Religious Pluralism in Punjab

A Contemporary Account of Sikh Sants, Babas, Gurus and Satgurus

Joginder Singh

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351986342
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book analyses the heterogeneous modes of meditation, prayer, initiation, beliefs and practices, codes of conduct, ethics and life-style of the contemporary Sikh Sants, Babas, Gurus and Satgurus in Punjab.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Religious Milieu in Contemporary Punjab

The Punjab has a legacy of composite religion and culture. The Punjabis comprising the Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Scheduled Castes have a common consciousness of shared origins and traditions. Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam and their numerous sects and cults express religious and cultural diversity. This diversity springs from the distinct spiritual and temporal experiences of the religious leaders who belong to different ethnic communities and regions. However, the assertions of their diverse religious ideas often synchronize with their temporal aspirations. The volume of the synchronized assertion is generally determined by several variables but principally by the demographic, socio-economic and political status of the communities the holymen belong to. However, the role of these variables changes from time to time. We will begin with an analysis of the changing demographic status of the major religious communities of Punjab and its impact. Since this work is devoted to the diverse religious ideas of the Sikh holymen, emphasis on the status of the Sikh community is unavoidable.

In the post-Independence period, the population of Punjab comprised and still comprises two major communities of Sikhs and Hindus and the two minor communities of Christians and Muslims. However, the number of Scheduled Castes belonging to major communities is largest in Punjab when compared with other states of India. In terms of faiths and occupations, each community is segmented. The Hindu community comprises Brahmins, Khatris/Aroras, Banias and Scheduled Castes. Majority of these Hindus are urban based and engaged in business or as professionals. Similarly, the Sikhs are socially and religiously fragmented community. The Jat Sikhs form the dominant caste of agriculturists. They are followed by minor agriculturists like the Kamboj, Labanas and Sainis. Being principally engaged in agriculture, majority of the Sikhs are found in rural Punjab though with occupational diversification and mobility, they have also shifted to urban areas. A substantial number of the Jat, Kamboj, Labana and Saini Sikhs are engaged in business and professional jobs. They interact as well as compete with their counterparts, the Hindus. The large number of Khatri and Arora Sikhs found in urban areas are still a minority compared to the Khatri and Arora Hindus. The Khatris and Aroras, irrespective of their religious affiliations, are engaged in business and professional jobs. The artisan Sikhs comprise Ramgarhias (Lohars and Tarkhans), Chhimbas, Julahas and Jhinwars. The Scheduled Caste Sikhs are Ramdasias, Ravidasias and Mazhabis. The people of each caste have their own social hierachies and perform rituals and customs accordingly, yet there is strong caste and religious affiliation among the Sikhs and Hindus. The Khatris and Aroras are both Sikhs and Hindus. The Sikh Gurus belonged to the Bedi and Sodhi sub-castes of the Khatris. The majority of the artisans are Sikhs and found both in rural and urban areas. The Scheduled Caste Sikhs are in minority vis-à-vis Hindus and are also found in rural and urban areas. Inspite of occupational differentiation and religious diversity, the castes and the sub-castes still remain the principal binary variables in the social and cultural life. The number of followers of the gurus, satgurus, mahants, sants and babas and their resurgence is largely determined by the social status of the communities these men belong to.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES AND THEIR SOCIO-RELIGIOUS IMPACT

Over a period of hundred years, the demography of Punjab has changed tremendously which has had a serious impact on the polity, socio-religious and cultural life of the Punjabis. During the colonial period, ‘the Punjab witnessed reorganization of the administrative space, reclamation of vast stretches of wastelands by laying out of an extensive network of canal irrigation, and construction of railways rendering connectivity not only within but also with the port cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Karachi, in particular.’¹ Similar but more drastic changes took place in the post-colonial period. To begin with the territorial division of Punjab – the partition of Punjab (1947) radically changed its demographic status. More than 62 per cent area (61,980 square miles) was awarded to West Punjab of Pakistan whereas East Punjab in India was left with a mere 38 per cent (37,423 square miles) of the total area. Similarly, the Muslim population in West Punjab comprised 15.80 million and the population of Hindus and Sikhs (and other communities) in East Punjab comprised 12.6 million.

