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WASHINGTON DIARY: The third Punjab —Dr Manzur Ejaz

Despite their differences of social status and political ideology, the ‘third Punjab’ citizens are unanimous in their opposition to the US invasion of Iraq and resent US efforts to coerce Canada. Their Canadian nationalism becomes apparent when they talk about Uncle Sam

On almost every road, one can see numerous bicycle riders who sport foot-long beards and turbans, dressed in kurta-pajamas. Many men and women, in the same cast and mould, can also be seen at bus stops. Most shops in the markets display their names in the Gurmukhi script of Punjabi — more than we find in Amritsar. This could be a scene from any East Punjabi city. It is Vancouver, the largest city in the British Columbia province of Canada.

Dr Karnail Singh Thind, a visiting scholar from Mohali (Chandigarh), calls it as the ‘third Punjab.’ Elaborating on the definition he says, that the ‘first Punjab’ is in Pakistan where the largest number of Punjabis live, ‘the second’ is in India with the second largest Punjabi population and the third is scattered all around the world with its capital in Vancouver.

The claim is justified in that this is the only place, away from the subcontinent, that had a Punjabi premier (chief minister), Ujhal Dosanjh, and where Punjabi is taught in schools. In this respect it is better than the first Punjab.

All kinds of skills, industrial and intellectual, have migrated to the ‘third Punjab’: One can open a university or any other institution, staffed solely by those from the ‘third Punjab’. A few years back, when I was introduced to the late Dr Prem Parkash Singh, a Punjabi philologist, I wondered if there were experts like him working in (geographical) Punjab itself. After he passed away, the intellectuals and activist community led by Bhopinder Singh Malhi, published his works and invited people from all over the world (including myself) to honour him.

The older generation of the ‘third Punjab’ seems much closer to the Pakistani Punjab. While honouring Dr Prem Parkash, most commentators recited Allama Mohammad Iqbal and Mirza Ghalib instead of Waris Shah or Bulleh Shah. Some of the verses were so tedious that, even, regular Urdu readers would need a dictionary to comprehend them. It was obvious that the older generation of Sikhs was more conversant in Persian and Urdu than in written Punjabi. Can one speculate that Punjabi’s fate in a United Punjab may be no different from its status in Pakistan?

However, the future of Punjabi people in Canadian politics and business seems very bright. Six Punjabis have been elected to the Canadian parliament, three of them from the Vancouver area. They are also doing very well in business: Vancouver is home to the ‘King of Carrots’ — a Punjabi immigrant who owns the largest carrot processing plant in Canada.

There is no doubt that the ‘third Punjab’ is vibrant and full of people who can achieve daunting tasks. Gurmant Grewal, for example, broke the record when he became a member of the Canadian parliament within six years of his immigration. In the last election his wife Nina and he made history by becoming the first couple to simultaneously win seats in the parliament. Mr Dosanjh also won the election to parliament and, at present, is the education minister of Canada. There are countless Punjabi-origin city mayors and councillors all over Canada.

Unlike the politicians of Chandigarh (capital of East Punjab) and Lahore, Mr Grewal, a seasoned politician of the Conservative Party of Canada, is modest. Despite their busy schedules, the Grewals don’t have any domestic help.

And despite all the other tasks at hand, Mr Grewal helped raise $1.5 million for the earthquake victims: most of the funds came from Vancouver’s Sikh community. When I was visiting Mr Grewal at his residence in Surry — a Vancouver suburb with the highest Punjabi population concentration — a group of non-Muslim Punjabi youth were consulting him about the disbursement of $10,000 that they had collected for earthquake victims.

Mr Grewal helps India and Pakistan in their dealings with Canada. He has been the president of a pro-Indo-Pak parliamentary group. Having conceded the presidency of the pro-Pakistan parliamentary group to Wajid Khan, the only Pakistani-Punjabi MP from Toronto, he is still the president of the Indian caucus. He claims that he has convinced the Canadian government to not use its vote against India and Pakistan at the United Nations, indiscriminately: Canada had secretly decided to oppose India and Pakistan on every point after their nuclear tests.

Mr Grewal also takes credit for highlighting the plight of Palestinians across the ‘shouting fence’. When Palestinian areas were divided, fences cut across some villages and towns. For half a century, people have been shouting across the fence to communicate with family members on the other side. With the intervention of the international community, on the pleading of people like Mr Grewal, the ‘shouting fences’ were brought down, making possible visiting arrangements between family members.

Mr Avtar Singh Sahota has successfully brought down the barriers of the capital market. It is amazing, how a young man from a remote village of East Punjab has managed to install the largest automatic carrot processing plant in Canada. From digging up the carrots to the packing, every step is automated.

The King of Carrots is also an example of modesty. Despite his financial standing, he has no domestic help. His daughter served tea when we visited his residence. He fondly remembers people from back home. Like other first generation immigrants, he is still more involved emotionally with his hometown than with Canada where he has made his fortune.

While Mr Grewal and Mr Avtar Singh have made it to upper echelons of Canadian society, Mr Sucha Deepak Singh has championed labour causes. He is a leader of International Timber Union of America and supporter of the Communist Party of Canada (ML). Incidentally, the Communist Party of Canada (ML) was also founded and led by late Hardial Bhains, an immigrant from Hoshiarpur, East Punjab. After his death, his wife, Sandra Smith, became the party leader.

Despite their differences of social status and political ideology, the ‘third Punjab’ citizens are unanimous in their opposition to the US invasion of Iraq and resent US efforts to coerce Canada. Their Canadian nationalism becomes apparent when they talk about Uncle Sam; Canada like Punjab has a place in their heart.

‘Third Punjab’ has shown that given the opportunity people can achieve anything.



Random musings: The exodus from the East Punjab to ‘third Punjab’ has created a vacuum that is filled with labour from Bihar, known as bhayyas. While the prosperous East Punjabis are sending their children to English and Hindi medium schools, the kids of Punjabi bhayyas — as they are known — are going to government schools where the medium of instruction is Punjabi (Gurmukhi script). Some Punjabi bhayyas have started wearing turbans and grown beards like Sikhs. If the trend continues, Punjabi bhayyas will share the political power in a province which was created for Sikh supremacy.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Washington DC

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