Keertan Darbar at Chaand Muhalla, Gandhi nagar, Delhi

SikhsIndia

WASHINGTON NEWS: US Sikhs Decry Turban Screening At Airports

W­AS­H­INGTO­­N: Si­kh ad­v­o­c­ac­y gro­up­s i­n­ t­he US hav­e-d­eman­d­ed­ st­o­p­ t­o­ t­he sc­reen­i­n­g o­f t­urban­s at­ a­i­r­por­ts­, a­r­gui­n­g t­he­ a­ddi­t­i­on­a­l se­a­r­ch of t­he­i­r­ r­e­li­gi­ous he­a­dwe­a­r­ i­s n­ot­ r­e­qui­r­e­d a­s t­he­ t­r­a­v­e­lle­r­s pa­ss t­hr­ough full-body sca­n­n­e­r­s.

Si­kh or­gan­­i­sati­on­­s have sai­d f­eder­al tr­an­­spor­tati­on­­ of­f­i­ci­als plan­­ to alway­s sear­ch tu­r­b­an­­s at ai­r­por­t scr­een­­i­n­­g stati­on­­s even­­ i­f­ wear­er­s pass thr­ou­gh the state-of­-the-ar­t b­ody­ i­magi­n­­g scan­­n­­er­s.

T­he gro­­ups are c­alli­ng o­­n t­hei­r c­o­­nst­i­t­uent­s t­o­­ lo­­bby­ t­he C­o­­ngress and t­he T­r­an­spor­t­at­ion­ Sec­ur­it­y­ Ad­m­in­ist­r­at­ion­ (T­SA) to­­ o­­ver turn wha­t hey­ s­a­i­d­ wa­s­ a­n “unjus­t p­o­­li­cy­”, the New Y­o­­rk­ Ti­mes­ rep­o­­rted­.

Of­f­icial­s f­r­om­ th­e Sikh­ Coal­ition­ U­n­ited Sikh­s an­d th­e Sikh­ Am­er­ican­ L­egal­ Def­en­se an­d Edu­cation­ F­u­n­d said on­ F­r­iday­ th­ey­ m­et w­ith­ r­epr­esen­tatives of­ th­e Depar­tm­en­t of­ H­om­el­an­d Secu­r­ity­ an­d th­e TSA sever­al­ w­eeks ago.

”Al­l­ o­­f u­s jo­­i­ntl­y­ fe­e­l­ the­r­e­ ar­e­ de­fi­ni­te­l­y­ so­­me­ e­l­e­me­nts o­­f r­ac­i­al­ pr­o­­fi­l­i­ng he­r­e­,” sai­d Jasji­t Si­ngh, asso­­c­i­ate­ di­r­e­c­to­­r­ o­­f the­ Leg­al D­efens­e Fund­, a civil­ righ­ts gro­u­p­.

Ha­nsdeep Sing­h, a­ senior­ st­a­f­f­ la­w­y­er­ f­or­ t­he New­ Y­or­k­­ ba­sed Unit­ed Sik­hs, sa­id t­he m­­eet­ing­ in W­a­shing­t­on w­a­s a­r­r­a­ng­ed t­o hea­r­ a­bout­ how­ new­ “a­dva­nced im­­a­g­ing­ t­echnolog­y­” sca­nner­s w­ould a­f­f­ect­ Sik­hs. T­hey­ ha­d hoped t­he devices w­ould elim­­ina­t­e t­he need f­or­ ext­r­a­ scr­eening­ t­ha­t­ t­hey­ sa­y­ t­hey­ w­er­e subject­ed t­o a­t­ a­ir­por­t­s.

B­ut th­e co­m­m­unity rep­res­entatives­ s­aid­ th­ey were to­ld­ th­at th­e turb­ans­ wo­uld­ b­e treat­ed­ “as­ a p­er s­e ano­m­aly”, S­ingh­ s­aid­. Th­ey s­aid­ TS­A o­fficials­ d­eclined­ to­ tell th­em­ wh­eth­er th­e s­canner was­ incap­ab­le o­f s­eeing th­ro­ugh­ a turb­an, wh­ich­ typ­ically h­ad­ layers­ o­f fab­ric.

The­ adv­oc­ac­y­ grou­p­s m­e­t wi­th offi­c­e­r for c­i­v­i­l­ ri­ghts an­d c­i­v­i­l­ l­i­be­rti­e­s M­arg­o Sc­hlan­g­e­r at­ t­h­e­ Dep­a­rtm­ent o­f­ H­o­m­el­a­nd Secu­rity­ an­­d spe­c­i­al­ c­oun­­se­l­l­or t­o t­he­ T­SA admi­n­­i­st­rat­or Kimberly­ Wa­lton­­ th­e­ N­­e­w­ York­ Time­s said. .

Mo­­re than 300 bo­­dy­ s­c­anners­ hav­e been ins­talled at 65 airpo­­rts­ in the US­, ac­c­o­­rding­ to­­ the TS­A webs­ite. An additio­­nal 450 s­c­anners­ are s­et to­­ be ins­talled by­ next y­ear.

TS­A s­po­kes­w­o­m­an S­terl­i­n­g P­ayn­e sa­i­d­: “Remova­l­ of a­l­l­ hea­d­wea­r i­s recommen­­d­ed­, bu­t the ru­l­es a­ccommod­a­te those wi­th rel­i­gi­ou­s, med­i­ca­l­ or other rea­son­­s, for whi­ch ‘the p­a­ssen­­ger wi­shes n­­ot to remove the i­tem.”

“If­ th­e o­­f­f­icer canno­­t reas­o­­nab­ly determine th­at th­e clo­­th­ing o­­r h­ead co­­v­ering is­ f­ree o­­f­ a th­reat item, indiv­iduals­ will b­e ref­erred f­o­­r additio­­nal s­creening,” s­h­e s­aid.

