Here are the highlights of the Punjab Budget from the Tribune - where is the money going to come from? The state is heavily in debt and bankrupt growing at below the national average.
* 62 km ring road in Ludhiana on BOT basis at an estimated cost of Rs 1,516 crore
* Ring road and urban corridor in Mohali
* Bypass for three important roads in Bathinda, Nawanshahar and Garhshankar
* Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, Jalandhar, to be commissioned
* City Transport Services in the Municipal Corporations towns of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala
* Special Economic Zone in Amritsar and Goindwal Sahib
* Rs 10 crore for improvement of existing industrial focal points
* Rs 14 crore for creation of new industrial focal points
* Rs 3 crore for completion of Northern Indian Institute of Fashion Technology at Mohali
* A flying academy to be set up at Talwandi Sabo to produce commercial pilots; Amritsar International Airport and Sahnewal Flying Clubs to be expanded at a cost of Rs 25 crore
* The government to continue its efforts to secure an early
* sanction for developing Halwara as an international airport besides getting the status of Chandigarh changed to an international airport
* Rs 120 crore for sarva shikhsha abhiyan (SSA)
* Rs 55 crore for the midday meal scheme
* Rs 20 crore grant for repair and maintenance or construction of additional classrooms in elementary schools
* Rs 4.72 crore for implementation of EDUSAT
* Rs 53.14 crore for extension of ICT project
* Rs 30 crore for augmentation of school infrastructure (money to come from education cess)
* Rs 13 crore for the upgradation of government colleges
* Rs 15 crore for the establishment of the Rajiv Gandhi National Law University at Patiala
* Rs 3 crore for the establishment of the World Punjabi Centre at Patiala
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The idea of Punjabiyat May 2010 By: Pritam Singh
For a community that has experienced such fragmentation through the centuries, the Punjabi identity today is engaged in a remarkably active attempt at consolidation.
The moment we use the word Punjabiyat, it suggests a reference simultaneously to something that is very tangible while still elusive. This dual character opens the term to many imaginations and possibilities. Is Punjabiyat a concrete socio-political reality, a project, a movement in process, something in the making, a mere idea floated by some ivory-tower intellectuals and literary figures, a wishful dream of some Indo-Pakistani pacifists, a seductive fantasy of some Punjabi nationalists, a secular utopia envisioned by leftist nationalists, a business plan of market-seeking capitalists, or a dangerous regionalism dreaded by the nation states of India and Pakistan?
The tangibility of Punjabiyat derives from the recognition of Punjab as an area that once existed as a sovereign state, for the half-century between 1799 and 1849. In addition, it also derives from Punjabi as a language with a rich literary heritage, the Punjabi identity as a linguistic and regional one within both India and Pakistan, a transnational linguistic and cultural identity encompassing what are today Indian and Pakistani Punjabis and the global Punjabi diaspora. In this case, ‘culture’ can encompass language (especially its spoken for+m), food, dress, festivals, music, dance, humour, and rituals of happiness (relating to marriage or birth) and loss (death).
The elusiveness of Punjabiyat comes from the floating nature of the use of the word itself. In Pakistan, the central drive of the movement is to win the right to use the Punjabi language against the hegemony of Urdu; while in India, Punjabiyat is seen as a project of bringing Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus close to each other, against Sikh secessionism and Punjabi Hindu alienation from the community’s mother tongue. These two projects are further different from the diasporic Punjabis’ viewpoint of Punjabiyat as a shared cultural universe of all Punjabis. It is in this sense that Punjabiyat appears as a floating principle and project, an elusiveness that can be considered a sign of both weakness and strength. The changing nature of the idea of Punjabiyat can be viewed as its weakness, after all, but the elasticity of the concept allows it flexibility and contextuality, a clear strength.
A broad view of the historical evolution of the Punjabi people would suggest that there are solid material and moral grounds on which to argue the case for a unifying and common Punjabi identity. However, there are also counteracting tendencies that limit the potentialities of a unified Punjabiyat. Three aspects of Punjabi life – religion, language and script – can justifiably be thought of as having played the most critical role in shaping the consolidation of and contestation over Punjabi identity. The 15th-century emergence of the Sikh faith and its subsequent evolution have decisively shaped the modes of influence of religion, language and script on the articulation of Punjabi identity. Sikhism introduced Gurmukhi as a script of the Punjabi language during the period of Guru Angad (1504-52), the immediate successor of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh faith. This raised the stature of the Punjabi language, written in the Gurmukhi script, to a sacred language in opposition to the older sacred languages of Sanskrit and Arabic. Geographical location, economic way of life, cultural characteristics, the development of Punjabi language and its own script, and the emergence of a distinctive Punjabi religion all contributed in diverse ways to the formation of a Punjabi identity, which made the people of the
Punjab region stand out against the peoples of the rest of the Subcontinent.
