SIKHS’ RACE RELATIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON INTER-RACIAL MARRIAGES IN COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL KENYA, (1895-1990)
Journal Title: European Journal of Business and Social Sciences - Year 2017, Vol 6, Issue 2
Abstract
Sikhs are a distinct people with history. In India they have attracted various studies. The same has been done on diaspora Sikhs in Europe, America and Australia. This underscore the fact that Sikhs who left India established themselves abroad, resisted total integration or assimilation by either the colonialists or postcolonial host societies and remained united as a community. Surprisingly they interacted and affected the hosts in diverse ways exemplified in multi-disciplinary studies undertaken by broad spectrum of scholars globally. In Kenya, however scholarly interrogation of the Sikhs’ race relations has been scanty yet their influx started as early as 1890’s following the British imperialist control of East Coast of Africa and their expansion into the interior of what became Kenya. Though the coming of the Sikhs was necessitated by the demand for Indian labour at that time designated by Imperial British East Africa Company to work on the Kenya-Uganda railway, a century later Sikhs have not fully decolonized instead they have remained distinct, with their religious beliefs, practices, dress and worshiping places. The study interrogated the determinants of Sikhs’ inter and intra race relations and their role in inter-racial marriages in Kenya against a backdrop of casteism and racism. The study was informed by atavism model. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources. Purposive sampling procedures were used particularly snowball. Data collection instruments included observation, interview schedules and focus group discussion. Data analysis involved qualitative procedures as was envisaged in descriptive research design applied in the study. The findings of the study were, Sikhs’ social solidarity and inter-racial marriages were influenced by Sikhism, Sikhs geographical origin in India, inter-racial stereotypes and colonial racial laws in Kenya and India. In conclusion, the Sikhs race relations and impact in Kenya was influenced by factors ranging from Sikhism, colonialism and inter-communal nationalistic struggles. The study recommends the need to embark on decolonizing in order to catalyze development and human wellness.
Authors and Affiliations
Job Mulati Chebai| Department of Arts and Humanities Chuka University, Kenya
Keywords
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