S­O­URCE-HT : taken from : punjabnews.org

SikhsIndia

I will visit Golden Temple next time: Obama

He may have missed visiting the Golden Temple this time, but US President Barack Obama has assured that he will do so on his next trip to India.

Obama told this to Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal during the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in New Delhi Sunday evening.

According to Badal, Obama said he would visit the Golden Temple in Punjab the next time he comes to India.

with thanks : thaindian : link in headline for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

But Prez strikes right notes on turbans, Golden Temple

US President Barack Obama has promised to have a close look at the issue of disrespect shown to Sikh religious symbols like the turban during security check up and will find some way to ensure that religious sentiments of the community as well as security concerns of the US officials were taken care of.

The President said this to SAD member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal at the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday.

with thanks : IndianExpress : link in headline for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Sohnijodi - A Sikh web portal

Sohnijodi - A sikh web portal with almost ONE LAKH hits per month is a complete Sikh portal with details on Sikhism, Gurdwara pics, Vids of various Historical Gurdwaras & a lot more. With over TEN THOUSAND visits in October, it is a fast upcoming Sikh web Portal. Matrimonial section on this web portal was not in operation for the last few months. It is being revived again & now you can add your matrimonial profile at a very very nominal price i.e. just to cover the costs of the portal. Please log on to the Sikh web portal www.sohnijodi.com. You can also Advertise on this Web Portal at a very nominal cost.

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Raise headgear issue with Obama, Sukhbir Badal urges PM

Chandigarh, Nov 7 (IANS) Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Sunday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up with visiting President Barack Obama the frisking of headgear of all turban-wearing individuals, including Sikhs, during airport checks in the US.

The US federal transportation agency recently issued directions for the mandatory searching of the headgear during airport security checks.

'Sukhbir Singh Badal has urged the prime minister to take up this matter with the US president Barack Obama. The prime minister is himself a Sikh and understands the sensitivity of this whole issue,' the state government spokesperson said.

'Wearing a turban is an integral part of the Sikh religion. Such guidelines making the frisking of turbans necessary, will interfere with Sikh principles and hurt the psyche of Sikhs. Such orders should be immediately withdrawn,' the spokesman added.

with thanks : SIFY : link in headline above for detailed news.

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Sikhs disappointed, Obama told

CHANDIGARH: The cancellation of US president Barack Obama's visit to Amritsar came as a disappointment to the Sikh community, especially in the wake of speculations that he had been advised against wearing a headgear, which could give an impression of his being a Muslim. The community, which was hoping that his visit may help dispel that very confusion about Sikhs being mistaken for Muslims, and thus being made victims of racial profiling, had expressed its disappointment through various forums. On Sunday, a Punjab MP did manage to convey the sentiments directly to the US president..........................................................................................

The Akali MP, who, during the dinner, happened to be sharing the table with US ambassador to India, Timothy J Roemer, along with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, also managed to convey Sikhs' sentiments on the "humiliation and embarrassment at being asked to remove turbans at US airports for security checks".

With thanks : Times of India : link in headline above for detailed news.

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City of Golden Temple celebrates Diwali

AMRITSAR: Diwali was celebrated with great religious fervor in the holy city of Amritsar. Thousands of devotees thronged at Golden Temple for a holy dip in the sarovar. The holiest of holy shrine of Sikhs was tasefully decorated with colorful lights.

On the occasion , Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh , in a message to Sikh panth, cautioned to keep an eye on elements that were bent upon brining disgrace to rich Sikh values and creating unwarranted controversies implicating not only the Sikh religious institutions but also Sikh guru's. He said Sikhs had been successful in establishing their distinct identity in the world in small span of time .

With thanks : timesofindia : link in headline above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Sikh devotees hold Prayer at Indo-Pak border

DERA BABA NANAK: To get the free corridor from border town of Dera Baba Nanak to Gurdwara Kartar Pur Sahib in Pakistan, hundreds of devotees under the banner of Kartarpur sahib Ravi Darshan abhilashi Santha, organized its 117th monthly prayer at International border Indo Pak border here Saturday.

Earlier, Sikh devoteesled by Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala gathered at Gurudwara Darbar Sahib where from they reached at Indo Pak International border and offered their prayer urging the governments of both countries to provide corridor.

It is worth mentioning Guru Nanak Dev stayed at Dera Baba Nanak nearly 18 years and departed for his heavenly adobe at Katrarpur in Pakistan where a gurudwara was constructed and it went to Pakistan during the partition in 1947.

The prominent among Jasvir Singh Zafarwal , Gurinder Singh Bajwa, Avtar Singh USA and Kulbir Singh Sandhu.

with thanks : Punjabnewsline : link in headline.

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Diwali with a difference : Sd. B S Kohli ji, Navi Mumbai

Sd. B S Kohli, Navi Mumbai, Celebrating Diwali with Orphan / Disowned / Handicap childrens on 31st October at Chembur, Navi Mumbai.

J&K: Uniformed Men Swoop on 2 Sikh Villages

Coinciding with President Barack Obama's visit to India, two incidents of uniformed gunmen descending on Sikh hamlets have taken place in the Kashmir Valley, sending jitters among some members of the community.

The Sikhs are apprehensive, fearing a repeat of massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora village in March 2000, when then US President Bill Clinton was on a visit to India.

Uniformed personnel, travelling in a civilian vehicle, last night knocked on the doors of residents of predominantly Sikh-inhabited Hutmura village, 65 kms from here, in Anantnag district, raising concerns among the minority community.

A police spokesman said there was a "misunderstanding" created by a patrol of security forces in Hutmura village which was later sorted out by the intervention of senior civil administration and police officials.

with thanks : outlook : link in headline above for detailed news.

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