How the Sikhs went bananas in Woolgoolga

As you enter Coff’s Harbour, tucked between Sydney and Brisbane, it is not hard to guess why the big banana stands as a landmark. The area grows one of the best varieties of bananas in Australia. And the fruit has a dominant Indian connection.

In the early part of the 19th century when the British still ruled India, a few adventurous men from Punjab decided to cash in on the shortage of farm labourers in Australia. Their journey led them first to Queensland, then south to Coff’s Harbour, and finally in nearby Woolgoolga, New South Wales.

Familiar to farming these men slowly acquired small parcels of land and began working hard to make their fortunes. By the 1940s, they had laid the foundation of the first Australian Sikh Community in Australia here at Woolgoolga, 20 km north of Coff’s Harbour. Today, some of the wealthiest Indians reside in Woolgoolga.

Undeterred by the spells of Autumn rain, which otherwise made for a good excuse for a sleep-in at the beach resort we had booked ourselves in, we decided to explore the town known for its great beaches, pristine scenery, nature walks and great fishing.

After a drive around Coff’s Harbour, we headed off to Woolgoolga or Woopi as locals call it. A winding road took us to a majestic gurudwara perched on top of the hill. It is, in fact, the second Sikh shrine built in Australia, in 1970. The first gurudwara, constructed in 1968, still stands nearby, a mere shadow to the new one.

Over hot chai and tikkas, head priest Gurmandip Singh said the gurudwara was a meeting place not only for the 1,200 Sikh residents of Woolgoolga but also of the local community.

It was easy to locate Satpal Singh Gill, 38, whose great grandfather travelled to Australia around 1910. “He worked in the Wollombi area and earned enough money to invest in small farms for banana cultivation,” Gill proudly says. “We were the second family to have moved to Australia,” he adds.

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With thanks : source : Hindustan Times

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1984: Order on framing of charges on July 1

A Delhi court has reserved its order on framing of charges against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and others in the Sultanpuri carnage that left six persons dead during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta, after hearing arguments both from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the accused on Saturday, said the court will pronounce its order on July 1.

The CBI lawyer sought the prosecution of Kumar, a former Outer Delhi MP, and four others for murder, rioting and other offences under the IPC while the defence counsel requested discharge of the accused on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

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With thanks : source : Indian express

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Black listed Sikh acquitted by court

Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab), Jun 4 (PTI) A court here today acquitted a Sikh, whose name figured in the black list maintained by the centre for alleged anti-national activities during the dark days of terrorism in Punjab.

Forty-year-old Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi Sumundari was aquitted by court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate here.

Sukhi?s counsel told reporters outside the court premises that the court acquitted Sukhi as the prosecution had failed to prove charges against him.

After his acquittal, Sukhi told reporters that the truth has prevailed at last.

Sukhi said various cases were registered against him at different police stations of Fatehgarh Sahib, SAS Nagar and Rupnagar districts in 1987 when he was only 16-year old.

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With thanks : source : PTI

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Case of missing chargesheet waits for judge

NEW DELHI: Eighteen years and two judges later, the fate of the ‘missing chargesheet’ in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case still remains undecided.

A trial court on Friday deferred till July 14 the pronouncement of order on an application filed by prosecution seeking clarification on whether a chargesheet allegedly involving Congress leader Sajjan Kumar can be clubbed with another 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

It is the second time in a fortnight that the matter was deferred at the time of delivering the order. district judge Bimla Maken had decided to adjudicate the matter after a sessions judge recused himself from hearing the case.

Additional sessions judge V K Goyal, who earlier heard the arguments on the matter, had on May 21 recused himself from the case citing personal reasons on the day when he was to deliver the order. The district judge, to whom the matter was referred to by ASJ Goyal, had then decided to hear the matter herself after allowing the plea to transfer the case. The judge had reserved the order on June 2 after hearing the arguments at length from the prosecution as well as the victims’ counsel.

Interestingly, sources said the order in the matter is not likely to be decided even on July 14 as the incumbent judicial officer is going to retire on June 30. In fact, the sources added, the matter will be taken up by the new district judge who will replace Maken and it would now be heard afresh on the next date of hearing.

Meanwhile, riots victims association counsel H S Phoolka said he will move the Delhi high court to know the reasons as to why ASJ Goyal had recused himself. His decision to move the HC comes after Maken had asked Goyal to spell out the reasons for seeking transfer of the case in a sealed envelop. The judge had then ordered that the documents would not be opened without an order of the Delhi HC.

