Bhapa

Pejorative for Sikhs who left Pakistan for India

Part of a series on

Persecution of Sikhs

Part of Sikh history

Issues

India

* Human rights abuses in Punjab, India
* Punjabi Suba movement
* Dharam Yudh Morcha (Rasta Roko Morcha)
* False encounters

Pakistan

* Coerced religious conversion in Pakistan
* Religious discrimination in Pakistan

Afghanistan

* Ethnic cleansing of Sikhs in Afghanistan

Discrimination

* Sardarji joke
* Quebec Kirpan ban
* Quebec Bill 21
* French ban on religious symbols in school
* Turban bans
* Anti-Sikh sentiment in Canada

Incidents

* Execution of Guru Arjan
* Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur
* Saka Sirhind
* Execution of Bhai Taru Singh
* Chhota Ghallughara
* Vadda Ghalughara
* Saka Nankana
* Rape of Rawalpindi
* 1947 Rajouri and Mirpur massacre
* 1947 Kamoke train massacre
* 1948 Gujrat train massacre
* Operation Blue Star
* Destruction of the Sikh Reference Library
* 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms
* Hondh-Chillar massacre
* Disappearance of Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti
* Killing of Jaswant Singh Khalra
* 2000 Chittisinghpura massacre
* Hate crimes in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks
* Murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi
* Mehjoor Nagar Sikh massacre
* 2010 Sikh beheadings by the Taliban
* Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
* Arrest of Jagtar Singh Johal
* July 2018 Jalalabad suicide bombing
* Kabul gurdwara attack
* Assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

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Bhapa or (Bhaapa)[1] is a term used in Punjab by the members of the Sikh community in a pejorative sense[2][3] for Sikhs that migrated from Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. The term derives from the local Rawalpindi dialect of Punjabi.[4] Shiv Kumar Batalvi used the term "Bhaapawaad" to denote merchant class exploitation. He critiqued Balwant Gargi's poetry, and said Punjabi is language of common people, not of merchant class to benefit from it and exploit people. [5]

Bhapa describes Sikhs who migrated to India, especially from the Rawalpindi area, also known as the Khukhrain's area, and its neighbouring regions. The Bhapa name at first was only associated with migrated Sikh traders/shopkeepers.[6][page needed]

Bhapa is a term used in the Potohari dialect in the Rawalpindi area.[7] It was a common term for the elder brother or father and is still often used in that sense. It is somewhat equivalent to sir. Derived from Sanskrit Bappa or Vapra,[8] it is a cognate to Bawa.[9] The term has occasionally been used as a royal title in some regions of India. The best-known king with the title was Bappa Rawal, the founder of the Guhilot dynasty.

## References

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1. ^ "The Sardar joke is on you". Mumbai Mirror. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
2. ^ Singh, Pukhraj (31 May 2014). "Bluestar Baby Boomers". Newslaundry. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
3. ^ Rambani, Vishal (14 August 2014). "The SAD's chances will depend on the polarisation of Hindu votes and the extent to which urban Sikhs (Bhapas) would support a Hindu nominee". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
4. ^ Ballantyne, Tony (2007). "(f) Jats and Bhapas". Textures of the Sikh past : new historical perspectives. Tony Ballantyne. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 121\. ISBN 978-0-19-568663-0. OCLC 171617752. "Bhapa is a word from the Pothohari dialect spoken around Rawalpindi ..."
5. ^ "ਸਿਰਜਣਾ ਅਪ੍ਰੈਲ-ਜੂਨ 1977- Sirjana April-June 1977". 26 March 2023.
6. ^ McLeod, W. H. (2005). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442236011.
7. ^ Ballantyne, Tony (2007). Textures of the Sikh Past: New Historical Perspectives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195686630.
8. ^ Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary
9. ^ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Printed at the Govt. Central Press, 1896

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