Farmers Movement Archive

Delhi: A special langar that puts pride on everyone’s head

NEW DELHI: For the past 10 days, volunteers from Punjab have been holding a unique event called “pagdi langar” where they have been tying turbans for free from 9am to 5pm. This langar at Singhu border has been drawing a huge crowd. The volunteers say they have been tying turbans on nearly 250 people belonging to all religions daily. Bhupinder Singh Thind, a “coach” who runs a 15-day course at academies in Jalandhar and Ludhiana on tying turbans in various styles, is one of the volunteers. “The pagdi has a religious significance. It was a crown given to us by our Guru. For us, the turban is the most important thing and we take care of it in a proper manner. We don’t let anyone touch it,” he said. Thind said that tying a pagdi was an art as there were different styles. “The size and quality of cloth play an important role. From children to the elderly, people of all age groups get themselves enrolled for the course. However, I’m tying pagdi for free at Singhu border,” he added. Jagtar Singh, a resident of Ferozpur and another volunteer, said, “We have been maintaining a record of all people coming here to get turbans tied. We even tied pagdi on a few women who turned up. People from states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have been visiting the langar.” Mahesh Kumar, an accountant in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh who visited Singhu border on Friday to express solidarity with the farmers, said, “Wearing a turban is a symbolic way of telling people that we are with the farmers.” Malkeet Singh, a farmer protesting at Singhu border for the past 10 days, said, “A turban is a gift to us from our Guru and a recognition of our religion. When I saw other people wearing a turban, even I came here to get one for myself.” Wearing a saffron-coloured turban, farmer Jugvinder Singh said, “For Sikhs, wearing a turban is a matter of pride. It is good that these volunteers are running the pagdi langar to help protesters in tying their turbans.” While the volunteers on Friday tied saffron-coloured turbans on people, the cloth’s colour keeps changing daily.

The Times of India

2021-01-02

Delhi