“Wahe guru ji ka khalsa: What matters to us"

Rupanjana Dutta Tuesday 20th November 2018 10:55 EST
 

From fighting for the British Raj, to establishing a life outside their homeland, the struggle for the British Punjabis to secure their basics on UK soils was unimaginable. They faced with discrimination and unable to find accommodations easily, they lived in cramped, squalid conditions, meals prepared and eaten communally, bed sharing rotated between those who worked day and night shifts. They had left their families behind and was only joined by women and children, who arrived several years later.

Pritam Singh Sangha was one of the first Punjabi to make Southall, today's Little Punjab, his home in 1951 and kickstarted a consumer revolution by establishing the Asian corner shop in the British landscape. When he received shipment of food provisions in his shop from India, he sent around his daughter Guddi, spreading the good news. The shelves in the shops emptied as rapidly as they had been stocked with spices, chapatti flour, lentils and other products not available anywhere.

Many Punjabis arrived in 1950s to 70s particularly in Southall area, wanting to work in the Hayes R Woolf rubber factory, as the general manager had served with Sikh soldiers during the second world war and was happy to recruit them.

The stresses of moving to a new culture, the associated language barriers and the racism they faced meant many of these men turned to alcohol to cope. This reliance on alcohol has had generational repercussions. Many at that point found themselves struggling to assimilate being in a new country, often working long hours to send money home to their families. They also faced racial attacks including beating up a woman in an Asian shop in 1980s, one which also led to the famous riot. A week of rioting had begun involving full-blooded clashes in a number of major inner city areas, to less serious disturbances in dozens of places and to panic boarding up of shops in wide areas of many cities.

Today the issues of British Punjabi youth is entirely different. While much is involved around inter-faith marriages (see article on P16), or cross community interactions as well as inclusiveness, a lot is being discussed on individualism, self expression and identity beyond one's particular culture. But the constant problem of racism against these people continue. Despite increased levels of discrimination and hate crimes against Sikhs especially after the EU Referendum and Brexit, British Sikhs remain invisible to the government.

A section of the community has campaigned harder to establish their identity beyond their ethnic roots, after Jagtar Singh Johal's arrest in India. Johal who was arrested for allegdly being involved in the murder of Hindu nationalist leader Ravinder Gosain and other criminal activities, has not been returned to the UK, despite several campaigns and proests, including one during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK in 2018. The Sikhs now are urging the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to give them a separate ethnicity tick box, outside a reference to them as Indians. ONS is doing a community survey to undersand the trend.

However, there are many who are also not entirely behind the campaign, with some groups pointing out that being Sikh is a choice, not something you belong to at birth or by DNA. The debate took an ugly turn on twitter, when the debaters divided into two camps, one for and the other against. Some also called for a worlwide referendum for Khalistan, which saw hundreds of Sikhs gathering at Trafalgar square to kickstart the campaign.

The British Sikh Report, an annual survey of the UK Sikh population, which aims of exploring current trends and issues so as to engage in active discussion with political and community leaders and groups. This year the report focused on mental health in the Sikh community. Providing quantitative data about Britain’s Sikh community, the key findings of the report on mental health said that twice as many Sikh women have been diagnosed with mental health issues as compared to men from the community. Besides, 35% of Sikhs revealed, in a survey published in the report, that their job was the major cause of stress; a further 27% said the stress was due to family responsibilities.

Despite all the hindrances, a major section of the community have done incredibly well as entrepreneurs and role models, and our next piece is to pay tribute to their contributions to Britain's Big Society.

Sikhs at War

The Sikhs fought valiantly in the war, protecting the Western Front against Nazi invasion; they were often seen running into battle with nothing but their swords when their ammunition had been exhausted. While the Sikhs (and other Indians) who died fighting in the war were buried in the Chattri Memorial in Brighton and honoured in Britain, as well as remembered by the Memorial Gate in Hyde Park, along with other commonwealth sodiers, the ones who survived and were sent back to India received less-honourable treatment.

In the present day, however, the role of the Sikh soldiers in the British Army is being unearthed, further discussed and celebrated. The National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum both have exhibitions dedicated to the same. Writers and filmmakers such as Jay Singh-Sohal have launched movements that aim at celebrating this facet of the Sikh heritage that is an essential part of their identity both as individuals and as a race. Singh-Sohal’s project ‘Sikhs at War’ chronicles the experiences of the Sikh soldiers in the trenches. During an interview with Kate Gerbeau of Force Networks, he revealed the touch of authenticity to the documentary that has been added by the reading of actual letters that the Sikh soldiers would send back home.

According to Singh-Soyal, this is a way for third and fourth generation Sikh immigrants in the UK to connect with not only their origins, but also with Sikh ties to the UK that dates back at least 100 years.


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