“Pariahs to power brokers”, read the headline of a full-page report recently in Toronto Star, explaining how the Sikhs, who were once shunned in the Maple Leaf country, had become a major political force in Canada.
Indeed, the community, which was violently and vehemently turned away from its shores just a little over 100 years ago, had emerged as a political force with the election of Jagmeet Singh, a practicing Sikh who wears a turban and carries a kirpan, as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Climbing Up the Ladder
The irony is stark. Before Independence, the community played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle. The period before Partition and after 1947 saw the Sikhs joining the armed forces in large numbers. Punjab’s farmers were the main providers of foodgrains across India.
The Sikhs have been slowly but surely climbing up the political ladder in Canada, their adopted home. With Jagmeet Singh, the Sikhs now have one of their own heading one of the three major political parties in Canada. The community has a sizeable presence even in other two parties, the ruling Liberal Party and the Opposition, led by the Conservative Progressive Party.
Whether or not Jagmeet Singh can lead the party to a historic win in the 2019 federal polls in Canada is inconsequential. With his elevation as head of the NDP, the community has hit an important milestone in its arduous journey on foreign land.
Political Journey
The political journey of the Sikhs in Canada, by coincidence or otherwise, has followed a parallel trajectory with the turbulence in Punjab in the 1980s. Back home, things came to a head in June 1984, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Army into the Golden Temple, the holy shrine of the Sikhs in Amritsar. Later, when she was killed by her bodyguards to avenge the action, the Sikhs were specially targeted by organised mobs allegedly instigated by some Congressmen.
That was also a period when the Sikhs in Canada were cutting their teeth in politics in Canada.
In 1986, Moe Sihota, representing the NDP, won the British Columbia province, to become the first Indo-Canadian to be elected either to the federal or provincial parliament. In 1991, he rose to become a minister in BC.
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There was no looking back, both at the federal and provincial level.
Gulzar Singh Cheema was the first Indian to be elected MLA for the Liberal Party in Canada in 1988. He won his riding from Manitoba and later shifted to BC, where he was elected in 2001 and was appointed as a cabinet minister – it is a rarity in Canada to be a member from two provincial assemblies.
Gurbax Singh Malhi became the first turbaned Sikh MP in the western world when he won the Bramalea-Gore-Malton seat in Ontario in 1993.
Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, an MP from British Columbia, was the first Indian-Canadian to become a federal Cabinet Minister in 1997. Ujjal Dosanjh rose to be the Premier of British Columbia in 2000-2001. In 2004, Gurmant Grewal and
his wife, Neena Grewal, of the Conservative Party, became the first couple to be chosen members of the House of Commons at the same time.
Today, as many as 30 legislators, turbaned or otherwise, at the federal and provincial level, belong to the Sikh community. Four Sikhs, two of them turban-wearing, grace Justin Trudeau’s cabinet – Navdeep Bains, Bardish Chagger, Harjit Sajjan and Amarjeet Sohi. Even in India, their primary home, no federal or provincial government
other than Punjab, can boast of such a recognition for the community.
There isn’t a more profound reflection of the remarkable journey of Sikhs in Canada than the formal apology that the country offered in 2016 for the Komagata Maru incident of May 1914. The ship had sailed from Hong Kong carrying 376 persons, including 340 Sikhs. Most of them were turned back from the Canadian shores.
Coupled with Canada’s renewed emphasis on the integration of immigrants, stemming from its policy of multiculturalism, an overwhelming presence of Sikhs on the political scene would have had an influence on the apology.
Leaving a Mark in Every Sphere
The journey of Sikhs, both men and women, is not limited to politics in Canada. They have come to dominate certain professions, especially trucking and real estate sectors in the two provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. Their presence is also being felt elsewhere, especially in parts of Alberta and Manitoba. More and more turban-clad
Sikhs can be seen on the farmlands across Canada.
