Bhapa

An Urban Sikh Family

Bhapa is a term used in Punjab by the members of the Sikh community in a derogatory sense for the Sikhs (mostly Khatri and Arora Sikhs/sometimes Hindus that identify as Sikh as well) that migrated from Pakistan after the independence in 1947.Though many people belonging to Arora caste consider it casteism and the Sikh guru's actually condemned caste system..Jatt is a Shudra caste according to the Hindu varna system and Arora can be the Vaishyas as they are mostly merchants n engaged in businesses. Most of the Arora Sikh community members of previous generation were engaged in cousin marriages as they shared a common culture with Muslims and also due to lack of communication during those times.But the majority modern Arora's heavily criticize the cousin marriages as Incest though cousin marriages r mostly done among South Indians and mostly is a Muslim culture as they even marry their first cousins.Bhapas are generally described by majority Jatts as being greedy, money-minded but it has been seen the Jatts themselves are demanding reservations to categorize Jatts as OBC (Backward classes). Bhapas (Aroras) are thought to be traitors by Jatts because mostly they did not contribute much to Khalistan movement in '80s which was mostly initiated by Jatt Sikhs and as Master Tara Singh was from Arora community and his mother was a Hindu so he didn't contributed for Sikh independence.Jatts mostly make fun of Bhapas dressing style like wearing a cloth on beard and using beard sprays and they make fun of language and it is often seen the words old aged Arora Sikhs use has a Pakistani Punjabi dialect or influence and there are many negative agenda's to divide Sikhs and create Jattwaad just like Brahmanwaad. Bhapa is a caste or clan and is a relatively new word used to describe Sikhs who migrated to India during the independence from Pakistan especially from the Rawalpindi area also known as Khukhrain's area and its neighboring counterparts. The Bhapa name at first was only associated with migrated Sikh traders/shopkeepers and clans were called Bhapas.

Bhapa was a common term for the elder brother or father, and is still often used in that sense. It is somewhat equivalent of sir. Derived from Sanskrit Bappa or Vapra, it is cognate to Bawa. 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.

See also

• Khatri
• Arora