Sunny Deol Shares His First Look From ‘Gadar 2’

[Premi5]

13 hours ago, proactive said:

You are right, the family is Arya Samaji but they did not convert to Arya Samaj from Sikhi, they were never Sikhs. They belong to Sahnewal which is in eastern Ludhiana district. Ludhiana is a curious area where the Jats of the western areas of the district (Jagraon -Raikot) became Sikh at the time of Guru Hargobind and later Guru Gobind Singh and the majority of Jats in the eastern areas remained worshippers of Sakhi Sarwar and Jathera well into the late 19th century. The became Sikh during the Singh Sabha movement. The Arya Samaj which although it was a mainly urban movement but there were some rural areas of Punjab where they gained a foothold as well. One of these areas were eastern Ludhiana especially the villages close to Ludhiana city of which Sahnewal was one. A few Jat families of this area went from Jathera worship to Arya Samaj rather than to Sikhi. Sunny Deol's family was one of them. 

Very interesting post, I have family from near Sahnewal. Never heard Arya Samaaj talk from them. How did you learn all this ?

[proactive]

I'm not saying every Jat from Sahnewal was Arya Samaji. It was just small number and by the time of partition there were probably a few Arya Samaji Jats  or Sakhi Sarwaria Jats in Ludhiana district. In 1911 prior to the Akali movement and before the first world war, the Sarwaria Jats were 78,000 but by 1931 Census there were only 2,500 Sarwarias compared to Jat Sikhs who went from 131,000 in 1911 to  211,000 in 1931.

In the eastern areas of Ludhiana district, the Sarwaria Jats held sway in many villages and there was open opposition between the Sarwarias and the Sikh Jats. Just as there is Partibaazi in the villages today between the party that supports Congress and the party that supports the Akalis, at that time there was the Party of the Guru and the Party of Sakhi Sarwar. The fact that the Sarwarias could smoke and Sikhs hated tobacco also contributed to this. This opposition even found its way into Western UP where there is a famous poem  (told from the Sarwaria side) about how the Sikh Jats tried unsuccessfully to convert after marriage the daughter of a Sarwaria to Sikhi and how she was saved from this fate by Sakhi Sarwar!

Back to Eastern Ludhiana district, 

There were three main reasons why the Sarwarias lost sway there. 

1. The first world war. Sikhs were favoured for recruitment in the British Indian army. Sarwarias were actively avoided for recruitment as they in British eyes were seen as degenerated Jats. Sarwarias had a lax attitude to religion. Any Sarwaria who wanted to join the army would have to become a Sikh. While in the army these former Sarwarias would have Sikhi imbued into them by all aspects of their regiment. The Granthi to explain Sikhi, the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib in the regiment also contributed in strengthening Sikhi in these former Sarwarias. When the war ended these new Sikhs would have the zeal of new converts and they would live the Sikh lifestyle in their villages and having served for many years they would be viewed as reliable and trustworthy men in the village. Such was not the case with those Sarwarias who did not join the army and remained Sarwaria in their villages. 

2. The Akali movement which in many ways was a movement dominated by ex-Army Sikhs also raised the credibility and respect of the Sikh Jat compared to the Sarwaria Jat. The victory of the Akali Dal against what was perceived as an invincible government raised the status of the Jat Sikh in the eyes of the rural population. 

3. The Jat Sikhs would take wives from the Sarwarias but would refuse to marry their daughters to the Sarwarias unless these Sarwarias became Sikhs.