Southall
I was in London last week and stopped off in Hounslow, Ealing and Southall to just walk about and visit family. In the past 50 years, Southall has become a huge pass-through and historic cultural and political center for Punjabis, especially Indian and Sikh Punjabis, in London and the greater UK. I visited the neighborhood a few years ago, and I looked forward to returning.
I was a little surprised to see that the neighborhood had changed. In addition to taking on an ever-growing refugee population from Somalia, there seemed to be a growing Sikh Punjabi underclass. Southall, historically, has been populated by working- and middle-class desis, and with that comes a variety of concerns around resource availability, support, language and social services, etc. Multi-family or multi-worker flats and apartments are not uncommon, but I was surprised by the increased concentration of subpar worker housing. Instead of the more prevalent norm of helping out new immigrants by sheltering them and helping them acclimate to London, there seemed to be a small (but growing) formation of Punjabi-run slum housing, similar to the exploitative workers’ ghettoes and communities of New York in the early- to mid-1900s.
I was really distressed by this development; Southall has amazing local institutions that are nationally and internationally reknowned for their civic engagement and dedication. In many ways, it is the face of the UK Sikh community, for better or worse. I’m not naive; I know that our community has deep and complicated internal issues and challenges. How do we begin to address these basic issues of justice, their connection to Sikhi, and what this means for the reputation and behavior of the community as a body? I don’t think we should dictate or micro-manage people’s behavior, but I do think it’s important to have begin to create ways to mediate conversations and norms/attitudes around how Sikh ethics translate into practice.
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Interesting but not surprising. Southall has changed. Once considered the quintessential Panjabi ghetto it is no longer majority Panjabi and over the last 10 years been inundated with Pakistanis and Somalian. Many Sikhs have moved out to other Surburbs, Hanslow etal. A similar movement can be seen in NYC where 10 years ago Jackson Heights in Queens was seen as the center of South Asian life (mostly Panjabi and Gujarati). Now it is Paki/Bangladeshi and Sikhs have moved to Richmond Hill/Long Island as they have become more affluent.
However the real question is regarding the Sikh/Panjabi underclass. Can you provide more information on that. Are they recent immigrants? Lots of Sikhs from Afghanistan have come to Southall or is it second or third generation Sikhs in England?
http://www.thelinkpaper.ca/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1216664212&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&cat=2
Can anyone let me know who has given us the right to divide sikhs. We have thrashed Sikhi like anything
Punjabi SIkh
Afgani Sikh
How are these sikhs different, do they have different WAHEGURU, do they have different Guru Granth Sahib… Is khanda baate da AMRIT given by afgani Panj Pyare to Afgani SIKhs and they are blessed by Afgani Guru Gobind SIngh and others by Punjabi WAHEGURU or Punjabi Guru Gobind SIngh
Everyone wants there name to be big so they cant accept being called Guru Gobind Ji’s SIKH they want a new name
PUnjabi Sikh
Afgani Sikh
We read GURBANI, take AMRIT but still have divides .. divides even within SIKHS … I heard of SIKH SANGAT .. but hearing abt punjabi sikh sangat and afgani sikh sangat is really painful
soon we will start saying I am proud to be a Afgani Sikh
I am proud to be a Punjabi SIkh
no one will say I am proud to be a Gursikh
Please reply and if possible paste this is two Gurdwara Sahib’s in SOuthall UK which are divided on these lines
please any Gurusikh do this for me and paste this in all Gurdwara’s where you see sangat is Afgani or Punjabi divided
Bhulan Chukan Di Khima
Neechan toon Neech
Neech Ajaan Singh
Proud to be a ” SIKH “