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| Earlier Sikh migration was connected with
the aim of crossing over to USA. This continued till recen times
but with greater and greater difficulty. In earlier times a
number of Sikhs married Mexican women as it was not possible
to marry whites. Karen Leonard and others have covered this
aspect of Sikh-Mexican connection in great detail. Some Sikhs
settled down in Northern States of Mexico but most of them migrated
to USA. Another major development has been the conversion of
100 or more Mexicans to Sikhism through the efforts of Late
Yogi Harbhajan Singh’s 3HO via yoga. These Khalsa surnamed
Sikhs are indeed devout Sikhs and were the first to set up Gurdwara
in Mexico City. Presently there are some older generation of
Sikhs largely assimilated with the local population in two of
the Northern Provinces. A few of the recent immigrants since
1990's are into business (mainly garments). It would appear
Nancy Craft of Delhi promoted by Narinder Pal Singh (Pali) was
the fountainhead of many businesses. Besides Mexico City, Sikhs
are present in Cancun, Guadalajara. There are a few expatriate
professionals and one old immigrant, Arjan Singh who has grown
with the 3HO movement of Yogi Harbhajan. Jassie, owner of the
Indian Restaurant, Koh-E-Noor had generously invited the Sikh
Sangat to dinner to meet with the author.
I cannot forget Satguru Singh Khalsa, a handsome 32 years
old Sikh who drove in with his son in "Patka" to
pick me up in Xalapa, capital of Vera Cruz Province. His is
a fascinating story of how he became a Sikh and despite the
heavy odds has stood up for Sikh symbols. His son was refused
admission in a Private School but he fought his case through
the Human Rights Commission. A full transcript of his interview
is available.
THE SIKH EXPERIENCE IN SONORA
The book “India-Mexico”, by Eva Alexandra Uchmany,
has some interesting stories about Sikh immigrants in the
North. In early 1920’s President Obregon was keen to
colonize certain regions of the country. The Sikhs took advantage
of this and set about into agriculture. However with the regime
change ten years later, the Sikhs were found unwanted. On
a technicality the government confiscated their crops in 1932.
All this contributed to the migration of these farmers from
the State of Sonora to Sinaloa and from there, once again
to the United States. One survivor is Gurmit Singh, resident
of Culiacan, Sinaloa, native of Jullunder, Punjab, where he
was born in 1911.
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