Nenuanonymous at 17:31, 9 August 2022

2022-08-09T17:31:48Z

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{{Sikhism sidebar}}
[[Sikhism]] is a minority religion in [[Belgium]], but Sikhs have played a role in Belgian history; during [[World War I]], many Sikhs fought in Belgium. In the [[First Battle of Ypres]], an entire platoon of Dogra Sikhs died.<ref>[http://www.sikhs.org/ww1/second.html Sikhs.org]</ref>

=={{anchor|Work}}Migration to Belgium==
The first eight Sikhs who came to Belgium as private citizens arrived on 8 November 1972 as political exiles. They were expelled from [[Uganda]]; at the time, it was under the dictatorial rule of [[Idi Amin]], who drove all Indians from the country.<ref name=Sint-Truiden>[http://www.flanderstoday.eu/content/sikhs-sint-truiden Denzil Walton, "The Sikhs of Sint-Truiden". ''Flanders Today'', May 5, 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124084610/http://flanderstoday.eu/content/sikhs-sint-truiden }} Retrieved 2011-09-10.</ref> Other Sikhs who arrived before 1985 (only a handful, among them Jarnail Singh Alhuwalia) were workers at the Indian Embassy. Most Sikhs arrived in the wake of Sukhdev Singh Jalwehra in 1985, after the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops the previous year. When Jalwehra arrived in Belgium, a ban existed on the wearing of turbans in passport or identity-card photos. Jalwehra fought the case and won, and Sikhs were no longer required to remove their turbans.{{Citation needed}} In 1993, when [[Baudouin I of Belgium|King Baudouin I]] died, Sukhdev Singh Jalwerha paid their respects at the palace with a group of other Sikhs as representatives of the Belgian Sikh community.

The first Sikhs in Belgium were predominantly male laborers with limited education, sharing a rented house and dividing the costs. Since they were accustomed to working in agriculture, they looked for work in that sector and found seasonal jobs in the Flemish province of Limburg on fruit farms. Later Sikhs immigrated for economic reasons; they had been living in impoverished regions of the Punjab and came looking for a better life in Belgium. At first they also found employment on fruit farms but when they could afford to do so they established their own shops, particularly shops remaining open at night in [[Brussels]].<ref name=Sint-Truiden/> As immigrants, completing the necessary paperwork was challenging. Sikh women are now arriving in Belgium in greater numbers, many to reunite their families.

=={{anchor|Incidents}}Persecution==
In 1994, the [[government of the United States]] noted that while Belgium has [[freedom of religion]] and has not seen much systematic violence directed against religious minorities or newcomers, an exception occurred in 1993 against Sikhs. In [[Sint-Truiden]], Sikh workers in [[agriculture]] were bullied by some citizens and one Sikh was shot. A house belonging to Sikhs was bombed, with no fatalities. There were arrests in the aftermath.<ref>U.S. Department of State, "[http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1993_hrp_report/93hrp_report_eur/Belgium.html BELGIUM HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993]," January 31, 1994, URL accessed January 11, 2007.</ref>

=={{anchor|Incidents}}Official Intervention==
Following problems with immigration documentation which gave rise to concerns about possible human trafficking, the Mayor of Vilvoorde closed the local Gurdwara between October and December 2014, and following disturbances in the Temple, again in September 2016.

=={{anchor|Sikh Gurdwaras}}Gurdwaras==

[[File:Gurdwara Guru Ravidass Sabha, Oostende.jpg|thumb|Gurdwara Guru Ravidass Sabha, Ostend]]

There are seven [[Gurdwara]]s in Belgium; the oldest was founded in Sint-Truiden in 1993.<ref name=Sint-Truiden/> Gurmit Singh Aulakh (who came to Belgium in November 2007), made a speech and invoking [[Khalistan movement|Khalistan slogans]] at Gurudwara Sangat Sahib in Sint-Truiden.

Gurudwaras in Belgium are:

* Gurdwara Sangat Sahib, [[Watermael-Boitsfort|Watermaal]] and Sint-Truiden (Founded in 1993)
* Gurdwara Guru Nanak Sahib, [[Vilvoorde]], Brussels (1999)
* Gurdwara Guru Ram Dass Sikh Study and Cultural Center, [[Borgloon]] (2005)
* In [[Liège]] (2005)
* Gurudwara Mata Sahib Kaur (2014)
* [https://gurudwarasinghsabha.be/ Gurdwara Singh Sabha], [[Alken, Belgium|Alken]] (2013), [https://gurudwarasinghsabha.be/ Gurudwara Official website]
*Gurdwara Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, [[Ostend]]
*Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur Ji Gent

=={{anchor|Population|Places with a significant Sikh population}}Sikh population==
According to a Dutch newspaper, there are approximately 10,000 Sikhs in Belgium.<ref>[http://www.brusselnieuws.be/site/rubrieken/1091100512/page.htm?&newsID=1136986257 Dutch newspaper on Sikhs celebrating Maghi in Brussels] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313013506/http://www.brusselnieuws.be/site/rubrieken/1091100512/page.htm }}</ref> A Sikh stronghold is [[Sint-Truiden]] ([[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]]), where the first Sikh [[Gurdwara]] was built. There are about 3,000 Sikhs in [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]], 2,000 in [[Liège]] and more than 2,000 in [[Brussels]].{{Citation needed}} The remainder live throughout Belgium.

Cities with significant Sikh populations are:
*[[Vilvoorde]]
*[[Sint-Truiden]]
*[[Liège]]
*[[Borgloon]]
*[[Tienen]]
*[[Ostend]]
*[[Ghent]]
*[[Antwerp]]
*[[Leuven]]
*[[Alken, Belgium|Alken]]
*[[Hasselt]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.gurdwarabrussel.org/index1.htm Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sahib in Brussels]

{{Europe topic|Sikhism in}}

[[Category:Religion in Belgium|Sikhism]]
[[Category:Sikhism by country|Belgium]]
[[Category:Sikhism in Europe|Bel]]

Sikhism in Belgium - Revision history

Nenuanonymous at 17:31, 9 August 2022