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with thanks : source : Times of India

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Enact Anand Marriage Act for Sikhs: SAD urges Centre

The Shiromani Akali Dal Core Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) called upon the Centre for an expeditious enactment of the Anand Marriage Act for Sikhs, along the lines of similar acts for other religions.

Sources said the draft of this Act is ready for ratification by the Union Cabinet. After the clearance, it is likely to be introduced in the Parliament in the next session. Once passed, the Sikh Marriage Act will meet a long-standing demand of the community that has been fighting for an amendment to the Anand Marriage Act passed by the British in 1909. Under the Act, there will be a special provision for the registration of marriages performed under Sikh religious rights.

At present, marriages performed under Sikh religious rights are registered either under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act. Now when the Special Marriage Act is being amended, provision for the registration of marriages performed according to the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 will also be incorporated.

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With thanks : source : IndianExpress

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Zonal Finals of Hemkunt Speech Competition Held

SANTA ANA - The Orange county zonal finals of the Sri Hemkunt Speech (SHF) competition were held at the Sikh Center of Orange County, Santa Ana on May 22.

Participants included the winners from the center level competitions held earlier at the Sikh Center of Orange County, Buena Park, Walnut and San Diego Gurudwaras. Total of 20 contestants spoke on different topics prepared from books distributed by the Hemkunt Foundation and were judged by a panel of judges that represented the above mentioned Gurudwaras.

The winners of the speech competitions were: Mallika Kaur (Group 1), Harjiv Singh (Group 2), Nimarta Kaur (Group 3), Sumeeta Kaur (Group 4) and Simran Kaur (Group 5). Prizes were given to all the contestants and the medals for the winners.

The winners of the zonal round will travel to London, for the international finals to be held from August 5-8, 2010.

Zonal convener Dr Arinder S. Chadha welcomed the participants, judges and parents and Payal Singh emceed the event. Volunteers included Shivinder and Ginny Chawla who helped with check in and judges coordination.

This is an annual event organized by Sri Hemkunt Foundation, NY, and Sikh centers and Gurudwaras across the US, UK and parts of Africa and Canada participate in it.

Original story can be viewed with thanks from the link in headline above : IndiaJournal

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Sikhs take journey to remember WWI fallen

A group of Sikhs have travelled to battlefields where members of their community fought in World War I. BBC Asian Network's Poonam Taneja joined them.

The location is the quaint French town of Neuve-Chapelle and a gathering of Sikhs surrounds a stone podium as prayers are recited in Punjabi.

The Sikhs are from Britain and they are on a journey across battlefields in northern France and Belgium to honour Indian soldiers who died fighting for Britain in World War I.

The Indian Army fought in every major theatre of operations during the war and around 65,000 Indian fighters were killed.

In Neuve-Chapelle, Indian soldiers under British command were part of two Allied divisions that fought the Germans in 1915.

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With thanks : source : BBC News

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How the Sikhs got alienated

I was a reporter in the Times of India when Operation Blue Star took place in June, 1984, exactly 26 years ago. The Operation was aimed at flushing out terrorists led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh Shrine.But obviously the whole strategy backfired.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was initially against the use of any force to evict the militants was prevailed upon by some of her advisers to order a military operation. Thus the operation began in the early hours of June 6th under the overall command of Lt. General Sunderji and the operational command of Brig. K S Brar.

The TOI had assigned Subhash Kirpekar, then a special correspondent, the task of covering the military operation. Both me and my colleague, Ravi Bhatia were keen that we should be sent since we were on the crime beat but the Editor, Giri Lal Jain had given the okay signal to Subhash. Therefore we got to monitor this historic event with huge ramifications from afar (distant Delhi).

At that time, it was known that the Golden Temple complex and the adjoining Guru Ram Dass Sarai had been virtually taken over by the militants led by Bhindranwale. One terrorist, Sukhdev Singh, arrested in Delhi on the Tolstoy Marg-Barakhamba Road crossing after he and his associates had robbed a bank on Parliament Street had blurted everything out.