The emergence of the sovereign state of Punjab in 1799 under Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a moment of crowning glory in the evolution of a distinctive Punjabi identity. At this point, the process appeared to be a specifically designed culmination of a distinctive national identity eventually achieving a sovereign state of its own. Punjab existed as a sovereign state until 1849, when it was annexed by the British and merged with the rest its Indian Empire. If, with the emergence of the sovereign Punjabi state in 1799, the composite Punjabi identity had reached its peak, the disintegration of this state in 1849 initiated the process of decline and splintering of a unified Punjabi identity.
Cycles of identity
By the mid-19th century, the Punjabi identity was forced to face its most significant threat to its solidity, coherence and purpose. Not only had the Punjabi nation lost its own sovereign state, which had been its protector, patron and promoter; it also was to experience a painful dislocation with the economic, political and cultural onslaught of the most powerful imperialist state of the time. Instead of offering any combined resistance to the expanding military, economic and cultural power of the colonial state, the defeated and demoralised Punjabis found themselves scrambling for minor economic crumbs and concessions. The Punjabi Muslims and Sikhs became incorporated in large numbers into the imperialist army, and the Punjabi Hindus into the civil services and trading opportunities offered by the colonial administration and economy. The existing occupational divisions in Punjabi society along religious lines also became further reinforced and magnified – divisions that were to play a corrosive role in later attempts to forge a composite Punjabi identity, both during the colonial as well the post-colonial era. Punjabi Muslims and Punjabi Sikhs were to become more entrenched into the agrarian economy, while and Punjabi Hindus became more integrated into the service sector.
The development of what came to be known as the Canal Colonies in the land between the Punjab’s five major rivers, one of the most ambitious politico-economic development projects undertaken by the colonial rulers in Punjab, offered tempting opportunities to peasants, soldiers, traders and professionals. The majority of the peasants and soldiers were Muslims and Sikhs, and the majority of the traders and professionals were Hindus, which further disoriented Punjabi identity. The Punjabi nation that was celebrated in the lyrical poetry of Shah Mohammed for its brave resistance during the Anglo-Punjab Wars of the 1840s now, just a decade later, stood as a negation of its past glory. The project of composite Punjabi identity stood dead, and there were no signs of recovery, at least for the time being. Sporadic and isolated attempts of resistance – even armed resistance, for instance by the legendary Kukas – were ruthlessly crushed. The conquering British rulers dealt very harshly with such defiant sections of the Punjabi community, while showing generosity to the more accommodating.
The late 19th century saw two diametrically opposite tendencies concerning Punjabi identity. One tendency saw a three-way religious fragmentation – Muslim, Hindu and Sikh – as a result of the emergence of religious reformist movements, in opposition to the spread of Christianity supported by the imperial rulers. In theory, this resistance could be the basis of Punjabi unity; in practice, however, it resulted in a sharpening of religious identities and boundaries. It is important to note here the contradictory nature of globalising imperialism, by acknowledging its contribution in giving birth to another segment of Punjabi identity that remains almost completely neglected in discourses on Punjabi identity. The process of imperial cultural penetration into Punjab gave birth to a fourth religious component of Punjabi identity: Punjabi Christians. Christian missionaries were pioneers in the establishment of modern printing techniques and facilities in the Punjabi language. Further, most Punjabi Christians were Dalit converts, primarily from the Punjabi Hindus but also from the Sikhs and Muslims. Today, these Punjabi Christians remain one section of the Punjabi community that is most committed to the promotion of the Punjabi language.
The second tendency that was opposed to the fragmentation of Punjabi identity was in the political-economic domain, in the form of the emergence of the Unionist Party in Punjab. This was a class-based political alliance of the peasantry – especially of its elite sections – of the three main religious communities. The Unionist Party tried to invent a third way, beyond the demands for India and Pakistan, in addition to toying with the idea of an independent Punjab. Khizr Hayat Khan Tiwana, who was the last premier of the unified Punjab and the leader of the Punjab Unionist Party from 1942 to 1947, opposed Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Partition from a Punjabi nationalist perspective. As a last-ditch effort to save a single Punjab, he tried to tempt the British into accepting his proposal for carving out Punjab as an independent political entity, different from both India and Pakistan, but rather as a part of the larger British Empire. There briefly appeared to be a small chance that the Punjabis could have gotten back the sovereign Punjabi state that had been annexed in 1849. However, the events of 1947 compounded the tragedy of Punjab. If in 1849 Punjab had lost its sovereignty, it had at least kept its united entity intact; in 1947, it lost that too.
The emergence of India and Pakistan relocated the two Punjabs in two very different situations. Pakistani Punjab became politically dominant in Pakistan, but by cultural surrender of the regional Punjabi identity and the claims of Punjabi language. Just opposite to that relocation, Indian Punjab, a relatively small state in the Indian federation, saw a vigorous 20-year battle for the creation of a Punjabi-speaking state but remained politically marginal in the overall set-up. Indian Punjab also witnessed competing claims between secular Indian nationalism, Hindu nationalism, Sikh nationalism and Marxist internationalism, in terms of how they related to each other and to a larger Punjabi identity.
