One is often told that a Sikh
without his flowing hair and turban is like a king without a crown. But,
across Punjab, and more so in the countryside, young members of the community
are giving up the most visible religious symbol of Sikh identity - long hair
and the turban. The trend, which has been growing in the last four to five
years, has reached 'epidemic' proportions and now has the Sikh religious
leadership worried. So much so that desperate campaigns have been launched to
revive the use of the turban.
When Outlook began examining this
trend, Sikh organisations engaged in saving the turban estimated that about 80
per cent of the Sikh youth in rural Punjab have cut their hair and discarded
their headgear. An exaggeration, one thought. But president of the Shiromani
Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (S.G.P.C.), the highest decision-making body for
the Sikhs, Avtar Singh Makkar, confirms this trend. He told Outlook: 'Yes,
it's true that in many places about 80 per cent of Sikh youth have indeed cut
their hair. Sadly the 'dastaar bandhi samaagam' (a turban-tying ceremony for
young boys), too, has become rare in villages because very few boys of 13 or
14 years of age have long hair.'
Does this mean that the day is not far
when a Sikh village in Punjab won't have a single turbaned male to show? This
is not just in the realm of possibility but an inescapable reality according
to a dismayed and rather helpless Sikh leadership.
But why are Sikhs, otherwise very
dedicated to their religion, saying goodbye to turbans and going in for
haircuts? Scholars say it is a combination of various factors, both social and
economic, at play. The most common reason cited is the convenience of not
having to go through the elaborate rigmarole of maintaining a beard and tying
a turban. Says Baldev Singh, the patriarch of a large family in Adliwal near
Amritsar, 'Except I and my two brothers, all our sons and grandsons have shorn
their hair. It does pain me to see my family like this but no one listens to
us nowadays.' His daughter-in-law Roominder Kaur is quite happy with a
clean-shaven son as she doesn't have to go through the tedium of combing and
tying his hair each morning.
Everyone agrees that the turban problem
is acute in the villages where the land-owning Jat peasantry resides. One
reason, perhaps, is the rural Punjabi youth's overriding desire to go West.
Sikh scholars feel that in the aftermath of 9/11, when Sikhs are being
mistaken for Muslims and attacked for sporting a beard and turban, there is a
tendency among members of the community to adopt a more assimilative
appearance so that they 'look like others.' It becomes easier to get past
immigration.
It is common knowledge that drug abuse
and liquor consumption in Punjab has reached unprecedented levels. Sixty per
cent of the youth in the 14-25 year age group are estimated to be drug users.
Sikh intellectuals link this with the trend to shed turbans. This is because
Sikhism prohibits smoking and use of intoxicants. Points out the Akal Takht
jathedar [chief], Joginder Singh Vedanti: 'Smoking or taking drugs with a
turban on one's head makes a Sikh feel more guilty of breaching his faith. The
absence of his kesh (long hair) and turban frees him from such qualms.'
The politicisation of the Sikh clergy,
which is not doing enough to spread religious awareness in the younger
generation, is another oft-cited reason. It is alleged that in recent years
the Sikh clergy has become a handmaiden of the Akali Dal and has neglected its
role as protector and preserver of Sikh religious traditions. Notes Dr. Kharak
Singh of the Chandigarh-based Institute of Sikh Studies [I.O.S.S.]: 'The Sikh
religious symbols like 'kesh' represent certain values. If a person holds
these dear to himself, then he will never shed them, but unfortunately there
is no one nowadays to teach the youth all this.'
Ironically, the trend of clean-shaven
Sikhs has picked up in Punjab at a time when the community is engaged in an
international campaign to create awareness about the Sikh identity and the
importance of wearing religious symbols like the turban and kirpan. Following
the ban on wearing turbans in French schools in 2004, and also several cases
of hate crimes against Sikhs after 9/11, Sikh organisations began a drive to
create awareness about the Sikh faith in Europe, U.S. and Australia.
When the French ban was announced, Sikh
organisations - political, social and religious - in India and abroad
protested. On the urging of the S.G.P.C., P.M. Manmohan Singh, too, took up
the issue with the French government. But as Jaswinder Singh, an S.G.P.C.
member and president of the Akal Purakh Ki Fauj (an organisation engaged in
popularising turbans and long hair in Punjab), points out, 'If the French
government comes to know of the situation in Punjab now, it will be
embarrassing for us. How can we fight for the right to wear long hair and
turbans abroad when people are abandoning the same in the home of Sikhism?'
