The Sikh Diaspora: The Search For Statehood

341 Pages·1998·17.579 MB·English

by  Darsham Singh Tatla

The Sikh diaspora
Global diasporas
Series Editor: Robin Cohen
The assumption that minorities and migrants will demonstrate an
exclusive loyalty to the nation-state is now questionable. Scholars
of nationalism, international migration and ethnic relations need
new conceptual maps and fresh case studies to understand the
growth of complex transnational identities. The old idea of
“diaspora” may provide this framework. Though often conceived
in terms of a catastrophic dispersion, widening the notion of
diaspora to include trade, imperial, labour and cultural diaporas
can provide a more nuanced understanding of the often positive
relationships between migrants’ homelands and their places of
work and settlement.
This book forms part of an ambitious and interlinked series of
volumes trying to capture the new relationships between home
and abroad. Historians, political scientists, sociologists and an-
thropologists from a number of countries have collaborated on
this forward-looking project. The series includes two books which
provide the defining, comparative and synoptic aspects of
diasporas. Further titles, of which The Sikh diasporu is the first,
focus on particular communities, both traditionally recognized
diasporas and those newer claimants who define their collective
experiences and aspirations in terms of a diasporic identity.
This series is associated with the Transnational Communities
Programme at the University of Oxford funded by the UK’s Eco-
nomic and Social Research Council.
Already published:
Global diasporas: an introduction Robin Cohen
New diasporas Nicholas Van Hear
Forthcoming books include:
The ltalian labour diaspora Donna Gabaccia
The Greek diaspora: from Odyssey to EU George Stubos
The Japanese diaspora Michael Weiner, Roger Daniels,
Hiroshi Komai
The Sikh diaspora
The search for statehood
Darshan Singh Tatla
0 Darshan Singh Tatla 1999
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.
First published in 1999 by UCL Press
UCL Press Limited
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London EC4A 3DE
UK
The name of University College London @JCL) is a registered
trade mark used by UCL Press with the consent of the owner.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
are available
ISBN: l-85728 300-7 HB
l-85728-301-5 PB
Typeset by Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong
Printed by T.J. International, Padstow, UK.
Contents
Foreword by the Series Editor vii
Preface ix
List of tables xi
Maps x111
Introduction
Theoretical issues 2
Scope of the study 8
1 The Sikhs: the search for statehood 11
A sect, a community or a nation? 11
The making of Sikh ethnic consciousness 13
The colonial encounter 16
Under the postcolonial state 21
Search for statehood: the dilemma 30
Indian nationalism: perils of a nation-state 34
2 The Sikh diaspora: a history of settlement 41
The colonial era 43
The postcolonial era 55
Post-1984 emigration: Sikh refugees 58
Conclusion 61
3 The Sikh diaspora and the Punjab: dialectics of ethnic
linkages 63
Economic linkage 64
Social exchange 66
Religious tradition 73
Diaspora: a creative site? 80
V
CONTENTS
4 The Sikh diaspora and the Punjab: political linkages 85
Early links 86
Post-1947 associations 91
Issues of mobilization 100
5 Demand for homeland: Sikhs in North America 113
Main organizations 116
Mobilization 122
6 Demand for homeland: Sikhs in Britain 137
Main organizations 138
Mobilization 143
7 Mediating between states: Sikh diplomacy and interstate
relations 155
Indian government and the Sikh diaspora 156
Indo-British relations and the Sikhs 158
Sikh diplomacy and Indo-us relations 165
Indo-Canadian relations and the Sikh lobby 171
International organizations 180
Conclusion 181
8 Call of homeland: models and reality of ethnic mobilization 183
Parameters of mobilization 184
Discourse on the Sikh homeland 193
The impact of the critical event 196
Conclusion 209
Appendices 213
Notes 227
Glossary and abbreviations 281
Bibliography 285
Index
vi
Foreword by the Series Editor
There are about 16 million Sikhs worldwide, the great majority of
them located in the Indian sub-continent. Those who live abroad,
about one million people, are concentrated in just three countries
- Britain, Canada and the USA. However, the overseas Sikhs are
a distinctive presence in many places. Indeed Sikhs seem to go
to a lot of trouble to make themselves visibly different and re-
cognizable. Nearly always, the Sikh surname is “Singh”, meaning
“lion“. The men wrap their uncut beards and heads in turbans,
they carry a comb, wear a steel bracelet, and sometimes wear
soldier’s breeches with a ceremonial sword. Such “social mark-
ers” are a deliberate display - indication that many Sikhs do not
want to go down the paths of assimilation or unthinking integra-
tion.
Such distancing is very much part of the life of Sikhs “at home”
and abroad. The expression “at home” refers particularly to the
Punjab, where most Sikhs live, among other peoples and without
a homeland of their own. Some scholars (for example Dusenbery
1995: 18-19) suggest that their Punjabi identity (in terms of culture,
language and sense of place) was more important than their spe-
cifically Sikh identity for much of their history. Certainly like some
other population groups (the Jews come to mind) it is often diffi-
cult to decide whether the Sikhs are a religious community, an
ethnic group, a nation, a people or even a sect. This ambiguity
makes any discussion of the Sikhs particularly enriching to those
interested in transnational communities. We are, however, par-
ticularly fortunate in having the issue of social definition met