The diaspora impact
Silently and slowly, another force relating to Punjabi identity has been emerging: the growth of the Punjabi diaspora. Since the 1960s, the spatial and cultural relocation of Punjabis to the West has opened a new space for articulation of the common dimensions of Punjabi identity. Parallel to and opposed to this is the phenomenon of a section of the diaspora becoming a major player in articulating sectarian religious divisions within that identity. The diaspora’s contradictory voice has acquired special significance in the accelerating process of the globalisation of the world economy and media. The process of globalisation has opened hitherto unknown opportunities for exchange of commodities and ideas and, to a lesser extent, of labour between India, Pakistan and the rest of the world. In turn, the temptations of economic gain from increased trade relations between Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab have ignited a series of reinventions of common Punjabi heritage and identity. The logic of the political economy of Punjabiyat thus seems to be holding out tantalising possibilities of power.
In recent years, the global Punjabi diaspora’s imagination has suddenly been fired by the realisation of its power as a possible catalyst in the making of a global Punjabi identity. The organising of world Punjabi conferences has become the theatre of action for the project of global Punjabi identity. New technological possibilities of instant translations between different scripts of Punjabi language have removed many barriers of communication and national borders, and magazines are beginning to publish Punjabi literature simultaneously in different scripts. These attempted reinventions of common Punjabi identities unsettle many sensibilities of both Indian and Pakistani nationalism, viewed nervously as potential critiques of the legitimacy of these two nation states. Punjabi nationalists, on the other hand, view with glee the benefits that might accrue to them from the potential for globalisation to weaken the nation state. Both the nervousness of the Indian and Pakistani nationalists and the glee of the Punjabi nationalists might be overplayed, however, because globalisation is a contradictory and complex process with uncertain outcomes.
Diasporas, like all other social entities under capitalism, are highly differentiated, and this holds true with regards to global Punjabis. Not only have cleavages of religion, caste, language and script not disappeared, but in some instance these have become stronger in the diaspora than in the homeland. It is the new generations of Punjabis in the diaspora who are experimenting with new modes of living, and are attempting not only to transcend the barriers of religion and caste but also to forge artistic and social ties with myriad other cultures. Bhangra music, for instance, has grown to become the focal point of Punjabi and these new hybrid identities, while also spawning new interest in learning Punjabi language in diverse scripts.
The shared Punjabi identity has received a massive boost by the popular appeal of Punjabi language and culture in cinema, literature and music. Bollywood has become a site and carrier of celebration of the shared Punjabi culture, with some leading Bollywood producers and directors (such as Yash Chopra) having found something of a formula for success by including Punjabi cultural themes in a film’s narrative. Even the image of the sardar has been transformed in this new enterprise of Punjabi celebration: no longer presented as a buffoon, the Singh is now a king, powerful, smart, sexy and glamorous. A Bollywood film is considered commercially successful if it runs well in Punjab and in the Punjabi diaspora, while the large market of Pakistani Punjab has further added to the economic attraction of celebrating shared Punjabi culture. Harbhajan Mann has shot into stardom as a lead male actor of many new Punjabi films; while in Pakistan, Punjabi films in the genre of Maula Jat, representing the brave and rustic Punjabi farmer, have been a roaring success. Sultan Rahi, the star of many films in this genre, has become the most popular cinema hero in Pakistan, and Punjabi cinema has in recent years eclipsed the previously dominant Urdu cinema.
All the while, the emotional appeal of a common and shared Punjabi identity has not died down. However, in the globalising world of today, the reinvented global Punjabi identity has to compete with global Hinduism, global Sikhism, global Islam and global Christianity. In the contest between Punjabi identity and globalised religion, whether in India, Pakistan or the diaspora, the old contest between language and culture on one side and the religion on the other is being replayed. Religion could cannibalise language and culture, but equally powerfully it could be said that people’s linguistic affinities and cultural ties are of such enduring strength and intensity that they can overcome the challenge of religious sectarianism. As long as Punjabi language is alive and kicking, however, there would always be hope for some form of shared Punjabiyat. In this, despite all else, the Punjabi language in Indian Punjab is flourishing, indicated (for one) by the continuous increase in the circulation of Punjabi newspapers. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the language has very little state support in Pakistan – where over 55 percent of the country’s population speaks Punjabi – indications are that this is likely to change in the future, as the Punjabiyat movement in the country continues to gather support. In this way, the flexibility, and elusiveness, of Punjabiyat remains perhaps its greatest strength.
Pritam Singh is director of the Postgraduate Programme in International Management and International Relations at Oxford Brookes University.
6 hours ago · Delete Post
The moment we use the word Punjabiyat, it suggests a reference simultaneously to something that is very tangible while still elusive. This dual character opens the term to many imaginations and possibilities. Is Punjabiyat a concrete socio-political reality, a project, a movement in process, something in the making, a mere idea floated by some ivory-tower intellectuals and literary figures, a wishful dream of some Indo-Pakistani pacifists, a seductive fantasy of some Punjabi nationalists, a secular utopia envisioned by leftist nationalists, a business plan of market-seeking capitalists, or a dangerous regionalism dreaded by the nation states of India and Pakistan?