As a result of the partition of Punjab, the Hindus formed the majority population (51.9 per cent) of East Punjab whereas the Sikhs remained in a minority; the only difference was that in the colonial Punjab the Sikhs were less than 15 per cent of the total population which increased to 39.7 per cent after Independence. However, the Sikhs were in majority in the districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana. Nevertheless, the formation of a Punjabi-speaking province in 1966 changed the Sikhs’ minority status to majority. They formed 54 per cent of the total population as compared to the 44 per cent Hindu population. With the exception of Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar, they formed majority population in the rest of the districts of Punjab.² Within a period of less than five decades, the Hindu population declined from 44 per cent to 36.94 per cent whereas the Sikh population increased from 35 per cent to 59.91 per cent (Census 2011). Moreover, the decline of Hindu population was in both the rural and urban areas of Punjab.

The decline of Hindu population since 1966 has been attributed to their migration out of Punjab. Being essentially a non-land owning community, the rate of their social mobility is faster than that of their counterpart, the Sikh community. However, according to Census 2001, out of the 22 districts of Punjab, the Hindus still enjoy majority status in 4 districts: Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Nawanshahr. It implies that the Sikh community holds majority status in 16 districts. In the next decade, the Hindus lost their majority status of 47.35 per cent in Gurdaspur but still held this status in Hoshiarpur (58.89 per cent), Jalandhar (59.04 per cent) and Nawanshahr (60.72 per cent). Moreover, there are several urban areas where the gap between the percentage of Hindu and Sikh populations is very thin. The margin of thin population encouraged the political stategists of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to put up their respective candidates for electoral contests. The districts with a small margin of population differences are given in Table 1.2.³

TABLE 1.1: POPULATION OF MAJOR RELIGIONS IN PUNJAB

For appropriating power and state apparatus, the leaders and activists of each community communalize religious consciousness. In the game of numbers, the Muslims, Christians and Scheduled Castes also play their respective roles as the main political parties try to keep them in their respective vote-banks. Let us begin with the Congress politics. Claiming itself to be the champion of secularism and of the downtrodden, it wooed the marginal minorities like Muslims, Christians and Scheduled Castes. Consequently, all these communities preferred Congress over the BJP and Akalis which had a communal tag. For similar reasons, a large number of Sikhs, especially non-agriculturists, preferred Congress over the BJP and Akalis. However, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s politics of appeasing the majority Hindu community in the post-Emergency period and the launching of Operation Blue Star and the subsequent 1984 massacre alienated the Sikhs in particular and Muslims/Christians in general. They shifted their loyalty to the regional parties. In Punjab, they became the vote-bank of the SAD. It is a paradox that the Hindus too drifted towards the BJP; they perceived themselves as part of the Hindus in India and asserted their political aspirations first through the Congress and then the BJP. In 1984, the Bahujan Samaj Party came into being to voice the aspirations and demands of the Dalits of northern India. Though its founder the late Kanshi Ram and his successor Mayawati primarily focus on the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh, yet its branch in Punjab has consolidated its vote-bank, thus reducing the Congress vote-bank among the Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians.

TABLE 1.2: MARGIN OF POPULATION OF HINDUS AND SIKHS

	Gurdaspur	Patiala	Ferozepur
Hindu	47.35 per cent	42.12 per cent	46.98 per cent
Sikh	44.44 per cent	55.52 per cent	51.35 per cent

The BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have been forced to enlist Sikh Parcharaks (Rashtriya Sikh Sangat) and politicians in Punjab. Several candidates have been contesting elections of muncipal corporations, the state assembly and Lok Sabha on the BJP’s tickets. Similarly, the SAD is fielding Hindu candidates for these elected bodies. Still the demographic position of the Punjab state provides enough space for the BJP and SAD to retain their respective religious and cultural identities. It may also be pointed here that the SAD, Congress and BJP cannot afford to ignore the population of Scheduled Castes/Tribes and have to field Dalit candidates in the reserved constituencies. The electoral compulsions force politicians to patronize holymen for augmenting their vote-banks. As noted in the Preface, such compulsions have led to their resurgence in Punjab.

EMERGING RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS, TRENDS AND FOUNDING ESTABLISHMENTS

MUSLIMS

In the post-Independence period, the Muslims were reduced to a non-entity...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table Of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Introduction: Religious Milieu in Contemporary Punjab
• 2. Udasi, Seva Panthi and Nirmala Establishments: Mahants, Sants and Babas – Setting Pluralism in Sikh Faith
• 3. Proliferation of Udasi, Seva Panthi and Nirmala Establishments in the Twentieth Century: Continuity of Pluralism in Sikh Faith
• 4. Nirankari, Namdhari, Neeldhari and Nanaksari Establishments: Enriching Pluralism in Sikh Faith
• 5. Sants and Babas: Moving towards Khalsa Identity, Panthic Seva and Politics
• 6. Conclusion
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index