Chapter-4: Fieldwork in Woolgoolga

Fieldwork in Woolgoolga

Transnational lives in Woolgoolga, Sydney and the Punjab

Carmen Voigt-Graf

Introduction

This chapter is based on findings from fieldwork that was conducted as part of a PhD thesis in geography at the University of Sydney looking at the migration expe­riences of three groups of Indian migrants in Australia and the construction of transnational spaces in which they and their non-migrant kin in India are involved.' Here, a summary of results in respect to the Punjabi experience is pre­sented, based on 20 household interviews in Sydney, 12 household interviews in Woolgoolga and 28 household interviews in the Punjab as well as interviews with key informants in all places. The main aim is to map out the transnational social and economic spaces of Punjabis.

The analysis is grounded in the transnationalism debate which is a recent con­tribution to the field of migration studies. Traditionally, migration scholars worked from the premise that migrants settled down and eventually assimilated into the societies of their new countries, or alternatively, permanently returned to their countries of origin. The possibility of migrants constructing lives in both countries and across national boundaries or indeed oceans was all but overlooked. However, modern communications and transport technologies have made it possible for migrants to maintain intimate contact with relatives and friends in their countries of origin and elsewhere in the diaspora.

Since the early 1990s, scholars have paid increasing attention to this phe­nomenon and in subsequent years have witnessed a growing number of studies focusing on migrants' continuing involvement in the social and kinship networks as well as economic activities in their countries of origin! Transmigrants, as migrants with a continuing involvement in their countries of origin are called, engage in "recurrent, enduring and significant cross-border activities"3 and "through their daily-life activities and social, economic and political relations, cre­ate social fields that cross national boundaries".4 It is within this framework that I studied Punjabis in Woolgoolga and Sydney and their overseas kin, looking at kinship networks as well as the construction of social, cultural and economic transnational spaces.

At the outset of this chapter, I provide an overview of where the close kin of Australian Punjabis are settled. This is important because kinship networks are the basis for most transnational networks. Subsequently, cultural and economic transnational activities will be analysed. An interpretation of the findings will be suggested in the conclusion.

Translocal and global kinship networks of Australian Punjabis

Punjabis have a century-long presence in Australia, although until the 1950S most were leading transnational commuting lives shuffling between wage labour in Australia and family duties in their natal villages. When it became easier to bring their families to Australia, most decided to give up their sojourning presence and settled down permanently. This decision-was also driven by economic considera­tions as land prices had increased in the Punjab while land was plentiful and com­paratively cheap in Australia. While most early Punjabi migrants in Australia were young fat Sikh men of a farming background from a few villages in the Doaba region, the migration flow has become much more diverse in recent decades. Today, many migrants are of a professional and urban background who arrive as skilled migrants, but there are also students, temporary and illegal migrants. Most recent migrants have settled in Australia's urban areas. In 1996, Sydney alone was home to 4,107 out of the total of 10,881 Punjabi-speakers enumerated in Australia.5 Adding to the diversity is the migration of Punjabis from other countries of their diaspora, most importantly Singapore and Malaysia. Many of these families had lived there for three or more generations before the first family member undertook a so-called secondary migration to Australia. As such, the countries of birth of Australian Punjabis are diverse and about a fifth of Australian Punjabis were born in Australia (see figure 1). The variety of birthplaces has important implications for their global kinship networks.

Most Punjabis in Australia had most or part of their immediate kin in Australia while members of their extended families lived in India and elsewhere in the dias­pora. Among the 20 respondents in Sydney, 17 were married and 16 of their spous­es and children lived there. Moreover, the parents of seven respondents also lived in Australia. Only two respondents had no relatives in Australia. All interviewees

Figure 1 -Country of birth of Punjabis in Australia in 1996

in Woolgoolga had spouses and children in Australia and five also had their parents there. Table 1 summarises the location of the parents, siblings and children as well as less closely related family members of the respondents in Sydney, Woolgoolga and India.

