CHANDIGARH: Taking up a petition seeking directions to allow Sehajdhari Sikhs as voters in the SGPC elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Gurdwara Election Commission, Union government and the Punjab government among others.
The petitioner has challenged amendments to Section 49 and Section 92 of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, whereby Sehajdhari Silchs are not being considered as “Sikhs”. “Sehajdhari Sikhs are those persons, who though not born in Sikh families, follow the religion for all intents and purposes,” reads petition.
The petition filed by Hans Raj through advocates Mansur Ali and H.S. Deol highlighted that in 2002 special voting rights were given to Sehajdhari Sikhs by the respondents, the same clearly showed that Sehajdhari Silchs were recognised as Sikhs.
“It is surprising as to how till 2003 Sehajdhari Sikhs were considered Sikhs, and at present the respondents are restraining the definition of Sikhs by ousting Sehajdhari Sikhs,” the petition said.
with thanks : punjab news : link in headline above for the detailed story.
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“The SGPC has been asked to constitute a censor board. Any book, published material and films related to the Sikhism, history and culture will have to be subjected to examination by the board before their release. This is being to done to avoid any controversies in the future,” said Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh.
The five Sikh high priests, led by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, have also asked the SGPC to divide Punjab into three regions-Majha, Malwa and Doaba-to spread message of Sikh Gurus and that of “Gurbani” in a better way.
The Dharam Parchar Committee of the SGPC will distribute published material like books on the Sikh religion among Sikhs through Akhand Kirtani Jatha head Baldev Singh and other Sikh religious preachers.
The three regions, according to Giani Gurbachan Singh, will also have SGPC-operated missions on lines of the similar institutions operating in Jammu. “The Sikh high priests will also visit these regions from time to time,” said Giani Gurbachan Singh.
The idea to set-up an SGPC-operated “censor board” came up for discussion among the Sikh high priests after a recent controversy of the publication of two books “Gian Sarovar”- an encyclopedia for primary classes in Punjab-and “Balu De Wal”.
SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Maan had raised objections over the books following which Director-General (School Education) Krishan Kumar had tendered an apology.
The Akal Takht Jathedar had accepted the apology and had asked the Sikh sangat to consider the issue “as closed”.
with thanks : source : SikhSangat.org
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Amritsar, Aug 8 – The Sikh high priests Saturday formed a five-member committee to look into a controversy involving 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims’ lawyer H.S. Phoolka and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna and his brother.
The committee was set up after Sarna and his brother appeared before the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, here Saturday and submitted a written reply before the Sikh high priests to support their allegations against Phoolka.
The Sarna brothers, Paramjit and Harvinder, were summoned by the Sikh high priests last month following a complaint by Phoolka, lawyer of 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, saying that he was humiliated by them at a meeting in Delhi recently.
The Sarna brothers were asked to explain their stand on the controversy over Phoolka.
The lawyer later told reporters that the allegations against him by the Sarna brothers were a ‘deep-rooted conspiracy’ by the Congress leaders to save those party leaders who were behind the killing of thousands of innocent Sikhs in New Delhi November 1984 in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards Oct 31, 1984.
Phoolka, who spearheaded a 26-year-long battle for justice to victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, had last month offered to quit as lawyer of riot victims’ families after Sarna leveled allegations against him for ‘having received crores of rupees for personal benefit’.
with thanks : indiatalkies : link in headline for detailed news
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A group of 1984 anti-Sikh riots affected staged a protest march in the holy city of Amritsar on Friday against Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and Delhi Gurdwara Management committee (DSGMC).
The forum named-Danga Peedit Welfare Association-took out a march from Bhai Gurdas Hall to Akal Takht here.
There have been claims that an English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji finds itself at home at NASA and that the NASA scientist turn to Guru Ji for inspiration. NASA has been quiet on this issue and there is no information available if any of the claims are true. Search of the internet did not yield much result about the connection between the two but did lead to an interesting discovery about Sikhs. Some Sikhs feel that somehow having confirmation that Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji does have a place in NASA, would make Sikhism superior to other religions. This connection that has popped up between NASA and Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is not there to fill Sikhs with false pride. It is not for us to run around trying to confirm it, so we can brag about it. This connection is yet another reminder for all Sikhs what a priceless treasure Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is for anyone that is willing to listen. NASA wastes millions of dollars trying to answer questions Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji answers for frees for anybody that is willing to listen with an open mind and an open heart. Some of those questions are: “How vast is the universe?” “How was it created?” “How will it end?”
In Jap Ji Sahib Ji we read every morning “There are planets, solar systems and galaxies. If one speaks of them, there is no limit, no end. There are worlds upon worlds of His Creation. As He commands, so they exist. He watches over all, and contemplating the creation, He rejoices. Nanak says, to describe this is as hard as steel!” While NASA is busy trying to find out the vastness of the universe, Guru Ji reminds us daily. Every time NASA finds a new planet or makes any new discoveries, Sikhs shouldn’t be shocked because Guru Ji already told us that there is no limit. Sikhs should be shocked if NASA ever claims; they have discovered everything there is to discover. Even then just wait a few years and they’ll run into something new. Why do we need NASA to confirm the importance of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the message it sends to the Sikhs daily, when daily Guru Ji confirms the existence of NASA?
Before NASA or anyone else could even begin to explain how the universe came into play, Guru Ji explained it to the Sikhs. “From this primal void, came the moon, the sun and the earth….From this primal void, the earth and the Akaashic Ethers were created….From this primal void, came the four sources of creation, and the power of speech….They were created from the void, and they will merge into the void…..” Science to date struggles to figure out how and why universe was created but it does agree that everything was created out a void of some sorts (the big bang theory). But Every theory that is explored they run into the same questions; why and how? Guru Ji agrees with Science that for the longest time there was nothing and that the universe grew out of that nothingness. But unlike science Guru Ji does not create doubts on anything He tells the Sikhs with confidence this is how things are; “There was darkness for countless years. There was neither earth nor sky; there was only His Will. There was neither day nor night, neither sun nor moon. He (God) was in deep meditation. There was nothing except Himself.”. How can NASA confirm the importance of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, when NASA itself can’t confirm how the universe was created?
NASA does not know how it was created and it does not know how it will end but Guru Ji tells his Sikhs everything. “Night and day, and the stars in the sky shall vanish. The sun and the moon shall vanish. The mountains, the earth, the water and the air shall pass away. Only the Word of the Holy Saint shall endure.” So long before science was there to warn us that we were going to run out of our natural resources, Guru Ji warned us. There have been theories in the past about the Sun cooling down and the brightness of it vanishing, science is still not so sure about it. At the rate we our polluting the earth, it won’t be long till we run out of drinkable water and clean air to breath. Guru Ji told us everything science is telling us, only Guru Ji told us hundreds of years before anyone could even begin imagining it. When the world ends, will it matter if NASA had confirmed the importance of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji?
No one can confirm the importance of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji by turning to it for inspiration. It is useless to even think about NASA turning to Guru Ji. Instead we should think about why, why if it doesn’t matter, this came up? Waheguru Ji didn’t bring this topic to light to raise the Sikhs above everyone else. He brought it to give us a slap in the face and wake us up. To open our eyes to the priceless treasure we have in the form of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Guru Ji answers many questions NASA can’t and yet we listen more carefully to NASA then Guru Ji. This is a reminder to all Sikhs, turn to Guru Granth Sahib Ji and you’ll never need to look elsewhere or need any confirmation.
Harminder Kaur
with thanks : sikhsangat.org
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