Is a Sikh without his 'kesh' or long
hair a lesser Sikh? In popular parlance, a clean-shaven Sikh is a 'patit' or
an apostate. Says Professor Sher Singh of the Institute of Sikh Studies, 'Of
all the five Ks - 'kesh, kada, kirpan, kanga and kachha' - which Guru Gobind
Singh had made mandatory for all Sikhs to wear, the 'kesh' comes first and is
foremost and indispensable to a Sikh's identity. Without the 'kesh', the other
symbols are meaningless.'
In recent years, several organisations
have sprung up in Punjab to revive the tradition of keeping long hair and
wearing turbans. The 'Kesh Sambhal Prachaar Sansthaa' is one such outfit
which, among other things, runs two turban-tying schools in Jalandhar and
Amritsar, where young Sikhs are taught how to tie a turban. Says the Sansthaa
secretary, Sukhdev Singh Sandhawalia, 'The most common excuse boys give for
cutting their hair is that they don't know how to tie a turban.'
Another organisation holds a popular
competition to select 'Mr. Singh International' which is open only for
turbaned Sikhs. Among other things, the contestants have to participate in a
round called 'Meri Dastaar, Meri Shaan, Meri Pehchaan' (My turban, my pride,
my identity) where they are judged on how well their turbans are tied. The
latest champion of the turban and long hair in Punjab is former cricketer and
the B.J.P.'s Lok Sabha M.P. from Amritsar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who held a
procession in Amritsar to revive the use of turbans and instil a sense of
pride in Punjabi youth in wearing one. Ironically, Sidhu is under flak for
trimming his beard and allowing his son to cut his hair.
Why and how did things come to such a
pass? Many feel the custodians of the Sikh heritage like the S.G.P.C. cannot
escape criticism. Says G.S. Lamba, Sikh scholar and editor of Sant Sipahi, a
popular Sikh community journal: 'The S.G.P.C. has abandoned its traditional
role of preserving Sikh values and heritage and is more embroiled in politics.
When the Shiromani Akali Dal (S.A.D.) abdicated its role as a religious party
and adopted a secular garb, the S.G.P.C. should have taken its religious
duties seriously. But unfortunately it's the other way around. The S.G.P.C.
has become an organ of the S.A.D., and has neglected preaching in villages.
It's also shameful that the two are projecting a 'patit' like Navjot Singh
Sidhu as a role model for the Sikh youth for the coming elections.'
He points to the recent controversy
over Harbhajan Singh appearing in an advertisement with his hair open as an
example. 'This shows the S.G.P.C.'s double standards. They are picking on
Harbhajan Singh just to get some good publicity with the Sikh masses. If they
are serious about the issue, they should start by taking action against the
families of the S.G.P.C. members who have shorn hair and also the clean-shaven
cadres of the S.A.D.'
Though Harbhajan Singh apologised to
the Sikh clergy for the offending representation in the advertisement, his
comment on the matter is telling. 'I apologise if I have hurt the feelings of
my people, but why should the S.G.P.C. compare me with Monty Panesar (English
cricketer of Sikh origin who sports a turban and beard) and not Yuvraj Singh
and singer Gurdas Mann both of whom have cut their hair?'
Clearly, the situation has gone beyond
hair-splitting as rural Punjab's tryst with the barber keeps growing. The
land-owning Jat Sikhs have all but shed the turban, whereas the more
conservative trading 'Khatri Sikhs' in urban areas are less inclined towards
the new trend. One reason is that most of the Sikh gurus were 'Khatris' or
from the trading community which is why this section of Sikhs are more staunch
believers.
But go to rural Punjab and there are
some tell-tale indicators of change. Where earlier, the sole barber in a
village had to supplement his income by selling sweetmeats, now, most villages
have three to four barbers. The feisty land-owning Punjabi Jat farmer has
always been known for his enterprise and desire to try new things. True to
form, it is he who is leading the 'no turban' trend even though it makes him
an apostate in the eyes of his religion.
Source:
The Sikh
Times