The usual pattern for families with close relatives overseas is to make weekly or biweekly phone calls in addition to a regular exchange of letters, photographs and videotapes chronicling important events. Cheaper phone calls and growing access to telephones in India -all interviewed households in the Punjab had telephones ­have made it possible for people not only to stay in touch but to co-ordinate house­hold strategies transnationally and plan family events over the phone. This is a far cry from the situation of early Punjabi migrants who relied on occasional letters and news received from returned visitors. The Internet was of little relevance with only two respondents in Australia and five in India using email to correspond with overseas relatives.

In addition to regular communication between the households, most Australian Punjabis visit their relatives in India every two or three years. This ensures that their Australian-raised children retain a link to the ancestral country and a famil­iarity with its culture. Australian Punjabis also use their visits to India -they usu­ally stay there for between one and two months at a time -to visit religious sites, attend family functions, arrange marriages, mediate family conflicts, look after their property, oversee their investments or buy new property. During the visiting season in December and January, overseas visitors are conspicuous in the streetscapes of many towns and villages across the Punjab. Many are easily recog­nisable as migrants by their Western-style clothes and, in the case of Sikh men, many are shaven and do not wear turbans.

Table 1 -Countries of residence of the relatives of Punjabi respondents

 

On their return trips, they bring visible elements of Western culture such as con­sumerism and ways of dressing, as well as invisible elements including new tastes, attitudes, ideas and behavioural patterns. These trigger changes within their non­migrant kin networks that might otherwise have been caused by globalisation and access to global media but are happening more quickly due to personal overseas linkages. The mere fact that satellite dishes have become affordable to many rural families necessarily changes the outlook of people.

Many parents and grandparents in the Punjab also regularly visit their chil­dren and grandchildren in Australia. These trips are often paid for by their over­seas relatives. Indeed, it is the older generation in the Punjab, some of whom spend six months a year in the Punjab and the other six months visiting their off­spring in the diaspora, and sometimes shuttling between the various countries where their offspring are settled, who are the true transnationals in terms of mobility. It is their role as keepers of tradition that makes their visits so valuable in the eyes of Punjabi parents in Australia who are concerned about cultural loss in the second generation.

An important role of overseas relatives from the point of view of the family in the Punjab is that they can act as bridgeheads sponsoring the migration of relatives from India. In many cases, what started with the migration of one Sikh in the 19th century, has resulted in the settlement of more than 30 of his descendants in Australia today through chain migration processes. The case with the greatest mul­tiplier that I was able to reconstruct was the presence of at least 42 Punjabis, none of whom would be in Australia today had it not been for one particular sojourner in the 19th century. With a cut in family migration visas to Australia in the 1990s, it is has become more difficult to sponsor the migration of any but the most imme­diate relatives such as spouses.

Ever since Punjabis migrated to Australia, it has been assumed that the appro­priate place to recruit spouses for their offspring was from those families into which they would have married had they never moved abroad. Marriages are regarded as alliances between two families rather than two individuals, and Sikhs follow the rules of caste endogamy and of gotra exogamy. This means that mar­riages are arranged between people of the same caste, e.g. fats, but not of the same patrilineal descent group, nor from that of one's mother or any of one's grand­mothers. Thus, marriages are arranged between families that are not related to each other by descent. Usually, the parents would travel to India to find a suitable boy or girl for their child to marry. Since the range of prospective partners is wide and no particular obligations with respect to accepting or making offers of marriage alliances for offspring exist, marriage arrangements for offspring are largely gov­erned by the long-term interests of the family.6 Since Sikh marriage rules do not demand to look back to the Punjab, a partner of the right caste and gotra from the Punjab is as good as anyone of the same background living in the diaspora. For this reason marriage alliances can serve as a strategic step towards opening new migra­tion routes from India to Australia but also from Australia to North America.

