The Fiji Times of Thursday May 21, 2015 reported “a Sikh man has been widely praised for ignoring the strict rules of his faith to remove his turban and put it under the head of a hurt child”. And according to The New Zealand Herald “a New Zealand Sikh man is being hailed a hero after removing his turban to help a child who had been hit by a car”.
Harman Singh made international headlines when he took off his turban to support the injured head of six-year-old Daejon Pahia, a primary school student, who was bleeding outside his home in Takanini in Auckland.
According to cultural and religious traditions, Sikhs remove the turbans only in the privacy of their own homes. Harman Singh did not worry about any custom and convention because he was saving the life of a child. It was a humanitarian act of the highest order and it was more sacred than any other religious tenets.
If we look at ancient history and the turban’s rich heritage we find there are many references to it in the Christian scriptures. In the Old Testament it is recorded: “Put on the turban as the Lord has commanded Moses.”
One of God’s commands to Moses was to wear a turban as the symbol of being a prophet, holiness and divine power. In olden days even Egyptians wore turbans. Among Muslims, particularly in Arab countries, it is still worn.
In India, turbans are used in almost every state. A colourful turban is considered to be a “crown” and perhaps that is why Indian bridegrooms wear ornamental turbans during the marriage ceremony.
Professor Sunit Kumar Chatterjee, an eminent historian and linguist of India, comments in one of his books: “The basic headdress of the Indians is the turban which is a piece of cloth of varying length, wound around the head in different styles. Ancient Indian turbans as in sculptures and paintings, were sometimes quite elaborate.”
This statement reminds me of our girmitiya forefathers who had come from different regions of India and the majority of them wore white turbans.
In Punjab, however, a different tradition has been built up.
The turban, since olden days, has been of great importance in the land of five rivers and of the Sikh gurus. From Guru Nanak (1469 – 1506) to Guru Gobind Singh (1666- 1708), all the gurus wore turbans and the followers of Sikh faith began to don it.
When Guru Gobind Singh laid the foundation of a community, called Khalsa, the turban was made an article of faith and included in the code of conduct. Since those times, most Sikhs think wearing a turban is a part of their religion.
Sikh children are not permitted to cut their hair, and when they grow up, they are required to cover their heads with a turban. Some families organise a turban-tying ceremony called dastar bandhi.
Dastar is a Persian word used for turban. According to the Sikh principles, heads should be properly covered and the turban on the head should look elegant and artistic.
Times are changing and value systems, both social and religious, are undergoing transformation. Turbans nowadays are considered more a mark of Punjabiat and Sikh identification. The colourful way the Sikhs wear and use turbans gives them a unique distinctiveness.
When any Sikh congregation wants to bestow highest honour upon a well known personality in or outside a gurdwara, Sikh temple, he is very respectfully offered a turban by the officials of the temple and sometimes they themselves would tie it gracefully around his head.
A few years back when Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India, he was presented a turban by the management of the temple. We saw his photograph in the newspapers with a turban on his head, tied in a modern Sikh style and he looked very young and smart.
Many traditional practices have been associated with Sikh turbans. Some of them have been prevalent among local Sikhs.
When the father dies and his eldest son takes over the responsibilities, the turban-tying ceremony, rasam pagri, takes place in a large gathering in or outside a gurdwara. It shows he has taken over the responsibilities of his father and is the head of the family.
Another one relates to friends who exchange their turbans to become dharambhai for life (brother connected with religious traditions).
The custom is called pag vatauni and thereafter their relationship remains permanent and they take a pledge of helping each other in times of difficulties and would share their sorrows and joys throughout their lives.
Having a beard, uncut hair, and turban on the head, there is no problem in Punjab for the Sikhs but in some foreign countries, they face discrimination and have been refused employment and students not admitted in schools. They were asked to cut their hair and abandon their turbans. Some of them took the help of the law of that country and were successful in retaining their original identity but others have attempted to solve the problem by cutting their hair but they continue calling themselves Sikhs.
However, in some countries including Fiji, the Sikhs with turbans and beards did not face any discrimination. The non-Sikhs in Fiji accepted them with love and respect and even in our constitution, we read “Religious liberty as recognised in the Bill of Rights, is a founding principle of the State,” and “Religious belief is personal”.
* Jogindar Singh Kanwal, former principal of Khalsa College in Ba frequently writes for The Fiji Times. The views expressed in this article are his and not of this paper. He can be contacted on kanwal@connect.com.fj.
