Museum at Nadda Sahib to showcase Sikh history

PANCHKULA: The historic Gurdwara Nadda Sahib on the banks of river Ghaggar is all set to establish a museum to showcase ancient Sikh history. The museum will showcase portraits of Sikh gurus, arms used by them and their manuscripts. It will be set up in administrative block of the Gurdwara premises.

According to managerial staff of Gurdwara Nadda Sahib, the administrative block is under construction. Once it is complete, they will start working on the museum. They are making a proposal to establish the museum that would showcase ancient Sikh history. They will tie up with other gurdwaras in Punjab and Haryana to gather historical archives. 

 

with thanks : times of India : link above for detailed news.

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Purewal slams SGPC on calendar amendments

The ongoing controversy over the amendments made by the Akal Takht and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in the Nanakshahi Calendar last year took yet another turn with Canada-based Sikh engineer Pal Singh Purewal, the maker of the calendar, terming the changes “unnecessary”, “misleading” and “conspired by RSS”. He said the SGPC made the amendments in a hush-hush manner on the dictates of its “political masters” under the RSS. 

Talking to the media, Purewal said the SGPC and the Akali leadership had done a heinous crime by intermingling Nanakshahi Calendar with Bikrami Calendar. “This is no amendment but total drift towards Bikrami Calendar,” he said, adding that the decision was arbitrary and the original version of the calendar, as adopted in 2003, should be restored.

with thanks : Indian Express : link above for detailed news.


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Alexandra Aitken's devout Sikh husband used to be party animal like her

Former British socialite Alexandra Aitken seems to have a lot in common with her devout Sikh husband, who has been revealed to have been a "wild boy" who liked to party.

Aitken, 30, who is the daughter of disgraced former Tory minister Jonathan Aitken, had in the past been photographed coming out of London nightclubs in daring dresses.

Now all that has changed ever since she got married to Inderjot Singh, 27.

But while she gushes about his "extraordinary presence" and how he is part of "the warrior tribe of Sikhism, the SAS, if you will, of the religion", it has emerged that he too had enjoyed an active social life and only became devout in his mid-20s.

"He used to be a wild boy. He cut his hair [forbidden in Sikhism], went to parties, chasing girls, smoking and drinking," the Daily Mail quoted one, Gagandeep Sandhu, as saying.

Another, Bikramjit Singh, a lawyer who shared a room with Inderjot when they studied law together, said the latter dropped out of college in India in 2007 and went to Sydney, Australia.

"He wanted to start a new life there like many people who go abroad from the Punjab. He went to a college there but came back after a year," he said.

"While he was there he met a saint and became very religious. Before that, yes, he was not so religious; he did like parties," he revealed.

with thanks : sify : link above for detailed news.

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Sikhs rally to bring injured man's family to NZ

The Sikh community has rallied to raise money for air tickets for the family of an alleged carjacking victim who cannot afford to pay their way to New Zealand.

But their arrival could be some time off as none of the relatives have passports.

Sukjhinder Singh is in an induced coma in a serious but stable condition in Waikato Hospital, breathing with the aid of a ventilator.

The 21-year-old foreman of a Katikati kiwifruit gang has a broken right leg, a broken right arm, a busted right eye socket and suspected brain damage.

Mr Singh was injured after two 15-year-old boys allegedly forced him to hand over his keys at a party in Waihi before taking off with him and two teenage girls he had picked up earlier in his car to Paeroa, where they forced him to buy fast food.

with thanks : nzherald : link above for detailed news.

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Birth Anniversary of Professor Sahib Singh (1892-1977) : Sikh Grammarian and Theologian

ONE DAY I AIM TO REMEMBER DARPAN PAGE BY PAGE : Dr.Gurjit Singh

Respectful homage and heartiest congratulations to all on the auspicious occasion of Prof.Sahib Singh's 119th Birth Anniversary on 16th February.He has done valuable work in making Gurbani and Gurmat philosophy accessible to the Sikhs of 20th century. These included exposition of several of the Sikh sacred texts and his monumental 10-volume commentary on Sikh Scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, published during 1962-64.He made a notable contribution to Punjabi prose through his essays on moral and spiritual themes,religious philosophy.

Prof.Sahib Singh's grandson Dr.Gurjit Singh( well-known Eye-Surgeon in Chandigarh) considers that it is due to his Grandfather’s blessings only that he is able to read Darpan four times. He is very sure that very few sikhs have read Darpan as it requires a lot of patience .Dr.Gurjit says“I am totally addicted to reading Sri Guru Granth Sahib darpan. I have read it from first page to last page four times.More I read it ...more I love it ...One day I aim to remember it page by page.I am amazed with the thought that from where Prof.Sahib Singh got knowledge and the energy to do such an impossible task.He must have been chosen by the Almighty to do such great task”.