Most marriages of Woolgoolga Sikhs have been arranged with families in India and a few with families settled in North America. If a marriage is arranged to a North American Punjabi, the Australian spouse would be expected to move there because North America is considered a more attractive place of residence. On the other hand, a Punjabi woman or man from India, or from the United Kingdom for that matter, would be expected to migrate to Australia, pointing to Australia's high­er ranking compared with those countries. The traditional pattern of patrilocality has given way to a system whereby the spouse from India -male or female -would migrate to Australia and join the in-laws' household. While this arrangement rein­forces linkages between the Punjab and Australia, it has also led to considerable psychological strain on the new son-in-law. Many Punjabi men find it hard to join their wife's parents' household as this arrangement upsets traditional patriolocali­ty rules and increases the power of the wives. However, the arrangement is a good example of a case where traditional rules are changed for the sake of opening migration routes.

In sum, transnational family contacts are much more meaningful than simply staying in touch. Contacts are extremely close, family functions are celebrated together and Punjabis in the diaspora feel an obligation to help their families in India, for instance by sponsoring the migration of relatives. Kinship bonds are the basis on which the most profound transnational social and economic fields are built. For these kinship networks to be sustained over an extended period of time and maybe even into the second generation of migrants, the traditional culture has to be preserved in the diaspora. This ensures that overseas Punjabis remain com­mitted to their extended families in India and that they continue to be regarded as part of their families and villages in the Punjab. Therefore, one of the most funda­mental questions that overseas Punjabis face is how to maintain their cultural her­itage in an alien environment that many perceive as utterly immoral. A sentimen­tal attachment and sense of belonging to their ancestral homeland have to be nego­tiated and redefined in the process of planting roots abroad. If they are lost rather than redefined, transnational networks cannot be sustained in the long run.

Diasporic culture, belonging and economic transnationalism

Punjabis in Australia, and in particular in Woolgoolga, have developed a strong sense of local belonging. At the same time, they have managed to preserve their tra­ditional culture. In Woolgoolga, 11 of the 12 respondents in my survey were home owners, which in itself shows a commitment to a long-term residence and a local belonging. Moreover, all 12 respondents felt at home in Australia more than any­where else and none was planning to return to India. In this, they differed from the Sydney Punjabis whose answers were more diverse streetscape of Woolgoolga. There are two gurdwaras, two Indian restaurants and one street is called Arkan Avenue, a symbolic gesture to the Arkan family that was among the pioneering Punjabi settlers in the area. Moreover, Sikhs have fought symbolic struggles for local belonging. These include the right to hold street pro­cessions, the wearing of the kirpan (the dagger worn by baptised Sikhs) and a bat­tle before the Anti-Discrimination Board to be granted access to the Woolgoolga Returned Services' League Club wearing a turban. Sikhs in Woolgoolga have also supported the battles of Sikhs in other parts of Australia such as when a Sikh was not allowed to join the ambulance service in Cairns because of his turban. This shows their commitment to fight for a local belonging not only in Woolgoolga but more generally in Australia.

Despite their local roots, it is interesting that one of the most important social divisions within the Punjabi community in Woolgoolga is based on the area of ori­gin in the Punjab. In the past, almost all Woolgoolga Sikhs came from the Doaba region but numbers of outsiders have gradually increased through marriage arrangements with families from other parts of the Punjab and subsequent chain migration processes. Today, about one quarter of Woolgoolga Sikhs come from the Malwa and Majha regions of the Punjab. However, they continue to be regarded and treated as outsiders. One respondent from the Malwa region who grew up in Woolgoolga recalled that she was made to feel an outsider even at school: 'The other girls said to me, 'you are from across the river. You are not one of us' and they called me Malwa". The phenomenon is interesting because it shows that the geog­raphy of the Punjab on a very local level continues to influence social relations among Punjabis in Woolgoolga, even among those born and raised in Australia. As such, it presents another facet of transnationalism. Only in a small rural commu­nity like Woolgoolga with a relatively homogeneous population that has, to a con­siderable extent, kept its former village ways and mindset is a situation like this thinkable. In Sydney, where the Punjabi population is much more diverse in terms of regional origin, religion and caste, local rivalries between adjacent districts in the Punjab pale before the overall diversity.