The tangibility of Punjabiyat derives from the recognition of Punjab as an area that once existed as a sovereign state, for the half-century between 1799 and 1849. In addition, it also derives from Punjabi as a language with a rich literary heritage, the Punjabi identity as a linguistic and regional one within both India and Pakistan, a transnational linguistic and cultural identity encompassing what are today Indian and Pakistani Punjabis and the global Punjabi diaspora. In this case, ‘culture’ can encompass language (especially its spoken for+m), food, dress, festivals, music, dance, humour, and rituals of happiness (relating to marriage or birth) and loss (death).
The elusiveness of Punjabiyat comes from the floating nature of the use of the word itself. In Pakistan, the central drive of the movement is to win the right to use the Punjabi language against the hegemony of Urdu; while in India, Punjabiyat is seen as a project of bringing Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus close to each other, against Sikh secessionism and Punjabi Hindu alienation from the community’s mother tongue. These two projects are further different from the diasporic Punjabis’ viewpoint of Punjabiyat as a shared cultural universe of all Punjabis. It is in this sense that Punjabiyat appears as a floating principle and project, an elusiveness that can be considered a sign of both weakness and strength. The changing nature of the idea of Punjabiyat can be viewed as its weakness, after all, but the elasticity of the concept allows it flexibility and contextuality, a clear strength.
A broad view of the historical evolution of the Punjabi people would suggest that there are solid material and moral grounds on which to argue the case for a unifying and common Punjabi identity. However, there are also counteracting tendencies that limit the potentialities of a unified Punjabiyat. Three aspects of Punjabi life – religion, language and script – can justifiably be thought of as having played the most critical role in shaping the consolidation of and contestation over Punjabi identity. The 15th-century emergence of the Sikh faith and its subsequent evolution have decisively shaped the modes of influence of religion, language and script on the articulation of Punjabi identity. Sikhism introduced Gurmukhi as a script of the Punjabi language during the period of Guru Angad (1504-52), the immediate successor of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh faith. This raised the stature of the Punjabi language, written in the Gurmukhi script, to a sacred language in opposition to the older sacred languages of Sanskrit and Arabic. Geographical location, economic way of life, cultural characteristics, the development of Punjabi language and its own script, and the emergence of a distinctive Punjabi religion all contributed in diverse ways to the formation of a Punjabi identity, which made the people of the
Punjab region stand out against the peoples of the rest of the Subcontinent.
The emergence of the sovereign state of Punjab in 1799 under Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a moment of crowning glory in the evolution of a distinctive Punjabi identity. At this point, the process appeared to be a specifically designed culmination of a distinctive national identity eventually achieving a sovereign state of its own. Punjab existed as a sovereign state until 1849, when it was annexed by the British and merged with the rest its Indian Empire. If, with the emergence of the sovereign Punjabi state in 1799, the composite Punjabi identity had reached its peak, the disintegration of this state in 1849 initiated the process of decline and splintering of a unified Punjabi identity.
Cycles of identity
By the mid-19th century, the Punjabi identity was forced to face its most significant threat to its solidity, coherence and purpose. Not only had the Punjabi nation lost its own sovereign state, which had been its protector, patron and promoter; it also was to experience a painful dislocation with the economic, political and cultural onslaught of the most powerful imperialist state of the time. Instead of offering any combined resistance to the expanding military, economic and cultural power of the colonial state, the defeated and demoralised Punjabis found themselves scrambling for minor economic crumbs and concessions. The Punjabi Muslims and Sikhs became incorporated in large numbers into the imperialist army, and the Punjabi Hindus into the civil services and trading opportunities offered by the colonial administration and economy. The existing occupational divisions in Punjabi society along religious lines also became further reinforced and magnified – divisions that were to play a corrosive role in later attempts to forge a composite Punjabi identity, both during the colonial as well the post-colonial era. Punjabi Muslims and Punjabi Sikhs were to become more entrenched into the agrarian economy, while and Punjabi Hindus became more integrated into the service sector.
The development of what came to be known as the Canal Colonies in the land between the Punjab’s five major rivers, one of the most ambitious politico-economic development projects undertaken by the colonial rulers in Punjab, offered tempting opportunities to peasants, soldiers, traders and professionals. The majority of the peasants and soldiers were Muslims and Sikhs, and the majority of the traders and professionals were Hindus, which further disoriented Punjabi identity. The Punjabi nation that was celebrated in the lyrical poetry of Shah Mohammed for its brave resistance during the Anglo-Punjab Wars of the 1840s now, just a decade later, stood as a negation of its past glory. The project of composite Punjabi identity stood dead, and there were no signs of recovery, at least for the time being. Sporadic and isolated attempts of resistance – even armed resistance, for instance by the legendary Kukas – were ruthlessly crushed. The conquering British rulers dealt very harshly with such defiant sections of the Punjabi community, while showing generosity to the more accommodating.
