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Despite Heavy Odds, Report Suggests India’s Sikhs Continue To Live Better Than The Rest in India

KANCHAN SRIVASTAVA

 

 

 



Despite the cataclysmic devastations suffered by the Sikhs of India in 1947 and 1984 and the decade of oppression that followed, the average Sikh in India -- they are a mere 2% of the country’s population -- remains head and shoulders above the rest. No credit to the governments of the land! It's all in the Sikh DNA of chardi kala.
 


More Muslims live in their own houses than Hindus, but the average floor area of a Muslim house is 387 sq ft as against 431 sq ft of a Hindu house and 634 sq ft of a Sikh house

A latest report says more Muslims (64%) live in their own houses than Hindus (60%) in India.

However, the average floor area of Muslims household is only 387 sq ft, which is lowest among all religious groups and below the national average. Hindu houses are only slightly bigger, with an average floor area of 419 sq ft.

On the other hand, Sikhs and Christians in the country have the most spacious houses with an average area of 635 sq ft and 532 sq ft, respectively.

Besides this, the percentage of Muslim households using tap water is also the lowest -- 63.7 % compared to 69.7 % in Hindus households.

"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment all you have is all you need," is the famous quote of American author Sara Ban Breathnach. A big chunk of Indians, mostly Muslims, who stay in tiny homes feel exactly the same.

These statistics are part of Prof Amitabh Kundu committee's report submitted to India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs last week. The Committee was constituted by the UPA government a year ago for an assessment of the socio-economic status of the Muslim community seven years after the implementation of the Justice Sachar Commission, which had highlighted the community's poor socio-economic condition. The report is based on NSSO data.

Underlining the discrimination of the community, the report states, "One would infer that the difficulties for Muslim families in renting houses in urban property market in a way compels them to become owners, despite them having lower affordability. Higher ownership figures reported by the Sikhs (83%) can be attributed to their higher level of economic well being."

A key indicator of economic well being is monthly per capita consumption expenditure in which urban Muslims figure at the bottom (Rs297), followed by the scheduled castes (“SC”) (Rs 284) and scheduled tribes (“ST”) (Rs 283), as against upper caste Hindus (Rs 556) and other religions (Rs 527), states the report.

"This can be attributed to the fact that the STs, and to some extent SCs, move out of rural areas for accessing education or employment in government sectors, due to the policy of reservation, that results in their higher consumption expenditure in relative terms," observes the report, adding that migration by Muslims, on the other hand, is due to economic distress, seasonality and social discrimination leading to more poverty.

In rural areas, ST Hindus are at the bottom of the ladder, followed by SC and then Muslims, their ranking remaining unchanged over the past two decades.


[Courtesy: DNA India]
October 17, 2014

 

Conversation about this article

1: Bikramjit Singh (London, United Kingdom), October 17, 2014, 12:42 PM.

If we can achieve this much whilst living as second class citizens in India, then imagine what we could achieve in a free Khalistan.

2: Harvinder Singh (London, United Kingdom), October 17, 2014, 3:07 PM.

Alas, a reason for some mirth from our brothers and sisters in that wretched country. My penny's worth of advice to our brethren is to spend that extra income on education, education and education of your children.

3: RP Singh (Palo Alto, California, USA), October 17, 2014, 5:41 PM.

Aggregate wealth of a community often viciously hides huge income disparity and suffering ... just look at Punjab specifically.

4: Manjit Singh BaraPindia (Canada), October 17, 2014, 8:42 PM.

Our focus of economic conditions has been only on mainly the Sikh-Punjabis and the Partition refugees and their descendants now living in other parts of India. However, there are close to 40-50 million forgotten Sikhs (Vanjara, Sikligar, Satnami, etc.) living in Eastern Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states. Some of them are not even counted in the census because they do not have homes or places to live. If at all they are counted, they are listed with the 'backward' tribes. But these states till recently did not extend to them any benefits reserved for 'backward' tribes. About 180 years ago they were declared as the criminal tribes by the British to keep them under control, and to date they are treated as such. They live under appalling conditions in make-shift huts, yet are a very proud people.

5: Raj (Canada), October 17, 2014, 10:23 PM.

Rest of that country is jealous because we succeed inspite of heavy odds against us. This was evident in the 1984 pogroms, after which the Shahi Imam of Delhi commented: "Guru Gobind Singh gave Sikhs the Kirpan to protect the weaker sections of the society that couldn't protect itself. And here the influential and rich Sikhs couldn't even protect themselves. Reason? They have acquired everything, but the Kirpan given to them by their Guru". Point is, you can have all you want, but if you don't have the spirit infused by the Guru with gurbani and the might to protect it, you will become a sitting duck.