While Punjabis have planted roots in Australia, they have managed to retain many aspects of their traditional culture. Close contacts with relatives in the Punjab are one precondition, another being the establishment of gurdwaras, cultural, reli­gious and recreational associations in Australia. While an analysis of these is beyond the scope of this chapter, the transnational aspects of cultural maintenance in the diaspora have to be emphasised. In the diaspora, Punjabis consume Indian cultural goods such as Indian spices and other food products, incense sticks, Bollywood movies, ethnic newspapers and radio programs and Indian cultural per­formances. While some of these are produced in Australia, many depend on transnational linkages. Today's technologies have greatly increased cultural links with India. Bollywood movies, for instance, are released in the diaspora shortly after their first screening in India. Diasporic Punjabis invite cultural and religious performers to their overseas settlements, the trips often entirely paid for by dias­pora members keen to remain culturally connected. Moreover, most Sikh temple priests are trained in India because there are no institutions for training in Sikhism in Australia. In addition, many individuals perform important life rituals in both countries. Wedding ceremonies of diasporic Punjabis, for instance, usually take place in the Punjab and a second ceremony is held later in Australia. These exam­ples indicate a transnational cultural existence and the importance of transnation­al networks along which cultural goods and performers travel in all directions.

Moving on to manifestations of economic transnational activities, these occur on the kinship level as well as the level of the wider economy in the Punjab. In the past, when only single men migrated to Australia, they sent most of their savings home to support their families and acquire economic assets, especially land. Some invested in the family farms by buying tractors and other machinery or by funding the construction of a tube-well in their natal village. This has led to over-mechani­sation and today, some 30 per cent of tractors in the Punjab are not in use.? Moreover, 1,400,000 tube-wells in the Punjab have led to a considerable depletion of the subsoil watertable. Today, most fat Sikh farms in the Punjab are well equipped and there is little need for further assistance in this regard.

More generally, remittances from the diaspora have contributed to inflated land prices and a housing boom in Jalandhar district. Travelling through the district, one cannot but notice the presence of large vacant mansions, of privately sponsored public works such as elaborate entrance gates to villages and newly refurbished gurdwaras. Few Australian Punjabis on the other hand send regular monetary remittances to their relatives.

Two respondents in Sydney and one in Woolgoolga regularly sent money to their parents in India. In cases where financial assistance is needed, Australian Punjabis send between $5,000 and $10,000 a year. The main factor determining whether and how much money was remitted was the existence of close relatives overseas -the closer the relatives the more likely it was they received support -and how needy they were. Since most relatives of Australian Punjabis are from an urban professional or a relatively wealthy fat Sikh farming background, few depended on remittances for their daily maintenance. In regards to the rural house­holds in the Punjab, the absence of one son who would otherwise have to be fed from the family farm was of a much greater economic benefit to the peasant house­hold in India than remittances could ever be. This explains why few remittances were sent. Some households in the Punjab received occasional remittances such as for special family occasions or when they needed additional money for a specific purpose. On the other hand, two of the 28 households interviewed in India sup­ported their children in Australia.

In addition to supporting their relatives, most overseas Punjabis retain proper­ty in India, often in the form of a legal share in the family farm or house. In most farm households, the eldest son stays in India and looks after the family farm and his parents. If a younger brother has moved overseas, he continues to legally share the family farm but usually does not receive any income from the farm. If all sons migrated overseas, the land is often given to a more distant relative, such as a cousin or nephew, who would usually pay rent for the land. One respondent in Doaba, for example, was looking after four hectares of land that he jointly owned with his brother in Canada. In addition, he was renting another four hectares from his cousin in Woolgoolga. Eight of the 28 respondents in the Punjab shared part of their property with overseas relatives.

Table 6 shows that many migrants retain houses in the Punjab. Sometimes they retain a share in the family house. In other cases, the house is solely owned byover­seas Punjabis and is generally vacant and looked after by a relative. Hardly ever is it rented out because it is felt that tenancy laws in India favour the tenant too much. Most houses owned by overseas Punjabis are therefore not a source of income but are status symbols and places in which to stay during return trips.

The aggregated impact of property ownership of overseas Punjabis is enormous. Since almost every fat Sikh household in the Punjab has close family members abroad, the impact of these properties and investment cannot be overlooked. In a typ­ical village in Doaba with, say, 200 fat Sikh households, all of which would have fam­ily members overseas, there would be two or three families with relatives in Australia. The impact of Australian Punjabis is thus only a small piece in the overall mosaic.

