Trigger warning: mob violence, anti-Sikhism
In my childhood, every August 14, I used to watch Bengali movie “Subhas Chandra Bose”. The last dialogue of the film, “Brave man never looks down”, is still with me . This year, I went to watch “Laal Singh Chaddha” with my son.
While I was mentally prepared to watch an Indian remake of “Forrest Gump”, my son discovered the Indian, human version of “Sonic the hedgehog” in Laal Singh Chadda. While Sonic can run faster than sound, our Laal can run faster than air. They both have symmetry in their names, too.
I could definitely see that scenes were copied ditto from Forrest Gump, but still, it connects to us as it could frame the Indian political timelines throughout the life of Chaddha. While the timeline of Forrest Gump ended in 1982-’83 (after Jenny’s death), Chaddha’s journey starts towards the end of 1970s.
It shows how Sikhs were targeted in 1984 after the assassination of former prime minister, Indira Gandhi. There was scene where a tyre was put on the neck of a Sikh auto driver, while a mob was pouring kerosene on it. I could imagine what must have happened next…
We often make jokes on Sardars with an assumption that they have a low IQ, but what we can’t make a joke about is their lion-hearts. They don’t like to kill others and still, they are motivated to work for the Indian Army, as they think it is their duty to protect Indians in exchange of their lives.
What are some of the common stereotypes you may have heard about people from the Sikh community?