
Details of Gurudwara Braham Bunga Trust, Dodra, Mansa, Punjab.
Submitted by : Sd. Surinder singh ji, Planning, Philips Electronics India Limited, Gurgaon.
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Karachi News.Net
Thursday 17th December, 2009 (ANI)
Amritsar Dec.17 : Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has sought an appointment from the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi to take up the case of a Sikh advocate, who was brutally beaten and forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan recently.
A 17-member delegation led by SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar would meet the Pakistan High Commissioner in the national capital.
SGPC, in a letter to Pakistan High Commission, expressed deep concern over the issue stating that Sikh community around the world felt pained and resentful over the incident.
On November 21, Anoop Singh, an advocate, was attacked by a group of about eight to ten people in broad daylight and was brutally beaten up and left seriously injured. Fearing for his life, Anoop Singh and his family took shelter in Gurdwara Panja Sahib near Islamabad.
Dalmegh Singh, Secretary of the SGPC, said that the Pakistan police is trying to implicate Ravinder Singh, the brother of Anoop Singh in some false case. He said that according to media reports, Anoop Singh was threatened by attackers that if he did not convert to Islam, he would be killed by them.
SGPC has also requested Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to approach Pakistan Government to take a serious cognizance of the incident. By Ravinder Singh Robin
Source : www.http://www.karachinews.net/story/578708
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More than 1,000 followers of a multi-religious sect in northern India have pledged to marry female sex workers who want to escape exploitation.
Young Hindu, Muslim and Sikh men have been queuing up at the Dera Sacha Sauda (Abode of the Real Deal) in the town of Sirsa as "wedding volunteers".
They say they are doing so to stop the women from being exploited in brothels.
They also claim that their move is part of a campaign to stop the spread of the HIV/Aids virus.
The Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) is one of many religious sects operating in northern India.
Most take root by offering community services, social welfare and spiritual leadership but over time, as their followings grow, they often seek political influence.
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Correspondents say that in religious terms, the DSS is hard to classify. Many experts argue that it is not, as some have said, an offshoot of Sikhism.
More than 1,200 DSS members have signed pledges to marry the sex workers following a call from DSS chief Ram Rahim Singh a little over a month ago.
Mr Singh commands a huge following of predominantly lower caste Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs across the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Two years ago his growing influence brought the DSS chief into confrontation with the mainstream Sikh clergy who claimed he had tried to imitate their beliefs.
The sectarian violence that ensued across Punjab - as well as subsequent rape and murder charges brought against Ram Rahim Singh - have cast a shadow on the affairs and functioning of the DSS ever since, observers say.
But the group's supporters believe the new campaign is to halt the spread of HIV by offering respectable options to sex workers and is part of a long list of related initiatives against drug abuse and female foeticide.
"By helping drug users and sex workers we are trying to help remove people from the highest risk situations," said Dr Aditya Insan, a senior DSS functionary.
'Delicately handled'
He estimates that 40%-50% of women working in red light districts in cities like Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi are HIV carriers.
Mr Singh (known as Guru-ji to his supporters) proclaimed at a congregation last month that "all women forced to live as prostitutes are my daughters".
His remarks brought forth a virtual flood of eager young volunteers from his flock.
Business graduate Ashish Sachdeva, 22, is in the garments trade in the town of Sirsa. He believes that marrying a sex worker could be his chance to repay his debt to humanity and society.
"I am very well settled and it will be the greatest honour for me to respond to Guru-ji's call."
Nearly 100 young sex workers have contacted the DSS - from Calcutta's Shonagachi red light district to brothels in Delhi and Mumbai.
"This will have to be a slow and delicately handled process," Dr Insan said.
"Many women are HIV-positive. Some have young children and are understandably concerned about their future. We need to ensure these women are protected legally once they are married."
with thanks : source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8416739.stm