While the retention of property in the Punjab is common, few Punjabis in Australia have drawn on transnational linkages to improve their economic situa­tion in Australia. In Woolgoolga, most Punjabis are banana farmers while a few have moved into the professions. While the community is economically well estab­lished, falling banana prices since the late 1980s have caused considerable concern and some hardship. Many farmers have diversified into other crops and most households send some members to do casual agricultural labour. In Sydney, most Punjabis are professionals. Many have faced difficulties finding employment that matched their qualifications -a situation that many migrants are all too familiar with in Australia. Some PhD-holders drive taxis or work as train guards. In this respect, it is striking that only one each of my respondents in Woolgoolga and Sydney mobilised transnational contacts for their labour market activities. The respondent in Sydney, for instance, imported jewellery from his relatives in India and sold it to retail outlets in Sydney. Woolgoolga and Sydney Punjabis did not acti­vate transnational networks in times of economic difficulties, instead looking for opportunities to casually sell their labour elsewhere in Australia. Similarly, none of the interviewees in the Punjab used his transnational family links in business. Most were of middle-class background, which was obvious not only from their incomes but also from the fact -that all 28 households owned television sets, fridges and scooters and 18 households owned cars. As such, they do not rely on the mobilisa­tion of transnational economic links. Therefore, the last point of interest in terms of transnational economic linkages is whether overseas Punjabis make use of pro­visions that the Indian Federal Government and the State Government of the Punjab have set in place to lure diaspora capital.

Especially since the beginning of India's economic liberalisation process in 1991, various measures have been introduced to attract foreign investment in India and special legislation has been set in place to deal with investment by "non-resi­dent Indians" (NRIs), regardless of whether or not they are Indian citizens. Federal Government institutions such as the Indian Investment Centre in Delhi facilitate the investment process by assisting NRIs in identifying investment opportunities, solving legal issues surrounding these investments and providing assistance in a wide range of fields. NRIs are considered crucial for India's development process and government officials in India count on their ongoing attachment to India.

In addition to Federal initiatives, the State Government of the Punjab promotes the state to NRIs hoping for investment from and trade with Punjabis in the dias­pora. An NRI Commissioner for the Punjab is based in Delhi. In addition, the NRI Sabha in Jalandhar, founded in 1997 on the initiative of its current chairman, Mr Srivastava, also promotes links with Punjabis abroad.8 The NRI Sabha's main aim is to maintain and increase the economic and cultural links of the Punjab with its diaspora. Legal experts provide assistance to NRIs on various matters. For instance, some NRIs face difficulties staking successful claims on their part of the heritage and the NRI Sabha acts on behalf of these NRIs while they are overseas. In addition, cultural links are fostered between the Punjab and its diaspora and the office maintains an open ear to all kinds of grievances that NRIs might encounter.

While schemes and generous assistance to NRIs are in place and have become a growing concern of the Indian Federal Government and the Punjab's State Government, the contribution of NRIs to foreign investment in India and to trade relations is statistically not accounted for. It is not possible to disaggregate the invest­ment flowing from the Indian diaspora in Australia to India, let alone to the Punjab.

In my survey, none of the 32 Punjabi respondents in my survey in Australia had invested in the Punjab, other than buying some land or doing some improvements to the family house. Only two had built new houses after migrating to Australia. While about three quarters of the respondents had bank accounts in India, about half of which were NRI bank accounts, none had taken any other advantage of NRI regulations. This lack of investment in their region of origin can be explained part­ly by the absence of a corporate culture in the Punjab. The state relies on a pre­dominantly rural economy despite recent efforts to strengthen other economic sec­tors. There is a shortage of potential local partners for NRI investments. However, more than that, many NRIs are simply not as patriotic as the Indian and Punjabi' governments would hope they are. Investments in India are undertaken when prof­its there are higher than in their countries of residence but not otherwise.

