Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Caste? What is that....
Parkash Singh Dhillon, Gurcharan Singh Tiwana, Jagdev Singh Gill, Surjit Singh Dhariwal and Rajinder Kaur Sidhu. Unknown people?
Just replace their caste with the names of their villages and check the list again. Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. If you are an urban Sikh, then Manjit Singh Ahluwalia becomes Manjit Singh Calcutta.
A century after the practice of casting away one’s caste in Punjab gained ascendancy in Punjab politics, the practice is now being pursued with renewed vigour by the younger generation. When the reformist Singh Sabha stalwarts wanted Sikhs to forget caste and instead use a suffix as their surnames, the Akalis were the first to adopt their village as a convenient suffix. This was in the first decade of the 20th century. The first elections of the next millennium is witnessing younger political elements follow the same course with aplomb.
Among younger elements is the son of former chief minister Beant Singh. While Beant never used the surname Kotli, come elections and his son Tej Parkash uses the surname, since village Kotli falls in Payal constituency from where he is contesting. His surname Jhajj has never been heard as a suffix.
In Kharar, the son of Bachittar Singh proclaims his name as Rajbir Singh Padiala, the surname being his village. His father did not use the surname. BJP minister Swarna Ram avoids it but his son Mohan Lal uses his village name Behram as his suffix.
Or All India Sikh Students Federation leader Karnail Singh Pir Mohammad, who is a Sikh often causing some confusion because of the name of his village, Pir Mohammad. A change in name on entering politics has been resorted to by Capt Amarinder’s OSD Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, who when joining politics shifted from Sandhu to his village Pahuwind.
It leads to some queer circumstances as well. Like the Badal family, where both the Chief Minister, his son Sukhbir and nephew Manpreet use the Badal surname. But so does Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, who is neither related to them nor is a Jat Sikh. The minister was born not in village Badal but in his maternal village Abul Khurana, the surname used by his Congress opponent Gurnam Singh.
Using the name of maternal village was resorted to by Manmohan Singh Sathiala since he was contesting from Beas where Sathiala village falls. Or the son-in-law of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who uses the village of his father-in-law — Tohra — has his passport to success instead of his own village Thuhi, which falls in Nabha district.
‘‘The trend began in the era when Singh Sabha reformers freed the Golden Temple from the clutches of mahants who prevented lower castes from entering the sanctum sanctorum,’’ says Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, who also suffixes the name of his village with his name. All Singh Sabha leaders of that time were known by their village or the region, such as Sewa Singh Thikriwala, Darshan Singh Pheruman, Gian Singh Rarewala and Ishar Singh Majhail. So were some Congress leaders of that time, such as Partap Singh who uses the suffix Kairon after his village. His sons and grandson Adesh Partap have followed suit.
The trend was followed by militants too. Manochal, Zaffarwal, Kaonke, Budhsinghwala were all names of villages thrust into limelight by them. The flip side is that with such suffixes, regional identities tend to become stronger. A candidate from outside the constituency faces opposition for being an outsider. Like the opposition faced by Bir Devinder Singh in Kharar, Surinder Singla in Bathinda, Brahm Mohindra in Samana.
Just replace their caste with the names of their villages and check the list again. Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. If you are an urban Sikh, then Manjit Singh Ahluwalia becomes Manjit Singh Calcutta.
A century after the practice of casting away one’s caste in Punjab gained ascendancy in Punjab politics, the practice is now being pursued with renewed vigour by the younger generation. When the reformist Singh Sabha stalwarts wanted Sikhs to forget caste and instead use a suffix as their surnames, the Akalis were the first to adopt their village as a convenient suffix. This was in the first decade of the 20th century. The first elections of the next millennium is witnessing younger political elements follow the same course with aplomb.
Among younger elements is the son of former chief minister Beant Singh. While Beant never used the surname Kotli, come elections and his son Tej Parkash uses the surname, since village Kotli falls in Payal constituency from where he is contesting. His surname Jhajj has never been heard as a suffix.
In Kharar, the son of Bachittar Singh proclaims his name as Rajbir Singh Padiala, the surname being his village. His father did not use the surname. BJP minister Swarna Ram avoids it but his son Mohan Lal uses his village name Behram as his suffix.
Or All India Sikh Students Federation leader Karnail Singh Pir Mohammad, who is a Sikh often causing some confusion because of the name of his village, Pir Mohammad. A change in name on entering politics has been resorted to by Capt Amarinder’s OSD Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, who when joining politics shifted from Sandhu to his village Pahuwind.
It leads to some queer circumstances as well. Like the Badal family, where both the Chief Minister, his son Sukhbir and nephew Manpreet use the Badal surname. But so does Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, who is neither related to them nor is a Jat Sikh. The minister was born not in village Badal but in his maternal village Abul Khurana, the surname used by his Congress opponent Gurnam Singh.
Using the name of maternal village was resorted to by Manmohan Singh Sathiala since he was contesting from Beas where Sathiala village falls. Or the son-in-law of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who uses the village of his father-in-law — Tohra — has his passport to success instead of his own village Thuhi, which falls in Nabha district.
‘‘The trend began in the era when Singh Sabha reformers freed the Golden Temple from the clutches of mahants who prevented lower castes from entering the sanctum sanctorum,’’ says Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, who also suffixes the name of his village with his name. All Singh Sabha leaders of that time were known by their village or the region, such as Sewa Singh Thikriwala, Darshan Singh Pheruman, Gian Singh Rarewala and Ishar Singh Majhail. So were some Congress leaders of that time, such as Partap Singh who uses the suffix Kairon after his village. His sons and grandson Adesh Partap have followed suit.
The trend was followed by militants too. Manochal, Zaffarwal, Kaonke, Budhsinghwala were all names of villages thrust into limelight by them. The flip side is that with such suffixes, regional identities tend to become stronger. A candidate from outside the constituency faces opposition for being an outsider. Like the opposition faced by Bir Devinder Singh in Kharar, Surinder Singla in Bathinda, Brahm Mohindra in Samana.
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