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The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three
Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity and Multiculturalism.
The author has surveyed three generations of migrant Sikhs in Canada. It was in the beginning of the 20th century that a small number of Sikhs managed to travel to Canada. The well-known incident connected with the Japanese ship, Koma Gata Maru, occurred in Vancouver in 1916. The first generation has continued to live and function more or less as it came, without imbibing what it encountered in the host country. The second generation, however, learnt the techniques of modern society, though not its values. The modern values, as described by the author, are best expressed in terms personal choice and belief in egalitarianism, self-orientation and success by merit. These values conflicted with the traditional values of respect of the elders and obligation to perform ones duty towards them. The second generation regarded (and continues to regard) two things as central in regard to family honour. The first one was that marriages should take place within the community and, preferably, within the region of origin, if possible. The second was that, even after marriage, the couple continued to stay with the family. While this conflict between values is noticeable in the case of the second generation, things have started changing in the third generation. There are instances today when boys grow up and move away from the parents. In the case of girls, it is even more disruptive. Their conduct is supposed to be a matter of family honour and, therefore, creates considerable social disruption. This phenomenon of third generation either defying the family or moving away from it is already at work. It is more in Canada that some of the Sikhs have given lively evidence of participation in public affairs and got elected to some of the legislative bodies. Almost in each one of these cases, the individual was described as Indo-Canadian rather than a Canadian Sikh. Clearly, these individuals had taken the jump on their own, without causing much family disruption. Multiculturalism became official Canadian policy in the early 1970s and was made applicable to all communities. If the writer ever writes again on the subject, it would help her to compare the situation of the Sikhs with that of the Chinese, blacks, Indian and Pakistani Muslims or even other Muslims. The social predicament is approximately the same in each case. The author, who is of Punjabi origin, has analysed the situation both skillfully and graphically. While some other scholars have also written about it, this particular study is likely to stand out as both objective and sensitive in terms of understanding and treatment. She writes as a scholar should. She has written in detail about the role of the gurdwara in Sikh society. What she has to say is both perceptive and constructive. The fact that the priest is more in tune with the earlier generations rather than the contemporary generation is a matter of significance and has been discussed with tact. Most of the Sikhs who migrated to foreign countries were not literate. That they carried with them their traditional values is understandable, but what justification is there for the state government or the SGPC to have neglected this basic competence? Had either of them played its right role, the migrants would have found it easier to adjust. The SGPC should have tried to make the Sikhs more literate, if the state had failed to ensure it. Next to Bihar, Punjab is most notorious for teacher absenteeism. Some of their special victims were they who later migrated abroad. Migration to other countries has come down markedly recently. It is difficult to see tomorrow, but they who cross the seas have both energy and ambition. Surely, one of these days, the state will become as productive as elsewhere.
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THE subtitle explains the
parameters within which the book has been written. It is obviously a Ph.D
thesis with its focus on the situation in Vancouver. It would be logical to
infer, however, that what is true of Vancouver is equally true of the half a
million Sikhs that live in Canada. This may not be true of the Sikhs in the
USA, who have approximately the same number. Most of them are better educated
than the Sikhs in Canada. The situation in the UK and other European countries
is mixed. The bulk of the Sikhs who live in the UK are not all that literate,
but a substantial number in the UK and the rest of the Europe are.