As
per a news report by “Press Trust of India – PTI” the over 50,000-strong
Sikh population in Assam feel they are a neglected lot with neither the
Assam nor the Punjab governments giving them due recognition.
Mostly scattered in Nagaon and
Sonitpur districts, the Assamese Sikhs, as they have come to be known, trace
their origin to 1820 when Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent 500 Sikh soldiers to
the region to fight Myanmarese invaders.
Led by Chaitanya Singh, the contingent came to Assam in response to a
request made by the Assam king, Chandrakanta Singha, to fight invaders from
Myanmar.
Nearly two centuries later, at least 166 Assamese Sikhs were on a historic
journey back to Punjab four years ago to find their roots.
“It was an historic journey because never before had Assamese Sikhs made
such a pilgrimage in an organised manner to find if any relatives, near or
distant, were left,” Pritam Singh, president of the Assamese Sikh
Association is reported to have said.
“It was like throwing pebbles in the dark because none of the 166 persons
knew from which villages they hailed from” he added.
“Punjab too has undergone a lot of changes since. That was a very
interesting journey, especially because none of us can actually speak or
understand the language Sikhs speak elsewhere in the country,” he said.
Preetam Singh regretted that the state government did precious little for
the community’s socio-economic development despite assimilation of Assamese
culture into theirs.
Though former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia in 2002 promised that a
piece of land measuring three bighas would be allotted in Guwahati to the
community to construct a Guru Nanak Bhawan and a Sikh Cultural Centre, it
remained to be implemented, he said.
“We have sent representations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on several
occasions telling him about our history and how we have become an
inseparable part of the Assamese society,” Preetam Singh stated.
He lamented that the Prime Minister, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha from
Assam, “did nothing” when he was requested to provide land and fund for
preservation of Sikh culture in the state.
Shrawan Singh, a police officer posted in East Kameng district of Arunachal
Pradesh, said the Prime Minister of India was yet to visit either Borkola or
Chapormukh, where the Sikhs are concentrated.
In 2010-11, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had sanctioned Rs. four lakh
for construction of a gurudwara at Borkola, while PWD Minister Ajanta Neog
during 2009-10 sanctioned Rs 80 lakh for the construction of the vital
Borkola-Kampur road.
The Punjab government back in 2008 had sponsored a religious trip by 200
Assamese Sikhs to visit religious places in the land of the five rivers,
while former Indian President of India Zail Singh visited Borkola during
1975 and donated an amount of Rs 25000, Pritam Singh recalled.
“From that amount we have constructed a Guru Nanak Gramya Puthibharal
(library),” he said.
Going back to history, Singh said the Assamese Sikhs after completing their
campaign against Myanmarese invaders reached Chaparmukh in Nagaon district
through the Kapili River and under the command of ‘Mataji’, wife of
Chaitanya Singh established their first settlement.
“The arms used by the soldiers during the war are preserved at Chaparmukh
till today,” Singh said.