Guest Post by A. H. Cemendtaur
In the history of South Asia, 1947 was a blood-soaked year � hundreds of thousands got killed while millions were uprooted from their ancestral lands. Prior to 1947 Sikhs lived everywhere in North-Eastern area of what is today Pakistan. I hang my head in shame knowing that presently there is only a small number of Sikhs left there.
I have been a great fan of Sardars�more so after a community of them saved my life in Lusaka, the year was 1992. I got sick while traveling and sojourned at a Gurdwara (Singa Singa Mesquita). The family that took care of the temple took me to the hospital and fed me. I don’t recall their names, but I remember there was a young man who pursued a modeling career and wanted to go to the US.
Compared to followers of other faiths, a practicing Sikh must find it very hard to conceal his identity. And that is the reason I always wondered what professions Sikhs in Pakistan took, and how they kept a low profile in the rising tide of hollow religiosity of the majority.
In my last trip to Pakistan I ran into a very colorful Sardar. He was a hakim who ran a Yunani matab called ‘Khalsa Dawakhana.’
Here is video footage of Hakim Sarber Singh.
“Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh�.
Besides writing fiction, A.H. Cemendtaur writes on contemporary issues, both in Urdu and English. This post was originally posted at Karachi Photoblog; thanks to iFaqeer for suggesting it for ATP.
Thank you Adnan Ahmad and Mast Qalandar for these literary reminders.
The verse from Amrita Pritam is one of my all-time favorites, although my recollection has a ‘tainou’ in there, I may be wrong:
Ik royee si dhee Punjab di, tu likh likh maaray wein
Aj lakhaaN dhiyhaN rondiyaaN, tainou Waris Shah nooN Kehn …
I had been planning a post around this verse… will still do it… but did not realize that she was only a teenager when she wrote it.
The Manto work on this is outstanding and to any readers who have not read Toba Tek Singh; please do. There are also some good translations of this and otehr works from Manto; including those from Khalid Hasan (which I particulalry like).
Oxford Univeristy Press also has a good anthology of literature on the partition which includes Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan, some of Manto’s work, and others.
Adnan,
That “different side of Sikhs” was a manifestation of the shameful, bloody and vicious cycle that overtook Punjab in the aftermath of Partition. To their eternal shame, both Muslims and Sikhs indulged in extreme violence rsulting in mutual death and destruction on a large scale.
Moved by the aftermath of Partition, while Saadat Hasan Manto wrote his memorable Toba Tek Singh, a 16-17 year old Sikh girl wrote a most poignant and unforgettable poem about that period. Since the poem is in Punjabi it is difficult to transliterate it, but here are two lines from it with a rough translation. Addresing Waris Shah the legendary Punjabi poet, she wrote:
Ik royee si dhee Punjab di, tu likh likh maaray wein
Aj lakhaaN dhiyhaN rondiyaaN, Waris Shah nooN Kehn …
[When one daughter of Punjab cried, you cried a river over her (by writing Heer)--- Today thousands of them are crying --- in vain ---for your attention]
That poet was Amrita Pritum.
Readers of Manto (perhaps one of the greatest short story writers to have lived) and 1947 in general, know a different side of sikhs..; blood Baths taking place on trains going to and from Lahore on daily basis, etc. But after that year the feeling in Punjab has always been that of seperation and something uncalled for taking place in that insane year. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and new generations like mine have different realities to live with. Within his stories Manto once took a different angle and also told us about Toba Tek Singh who stood taller than both India and Pakistan and passed on in that state. Here is to Sikhism and Toba Tek Singh:
“opper dee gurr gurr dee mang dee daal dee toba tek singh de muthay kanal daa kalekin..”
From Toba Tek Singh. Saadat Hasan Manto
One sees quite a few sikhs on the roads and streets of Lahore but one assumes that they are Indian sikhs…
About the armed forces… apparently, after partition was a foregone reality and the Congress was imposing a partition of Punjab and Bengal … as a last ditch effort to keep Punjab united… the Muslim League had offered Sikhs quid pro quo vis a vis having an autonomous and independent Sikh homeland within a Pakistan… this included the defence ministry and the position of the Army chief to the Sikhs…
Not to hijack this discussion, but as far as i know the armed forces have never had a restriction on non-Muslims joining the ranks. It is just a question of how many non-Muslims aspire to become part of the ranks. You need to take a number of factors into consideration, the most important one being socio-economic standing and the traditional means of sustenance.
Please continue.
Cemendtaur: nice post. Thanks.
BD: I don’t think there has been any “dwindling” of numbers over the years. Their population in Pakistan was reduced to pretty much zero in 1947, except a few left in Nankana Sahib (the second holiest Sikh pilgrimage spot) and very small numbers here and there. There was a small increase in number of Sikhs during the troubles in (Indian) Punjab in the 1980s (mostly transitory militants, but some retired militants live in cities like Lahore now). Some Sikhs from Afghanistan also migrated to Pakistan during the troubles in Kabul after the fall of Najib’s Govt. and again during the Taliban rule, but almost 100% of these Sikhs have made their way to India.
The feeling expressed here about the great ethos and work culture of the Sikhs is quite accurate. The most telling evidence of their hard working nature is that I have lived for long in areas with large Sikh populations, yet have never seen a single Sikh beggar in my life. Not even one.
Sikhism is also one of the most rational religions in the world (if there can be such a thing as a “rational” religion), accepting good features of both Hinduism and Islam and rejecting the negative aspects of both. Also, one of the most egalitarian religions of the world. It rejects caste, promotes gender equality and does not even discriminate between believer and non-believer. It is not perfect in these respects, but was far ahead of its time when it came into existence as a faith.
BTW, I wouldn’t really say that Sikhs are being increasingly inducted into the Pakistan army. Of course, the statement is technically true since it is an increase from zero to one. But one cadet recruited in 59 years, with none before him and none in the pipeline for the future, is hardly an evidence of “increasing numbers”.
I’ve come in close acquaintance with only a few Sikhs, and they happen to be the most hardworking and honest of all the people I’ve come across.
I agree, their lifestyle, attire makes them unique and at times vulnerable (be it post 9/11 USA or 1984 riots in India). But then, their ethos and values make them command instant respect no matter where they are. They can make any place home.
Regarding dwindling numbers of Sikhs, do you have any census report on how their number reduced over years? I’ve heard Sikhs are now increasingly being hired in the Pakistani army. We need more steps like these!
For the benefit of our non-Urdu reading readers. The board featured in the photograph reads something like:
Heridetry Hakim Sarbir Singh
Contact for all female and male hidden ailments.
Please suggest otherwise if I got the translation wrong.