Santa Claus becomes Santa Singh in Punjab

Letter from New Delhi

As Christianity adapts and spreads, Christmas takes novel forms

By Kul Bhushan

Santa Singh is an age-old name for Sikhs in Punjab which is adapted and becomes Santa Claus. Instead of ‘Ho. Ho, Ho’, the call is changed to “Balle, Balle’. The sleigh driven by four deer; it is a carriage driven by two horses.

The traditional ditty ‘Jingle Bells’ is replaced by a lusty Punjabi pop number called ‘Singhs Doing Khristmas’. Dressed as Santa Claus in a traditional red coat and trousers is a big, burly Sardar in flowing, long beard to complete the Christmas cheer. Of course, there is a new twist to the time-honoured Yuletide greeting which is shouted as “Na teri, na meri, phirbhi Merry Christmas”. It means it is neither yours nor mine, and yet it is Merry Christmas.

This surge in celebrating Christmas in Punjab in recent years is due to a number of factors. The rapid conversion of low-income Sikhs and Hindus into Christianity. According to Wikipedia, Punjab has a Christian population of around 350,000 which is 1.3 per cent of the total population. However, some media reports and Christian groups claim that the actual number of Christians in Punjab is close to 2.77 million, which would be about 15 per cent of the population.

Although the first Christians came to Punjab in the second millennium from Armenia followed by the Jesuits in 16th century during the Mughal era, the core of this group can be traced to the British rule when the first churches were established and missionaries came and started their work with their schools and other social welfare projects. The Ludhiana Mission was established in 1834. Churches were built in all major cities followed by schools.

 A Moga Training School for Village Teachers was set up in 1922 to spread the faith. All India Conference of Indian Christians was held in Lahore in the same year. By this time the Foreman Christian College was started in Lahore. The number of Christians increased gradually until India gained independence. This trend did not slow down but gathered momentum in the last three decades and more so in the last decade.

Churches and chapels mushroomed across Punjab and today most towns and even some villages have a church or at least a chapel. A major factor in increased conversion has been the relaxation in adopting Christian names. Now the converts are not always renamed as John or Joseph but carry on with their previous Sikh or Hindu names. Thus, they do not draw special attention but can benefit from government quotas and schemes for low-income groups.

Among the other reasons for becoming Christians are free education at their schools, free treatment at their clinics and or hospitals and most of all, the lure of assistance in migrating abroad. If a local mission helps a single young person to settle in Canada, Australia or Britain, it is widely publicised as the bonus for becoming a Christian to attract more people. The so-called ‘miracle cures’ at highly dramatic rallies are also a factor.

Today every Punjabi village, however small, has some Christians. This rapidly rising number of Christians came to the attention of Sikh leaders in 1922. Sikh radicals clashed with Christians. The chief of Akal Takhat, the highest Sigh religious body, Giani Harpreet Singh, claimed earlier this year that poor Sikhs and Hindus from the backward classes were being converted by Christian missionaries. The Christians claimed that a hate campaign had been launched against them.Read More… Become a Subscriber


Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 20 December 2024

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