Search the Community

Thoughts please @shastarSingh https://www.baaznews.org/p/up-sikhs-punjab-sikhs-discrimination Sandeep Singh: U.P. Sikhs Strictly Uphold Sikhi Yet Face Discrimination From Punjabi Sikhs Ajmer Singh feels that many Punjabi Sikhs discriminate against them for speaking Hindi, even though U.P. Sikhs have largely stayed truer to Sikhi Jan 13 5 Photo Credit: Sandeep Singh | Guru Gobind Singh Chowk, Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. Sandeep Singh January 13, 2022 | 5 min. read | Original Reporting The Lakhimpur Kheri massacre in October 2021 brought with it greater awareness and attention to the existence of old Sikh communities in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Baaz visited some villages in the area to garner a better understanding of how local Sikhs live and their, at times problematic, experience with Punjabi Sikhs. Amritpal Singh, 40, is a local farmer and shares that the history of Sikhs in UP is long. “Since Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s era, Sikhs are living in this region. Actually, it is our 13th generation living here. This story passed from generation to generation and we only have heard oral stories.” His village, Diva, is in UP’s Baharaich District. There are nearly 300 Sikh homes, and about 20 Hindu ones. “There are 7-8,000 Sikhs in four to five villages between Dhanauli Khurd, Ghora, Matera, and Chotepur of this district,” shares Amritpal Singh. The majority of local Sikhs are dependent on farming, with some working as home guards in the UP police. “Sikhs here are extremely poor but they have built a huge Gurudwara Sahib and Langar Hall where they organize Langars on Gurupurab and invite Gatka teams for competition.”