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Chapter 7 and 8 are dedicated to Sikhs in Cuba and Ecuador, respectively. The Sikh migrants use Cuba as a transit camp for catapulting into other Latin American countries. The author has recorded some case histories in both these countries. The story of a 'Wandering Sikh', Dilbagh Singh Bhullar, is worth mentioning. Bhullar is a victim of the police terrorism in Punjab but is desperate to reach North America by any legal or illegal means. His escapades are full of high drama.
Chapter 9 and chapter 10 give us the history of Sikh migration to Mexico and Panama, respectively. Case studies of Sikh migrants are there as in other Chapters. Mexico has a large presence of Yogi Bhajan's Sikhs doing business. During my visit to Mexico in 1983, I found a shop in Mexico City selling dairy products under the brand name 'Satnam'. Arjan Singh Khalsa, a Jat Sikh from Punjab, is a success story in Mexico. He feels happy and secure in Mexico and enjoys the patronage of 3HO Sikhs of Yogi Bhajan.
Sikh immigration to Panama started when the US Government began construction of the Panama Canal. After the construction of the Canal in 1914, many Sikh migrants took up jobs in the American Fruit Company; some became peddlers, while others started driving pickup vans called 'Cheevas'. Some of them moved to other Latin American countries for better avenues. There are many success stories from Panama in Chapter 10. Dhaliwal brothers have a flourishing business and 'Sher-e-Punjab' farm in Panama.
Chapter 11 recounts some stories of Diaspora Sikhs in Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Surinam, Venezuela, and Costa Rica in Latin America. Some of the stories narrated by Khuswant Singh, United Sikhs, and collected from newspapers and the Internet are recorded by the author in this Chapter. I find stories of Partap Singh of Peru and J.P. Singh of Chile quite devastating. Both of them became victims of hate crime in Latin America. J.P. Singh, a graduate from Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, is the lone Sikh living in Chile. Being a turbaned Sikh, he is facing taunts from the locals, who call him 'Bin Laden' or 'terrorist'. He had been attacked in the street and confronts racism and discrimination in Chile, being a Sikh but misunderstood as a Muslim. It is unfortunate that Sikhs have been victims of hate crime in both North America and Latin America.
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