head-on by Darshan Singh Tatla in this account.
vii
FOREWORD
As Tatla makes clear, we need to add history to morphology.
While they remained a separate community, only a few of the
Sikhs abroad identified themselves with the political project of
constructing a national homeland, known as Khalistan. But this
was to change dramatically in 1984 when the Indian government
sent in troops to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to dislodge some
protestors demanding statehood. The temple was the symbolic
centre of Sikhdom and the Indian government could hardly have
selected a more sensitive target. As Tatla notes, this episode in-
vites comparison with the destruction of the temple of Solomon.
Suddenly the idea of a ethno-nationality with a state of its own
flared up and redefined the nature of Sikhdom.
Is this new affirmation of a territorial nationalism sufficient
cause to consider the Sikhs a diaspora? As Tatla shows, at least
one key component of a conventional definition of “diaspora” is
missing. Unlike the Hindu community who often emigrated as
indentured labourers, the Sikhs were “free” migrants. They often
provided the auxiliaries to the British in their colonial expansion -
as troops or train drivers, for example. But Sikhs in trade or
agriculture soon augmented the early travellers and settlers.
Characterizing such a diverse group as a diaspora can always be
challenged, yet the expression does seem to evoke many of the
precognitions and behavioural patterns of Sikh settlers in foreign
climes. They retained a strong sense of community, related to
their “homeland” (vague as that concept was for much of their
history), reaffirmed their religious beliefs and rallied around
when their heartland seemed to be under attack.
Covering the Sikhs in all their principal areas of settlement, this
book has been based on a comprehensive interpretation of pub-
lished accounts, pamphlets and newspapers. The author has also
conducted many interviews in pursuit of his interest. Having
worked on his subject for many years, Tatla has an unrivalled
command over the sources for this study. One can hardly imagine
a more thorough account of an important and arresting theme -
the Sikhs abroad and their search for statehood. I am delighted to
commend this engaging book to the reader.
Robin Cohen
Series Editor
. .
Vlll
Preface
This study is part of a growing literature on the role of diaspora
communities in the international arena. In working out this narra-
tive of the Sikh diaspora, I have drawn upon many studies and
charted some fresh avenues. In doing so, I have drawn upon
many sources for data and upon testimonies of many individuals
and leaders of various organizations mentioned in the study.
Although I have rarely used such testimony without a corrobora-
tive written source, such informal talks were extremely useful in
gauging the emotional cultural environment of the Sikh diaspora.
In Britain, talks were held with Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, Gurmej
Singh Gill, Avtar Johal, Ajit Singh Khera, Dr Jasdev Singh Rai,
Ranjit Singh Rana, Balbir Singh, Balwinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh,
Gurmail Singh, Joga Singh and Dr Pargat Singh. In the United
States, Dr Gurmeet Singh Aulakh, Ajit Singh Bainipal, Didar
Singh Bains, Sher Singh Kanwal, Dr Karamjit Singh Rai, Dr
Sukhmander Singh were very helpful. In Canada, talks with
Pritam Singh Aulakh, Darshan Gill, Ravinder Ravi, Daljeet Singh
Sandhu, Kesar Singh, Narinder Singh, Satindarpal Singh and
Uday Singh yielded many insights. I am especially indebted to
Ranjit Singh Hansra, Kuldip Singh, and Jawala Singh Grewal as
my North American hosts.
For extensive consultation of the Punjabi media, I owe thanks to
many, but especially to the late Tarsem Singh Purewal, editor of
Des Purdes, Tara Singh Hayer, editor of the Indo-Canadian Times,
and M. S. Sidhu at World Sikh News. At Berkeley I was able to
ix
PREFACE
consult the Gadr collection with Dr Kenneth Logan’s help. The
Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of
Warwick, where this study began, provided much impetus by
exchange of ideas among many research students and teachers.
Among them, I thank Harbhajan Brar, Mark Johnson, John Rex,
Zig Leyton Henry and Harry Goulbourne, who supervised my
research. I owe it to Robin Cohen’s crucial intervention, for saving
this study from oblivion. Colleagues from the Punjab Research
Group would recognize some elements of their concerns; among
them, I am grateful to Narinder Basi, Shinder Thandi, Gurharpal
Singh and especially Ian Talbot, who read through an earlier
version and offered valuable comments. Thanks are due to my
colleagues and others who offered a cheerful working environ-
ment at the college: Jagdev Boparai, Rosangela Dempsey, Ranjit
Dhanda, Sardul Dhesi, Ann Hynes, Talat Javed, Kathleen Jenkins,
Jill Manley, Jean Parry, Sujinder S. Sangha, and especially Chris
Watts. Thanks to Ram Singh for searching certain passages from
the Adi Granth, and Tejwant Singh Gill for some Punjabi folklore.
Caroline Wintersgill and Claire Hart at UCL have provided excel-
lent support. Such a long list of acknowledgements does not
diminish my exclusive claim for errors and misinterpretations.
Hopefully, this preliminary study will encourage scholars to build
a more robust picture. To this end, many primary sources are
listed. While my academic concerns are somehow related to my
sojourn turning into harsh displacement and loss, I hope Harjeet
and Rajwant, my son and daughter, will find within these pages
an expression of my affection, anxiety and hope as they grow in
the diaspora.
Darshan Singh Tatla
Warwick