The minor but speedily growing Punjabi community in Paris got together at the solitary ‘gurdwara’ for festivities to mark the conclusion of three-day celebrations of the ‘Baisakhi’ festival, which symbolizes harvest time as well as the Punjabi New Year.
Over 500 people, a reasonable blend of Sikhs and Hindus, visited the ‘gurdwara’ namely ‘Gurdwara Singh Sabha Association’ located at Bobigny, a northeastern suburb of Paris, where an ‘akhand path’ (uninterrupted reading of
Sikh holy scriptures) had been in progress.
The ‘akhand path’ was followed by regular ‘kirtan’ (devotional songs) that lasted for more than two hours and concluded the ‘Baisakhi’ celebrations in the ‘gurdwara’. The participants later involved themselves in the ‘guru ka langar’ (community kitchen).
At the same time, daylong festivities had also been organized by the Punjabi Sports Club of Paris.
Traditional Indian sports like ‘kabbadi’ and ‘kho-kho’ took place in conjunction with races that saw participation by a large number of youngsters.
Though officially, the Punjabi community in France is only about 15,000, recent years have seen a noteworthy boost in the number of migrants from Punjab and Haryana into France. Most of them can be seen marketing toys and roasted chestnuts near the famous Paris tourist spots like the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees and Opera.
Though no official figures are available, some members of the Punjabi community estimate that there may be over 50,000 Punjabis living in and around Paris, with most of them having arrived in the late 1990's. A number of earlier migrants have now settled in trade and run grocery shops in Paris and suburbs.
The major problem being faced by these Sikhs living in France was that of the French government refusing to allow Sikh students to wear turbans in government-run schools.
Sikh families in France were finding it difficult to educate their wards in schools run by the government owing to a restriction on wearing turbans. As many as 15 students had been expelled from various schools there for violating the rule.
Sikhs with turbans are living as second-to-none citizens in various parts of the world. In Canada, in the French-speaking province of Quebec, the Sikhs are held in great esteem. The Sikhs as a people are no threat to any definition of "secularism". In fact, the Sikhs as a distinct group of people are conscious of their responsibility to self and society. The turban-wearing Sikh knows that he carries the onus of history on his head and would shy away from doing anything, which will put him, his family or the Sikh's nation to shame.
The French government should respect the concern of the Sikhs and ensure that the Sikh residents of France are not discriminated against and are allowed to wear the turban.