When considering the lack of NRI investment of Australian Punjabis, their situa­tion in Australia also has to be taken into account. Many urban Punjabis are relative­ly recent migrants. Setting themselves up in Australia has priority over diversifying their economic interests into the country of origin. In fact, most invest their savings in their children's education in Australia rather than undertaking projects in the Punjab.

In conclusion, few Punjabis draw on transnational contacts to improve their labour-market situation in Australia or India and few send remittances to their rel­atives overseas. While few Australian Punjabis have taken advantage of NRI regu­lations to invest in the Punjab's economy, some have invested in property and many have kept their share in family properties. Nevertheless, economic transna­tionallinks are not as important as transnational cultural and kinship links. This is largely a result of the middle-class background of Punjabi migrants and their rela­tives in India who do not rely on transnational economic resources to make a decent living. Most Punjabi migrants have made Australia their permanent home and invest most of their savings locally.

Conclusion

Given that their migration goes back more than a century and that more recently Punjabis from other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and East Africa have undertaken a secondary migration to Australia, the Punjabis in Australia today are highly diverse in terms of their migration biographies, their cultural and social lives, their economic activities and their transnational kinship ties. The distinction is particularly pronounced between the more recent migrants of professional back­ground who have settled in urban centres and the older migrants who have formed rural communities throughout Australia in such places as Woolgoolga.

In Australia, Punjabi migrants have recreated many aspects of Punjabi village life. This was facilitated by arranging marriages to spouses from the Punjab. Indeed, rural Punjabis have built what Dusenbery, in his article in this volume, calls a (bi)local existence, literally maintaining two homes, one in their Punjabi village and the other in their ethnic community in Australia. Punjabis in Woolgoolga have become locals in Australia by investing financially and emotionally there. Their presence in Woolgoolga is manifested among other things in their land ownership, which ties them to that particular part of NSW. However, they not only maintain two separate home bases but people, money and ideas frequently travel between these two nodes of their lives, effectively linking them into a single social network or community. While Dusenbery's term of a (bi)local community points to their roots in both places, their way of life can be described as "translocal", linking Woolgoolga with their natal villages in the Punjab.

With the exception of twice-migrant Punjabis, for whom the Punjab is the ancestral homeland but otherwise has little relevance to their lives in the diaspora, the Punjab has remained the cultural hearth of overseas Punjabis. This means that close links are maintained in various spheres of life, in particular along kinship lines. Close kinship ties are simultaneously the most important requirement for transnational links in other spheres of life and they are the major manifestation of transnationalism. Without close kinship ties, the Punjab would become the ances­tral and spiritual homeland, it would retain a sentimental and symbolic relevance while few day-to-day social, cultural and economic transnational activities would eventuate. As such, kinship networks are the precondition of transnationalism. On the other hand, transnationalism is also strongly manifested within kinship net­works. Relatives stay in close contact, visit each other and engage in a constant exchange of goods, information and ideas. Modern transport and communication technologies facilitate increased transnational flows of Punjabi spouses, religious icons, teachers, cultural products and publications. In the age of migration and instant communication transnational contacts are maintained on an almost daily basis. Arguably the most extreme case of transnationalism is practised by some older Punjabis who spend half a year in the Punjab and half a year with their chil­dren and grandchildren in Australia.

Cultural maintenance in the diaspora is absolutely necessary for transnational spaces to be created. If migrants fully assimilated to the Australian way of life, they would risk being regarded by their Punjabi relatives as being from the Punjab but not being part of it anymore. Culture is maintained in the diaspora by drawing on transnational contacts such as frequent visits of priests and cultural performers from the Punjab in the diaspora. In contrast to close kinship and cultural networks, it is striking that economic transnationalism is of little relevance to the migrants and their families in the Punjab. In the case of the farmers, the absence of one son from the farm in the Punjab is of greater benefit than any transnational economic activity could be. In regard to the urban families in Australia and the Punjab, most follow occupations with little scope for transnational economic ventures. They are predominantly professionals rather than business people. Since most migrants come from middle-class backgrounds, few families in the Punjab rely on remit­tances for their day-to-day maintenance. A more common scenario is for the migrant to send money for special occasions such as weddings. Most Punjabis retain property in the Punjab because of its sentimental value and to have a place in which to stay during visits. Ancestral land is not sold because older people as well as villagers in India would strongly disapprove of such a move. At the same time, diasporic Punjabis are generous in their support of charitable causes in India. Despite the Punjab State Government's efforts in attracting NRI capital, few Australian Punjabis have taken up opportunities under the schemes. While most have opened NRI bank accounts, other investments are rare. This shows that few migrants invest their savings in India for sentimental reasons when economic returns are better elsewhere. Many Punjabis are first-generation migrants in Australia and need all their resources to establish a secure economic base there. Often this is done by investing in their children's education.

