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Smithsonian helps preserve Sikh culture

Aziz Haniffa in Washington

It was a defining moment for Sikh Americans as they came together under the aegis of the prestigious Smithsonian institution to preserve their culture and heritage.

A lecture series at the Smithsonian National History Museum this month kicked off the first phase of the institution's Sikh Heritage Project.

The project was set up 10 months ago to find, protect and display cultural and historical artefacts of the Sikh people of India and Pakistan.

"This is a unique opportunity for Americans to understand something about the Sikh heritage and its relevance in the modern world," Jeevan Singh Deol, who is coordinating the effort, said.

Deol, a research associate at the Asian Culture History Program and a fellow in Indian history from Cambridge's St John's College, is a specialist in Sikh history and Punjabi literature.

"Those without any prior exposure to Sikhism," he predicted, "will be able to learn about Sikhs and their history. At the same time, Sikh Americans will be able to connect with their rich past."

Central to the project is the development of a new Sikh exhibit case in the Hall of the Asian peoples, which according to Paul Michael Taylor, director of the Asian Cultural History Program at the Smithsonian, is expected to open in spring 2002.

Deol has been travelling to India and Pakistan to obtain Sikh manuscripts, paintings and other objects for the exhibition next spring. The exhibition will be the first long-term installation on Sikh history in an American museum.

India's ambassador to the US Lalit Mansingh and the deputy chief of mission at the Pakistan embassy, Zamir Akram, attended the event and pledged to do their utmost to convince their governments to loan available Sikh manuscripts and paintings, many of which Deol said were badly damaged due to neglect.

According to Deol, only about 10 per cent of Sikh treasures remain, the rest have vanished, with a few sold in the international market.

"Something like 80 per cent of old manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture, are no longer in existence," Deol told Indo-Asian News Service.

"Most of the gurdwara buildings in Punjab have been replaced by new structures in the past 40 years. Important documents and collections disappear every year."

The keynote speaker at the celebrations that followed the lecture series was one of America's most successful Sikh entrepreneurs, Chirinjeev Singh Kathuria, a benefactor of the project.

Kathuria said: "The best way to kill a culture is to kill its history and language. If we don't do anything our culture and history will be gone forever,"

"Sikhism will always be a part of me. I want my kids and colleagues and everyone to know about Sikhism," he said.

"Most of us second generation immigrants, including me, don't speak Punjabi fluently, and we know even less about our culture and history," he confessed. "We have got to make a lot of effort, if we want to preserve our culture and history."

Indo-Asian News Service

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