By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Punjabi youth took more interest in the Canadian elections than they take in the Punjab elections. Their main interest was to see the party which favors liberal immigration policies wins the elections. Not only Trudeau who favors liberal immigration policies won the elections, his minority government will be supported and sustained by the NDP led by Jagmeet Singh who favors even more liberal policies on immigration.
Punjabis naturally feel good when they see 18 Punjabi members in the Canadian Parliament compared to 13 members of the Indian Parliament. There were four cabinet ministers in the previous Canadian government compared to one in the Indian government. Now Jagmeet Singh will be the king maker in Canada. No Punjabi enjoys that status in India.
The question is should Punjab and the Punjabis be really happy over the achievements of the Punjabis in Canada? Punjabi youth has one track mind today. Whatever helps them to migrate is good for them. However, the question is that is immigration really helping Punjab or is hurting it? We have to see the economic impact, the social impact and the cultural impact. We also have to see the ethical and moral impacts and how it is affecting our value system.
The question that has immigration to Canada or other countries has overall helped Punjab or has hurt Punjab is a very crucial and important question for Punjab today. Punjab is passing through an unprecedented period of instability and uncertainty today. At present, immigration seems to be the major factor contributing toward this unfortunate situation.
Before this the major factor which harmed Punjab was the so called Green Revolution. It destabilized Punjab demographically, socially, culturally and morally. However, many pseudo intellectuals, particularly pseudo Marxists kept singing the praises of the Green Revolution. When I first started telling people about the harm done by the Green Revolution to Punjab, I faced tremendous opposition from the pseudo intellectuals, particularly from the pseudo Marxists. However, today, a consensus seems to have emerged that the so called Green Revolution has done tremendous harm to Punjab.
I find myself in a similar situation when it comes to the issue of immigration. I am facing opposition from the same groups, pseudo intellectuals and pseudo Marxists. They have not learnt from being proved totally wrong on their stand on the Green Revolution and are now supporting immigration even though it is harming Punjab. I feel that there are two distinct phases of immigration from Punjab. The first phase started in the beginning of the twentieth century and lasted till the last decades of the century. The second phase started toward the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first century. There is a big difference in the two phases as to how they affected Punjab. There is also a big difference in the class character of the immigrants and causes of immigration as well as the aspirations of the immigrants.
In the first phase, the majority of immigrants were from the poor and the ordinary rural peasant back ground. The main cause of immigration was the scarcity of land. These people were motivated by their needs. They remained attached to Punjab. With the money they earned they helped their families in Punjab. Overall, Punjab benefitted from their migration. One index of their adding to the prosperity of Punjab is that the price of the land in Punjab went very high.
The second phase of immigration is qualitatively different than the first phase. The majority of the immigrants are now from the urban petit bourgeois class. Even the rural back ground people are divorced from Kirat(farming). They are more educated than their parents. Therefore, even though they come from the peasant back ground but their own class cannot be called peasantry. They qualify more as a petit bourgeois class than peasantry. Even though they are from a rural back ground but their aspirations are same as the urban petit bourgeois class. As opposed to the previous immigrants, these people are primarily motivated by their desires than their needs. Like the petit bourgeois class everywhere in the world, their main desire is to get rich as soon as possible. The new immigrants have no attachment to Punjab.
As opposed to the immigrants in the first phase who mainly proved a boon for Punjab, the immigrants in the second phase have proved more of a curse than a boon for Punjab. The land prices in Punjab have fallen in a big way in Punjab because of immigration. The first phase immigrants not only proved useful for Punjab but they also proved very useful for Canada. These immigrants have contributed toward progress and prosperity of Punjab as well as of Canada and the other countries they migrated to. The second phase immigrants are harming Punjab in a big way. Their exodus from Punjab has led to social, cultural and moral instability in Punjab. Temporarily, Canada and the other countries they migrate to are gaining from their migration. Because they are primarily doing the jobs which the local people do not want to do and they are also bringing money to Canada and the other countries.
However, in the long run they are likely to create same problems in these countries which they have created in Punjab. In the long run, they are more likely to become a liability rather than an asset for these countries.
Most of us Punjabis feel proud over the achievements of the Punjabis in Canada particularly, Jagmeet Singh becoming a king maker in Canada. However, we have to remember that these are the children of the immigrants of the first phase. We appreciate Jagmeet Singh’s liberal policies toward immigration. However, we request Jagmeet Singh and the other Punjabis who have climbed the ladder of political success that they should support immigration policies which benefit both Canada and Punjab and should not support those policies which benefit Canada at the expense of Punjab. In the long run those policies are likely to harm Canada also. We do celebrate your success.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