Overall, the Punjab is one of the Indian states that has witnessed the largest migration -a result of political insecurities, land scarcity and lack of economic opportunities -and as such, has been shaped by the presence of a large diaspora of which Australia is only one node. In a region like Doaba, almost every fat Sikh fam­ily has family members abroad and many have extended family connections in sev­eral countries. This has invariably affected local cultural and social lives. People are constantly shuffling back and forth between the Punjab and Australia or wherever else their relatives are based. The family members in India are as much an active part in the transnational social spaces as are their overseas relatives.

The Sikhs today

W.H. McLeod

Like all communities, the Sikh Panth has its problems. For many Sikhs religion seems to playa minor part in their lives. How does one persuade Sikhs that belief in the Sikh religion is absolutely vital? Political activity is very important in the life of the Panth and many Sikhs feel that it goes too far. Is this true? Political align­ments, and much else besides, are frequently determined by factional loyalties rather than by the merits of each case. Are the Sikhs different from other commu­nities in this respect? Caste is still an issue within the Panth. What can Sikhs do about it? And how is one to answer that age-old question of who is a Sikh? Are Sikhs completely separate from Hindus? Do they share many characteristics? Or are they completely the same?

1. The first of these questions is not really a problem. A large majority of Sikhs are engaged in agriculture in the Punjab and for them religion generally consists of keeping hair uncut and visiting the gurdwara simply to bow before the Guru Granth Sahib. To this, however, two considerations should be added. The first is that Sikh behaviour might well be compared with Christian behav­iour. If that is done the Sikhs do not emerge so badly after all. The second is to inquire just how many Sikhs will answer to calls to defend the Sikh religion or to support by means of demonstration the Sikh stance on any lively question. The answer is that many will in fact do so and in so doing they express a con­tinuing loyalty to Sikhism.

2.But what do we make of the second question on the role of politics in reli­gion? Sikh political leaders insist that religion and politics are inseparable, and that by participating in the political process as proclaimed Sikhs they are merely per­forming their duty. Others are much less certain. The fact that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) uses a substantial portion of gurdwara funds for political purposes is one reason for this doubt. Another is their belief that the SGPC leadership combines political ability with religious naivety. This matters a great deal because the SGPC maintains that it is the supreme authority for all mat­ters in Sikhism (doctrinal as well as temporal) or at least that it controls the incum­bent of Akal Takhat who is the mouthpiece for matters of religious concern. A third is their concern at witnessing the close interplay between the SGPC and the State Government of the Punjab. Clearly Sikhs are intimately involved in state politics and they do so as self-consciously Sikh.

 

3.Do factions play an excessively large part in the life of Sikhs? All people of whatever ethnic or religious identity have factions, but does this feature go too far with the Sikhs? It depends on one's objectives and ambitions, and some Sikhs will vigorously maintain that there is nothing wrong with factions. How else can one depend upon the loyalty of friends and supporters? Other Sikhs are not so sure, and others again regard them as a curse. Regardless of one's attitude there can be no doubt that factions playa substantial role for Sikhs and some at least view this as one of the problems which confront the Panth.