The late 19th century saw two diametrically opposite tendencies concerning Punjabi identity. One tendency saw a three-way religious fragmentation – Muslim, Hindu and Sikh – as a result of the emergence of religious reformist movements, in opposition to the spread of Christianity supported by the imperial rulers. In theory, this resistance could be the basis of Punjabi unity; in practice, however, it resulted in a sharpening of religious identities and boundaries. It is important to note here the contradictory nature of globalising imperialism, by acknowledging its contribution in giving birth to another segment of Punjabi identity that remains almost completely neglected in discourses on Punjabi identity. The process of imperial cultural penetration into Punjab gave birth to a fourth religious component of Punjabi identity: Punjabi Christians. Christian missionaries were pioneers in the establishment of modern printing techniques and facilities in the Punjabi language. Further, most Punjabi Christians were Dalit converts, primarily from the Punjabi Hindus but also from the Sikhs and Muslims. Today, these Punjabi Christians remain one section of the Punjabi community that is most committed to the promotion of the Punjabi language.
The second tendency that was opposed to the fragmentation of Punjabi identity was in the political-economic domain, in the form of the emergence of the Unionist Party in Punjab. This was a class-based political alliance of the peasantry – especially of its elite sections – of the three main religious communities. The Unionist Party tried to invent a third way, beyond the demands for India and Pakistan, in addition to toying with the idea of an independent Punjab. Khizr Hayat Khan Tiwana, who was the last premier of the unified Punjab and the leader of the Punjab Unionist Party from 1942 to 1947, opposed Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Partition from a Punjabi nationalist perspective. As a last-ditch effort to save a single Punjab, he tried to tempt the British into accepting his proposal for carving out Punjab as an independent political entity, different from both India and Pakistan, but rather as a part of the larger British Empire. There briefly appeared to be a small chance that the Punjabis could have gotten back the sovereign Punjabi state that had been annexed in 1849. However, the events of 1947 compounded the tragedy of Punjab. If in 1849 Punjab had lost its sovereignty, it had at least kept its united entity intact; in 1947, it lost that too.
The emergence of India and Pakistan relocated the two Punjabs in two very different situations. Pakistani Punjab became politically dominant in Pakistan, but by cultural surrender of the regional Punjabi identity and the claims of Punjabi language. Just opposite to that relocation, Indian Punjab, a relatively small state in the Indian federation, saw a vigorous 20-year battle for the creation of a Punjabi-speaking state but remained politically marginal in the overall set-up. Indian Punjab also witnessed competing claims between secular Indian nationalism, Hindu nationalism, Sikh nationalism and Marxist internationalism, in terms of how they related to each other and to a larger Punjabi identity.
The diaspora impact
Silently and slowly, another force relating to Punjabi identity has been emerging: the growth of the Punjabi diaspora. Since the 1960s, the spatial and cultural relocation of Punjabis to the West has opened a new space for articulation of the common dimensions of Punjabi identity. Parallel to and opposed to this is the phenomenon of a section of the diaspora becoming a major player in articulating sectarian religious divisions within that identity. The diaspora’s contradictory voice has acquired special significance in the accelerating process of the globalisation of the world economy and media. The process of globalisation has opened hitherto unknown opportunities for exchange of commodities and ideas and, to a lesser extent, of labour between India, Pakistan and the rest of the world. In turn, the temptations of economic gain from increased trade relations between Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab have ignited a series of reinventions of common Punjabi heritage and identity. The logic of the political economy of Punjabiyat thus seems to be holding out tantalising possibilities of power.
In recent years, the global Punjabi diaspora’s imagination has suddenly been fired by the realisation of its power as a possible catalyst in the making of a global Punjabi identity. The organising of world Punjabi conferences has become the theatre of action for the project of global Punjabi identity. New technological possibilities of instant translations between different scripts of Punjabi language have removed many barriers of communication and national borders, and magazines are beginning to publish Punjabi literature simultaneously in different scripts. These attempted reinventions of common Punjabi identities unsettle many sensibilities of both Indian and Pakistani nationalism, viewed nervously as potential critiques of the legitimacy of these two nation states. Punjabi nationalists, on the other hand, view with glee the benefits that might accrue to them from the potential for globalisation to weaken the nation state. Both the nervousness of the Indian and Pakistani nationalists and the glee of the Punjabi nationalists might be overplayed, however, because globalisation is a contradictory and complex process with uncertain outcomes.
Diasporas, like all other social entities under capitalism, are highly differentiated, and this holds true with regards to global Punjabis. Not only have cleavages of religion, caste, language and script not disappeared, but in some instance these have become stronger in the diaspora than in the homeland. It is the new generations of Punjabis in the diaspora who are experimenting with new modes of living, and are attempting not only to transcend the barriers of religion and caste but also to forge artistic and social ties with myriad other cultures. Bhangra music, for instance, has grown to become the focal point of Punjabi and these new hybrid identities, while also spawning new interest in learning Punjabi language in diverse scripts.
