By Dr. Sawraj Singh

                We generally hear from many people that people are being forced out of Punjab because there are no opportunities left in Punjab for the young people. In other words, migration out of Punjab has become a need. The biggest tragedy is that many Punjabi intellectuals are not only justifying migration but also promoting migration as the only solution for the problems faced by Punjab. However, if we look closely at the migration patterns then this theory does not seem to hold.                                                                   

                There is a big difference based upon caste as far as migration is concerned. The Jatts are migrating at much higher rate compared to the other communities. You can go to any village in Punjab and this reality becomes obvious. The Punjabi University Patiala came with a study that proved that the general category is much more likely to migrate than the Dalits. I criticized this study as misleading because this did not give a caste breakdown of the general category. Therefore, it was a half-truth. Generally, half-truths can be more harmful than untruths. Another study was done by few dedicated professors in the University. This study chose a village in the Patiala district. It showed that 97% of the people who migrated to the other countries from this village were Jatts.                                                                              

                The other argument that people are migrating because there are no opportunities left for them in Punjab. In other words, migration has become a need for these people. However, on closer scrutiny this argument also does not seem to hold. Two recent happenings can make my point clear. A very nice young man belonging to the Brahmin community delivers fresh eggs and bread very early morning in our neighborhood. He lives in the nearby village with his mother and wife. He told me that after the delivery he delivers tiffins in the neighborhood at noon time and in the evening. His wife and mother cook the food and they charge 50 rupees per tiffin. He said that they are living comfortably with the income he generates from these deliveries. However, they are not able to save any money. Recently a business opportunity has been created for the family. There is a shop available for rent in the village. He said that he has applied for a loan of 29,000 rupees from a bank to start a grocery store in the shop.   ,

       This shop was vacated by a Bania shopkeeper who has built a very big grocery store. Few years ago, he started very modestly. He started a simple grocery store in this rented shop. Now not only he owns a very big and modern grocery store, he has built big houses for each of his children. It is obvious that for the other castes there is still some hope that they can achieve something in Punjab. However, most of the Jatts seem to feel that their children have no future in Punjab.                                                        

                 69 young people were just deported from America when they tried to enter America from Mexico. I saw the interview of the father of one of those young people on the TV. He said that he paid 50 lakhs rupees to the agent to send his son illegally to America by crossing the border with Mexico. He sold one acre of land to raise the money for this. You can easily guess the caste of this family. It is ironical that for a young man belonging to one caste future can be bright in Punjab with a meager investment of 29,000 rupees while a young man belonging to another caste is paying 50 lakh rupees to get out of Punjab and for an uncertain future.                                                                                                                  

                There are many countries in Europe that are desperate to have migrants. Punjabis can easily migrate to those countries legally. They offer a reasonably good quality of life. The question is that why Punjabis are risking huge amount of money to illegally enter America. The answer is that they feel that they can make more money in the shortest time in America. I was introduced to a Giani ji who recites Kirtan in the Gurudwaras. His son went to America a few years ago and he now owns a trucking company.                                                                                                                                                                                    

                A very well-respected elderly professor in the Punjabi University Patiala told me that he helped three of his students to find very well paying and prestigious jobs in the University. However, all the three have migrated to the other countries. We hear from many intellectuals, including the pseudo Marxists that the young people are leaving Punjab because there is no opportunity left for them in Punjab. However, this is only the half-truth. The other half of the truth is that they want to make the maximum money in the minimum time. These pseudo intellectuals and pseudo Marxists have a very poor track record of analyzing properly the problems faced by Punjab. These are the people who were lauding the Green Revolution as a boon for Punjab. However, it has proved to be a curse. They are repeating their performance on the issue of immigration.       

 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 sawrajsingh@hotmail.com.