The young activist presents a bird’s eye-view of one of the earliest youth organisation of Sikhs in Indonesia, called HUMSIKHA.

One of the earliest youth organisations of Sikhs in Indonesia is HUMSIKHA – Himpunan Pemuda Sikh Indonesia, formed in May 1998 with the purpose of doing social service. We began by conducting small social activities such as distributing food to local communities and blood donation drives working together with the Indonesian Red Cross.

A Monthly Kirtan and Langar is also organised with all activities carried out by the Young Khalsa. To celebrate the 300 years of the Birth of Khalsa, a mega event “Birth of Khalsa Opera” was organised at the Jakarta Art Building (Gedung Kesenian Jakarta). This event involved 70 to 80 Sikh girls and boys  from the age group of 8 to 22.

It also involved Indian dancers, singers and musicians from the Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center in Jakarta. It took several months of practice and preparation for the event. We had a full house with 350 people in attendance and everyone performed well. The audience was deeply touched by the overall performance and presentation. In the year 2000, during Vasakhi, we organised a “Vasakhi Mela” which had over a 1000 people attending, mostly the Indian community in Jakarta.

The event included Bhangra and Indian dance competition, Punjabi cultural performances, Indian fashion show as well as Indian Food Festival. The money raised from this event was donated to the Gurudwara.

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HUMSIKHA was also involved in the working group of the first Sikh Youth Camp (Sammelan) in Indonesia in 2001.