The shared Punjabi identity has received a massive boost by the popular appeal of Punjabi language and culture in cinema, literature and music. Bollywood has become a site and carrier of celebration of the shared Punjabi culture, with some leading Bollywood producers and directors (such as Yash Chopra) having found something of a formula for success by including Punjabi cultural themes in a film’s narrative. Even the image of the sardar has been transformed in this new enterprise of Punjabi celebration: no longer presented as a buffoon, the Singh is now a king, powerful, smart, sexy and glamorous. A Bollywood film is considered commercially successful if it runs well in Punjab and in the Punjabi diaspora, while the large market of Pakistani Punjab has further added to the economic attraction of celebrating shared Punjabi culture. Harbhajan Mann has shot into stardom as a lead male actor of many new Punjabi films; while in Pakistan, Punjabi films in the genre of Maula Jat, representing the brave and rustic Punjabi farmer, have been a roaring success. Sultan Rahi, the star of many films in this genre, has become the most popular cinema hero in Pakistan, and Punjabi cinema has in recent years eclipsed the previously dominant Urdu cinema.
All the while, the emotional appeal of a common and shared Punjabi identity has not died down. However, in the globalising world of today, the reinvented global Punjabi identity has to compete with global Hinduism, global Sikhism, global Islam and global Christianity. In the contest between Punjabi identity and globalised religion, whether in India, Pakistan or the diaspora, the old contest between language and culture on one side and the religion on the other is being replayed. Religion could cannibalise language and culture, but equally powerfully it could be said that people’s linguistic affinities and cultural ties are of such enduring strength and intensity that they can overcome the challenge of religious sectarianism. As long as Punjabi language is alive and kicking, however, there would always be hope for some form of shared Punjabiyat. In this, despite all else, the Punjabi language in Indian Punjab is flourishing, indicated (for one) by the continuous increase in the circulation of Punjabi newspapers. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the language has very little state support in Pakistan – where over 55 percent of the country’s population speaks Punjabi – indications are that this is likely to change in the future, as the Punjabiyat movement in the country continues to gather support. In this way, the flexibility, and elusiveness, of Punjabiyat remains perhaps its greatest strength.
Pritam Singh is director of the Postgraduate Programme in International Management and International Relations at Oxford Brookes University.
6 hours ago · Delete Post
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Punjab Odyssey – a trivia game on Punjab and Sikh history
Punjab Odyssey is a game about Punjab and Sikh History for children and grown-ups alike and encompasses five centuries of Punjab History. Kulbir Kaur of Canada developed this trivia board game to allow children to learn about the basics of Sikhism in a playful and entertaining way. The game comprises 540 questions which cover all major events of Punjab History and would challenge adults too. The game is excellent for some after dinner family bonding, when friends and relatives visit, or for those rainy day weekends. It is reasonably priced at $12.00. Why not buy one for the family? If you would like to order one, you can do so here:
http://sikhfoundation-store.org/catalog/sikh-odyssey-p-262.html?osCsid=faee3852dea0eded21d2f046bb6a774d
http://sikhfoundation-store.org/catalog/sikh-odyssey-p-262.html?osCsid=faee3852dea0eded21d2f046bb6a774d
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The State of Our Schools....contd
Some time back Punjabi Connection had written about the State of our Schools, here is a news item that sheds further light on the subject
This Punjab school has no students
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service
Prempura (Fatehgarh Sahib), April 17
It’s not a school for scandal but certainly has something queer about it. The government primary school at Prempura lacks the very thing that forms the core of a school: Students. But it certainly has a teacher — 32-year-old Rupinder Kaur.
In many ways, Kaur is a unique teacher as her responsibility extends beyond doling out lessons. Everyday, while on her way to school, she has to convince the villagers and sometimes even plead with them to send their wards to the government facility. But till now her efforts have been in vain as the school has not seen even a single student enrolling in the current academic session.
The villagers, who scoff at lack of basic facilities at the school, are happy sending their children to nearby private institutes. “The private schools are much better as compared to the government school, which even doesn’t have basic infrastructure,” rued Manjit Singh, a villager.
Around seven years ago, the school was closed down due to lack of teachers. It was started a year ago under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan. Kaur said she taught two Class I students in the just-concluded session. “But there are no students now. Despite our repeated requests, people here don’t want to send their kids to the government school,” she said.
The villagers maintain that it is a prestige issue for them to to send their children to private schools (there are more than three in the vicinity of the village) where there are teachers, who no teachers give lessons in English, and latest facilities, including computers.
Manjit Singh said since there is no student in the government school, the teacher should be deputed to some other school that is reeling under staff crunch.
“The money being spent on maintaining the school and the salary of the teacher should not go waste,” he added.
Manjit Kaur block chairperson of Human Rights Manch and member of Block Education Committee said that efforts should be made to improve facilities in government schools to attract students. She said that there are some other schools in the area where the strength of students is quite low.
When told that there was not even s single student enrolled in the Prempura school, DEO (primary) Surinder Singh said: “I will have to check it.”
This Punjab school has no students
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service
Prempura (Fatehgarh Sahib), April 17
It’s not a school for scandal but certainly has something queer about it. The government primary school at Prempura lacks the very thing that forms the core of a school: Students. But it certainly has a teacher — 32-year-old Rupinder Kaur.
In many ways, Kaur is a unique teacher as her responsibility extends beyond doling out lessons. Everyday, while on her way to school, she has to convince the villagers and sometimes even plead with them to send their wards to the government facility. But till now her efforts have been in vain as the school has not seen even a single student enrolling in the current academic session.
