- Jun 1, 2004
- 3,007
- 83
- 45
The turbanators By: Mahmood Farooqui October 8, 2004
It is remarkable how some colonial fantasies come back to haunt the colonised and the metropolitan countries alike, as the wheel turns full circle.
Take the case of the Sikh turban, for instance, currently causing so much distress to the French government as well as to the immigrant Sikh community there.
It is axiomatic in today’s times that a Sardar is one who wears a Pagri, or a Patka, in the peculiarly Sikh manner. It not only defines the identity of a Sikh but has also come to be seen as the very essence of Sikhness, so much so that a Sikh without a Pagri is almost a non-Sikh, in popular perception at least.
http://web.mid-day.com/columns/mahmood_farooqui/2004/october/94151.htm
It is remarkable how some colonial fantasies come back to haunt the colonised and the metropolitan countries alike, as the wheel turns full circle.
Take the case of the Sikh turban, for instance, currently causing so much distress to the French government as well as to the immigrant Sikh community there.
It is axiomatic in today’s times that a Sardar is one who wears a Pagri, or a Patka, in the peculiarly Sikh manner. It not only defines the identity of a Sikh but has also come to be seen as the very essence of Sikhness, so much so that a Sikh without a Pagri is almost a non-Sikh, in popular perception at least.
http://web.mid-day.com/columns/mahmood_farooqui/2004/october/94151.htm