Till the 1980s, certain professions, especially the uniformed forces, were a taboo for the turbaned Sikhs. However, in 1991, even this bastion was breached when Baltej
Singh Dhillon became the first Mountie in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to wear a turban instead of the Stetson Hat. Since then, we have had turbaned Sikhs in the Canadian Navy, Army and Air Force.
With the appointment of Harjit Sajjan as the defence minister, the presence of Sikhs in the Canadian armed forces could increase further. They are also making their presence felt in other fields, including the judiciary.
Palbinder Kaur Shergill became the first turbaned judge in Canada when she was appointed to the British Columbia Supreme Court in June this year. In states like Ontario and British Columbia, Sikhs even have their own schools.
The younger Punjabis in Canada, who belong to the millennial generation, have gone further and emerged the unabashed brand ambassadors of the community. This includes youngsters like vlogger and actor Lilly Singh, comedian Jus Reign (Jasmeet Singh Raina) and poet Rupi Kaur, who have furthered Punjabi cultural traditions through their work in respective fields.
The poetry of Rupi Kaur, for example, is an ode to her origins (diasporic Punjabi Sikh woman) and the mother tongue (Punjabi in Gurmukhi script). In her poetry in English, she uses only lowercase letters. The only punctuation she uses is the period – the way it is in Gurmukhi.
All this is in sharp contrast to numerous Punjabis who make it big in films in Mumbai (Chopras, Kapoors, Dutts, Anands and Deols). While they became household names across the country, their contribution to Punjabi culture or language was
marginal. Few other Punjabis and Sikhs who made it big in India were apologetic of their origins.
Rise of Sikhs Viewed With Skepticism
Unfortunately, the rise of Sikhs in politics in Canada and elsewhere is viewed with skepticism back home – both in Punjab and other states – especially in the context of the developments in the post-Operation Blue Star period in 1984.
Jagmeet Singh, for example, was denied a visa by the Indian government in 2014 for, what it perceived as “fomenting contempt” against the country. India is apparently peeved at the fact that in April that year, he had voted for a motion in the Ontario Assembly describing the 1984 Sikh killings in November as “genocide”.
Many in the Indian establishment are also uncomfortable with the fact that many supporters of Jagmeet Singh and other political leaders in Canada have been highly critical of the human rights violations in Punjab. Some among them are even vocal in their support for a separate state of Khalistan.
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4 Issues The Sikh Community Wants Addressed
Delhi is not alone in this perception. The powers that be in Chandigarh are no different. Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, had refused to meet the Canadian Defense Minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan, during his visit earlier this year, dubbing him a Khalistan supporter.
Whenever any dissent emanates from Sikhs abroad, it is clubbed by the media and the political establishment in India as a voice of separatism. The support of Sikhs abroad to the Aam Aadmi Party is also being seen in their context.
However, what Delhi is not appreciating is that the Sikhs abroad have four major concerns: One, the hurt caused by the Operation Blue Star. Two, the failure of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence victims to get justice by punishing the perpetrators of violence. Three, the failure of the state to look into the human rights violations by the security forces in Punjab for nearly a decade after 1984. Four, the failure of the Centre to bail out the faltering economy of the Punjab, especially its agriculture.
The Need For a New Relationship
Undoubtedly, there is more to all the four issues than the way the Sikhs view it. But that should not foreclose the option to talk to them or their representatives. Moreover, what neither Delhi nor Chandigarh is appreciating is that the sprinkle of protests in Canada and elsewhere stems from the alienation of the community over the
years.
While such voices of dissent are easily subdued back home, the freedom of speech in the Western world fuels them. If Delhi fails to recognise and address their concerns and show magnanimity for past mistakes, these protests could slowly gather force and turn into a tempest.
Before that happens, Delhi and Chandigarh must work towards forging a new working relationship with the Sikh Diaspora in foreign land. They could, in fact, even help revive the faltering economy in Punjab. Having four from the community in Trudeau's Cabinet and one from them heading the NDP in Canada should be looked at with pride back home and used as an advantage.
(The writer, a former journalist and an MLA in the Punjab Assembly, is currently visiting Canada. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same. )
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