The villagers, who scoff at lack of basic facilities at the school, are happy sending their children to nearby private institutes. “The private schools are much better as compared to the government school, which even doesn’t have basic infrastructure,” rued Manjit Singh, a villager.
Around seven years ago, the school was closed down due to lack of teachers. It was started a year ago under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan. Kaur said she taught two Class I students in the just-concluded session. “But there are no students now. Despite our repeated requests, people here don’t want to send their kids to the government school,” she said.
The villagers maintain that it is a prestige issue for them to to send their children to private schools (there are more than three in the vicinity of the village) where there are teachers, who no teachers give lessons in English, and latest facilities, including computers.
Manjit Singh said since there is no student in the government school, the teacher should be deputed to some other school that is reeling under staff crunch.
“The money being spent on maintaining the school and the salary of the teacher should not go waste,” he added.
Manjit Kaur block chairperson of Human Rights Manch and member of Block Education Committee said that efforts should be made to improve facilities in government schools to attract students. She said that there are some other schools in the area where the strength of students is quite low.
When told that there was not even s single student enrolled in the Prempura school, DEO (primary) Surinder Singh said: “I will have to check it.”
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Amrita Pritam's Aj Akhan Waris Shah Noon
ਅੱਜ ਆਖਾਂ ਵਾਰਸ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਤੋਂ ਕਬਰਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਬੋਲ।
ਤੇ ਅੱਜ ਕਿਤਾਬੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਅਗਲਾ ਵਰਕਾ ਫੋਲ।
ਇਕ ਰੋਈ ਸੀ ਧੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਤੂ ਲਿਖ ਲਿਖ ਮਾਰੇ ਵੈਣ
ਅਜ ਲੱਖਾਂ ਧੀਆਂ ਰੌਂਦੀਆਂ ਤੈਨੂ ਵਾਰਸਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਹਿਣ:
ਵੇ ਦਰਦਮੰਦਾਂ ਦਿਆ ਦਰਦੀਆ ਉੱਠ ਤੱਕ ਆਪਣਾ ਪੰਜਾਬ।
ਅਜ ਬੇਲੇ ਲਾਸ਼ਾਂ ਵਿਛੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਲਹੂ ਦੀ ਭਰੀ ਚਨਾਬ
ਤੇ ਅੱਜ ਕਿਤਾਬੇ ਇਸ਼ਕ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਅਗਲਾ ਵਰਕਾ ਫੋਲ।
ਇਕ ਰੋਈ ਸੀ ਧੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੀ ਤੂ ਲਿਖ ਲਿਖ ਮਾਰੇ ਵੈਣ
ਅਜ ਲੱਖਾਂ ਧੀਆਂ ਰੌਂਦੀਆਂ ਤੈਨੂ ਵਾਰਸਸ਼ਾਹ ਨੂੰ ਕਹਿਣ:
ਵੇ ਦਰਦਮੰਦਾਂ ਦਿਆ ਦਰਦੀਆ ਉੱਠ ਤੱਕ ਆਪਣਾ ਪੰਜਾਬ।
ਅਜ ਬੇਲੇ ਲਾਸ਼ਾਂ ਵਿਛੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਲਹੂ ਦੀ ਭਰੀ ਚਨਾਬ
Monday, March 22, 2010
US Army gives a waiver to Sikhs to wear turbans.
The US Army gives special waiver to the first Sikh soldier to complete basic training without giving up the right to wear a turban or shave his off beard. Capt Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist graduated on 22 March 2010. Another Sikh, Dr Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, has also been allowed the exemption. Here is the full story!
By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer – Mon Mar 22, 8:33 pm ET
SAN ANTONIO – Amid lines of soldiers, one after the other in standard-issue fatigues and combat boots, was one in a turban and full beard on Monday — the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete U.S. Army officer basic training without sacrificing the articles of his faith.
Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a 31-year-old dentist, graduated Monday at Fort Sam Houston after the Army made an exemption to a uniform policy that has effectively prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984.
"I'm feeling very humbled. I'm a soldier," he said, grinning after the ceremony as other members of the Sikh community milled about nearby. "This has been my dream."
Rattan had to get a waiver from the Army to be allowed to serve without sacrificing the unshorn hair mandated by his faith. An immigrant from India who arrived in New York as a teenager, Rattan said it was important for him to serve a country that has given him so many opportunities.
The Army in 1984 eliminated an exemption that had previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their articles of faith while serving, but officials can issue individual waivers to the uniform policy after considering the effects on safety and discipline, said Army spokesman George Wright. Only a handful of such individual religious exemptions are ever granted.
Rattan and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, who will attend basic training this summer after completing an emergency medicine fellowship, are the first Sikhs to receive exemptions in more than 25 years.
Rattan and Kalsi both offer health care skills that are in high demand in an Army stretched by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
1st Sgt. Jeffrey DeGarmo said he made sure the officers-in-training in his unit understood that Rattan wasn't a foreign national and had received the Army's permission to maintain his beard and turban. Once the other soldiers understood that, there were no issues, he said.
