CHANDIGARH: The fact that Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of Sikhs in Punjab is falling is disturbing trend and a debate has begon that Is Sikhism dying.The drugs problem leading to deaths of youth with overdose and high rate of addiction, agrarian crisis clubbed with suicides by farmers, unemployment and indulgence of youth in crime, lure of foreign lands, rising dera clout and poverty among Sikhs seems playing havoc with the Sikhs who were kept in very high esteem in the world history, often referred as warriors.
The situation in Punjab is very different today where sex ratio of Punjab is just 895. Unfortunately it is lowest in the districts with Sikh population like Fatehgarh Sahib district where Sikh population is as high as 90 percent.The decline in birth of women might adversly effect the sex ratio for future generations to a critical decline. Sikhs with lowest birth rate of about 1.5 percent in India has an aging population in the home country particularly Punjab. The internal migration of non-Sikhs from other states to Punjab is another threat looming large on future of Sikhs.
The most disturbing report is of semen banks coming up in Malwa region of Punjab where Sikh farmers and youth are helplessly finding themselves in death trap. The reports have suggested that semen banks have come up in Sangrur and Bathinda and their main donors are non-Sikhs including immigrants. The infertility clinis mushrooming in cities like Bathinda, Ludhiana, Mohali and Amritsar have been depending on the semen banks to 'gift' a baby to mothers no able to concieve from their husbands. Majority of beneficieries are indeed Sikh families.
Would it change the DNA of future generations of Sikhs. The anti-drug crusaders in vidoes circulated in social media have expressed their fears.
Devinder Singh, a senior functionary of J and K state Health Services has in fact penned down the fears of Sikh community heading towards extinction.
In an article 'Is Sikhism dying' on Quora platfor, Devinder Singh has focused his research on Punjab and tried to find reasons behind stark fall in Sikh population. We reproduce his article here for reading.
He says, "Going by the collapse of Total Fertility Rate or TFR, Sikhism is actually in terminal decline. There are only two ways to ensure a religious community thrives & propagates successfully : one, reproduce enough so that more people are born in the community than those who die; and two, attract new adherents to your faith by way of religious conversions. On both these counts, Sikhism is failing. While the general Sikh TFR has fallen way below replacement level (2.1), the non-proselyting nature of Sikhism means not enough new members join the faith.
What could be the reasons? Although I'm not a trained Sociologist, being a student of Sociology allows me to delineate some of the reasons behind this stark fall in Sikh population growth rate. However, its upto trained Sociologists like Prof. S S Jodhka of JNU and others to verify or refute my claims.
Punjabiyat:The TFR of Sikhs was at par with Hindus in 1991 census, but witnessed sharp decline in 2001 & 2011 census. This coincides with growing trend of Sikhs in Punjab to identify with Punjabiyat rather than Sikhism. Some cultural elements of Punjabiyat like materialism, individualism, rampant & socially accepted alcoholism & drug intake, big fat punjabi wedding etc have taken a huge toll at ability of Punjabi Sikhs to marry early & have more than 1 kid.
Religious confusion: The decline of authority & respect for established Sikh leadership coupled with growing clout of Deras has created disconcerting thoughts & practices among large sections of Sikh society. Its my estimate that if in 2021 census separate entries are allowed for people to list themselves as followers of their preferred Deras, Sikhs would end up becoming a minority in Punjab in 2021 itself.
Agrarian crises: Ongoing Agrarian stress has started taking its toll on Punjab farmer. As a result, the rising rates of farmer suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism are going to exacerbate the general fall in TFR of Sikhs
Lure of foreign lands : No community is more desperate to emigrate out of India than Sikhs. This is resulting in two complications; one, those who are unable to move out are left depressed and hence easy prey to alcoholism & drug addiction, and two, those who are able to move out end up realising that the lure of better life was a mirage. This is especially true for those who emigrate illegally after undergoing torturous efforts. As a result, they also are likely to end up having mental health issues like depression & generalised anxiety disorders.
Marrying out: The increasing trend of Sikh girls marrying out of own community has also exacerbated the fall of TFR especially in states outside Punjab & abroad".
Understanding the problem, the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh in May 2015 had given a call to Sikh couples to give birth to atleast three or four children. The national media had ridiculed the logic of Jathedar but he had defended his statement saying it was the only way to “correct the community’s dwindling population”. He also cited the example of Muslims who have more children and their strong vote bank plays a safeguard for them.
The Sikh political leadership has remained tight lipped on the issue and even religious leaders are not ready to issue a directive to community. Akal Takht Jathedar had said that these were his personal views but not an official statement of Akal Takht. The punch line is that Akal Takht Jathedar himself has three children and same is the case of Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. But religious and political leadership of Sikhs should address the issue of falling fertility rate of Sikhs.
The writer Satinder Bains, a senior journalist is Editor of punjabnewsexpress.com and punjabnewsline.com