An informative piece on the ongoing controversy Bengali, Bengali or Sikh, by a writer Tok Aji. To all my friends the Sikhs, does it really matter. I am a Kling, Kling Koy and that doesn’t bother me. When young all Sikhs were ‘Vangallis’ in Tamil, never Punjabi, or even Sikhs for that matter. Calling you a different name does not change anything. A rose by another name is still a rose - no change in colour, texture or smell. Smile and enjoy.
Re: Benggali or Punjabi?
Dear Friends,
this Benggali or Punjabi question that has risen again because of Perak
MB, Nizar, giving in to habit is best regarded with amusement or we
would be saddled with injured sentiments over and over again. Malays
have from time immemorial referred to all early foreigners from the
West as Benggali and the Portuguese were “Benggali Putih” (White
Benggali) and so were the Spanish and the English and the Dutch in the
early years of the coming of the Occident.
Chances are, the Benggali, meaning the Kamboj and Pallas of Bengal had
been here first and/or had made the biggest impact upon the Malays and
from thence the others became “Benggali Putih” and the Sikhs from
Punjab were “Benggali Sikh” to all Malays in the Peninsular.
The name stayed all through the centuries. Possibly because the Sikhs
were the most prominent, and regarded as the bravest among the Sepoys
of later years, as were the Kamboj and Pallas of Bengal in the early
history of the region, they were honored as “Benggali Sikh”. Rest
assured it is an honor and not a term of derision.
We would need to make the correction in one or another textbook in
schools and use the media to drum in the difference to make the
correction stick. To all Malays (and some other Malaysians), Punjabis
have all the time been “Benggali [Sikh]” and differentiated
from “Benggali Islam” at one or another time of history, possibly when
the British under Minto divided Bengal into two, with the larger part
being predominantly Muslims.
As Karpal tried to say, the Punjabis should simply ignore the matter
and then try to have the correction carefully planned through the
schools and the media.
I am myself an Arabo-Punjabi on my father’s side and at home we call
our elder brothers Bhai and our uncles Checha etc.. But all my life
the Malays cannot make the difference and think of me and my family
as “Mamak”. I don’t mind that, of course. In Malay culture Mamak is a
reference to the Bendahara or Prime Minister, and to maternal uncles
anyhow.
But I am, strictly speaking, paternally an Arabo-Punjabi, the last stop
before my ancestors arrived here being decidedly Punjab. However,
nobody has ever referred to me as “Benggali Islam”, which is, in a way,
rather of a letdown since that makes my sort insignificant in
Malaysia. The saving grace is my mother is 50 percent a Turk-Bugis and
50 percent Aceher. Consequently I am tall, dark and handsome. I don’t
mind at all being called a Mamak, a Malay, or ABC.
Learn to live with these “misnomers” and accept the fact that
corrections will take a little time and much effort. Simply keep up the
information and maybe we will make the breakthrough sooner than later.
Cheers,
Tok Aji