New Akshay Kumar Film Criticized As Hurting Sikh Sentiment

AMRITSAR – Sharply reacting to what it dubbed scenes hurting sentiments of the Sikh community, the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) today flayed Nikhil Advani, director of the forthcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer, “Patiala House”, which is all set to be released on Friday.

In a statement released here, AISSF chief Karnail Singh Peer Mohammed alleged that the film, “Patiala House”, “portrays an incident, in which a Sikh youth gets his hair cut for playing cricket, as a trivial episode”.

He termed the film as one against the Sikh rehat maryada (code of conduct). The federation leaders alleged that such films were being made under a well-planned conspiracy. They said the film’s producer, Bhushan Kumar, and director, Nikhil Advani, should release the film only after cutting the “objectionable scenes”.

with thanks : thelinkpaper : link above for detailed news.

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Don't mention caste in census, SGPC asks Sikhs

AMRITSAR: President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Avtar Singh Makkar has appealed to Sikhs not to mention their caste during the ongoing nationwide census.

"Sikhs in India must mention their religion as Sikh, Punjabi as mother tongue and humanity as their caste," Makkar said on Friday. He also asked all Sikh men and women to suffix Singh and Kaur after their names. "This will help establish the distinct identity of Sikhs," he added. 

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

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Sikh passengers forced to remove turbans for security check in Italy

President of Indian Overseas Congress in Italy Karamjit Singh Dhillon, while addressing mediapersons accompanied by senior Congress leader and MLA from Bholath constituency in Kapurthala district Sukhpal Singh Khaira here yesterday, claimed that he was asked by the Italian Immigration check authorities at the Rome airport to remove his turban for security check.

He alleged that ten other Sikh passengers, accompanying him, were also directed to remove their turbans for security check.

''When I refused to remove my turban in full public view, I was taken to a room where I removed my turban,'' Mr Dhillon said.

He said this was for the first time that he was forced to do so in the last 27 years he was living in Italy. He was to leave for India via Doha from Rome airport.

with thanks : new kerala : link above for detailed news.

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Delhi HC asks Centre to decide on ‘blacklisted’ 169 Sikhs

The Delhi High Court today directed the Centre to take a decision on the plea of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management (DSGM) to allow the entry of 169 Sikhs who were blacklisted and barred from entering India during the days of Khalistani extremism. 

A division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the Home Secretary to take a decision in eight weeks and disposed of a PIL for review of the list. 

Filing its petition through senior advocate K T S Tulsi, the DSGM pleaded the list of 169 Sikhs should be reviewed as it has led to "unnecessary harassment" to various individuals at different airports and embassies across the world due to non-renewal of their passports by Indian government. 

Appearing before the Bench, Tulsi apprised it of a recent case involving Mayor of Slough (UK) Joginder Singh Bal who had been sent back from Delhi airport on the ground that his name figured in the blacklist. 

with thanks : Indian Express : link above for detailed news.

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Swiss gurdwara donor drug dealer?

AMRITSAR: Activities in the only gurdwara with classical Sikh architecture in Switzerland have come to a standstill with the police of the European country booking the main donor for allegedly indulging in drug- trafficking and money laundering.

The Sikh NRI Ranjit Singh Masuta on Wednesday blamed the Swiss police for allegedly implicating him in false cases and causing him huge financial losses, due to which, he was not in a position to support the activities in the gurdwara built on land donated by him.

Sikh Foundation of Switzerland that manages the Gurdwara Sahib and a representative body of Sikhs there have decided to defend Masuta in the 2005 case, in which he was later given a clean chit, foundation chairman Karan Singh said on Wednesday. The foundation hired two lawyers to contest the case and called a meeting of Sikhs of Europe to muster support for the donor. 

 

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

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SGPC, DSGMC on war path again

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) are once again at loggerheads; this time over a word in the form for registering new Sikh voters for the next SGPC elections. 

DSGMC office-bearers have blamed SGPC for playing with basic Sikh tenets by interpreting the word ‘patit’ (disqualified Sikh) as one who indulges in ‘dhumarpaan’ (smoking), contrary to Sikh Gurdwara Act-1925 that uses the word to mean ‘use of tobacco’. 

Former SGPC Secretary, Manjit Singh Calcutta, a close confidant of DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna, said SGPC has ignored the major discrepancy. “The SGPC has resorted to an anti-Panthic and anti-religious act by allowing changes by Gurdwara Election Commission — using the word ‘dhumarpaan’ instead of ‘using tobacco’. This means that anyone using paan-masala, gutka, paan and khaini, which usually contain tobacco, is not disqualified as a Sikh”, he said. 

with thanks : Indian Express : link above for detailed news.

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