4. Caste is an issue that affects all communities in India (including Muslims and Christians) and naturally it bears on the Sikh Panth. A large majority of Sikhs (about 66 per cent) is fat by caste, with a few other castes and a little more than eight per cent from the outcastes. The Gurus declared caste discrimination to be wrong and certain anti-caste features are built into the Sikh religion (for example the langar), yet every Sikh knows what caste he belongs to and the vast majority marry in accordance with it. But then the Gurus also married and had their children married in accordance with caste prescription. The answer must surely be that the Gurus were not opposed to caste as the structure of Indian society, conferring as it does some enormous benefits in terms of cohesion and stability. It was caste discrimination that earned their severe displeasure. What they opposed was the notion that one person was higher than another in terms of status, or that one person might have securer access to the means of libera­tion. One suspects that Sikhs should give up worrying about the caste organisa­tion of society and concentrate instead upon issues involving discrimination on the basis of caste.

5. Who is a Sikh? Are only members of the Khalsa order Sikhs? The notion that an affirmative answer would deregister all except the few Amrit-dharis would sure­ly find little support. The vast majority would presumably count at least the Kes­dharis as Sikhs, and they would probably be regarded as Sikhs of the Khalsa also (even without the amrit of initiation). But what should be made of the Sahaj-dharis? Some Kes-dhari Sikhs accept them; others do not. And are the Sikhs merely one variety of Hindus or are they completely separate and distinct? Non-fat Sikhs fre­quently marry Hindu partners along the approved caste lines. Is this correct, or does it not matter? Those who have been brought up in accordance with strict Singh Sabha principles will answer that emphatically Sikhs are not Hindus and marriages should be strictly with Sikhs only. Others Sikhs (admittedly a dwindling band) say they are Hindus and that the so-called mixed marriages are in order. And others (being either liberal or lax) reply that it does not matter. It is a question that will continue to be raised.

In spite of these problems, however, the Panth is assuredly vital and forward­looking. Education is valued in the community. The willingness of Sikh farmers to adopt new methods in agriculture gives them a distinct advantage over farm­ers elsewhere in India. Their concern for military employment (much of it due to the predominance of fats in the Panth) is as lively as ever. So too is their reputa­tion in the transport industry in India, an interest which presumably carries over to taxis or petrol stations overseas. And many Sikhs are engaged, with an abun­dance of self-confidence, in the quest for industrial or commercial opportunity. This is no time for regret. The Sikh Panth is a community with impressive achievements, both in religion and in the world, and expectations for the times ahead are distinctly promising.

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1 In this research, I have compared Punjabis, Kannadigas and Indo-Fijians and their non-migrant kin in India and Fiji respectively. Fieldwork in Sydney was conducted between 1998 and 2000, in Woolgoolga in March 1999 and in India between August and November 1999.

2 See, for example, the theoretical statements in Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Blanc-Szanton, eds., Towards a Transnational Perspective on Migration, Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 645, New York, 1992. See also, Linda Basch, Nina Glick Schiller and Cristina Szanton-Blanc, eds., Nations Unbound, Gordon and Breach, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, 1994; S. Vertovec, "Conceiving and researching transnationalism", Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22, 2 (1999), pp. 447-62; A. Portes, L.E. Guarnizo and P. Landolt, "The study of transnationalism: pitfalls and promise of an emergent research field", Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22, 2 (1999), pp. 217-37; S. Mahler, ''Theoretical and empirical contributions toward a research agenda for transnationalism", Comparative Urban and Community Research, 6 (1998), pp. 64-102.

3 Stephen Castles, ''Transnational communities: a new form of social relations under conditions of globalisation?", paper presented at the Fifth International Metropolis Conference, Vancouver, Canada, November 13-17,2000, p. 3.

4 Basch et aI, p. 22.

5 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 Census of Population and Housing: Ethnicity Thematic Profile, service for Punjabi-speakers, ABS, Sydney (specially ordered by C. Voigt-Grat).

6 Roger Ballard, ''The impact of kinship on economic dynamics of transnational networks: reflections on some South Asian developments", draft paper prepared for Workshop on Transnational Migration, Princeton University, June 29·July 1, 2001.

7 Gopal Krishan, head of the Department of Geography, Punjab University, Chandigarh, personal communication, September 1999.

8 M. Srivastava, chairman of NRI Sabha, Jalandhar, personal communication, September 1999.

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