Sikhs who enjoy doing bihu, not bhangra
Parbina Rashid

A Sikh family of Nowgaon district which has adopted the Assamese culture and dress code.

WHO says one has to know Punjabi or bhangra to be called a Sikh? Here is this community in Assam which enjoys doing Bihu, has no knowledge of Punjabi language or culture yet follows Sikh teachings with a rigidity which is no way less than the Sikhs in Punjab. Displaced from their place of origin centuries ago, this community of Assamese Sikhs living in a remote area of Nowgoan district are often dubbed and ridiculed by their counterparts here as 'second-class Sikhs'.

A whopping number of about 10,000 Assamese Sikhs are mainly concentrated in Nowgaon district. Their turbans may not go well with their Mongoloid features and sparse beards, and may even fetch them belittling remarks from other Sikhs yet they remain a proud race. "Our forefathers came to Assam centuries ago to rescue the Assamese people from foreign invasion and that makes us feel proud. As far as our religion is concerned, we have been following it with utmost devotion," says one of the Assamese Sikhs, voicing the general sentiment of his community.

And these Sikhs don’t feel nostalgic about being away from Punjab, its culture and its people. "We are Assamese who are following the Sikh religion. We have adopted this place as our own, as we have been living here for generations."

So let not appearances throw you off gear as you enter the house of one of these families. You are not likely to be greeted with a glass of water or soft drink but with a sarai containing betel nut and paan — the traditional offering made by the Assamese. Even the lady of the house looks like just any other Assamese married women — adorned with sindoor and clad in mekhla – chaddar, the traditional Assamese dress — till your eyes rest on the tiny kirpan tucked under the chaddar.

Then come the male folk and you heave a sigh of relief — some similarities at last — the turban and the beard (though sparse) is there. But even with them you will not be able to strike a conversation in Punjabi. And what is more, their names also have an Assamese accent to it.

As you take a peep into their customs, you realise that they have not only assimilated themselves into the Assamese society to a large extent but have also remained loyal to their religion. They celebrate both Magh Bihu and Lohri, which fall on the same day — January 13. With equal enthusiasm they celebrate both Gurpurb and Shankar Dev's tithi as well as participate in Bohag Bihu and Durga Puja, the two most widely celebrated festivals of Assam.

"We have never felt that we are not a part of the Assamese society and at the same time we have been faithful to our religion," says S. K. Singh, president of the Assam Sikh Association. "But it hurts us when we are called ‘duplicate Sikhs’ or ‘second class Sikhs’ by our counterparts in Punjab," he adds.

"In fact in some respects, we are more staunch than the Punjabi Sikhs," says Jaswant Kaur. "We may not speak the language but we follow our religious book very seriously. Most of us are amritdharis, as it is our custom to partake of amrit before we get married," she adds. And they are proud of their heritage too. Visit any of the families in Borkola and you are likely to hear this line over and over again: "when Giani Zail Singh visited Borkola in 1975, he was surprised at the way we are following the Guru Granth Sahib."

The settlement of this community in Assam can be traced back to the third Burmese attack when King Viswanarayan Singh of the Ahom tribe sought Maharaja Ranjit Singh's help to defeat the Burmese army. It was around that time when 500 soldiers were sent under the leadership of Chetan Singh. They crossed the Brahmaputra and Kalang rivers and reached Chaparmukh. After defeating the Burmese, most of them settled there. General Chetan Singh died in the war but his wife who is known as 'Mataji' survived. Most of the Sikhs of Assam are descendents of Mataji and considered as upper class Sikhs for their pure lineage. There is yet another branch of Assamese Sikhs which is not so pure in its lineage. One Ram Singh who went to Assam in the year 1823 got married to an Assamese girl and settled in Borkola.

Mataji Gurdwara in Borkola village is the most popular Sikh shrine in this region. The site where a gurdwara now stands in Dhubri district was visited by Guru Teg Bahadur. The local Sikhs are full of the miracles he performed during his stay there. However the ultimate pilgrimage for them still is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

By and large an agrarian society, the new generation of Assamese Sikhs has come out of its shell to take up responsible positions in government and private sector. They are now teachers, businessmen, and officers in the civil services. Though now they have begun picking up jobs in other parts of the state, they are still plagued by feelings of insecurity. And this is the reason behind the formation of the Assam Sikh Association.

"We are the smallest minority community in the region but we have not been granted minority status so far," says S. K. Singh. " The association is going to demand minority status and along with that representation in local bodies and state assembly," he adds.

Till they get this status, Assamese Sikhs have a tough fight ahead to assimilate into the local society and also to prove to the Punjabi Sikhs that they too are respectable Sikhs.