Of course the Intelligence agencies were aware of a lot of things but Sukhdev’s interrogation was an eye opener both for the Delhi police and the IB. I had covered this arrest after a shooting incident on January 2, 1984 if I recall correctly. Sukhdev was linked to a robbery in a jeweler store in Karol Bagh on November 29, 1983 and the Police also recovered the booty as well as arms from his native village somewhere near Karnal. The police team led by former ACP, Hari Dev had carried out this exercise under the command of Brajesh Gupta who was then the DCP, New Delhi.

Other evidence subsequently corroborated Sukhdev’s revelations. But the government kept sitting on the issue. A stitch in time could have saved nine and a major confrontation at the Golden Temple could have been averted. But the buildup continued and finally the Indian Army with the help of commandoes from its elite regiments and tank fire managed to neutralize the militants inside the Golden Temple on June 6th and 7th.

The damage was very huge. The temple had been desecrated and the Akal Takht was totally destroyed. The Sikhs, the world over were in rage and vowed to take revenge. Those who were killed included Bhindranwale, General Shahbeg Singh, an expert on military warfare who led the offensive against Indian forces and senior functionaries of the All India Sikh Students Federation and the Damdami Taksal.

The Indian Army had won but the price was too heavy. The Sikhs were up in arms and extremely angry. They openly criticized the government action and for the first time in her political career, Indira Gandhi was clueless on how to deal with the subsequent situation. She eventually was shot dead by her own security guards, both Sikhs on October 31, 1984. The killing was followed by anti Sikh riots, which were very barbaric and shameless and would always remain a blot on Independent India’s history.

DETAILED REPORT CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE LINK IN HEADLINE ABOVE.

With thanks : source : Blog Hindustan Times

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27 anti-Sikh riots accused acquitted in Bihar

PTI

Patna: A local court has acquitted all the 27 accused involved in anti-Sikh riots of 1984 due to the absence of witnesses against them in Bihar's Rohtas district.

Additional district and sessions judge (III) Nand Kishore Sharma while acquitting the accusedearlier this week (May 31) for want of evidences also crticised the police machinery for its failure to produce the four witnesses in court, whose absence led the court to let off the accused.

The four witnesses, all police persons, did not turn up on behalf of the prosecution despite repeated reminders issued by the court to the SP office and legal cell department of state's crime department.

Court sources said that following the assasination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, rioters had gone berserk and set on fire a number of shops located on Jhabarmal Gali, Cinema Road on Dehri-on-Sone,GT road in which shops belonging toSardar Buta Singh, Yogendra Singh, Avatar Singh, Gurubachan Singh, Uttam Singh, Sampoorna Singh and others were gutted.

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With thanks : source : PTI & DNAIndia

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Rare collection of hand written manuscripts in Punjab village getting ruined

AMRITSAR : A rare collection of hand-written manuscripts of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim religion along with outstanding relics of European Renaissance, collected by a Sikh scholar in Punjab village are in state of gross neglect.

A Sikh scholar Dalip Singh of remore village Mallu Nangal on Indo-Pak border in this district who owns the collection is a disappointed man. He has got a collection of various religious books hand written even from the times of 15th centuary.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, the supreme Sikh body, managing the affairs of Siklh shrines is least interested to save the collection. The collection is surviving so far due to passion in Dalip Singh to preserve the history.

Rare manuscripts in the village gurdwara 9Sikh shrine) library include “ Dasam Granth”, Guru Partap-Suriya, Guru Bilas, Zafarnama Patshahi Daswin, Makkei Wali Sakhi, Bachittar Natak, Zindgi-Nama Bhai Nand Lal, an ultra small Guru Granth Sahib which has 1430 pages and can be read only with the help of a magnifying lens and many more.

A beautifully calligraphic example of “Kuran Shariff’ is another old scripture is in the collection of Dalip Singh.

Some of them were also written by Sikh Gurus themselves claimed Dalip Singh. Some of the manuscripts have beautiful ornamental calligraphy and extraordinary decorated in gold and blue.

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With thanks : source : Punjabnewsline

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Court notice to CBI in '84 anti-Sikh riots case against Tytler

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) A Delhi Court today issued notice to the CBI on a petition challenging an order of a lower court accepting the closure report in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler.

Additional Sessions Judge V K Khanna sought a response from the probe agency by July 24 on the revision petition filed by riot victims.

Lakhwinder Kaur, whose husband was killed in the riots, sought further investigation by the CBI into the case following claims about emergence of fresh evidence.

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With thanks : source : PTI

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