Sikhs in Pakistan protest against plaza construction on gurdwara land

Sikhs in Pakistan will stage a protest in Lahore on Friday over the construction of a plaza on gurdwara land.

They will stage a sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly for two hours against the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) administration, Sikh leaders told The Express Tribune.

Former Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Perbandhak Committee (PSGPC) President Sardar Bishon Singh said that if the government failed to stop the construction of a plaza over Gurdwara Deewan Khana, Indian Sikhs would join their protest and send delegations to Pakistan to record their disapproval.

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Dishonour to Sikhs a national insult: Govt

India on Wednesday said dishonour to the Sikhs is a national insult and the government takes serious note of the incident in which golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh was forced to remove his turban at Milan airport last week. 

Assuring the Rajya Sabha that the issue would be taken up with Italy, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said, “Whenever there is an insult to Sikhs, we take it as national insult. We take it up in that spirit.” 

He was responding to senior BJP leader S. S. Ahluwalia who said during Zero Hour that the Indian government was not able to convince Italy that turban for Sikhs was a symbol of religious respect. 

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Election victory cannot wipe away any crime: Sushma

New Delhi: Citing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 sectarian violence in Gujarat, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was rewriting criminal jurisprudence by bringing in the 2009 electoral victory to defend his government on the diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks on what has come to be known as the cash-for-votes scam. 

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Australia's Victoria police inducts first turban wearing Sikh

MELBOURNE: Police in Australia's Victoria state today inducted its first officer from Sikh community who will wear a newly designed police turban, a media report said today.

Australia's Victoria police today inducted its first officer from Sikh community who will wear a newly designed police turban, a media report said today.

The first officer Constable Amitoj Singh who graduated from the Police Academy would wear a newly designed police-issue turban, featuring the service's checker board pattern.

Singh has been assigned suburb of Endeavour Hills from next week. On his induction, Singh was quoted as saying that the community was in the Sikh blood. 

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US court asks Congress to answer charges on 1984 attacks on Sikhs

New York, March 23 (IANS) India's Congress party has been asked to respond by April 1 to "summons" issued by a US court to answer charges of "conspiring, aiding, abetting and organizing" attacks on Sikhs in November 1984.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the summons March 1 in response to a class action law suit filed by "Sikhs For Justice" (SFJ) a US based human rights group along with several Sikh witnesses and survivors of the 1984 attacks.

"if the Congress party did not respond to the summons of the US Federal Court by April 1, 2011, SFJ will ask the court to enter a default against Congress (I)," SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said Tuesday.

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India protests after Sikh golf coach forced to remove turban at Italian airport security

NEW DELHI — India summoned the Italian ambassador Wednesday to protest demands by Milan airport officials that a world-class golfer’s Sikh coach remove his turban during a security check a day earlier.

It was the second time in a week that Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh had his turban removed and frisked in the northern Italian city.

Sikhs worldwide object to such searches as discriminatory and unnecessary in a world with machines for body scanning and metal detection.

Foreign Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna condemned the searches and said the religious practices of all Indians must be respected.

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1984 Anti Sikh riot: Man moves HC with a plea for compensation

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today sought a response from the city government on a man's contempt plea that the despite the court's direction, the competent authority has failed to decide on his plea for compensation on account of death of two minor children in 1984 Anti-Sikh riot. Justice S Muralidhar issued a notice to the Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) and Sub-Divisional Magistrate(SDM) Head Quarters of Delhi government and sought a reply by April 21. Filing a petition, Hukum Singh claimed Rs 14 lakh as compensation(Rs 7 lakh for each child) and alleged his two sons--an eight-year and a four-year-old--were killed in an attack by a mob at Vishwas Nagar area in East Delhi on November 1, 1984.

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Man gets life for killing four in anti-Sikh riots

A Karkadooma court on Monday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering four Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Capital. Public prosecutor B S Joon had earlier sought capital punishment, stating that it ranked among the rarest of rare cases because the victims — Jaswant Singh, his nephew Anokha Singh, friend Satnam Singh and neighbour Bhajan Singh — were killed in a brutal manner. 

The life imprisonment sentence was handed out by Additional Sessions Judge P S Teji to Mahesh alias Dabbu. 

According to the prosecution, a mob had attacked Block No 32 of Trilokpuri on November 1, 1984, and assaulted Jaswant and his family. They were allegedly pulled out of their house, beaten up and and burnt before Jaswant’s wife, Vidya Kaur. 

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Turban issue: Congress says strong message should be sent to EU

Chandigarh: Expressing concern over the turban episode involving golfer Jeev Milkha Singh's coach in Milan, Congress on Wednesday said a strong message should be sent out to the European Union on the issue.

"There seems to be intolerance especially in the EU for the turban worn by Sikh... as trong message should go out to EU as wearing turban is a cultural and religious issue with Punjabi people," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.

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Rabbi opposes free Sikh school in Slough

A Maidenhead rabbi has opposed plans for a free school in Slough.

The Slough Sikh Education Trust hopes to set up a free school with a Sikh ethos as a solution to the number of oversubscribed schools in the town. 

Rabbi Jonathan Romain has said he feared the Sikh community would become segregated. However, the Slough Sikh Education Trust has said it hopes to attract 50% of its pupils from non-Sikh backgrounds. 

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'Why can't govt do something about it'

CHANDIGARH: Ace golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar on Wednesday hit out at Indian government for failing to check the growing incidents of Sikh's being subjected to discriminatory treatment around the world.

His reaction came after Jeev Milka Singh's coach Amritinder Singh was asked to take off his turban at Italy airport during security checks on Tuesday. "It's a shame that Sikhs have to face this treatment time and again. India has a prime minister, who himself is a Sikh, yet it keeps happening again and again.

His government has totally failed in this regard. He has done nothing to protect Sikhs from this unfair and shameful treatment. We keep hearing of such incidents almost every month. Why can't our government do something about it? Why are we always helpless?" he asked.

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