"It went pretty well," DeGarmo said. "I think he did an outstanding job adjusting."
For Sikhs, the unshorn hair wrapped in a turban and beard are required to keep adherents in the natural state in which God made them, said Amardeep Singh, director of the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group that helped Rattan and Kalsi push for Army admittance.
During training, Rattan wore a helmet over the small turban, which he doesn't remove, and was able to successfully create a seal with his gas mask despite the beard, resolving the Army's safety concerns, said Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's legal director.
Rattan worked with an Army tailor to create a flash, the insignia patch worn on soldiers' berets, that could be affixed to his black turban, she said.
Singh said allowing Sikh adherents to serve in the Army is an important part of ensuring they are an integral part of American life. He said it also could counter prejudice.
"If government can say to someone 'You can't serve, not for any reason that has to do with your abilities,' that sends the wrong message," he said. "We don't want to be perpetual outsiders."
The Sikh community has a long tradition of military service in India, from where most adherents originally emigrated, and in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.
Sikhs represent 2 percent of India's population but make up about 30 percent of that country's army officers, Singh said.
An estimated 300,000 Sikhs live in the United States.
Before the Army's regulation change in 1984, Sikhs served in the U.S. military during every major armed conflict going back to World War I. Those who joined before the change were allowed to serve with their beards and turbans, but the policy effectively prevented new enlistment of Sikhs, Kaur said.
She said her group will continue to push for a change in Army policy.
"We're still working toward a day when Sikhs don't have to check their faith at the door," she said.
By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer – Mon Mar 22, 8:33 pm ET
SAN ANTONIO – Amid lines of soldiers, one after the other in standard-issue fatigues and combat boots, was one in a turban and full beard on Monday — the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete U.S. Army officer basic training without sacrificing the articles of his faith.
Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a 31-year-old dentist, graduated Monday at Fort Sam Houston after the Army made an exemption to a uniform policy that has effectively prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984.
"I'm feeling very humbled. I'm a soldier," he said, grinning after the ceremony as other members of the Sikh community milled about nearby. "This has been my dream."
Rattan had to get a waiver from the Army to be allowed to serve without sacrificing the unshorn hair mandated by his faith. An immigrant from India who arrived in New York as a teenager, Rattan said it was important for him to serve a country that has given him so many opportunities.
The Army in 1984 eliminated an exemption that had previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their articles of faith while serving, but officials can issue individual waivers to the uniform policy after considering the effects on safety and discipline, said Army spokesman George Wright. Only a handful of such individual religious exemptions are ever granted.
Rattan and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, who will attend basic training this summer after completing an emergency medicine fellowship, are the first Sikhs to receive exemptions in more than 25 years.
Rattan and Kalsi both offer health care skills that are in high demand in an Army stretched by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
1st Sgt. Jeffrey DeGarmo said he made sure the officers-in-training in his unit understood that Rattan wasn't a foreign national and had received the Army's permission to maintain his beard and turban. Once the other soldiers understood that, there were no issues, he said.
"It went pretty well," DeGarmo said. "I think he did an outstanding job adjusting."
For Sikhs, the unshorn hair wrapped in a turban and beard are required to keep adherents in the natural state in which God made them, said Amardeep Singh, director of the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group that helped Rattan and Kalsi push for Army admittance.
During training, Rattan wore a helmet over the small turban, which he doesn't remove, and was able to successfully create a seal with his gas mask despite the beard, resolving the Army's safety concerns, said Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's legal director.
Rattan worked with an Army tailor to create a flash, the insignia patch worn on soldiers' berets, that could be affixed to his black turban, she said.
Singh said allowing Sikh adherents to serve in the Army is an important part of ensuring they are an integral part of American life. He said it also could counter prejudice.
"If government can say to someone 'You can't serve, not for any reason that has to do with your abilities,' that sends the wrong message," he said. "We don't want to be perpetual outsiders."
The Sikh community has a long tradition of military service in India, from where most adherents originally emigrated, and in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.
Sikhs represent 2 percent of India's population but make up about 30 percent of that country's army officers, Singh said.
An estimated 300,000 Sikhs live in the United States.
Before the Army's regulation change in 1984, Sikhs served in the U.S. military during every major armed conflict going back to World War I. Those who joined before the change were allowed to serve with their beards and turbans, but the policy effectively prevented new enlistment of Sikhs, Kaur said.
She said her group will continue to push for a change in Army policy.
"We're still working toward a day when Sikhs don't have to check their faith at the door," she said.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR :)
I want to wish all those who have chosen to follow this blog and those who may be occasional peekers a very happy 2010. May the New Year bring peace, joy and prosperity to all…
I hope to bring greater energy to the blog, raising issues of concern and interest to all ‘thinking’ Punjabis so that together we may raise awareness on social issues that cap our potential as a community. It won’t be always serious stuff though– for what good is it being a Punjabi if you can’t enjoy a hearty laugh even if it is at your own expense.
So, let’s ring in the New Year with hope for a better world….remember we can help make it a better world.
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