on this historic occasion of 200 years of British-Sikh
relations, marked on
25th April 2009. On this day in 1809, the British and Panjaab
Governments signed the Treaty of Amritsar, to affirm mutual
recognition of each other’s independence and sovereignty and
encourage ‘friendship and co-operation’ and ‘amity and concord’.
Today there are 700,000 Sikh residents in
Britain. They have enjoyed multiple opportunities and forged a
positive quality of life, in cohesion with fellow British
communities (native and immigrant). Sikhs have proven themselves a
leading example of self-initiative, self-sufficiency, social
participation and active contribution.
Long before our large-scale migration and settlement in
Britain, our forefathers had been fighting and dieing in tens of
thousands for the British state and its defense against hostile
forces. The most potent example of this, is the sacrifice of the
21-man 36th Sikh regiment in the Battle of Saraghari (North-West
Frontier, British India), in September 1897, defending a British
military fort against direct attack by 12,000 Afghan tribesmen.
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"The UK owes an immense debt of gratitude to the courage and
sacrifice of the Sikh soldiers."
-Prince Charles, St.James Palace,
24 April 2008. |
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Eighty-three thousand Sikh soldiers lost their lives defending
Britain during the two world wars. Your son, Prince Charles, has
commented that: "The
UK
owes an immense debt of gratitude to the courage and sacrifice of
the Sikh soldiers."
(Prince
Charles, St.James Palace,
24
April 2008).
He has called for the establishment of a Sikh regiment in the modern
British Army, in line with the historic Sikh role in the past
British armed forces.
The 200 year British-Sikh relationship has been a rich mixture of
wars, conflicts, struggles, camaraderie, colonialism and social
interaction. We have launched a special blog –
www.anglo-sikh.blogspot.com, to inform the British public about this
unique history. The blog provides an overview of several key aspects
of this 200 year relationship. We hope that you and your senior
officials will take the opportunity to view it.
 Today,
there is a significant Sikh migrant community in
Britain, who are now a settled and well-established part of British
society. They are a positive example of an economically and socially
active, self-reliant and effort driven community. They have shown
successful effort in education, employment, housing ownership,
social interaction and more. They have embraced the positive life
opportunities that Britain has offered, and given back to British
society in equal measure. Through their positive citizenship,
skills, educational achievement, employment and business endeavour,
they represent, like their soldierly forefathers, a positive asset
to Britain.
Sikhs see
Britain as a positive home. Its democratic values, its positive
freedoms and pluralism, have enabled Sikhs along with many other
communities to flourish as a cultural-ethnic group, adding their
cultural values and identity to the multi-ethnic pool of British
life. Sikhs cherish these robust and positive qualities of British
life.
On
this historic occasion of 200 years of the Anglo-Sikh relationship,
we wish to make an important request about the large and
unquantified amount of Sikh heritage and cultural property that
currently rests and resides in
Britain.
This is property taken by the British Governments of the past, from
Panjaab following its military conquest and political annexation
into British India in 1849. During the period of British rule over
Panjaab, from 1849 to 1947, many crucial items of national
significance and importance to Sikhs were deliberately confiscated
by the British administrators as part of a policy of removing
symbols, icons, artifacts and scriptures which would encourage
national activism amongst the already virile and vigorous Sikh
masses.
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We understand that within
Windsor Castle, for example, there is a significant number of
Sikh scriptures – Guru Granth and Dasam Granth. Across the
UK,
within the custody of your royal family, royal castles, museums
and government bodies, there is an immense range of unquantified
and unidentified cultural property belonging to the Sikh nation. |
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As
you will know, Panjaab was the last country in the sub-continent of
‘India’
(South Asia) to be subdued by the British; following the two major
Anglo-Sikh wars, 1845-1849. Soon after the subjugation, the British
rapidly set about removing cultural property linked to the national
identity and consciousness of the Sikhs.
We
are aware that, many items belonging to the Sikh nation have been
removed during this colonial period, clearly without notice or the
consent of the Sikh nation or any Sikh authority. Crucial items like
historic copies of the Sikh national sacred writings - Guru Granth
and Dasam Granth, together with actual swords and weapons of the
Sikh Gurus (the spiritual founders of the Sikh nation); were removed
and brought to
Britain. Some of these items were put up for sale by British
administrators, and are now part of private individual collections.
However, a great many remain within royal circles, contained
discreetly within royal castles and locations. We understand that
within
Windsor
Castle, for example, there is a significant number of Sikh
scriptures – Guru Granth and Dasam Granth. Across the
UK,
within the custody of your royal family, royal castles, museums and
government bodies, there is an immense range of unquantified and
unidentified cultural property belonging to the Sikh nation.
The Sikh items will, also, include the letters, diaries and writings
of the first Sikh in
Britain, Maharajah Duleep Singh. He was the child-king of Panjaab,
deposed after the British conquest in 1849. In 1854, at the age of
5-6 years circa, he was brought to Britain as a subject of the then
Queen, Victoria -Empress of India. He was nurtured as a royal
gentleman, under the authority of Queen Victoria. He spent portions
of his childhood and young years at Windsor Castle. Having been
taught to forget his Panjaabi-Sikh connections in his childhood and
youth, he subsequently became interested in his dismembered origins.
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Over the course of his 55 year life, the child-king Maharaja
Duleep Singh - the first Sikh in Britain undertook many written
communications with Queen Victoria directly and with the British
Government Ministers, about his affairs as a ‘protectorate’ of
the royal family and his conflicting desire to return to Panjaab
and pursue his country’s independence. Many of these writings
are contained within the archives and stores of
Windsor
Castles and other royal venues. |
His quest for his past, resulted in him returning to Panjaabi-Sikh
culture and seeking to restore the independence of Panjaab through
an overthrow of the established British rule over
India. Over the course of his 55 year life, this first Sikh in
Britain undertook many written communications with Queen
Victoria
directly and with the British Government Ministers, about his
affairs as a ‘protectorate’ of the royal family and his conflicting
desire to return to Panjaab and pursue his country’s independence.
Many of these writings are contained within the archives and stores
of
Windsor
Castles and other royal venues.
We
request to you, through your officials, to provide the Sikhs with a
clear statement of these items, their location and, furthermore,
access to these items. We believe this will be a great initiative,
and will much enhance British-Sikh relations. We are happy to
discuss this matter in more detail with your senior officials.
We
hope that on this 200 year anniversary, that, you will positively
consider this just request and take the initiative to restore back
to the Sikh nation, access to its national heritage items held
within your royal control.
We
further understand that, similar to Sikh national items, there are a
number of items belonging to the Hindu communities of
South Asia which were similarly taken during the British Raaj from
Panjaab and other parts of British Indian conquered territories
-such items as the Rig Ved, sacred writings, and artefacts. We
equally request the identification of these principal items, and
their access by the Hindu community through discussion and
arrangement with Hindu representatives.
Before, concluding, we wish to draw your important attention to the
deep alienation and anguish that the Sikh community feels towards
the long-running distorted and sectarian policies of the current
British government on ‘community cohesion’ in Britain. The Sikh
community is profoundly pained at the indifference and
discrimination displayed by the current British government towards
its place in British life, together with that of fellow communities
like the English, Scottish, Welsh, Gujeraati, Hindu,
Christian,Italian, Greek and Polish. We have written a letter to
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, setting our deep-felt concerns about
the discriminatory and divisive nature of those policies. We attach
a copy for your consideration.
We
thank you for your important consideration of our above points. We
look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Jagdeesh Singh
The author may be contacted at animalspirit2002@yahoo.co.uk
6
May 2009
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