6: Harinder Singh 1469 (New Delhi, India), October 17, 2014, 11:35 PM.

Also, they are fond of colours and dressing up nicely. Lately, a lot of Sikh families are going back to tradition and cultural roots by appreciating, for example, phulkari (one of the finest Punjabi handicrafts), different textures and patterns in turbans. Another feature that sets Sikhs apart in India is, a) their high sense of hygiene; b) the commitment and dedication to be part of the sangat in the gurdwara, listening to gurbani kirtan, participating in ardaas, seva, simran. On the other hand, we waste so much on weddings ...

7: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 18, 2014, 1:33 AM.

The Sikhs have the great Guru Nanak and nine other Nanaks to thank for their extraordinary success everywhere.

8: Baldev Singh  (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 18, 2014, 8:12 AM.

Commentator #6 Harinder Singh ji, you mentioned 'weddings'! In this we have inherited many of the Hindu heathen curses that plague us today - caste, dowry and male child preference.

9: GC Singh (USA), October 18, 2014, 11:39 AM.

Lies, damned lies and now statistics are being used to make Sikhs euphoric and blindsided about how they are dominating and prospering in India, inspite of the genocidal policies of our occupiers. It seems we have not learnt how not to be stupefied or emotionally blackmailed by symbolism like "appointment" of a turbaned President, Prime Minister or Army chief all of whom proved to be powerless puppets in the Hindu establishment and were used against us. It is true that you will rarely ever find a Sikh begging on the corner of a street in a land teeming with millions of beggars. But the blunt truth is that Sikhs today have almost negligible corporate ownership and wealth. Just one bania - Mukesh Ambani's net worth may be more than the entire combined wealth of Sikhs. The turnover/sales of his Reliance group is many times more than the entire agriculture sales of all the Sikh farmers in Punjab. Imagine, there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of greedy ones like Ambani in India. The entire Industry in Punjab is owned by non-Sikhs and as a policy gives preference to UP and Bihar labor causing a huge demographic onslaught. Almost 6 million non-Punjabis have been given voter ID cards to vote in a tiny state, which Sikhs call their homeland. Punjab today is occupied by a den of corrupt and cowardly politicians, and an organized gang of criminals in uniform - the Punjab police and para-military forces, directly controlled by central agencies have disarmed the Sikhs, labeled them as terrorists and criminals and are ruthlessly bent on the complete elimination of Sikh identity, heritage, history, its glorious traditions and institutions.

10: Jasbeer Singh (New Delhi, India), October 18, 2014, 12:22 PM.

Agree with #6 - need to provide quality education to all Sikh kids from rural village to urban. At the same time, need to educate all Sikhs about our own religion. These governments have no policy and they won't bring any for betterment of minorities. And such reports, especially in India, will not be seen as good for Sikhs.

11: Harvinder Singh (London, United Kingdom), October 18, 2014, 5:33 PM.

Whilst reading and then penning my thoughts, #3, I did consider that this article might be insidious. Since the venal brahmanical social engineers with the assistance of some mendacious Sikh leaders, with khaki shorts shrouded under their Sikh garbs, might use this kind of nebulous data to further deny and vanquish the Sikhs of India. Oh drat, that mirth didn't last long ... Only solution is our own homeland and self-determination. Ruefully, that seems like a distant dream. The real pressing need of today, however, is of a Sikh leadership with rectitude to emerge. Which is young, vibrant, clever, charismatic and inspired by Guru Granth Sahib.

12: GC Singh (USA), October 18, 2014, 7:36 PM.

#11 Harvinder Singh ji- I could not agree with you more. Gurus made Khalsa a community of warrior saints, lions and lionesses. But today we are being led by the most corrupt and cowardly gang of minions who have mortgaged the Sikh nation for a few left-over crumbs from the Hindu rulers.

13: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 18, 2014, 8:07 PM.

In true Sikhism anything is possible but in a brahmanised and corrupted community, we are going to have the same hinduized chaos, hypocrisy and political and sectarian violence.

14: Kaala Singh (Punjab), October 18, 2014, 11:12 PM.

In India the Brahmin/Bania nexus controls everything. If Sikhs have achieved a better standard of living, it is due to their own efforts and the Sikh way of life. But there is little to cheer otherwise. The Sikh homeland of Punjab is in ruins. It is under huge debt and is unable to pay the interest on this loan, leave alone the principal. There is very little money available for development and that too is eaten away by corrupt politicians. We don't see any Sikh owned companies like Tata and Reliance for the simple reason that they will be scuttled by this evil nexus. We don't see any real wealth in the hands of Sikhs. If Sikhs are able to achieve something big in the corporate sector, that will only happen outside India and certainly outside Punjab.

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