1999:* MY ENCOUNTER WITH VANJARAS
I appreciate your efforts to ameliorate the status of Vanjaras, Sikligars and
Lobana Sikhs in Madhya Pradesh through the creation of a Vanjara Trust. As a
regular subscriber to the Abstracts of Sikh Studies, I have been reading about
the good work done by Dr Sukhjeet Kaur and her team in M.P. and the magnanimity
shown by Mr Stephen Sander of Canada by providing a large sum (US $ 50,000.-)
for creating this Trust.
Recently, I was deputed by the Department of Science and Technology, Government
of India, to undertake a field survey in Khandwa district of M.P. in connection
with the high seismic risk in the area. Our team spent 3 weeks touring almost
every village in this district and some other areas in the adjoining districts
of Khargon and Barwani. It was in Barwani town, on the banks of the river Narmada,
that I had my first encounter with Vanjara Sikhs on April 4. Magan Singh and
his companions gave me some information about Vanjara Sikhs of the Barwani district.
I also met and interviewed Bhai Padam Singh, head granthi of Gurdwara Singh
Sabha in Barwani, who gave me detailed information about Vanjara Sikhs and their
activities. Most of the Vanjaras do menial jobs but some of them own landed
property in the villages. They are skilled workers and manufacture some odd
things for sale in the city markets. Vanjara Sikhs are cut off from mainstream
Hindus and they have a distinct identity of their own. They keep unshorn hair.
Magan Singh and Padam Singh were both amritdhari Sikhs and could recite Kirtan
and Gurbani while their companions were not well versed in Punjabi. The Vanjara
Sikhs have about 50 hamlets (tandas) in Barwani and Khargon districts, with
about 100-150 families in village Minimata, 100 families in village Chiklia,
20 families in Palsud and a smaller number of families in the villages of Jalkhera
and Umria. A gurdwara is under construction in village Minimata and a small
one has already come up in Palsud. There was one general complaint that the
SGPC or the Jathedars never bother to send Sikh preachers to Vanjara villages
of M.P. However, they owe their allegiance to Takht Hazur Sahib at Nanded which
happens to be nearer. They were not aware of any Vanjara Trust set up by the
Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, to ameliorate their lot. Rather, they
were amused to know about this.
On April 6, I undertook a tour of Burhanpur city on the banks of the river Tapti.
This town was founded by some Farooqi Muslim ruler and it has become a pilgrimage
centre for Bohra Muslims all over the world. It has more than hundred mosques
even today and a passage through its streets reminded me of the glorious period
of Islam in India which vanquished the Hindu society of its moral and spiritual
values. Both Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh visited Burhanpur during their
tours of the Deccan. To commemorate their visits, gurdwaras were set up by the
local Sikh sangat. Sardar Amarjit Singh, manager of gurdwara Bari Sangat, Burhanpur,
introduced me to a number of Vanjara Sikhs. In fact 80% of all the sewadars
and granthis in both the gurdwaras are amritdhari Vanjaras. There are about
seventy tandas of Vanjara Sikhs in Burhanpur Tehsil of Khandwa district. Tulsi
Singh s/o Than Singh of village Dongar Gaon became my local guide. Most of the
Vanjara Sikhs are engaged in farming in this area and own small land holdings.
They have no gurdwara in their tandas but celebrate their marriages by paying
respects and prayers to Guru Nanak Dev Ji. I believe Vanjara Sikhs belong to
a tribal culture like the Adivasis and very few of them follow the Sikh way
of life. The highest qualified Vanjara Sikh serving in the gurdwara in the sacred
memory of Guru Nanak Dev is a student of B.Sc. in the city science college.
The Vanjara womenfolk are totally ignorant about the Sikh way of life. They
help their menfolk in farming. I asked Padam Singh about his wife, Mayabai,
not being an amritdhari Khalsa like him. He replied candidly, "She is marching
towards that goal. Without initial preparation, how can she be baptised ?"
I returned to Punjab after my chance encounters with Vanjara Sikhs of M.P. I
learn from Sardar Kharak Singh that a training centre has been set up in Khandwa
town under the aegis of the Vanjara Trust. I hope the Vanjara Sikhs of India
will rejoin the Sikh faith of Guru Nanak and Guru Granth Sahib through the efforts
of this Trust.
[ *H S Virk C/o Padam Singh s/o Teeka Singh VPO Minimata, Distt. Barwani (M.P.)
]