America
Sikhs blame conversions, drugs for declining population
By
By Gurmukh SinghToronto, Aug 30
Sikh leaders in North America
blame conversions, drugs and migration for the decline in the growth
rate of Sikh population in India from 1.9 percent to 1.7 percent as per
the 2011 census.
"While Punjab leaders are promoting their family
businesses, the youth has sunk in drugs. So what do you expect from
drug addicts?" asked Toronto-based Sikh leader Nachhattar Singh Chohan.
Chohan,
who heads the Indian Trucking Association in Canada, said: "Yes,
migration from Punjab to the West is one reason. But the bigger factor
is that people are abandoning Sikhism and joining various 'deras' in
Punjab. The SGPC has failed the Sikhs."
Vancouver-based community
activist Balwant Sanghera said: "First and foremost reason for
declinign Sikh population is the migration from Punjab to the West.
Second, there is growing awareness to have smaller families."
Shrinking
land holdings in Punjab are also forcing people to have fewer children
to avoid further division of land among siblings.
"Finally, drugs
are taking their toll on the Punjab youth. The drugs are reported to be
causing impotence amongst boys, resulting in fewer births," Sanghera
told IANS.
Los Angeles-based Bhai Satpal Singh Kohli, the
Ambassador of Sikh Dharma in Western Hemisphere, said the Sikh
population is declining because people are "not adhering to the Sikh
code of conduct and leaving Sikhism to join various 'deras' due to poor
leadership and discrimination against Dalits and poor Sikhs in Punjab."
He
too said Sikhs were migrating for better opportunities. "Moreover, the
trend is that Sikhs are increasingly marrying out of their religion. So
the majority of their children now end up not being Sikhs."
Kohli
welcomes the directive of the Akal Takht jathedar to each Sikh family
to have four children. "But more importantly, Sikhs need not select
family planning for a male child and stop female foeticide."
Yuba City-based Jasbir Kang blames the destruction of the economy of rural Punjab for the migration of Sikhs to foreign lands.
"Events
and after-affects of 1984 had serious impact on the Sikh psyche...
Sikhs never committed suicides until the last two decades. People have
lost their pride and self-respect," Kang told IANS.
Kang said
Sikhs are converting to other religions as the clergy has failed to
address the "issues of caste divisions, drug abuse and failure the
issues of gender gap.
"If moms lose respect for faith, then children will not follow it either. We are at a crossroads."
Washington-based
Sikh leader Rajwant Singh, who heads the Sikh Council on Religion and
Education, said: "The turbulence of the 80s impacted average Sikh family
dependent on agrarian economy.
"Political mishandling of
economic and social issues, and militancy in the 80s and its suppression
by security forces added to the woes of Punjab. These have had a direct
impact on the average Sikh family."
Singh says the lack of
opportunities have also pushed young Sikhs to try their luck elsewhere
in the world, even if it means selling off valuable assets and facing
migratory restrictions in many Western countries.
(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at [email protected])