Fort of triumph' fights for survival

Patiala: Qila Mubarak, the only fort built by a Sikh ruler, has withstood many attacks in its over 200-year history but is today fighting a losing battle - against government apathy.

Its name means the 'fort of triumph', and it's a symbol of the courage and culture of the Sikhs.

Instead of letting in only the admiring tourist, the complex houses several government offices, including a forensic laboratory.

The foundation of the fort was laid by founder of Patiala dynasty Ala Singh in 1763. It was completed by his grandson and successor Maharaja Amar Singh, but historians differ over the exact year.

The Patiala chiefs, who opposed the Muslim rule as guerrilla fighters, founded a state in the 1760s. Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler after Nadir Shah, conferred the title Raja on Ala Singh.Built on level ground, which now stands in a crowded area right in the middle of Patiala town, 80km from Chandigarh, the fort is classified as a 'Nara Durg' - a citadel defended primarily by brave soldiers because it is not protected by any natural armour like mountains, forest or water body.

Initially built as a mud-fort, Qila Mubarak was later built with bricks. The fort housed the palace of the royal family of Patiala at one stage.

However, today, the fort complex houses offices of 10 government departments, a testimony to the shocking neglect by the authorities. Even the state forensic sciences department has its office and laboratory, where chemicals are used freely to conduct tests on human organs as part of criminal investigations, inside the Qila Mubarak complex.

with thanks : city journal

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Janpath : Delhi Aaj Tak TV channel : B S Vohra

22.5.11 Sunday

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Tim Uppal Becomes Canada‘s First Turbaned Sikh-Canadian Cabinet Minister

Edmonton MP Tim Uppal becomes the first-ever turbaned Sikh to become a Federal Minister in a country other than India.

By R. Paul Dhillon With News Files

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed his party’s first turbaned Sikh-Canadian MP Tim Uppal to a bloated cabinet that also saw another Indo-Canadian newcomer from Toronto Bal Gosal make it to cabinet, showing that the Conservatives realize that they need to retain the powerful Indo-Canadian community vote for future elections.

The perennial loser when it comes to ministerial appointments Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai was again snubbed by Harper despite heavy lobbying by Obhrai and his supporters. It either shows that Obhrai is incompetent or Harper doesn‘t think much of the veteran MP to appoint him to cabinet.

Even though both Uppal, who has been given Minister of State for Democratic Reforms portfolio, and Gosal, who gets losing Vancouver Island MP Gary Lunnès old  Minister of State for Sports post, have been given junior portfolios but it shows that Conservative feel that they need more colour around the cabinet table to show that they can be as diverse as the Liberals who  have appointed a number of Indo-Canadian MP to cabinet, including the very first Indo-Canadian federal minister Herb Dhaliwal.

Tim Uppal becomes the first-ever turbaned Sikh to become a Federal Minister in a country other than India.

Uppal, who has been elected for the second time from Edmonton-Sherwood, earlier served on the standing committees for Health, Citizenship and Immigration. He also worked as senior adviser with the Conservative Party of Canada.

He has a long history of community involvement. He was named The Outstanding Young Edmontonian for 2005 by the Junior Chamber of Commerce . He was awarded an Alberta Centennial Medallion from the Government of Alberta.

He was a member of the Capital Health Community Council and the City of Edmonton Chief of Police Advisory Council. Uppal and his wife, Kiran, have one daughter.

First time MP Gosal, who defeated six-time MP Gurbax Singh Malhi from Bramalea-Gore-Malton and newcomer Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party, has worked as a commercial insurance broker. He has been a member of the Peel Regional Police Services Board and Peel Children’s Aid Society and has served as a member of the Brampton Board of Trade Marketing Committee.

Gosal and his wife, Pawanjit, have three children and live in Brampton.

There was talk of four-time MP Nina Grewal, elected from Fleetwood-Port Kells with an impressive margin, and Parm Gill, who defeated glamour girl Ruby Dhalla (Liberal) in Brampton-Springdale, being made ministers but they were long shots as Grewal is not considered minister material and Gill will have to show that he is capable of being a minister. There wasn‘t many changes from Harper‘s old cabinet with one exception that of Government House leader John Baird becoming the country’s top diplomat as foreign affairs minister, replacing Lawrence Cannon, who was defeated in the May 2 election. Peter Van Loan takes over from Baird as government House leader.

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Sikh slain, wife wounded in Sacramanto

The turmoil of Balbir Singh Dhami's life in recent years could offer Sacramento police a glimpse into why he was gunned down on a North Laguna Creek street Thursday morning: a fugitive son accused of murder, allegations of aiding and abetting the son, and federal trafficking charges involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cocaine.

Officers found Dhami and his wife in their Marla Way home after neighbors reported a burst of gunfire in the quiet, suburban tract.

Dhami, whose name was provided to the media by a friend, was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife, whose name also was not released, was transported to a local hospital with critical injuries, according to authorities.

By evening, police had not identified the gunman – who was described as a short, dark-skinned man in a yellow sweat shirt and driving a gold American-made car – nor had they determined a shooting motive.

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Neighbours pleased as council orders Sikhs to shut temple

BULLDOZERS are set to move in at a Sikh temple which has been ordered to shut after lengthy protests from neighbours.

Oxford’s Sikh community claim they will be left ‘homeless’ after Oxford City Council decided they can no longer use the house in Marston as a temple.

Since 2006, Sikhs have been using 69 Cherwell Drive to hold weekly prayer meetings.

But they have now been ordered to stop using it as a place of worship with immediate effect.

City councillors decided they would not be allowed any more time to look for an alternative to the ‘unsuitable’ property and would have to stop using it for worship immediately.

The Sikh community has been looking for new premises since January 2009, when the city council refused an application for retrospective planning permission to change the use of the three-bedroom semi-detached house from a place of residence to a place of worship.

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Vaisakhi 2011, Southhall, London 2/2

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Vaisakhi 2011, Southhall, London 1/2

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Vaisakhi 2011 Trafalgar Square, London

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‘Probe Sikh shrine board’s land deals’

Some members of the Sikh community have accused the administrator of the second most important Sikh shrine in the world, the Nanded Takht (Sri Hajur Sahib), of financial irregularities and nepotism in the last seven years. PS Pasricha, the administrator, who is a former director general of Maharashtra Police , is alleged to have sold properties owned by the Nanded Takht at much lower prices.

Pasricha was made sole in-charge of the Takth board after the government dissolved a 15-member state-appointed board, of which he was chairman, in 2009.

Sher Singh Fauzi, former chairman of the Takht managing board and general secretary of the Nanded unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), alleged that Pasricha sold a board property in 2006 in Sion Koliwada for Rs45 lakh when the market price was Rs2.5 crore.

“Pasricha sold a vacant plot in Deglur town for Rs2 lakh against the market price of Rs25 lakh. A one-acre plot in Nanded was sold at Rs1 crore though it commanded a price tag of Rs25 crore.”

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link above for detailed news.

Gurdwara land: Sikhs protest against SGPC, GMADA in Mohali

The members of the Sikh community Wednesday staged a peaceful protest dharna against Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) in front of Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Phase VIII here. Led by the local SGPC member Hardeep Singh, the protesters, who were holding black flags to express their anguish over what they alleged “depriving” Gurdwara Amb Sahib of its own land, squatted on the side of a road dividing GMADA office and gurdwara.

Addressing the protesters, Hardeep Singh alleged that on the directions of SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, the SGPC officials have already given consent to GMADA to create public parking on 2.86 acres of land belonging to Gurdwara Amb Sahib.

 with thanks : IndianExpress : link above for detailed news.

Two Sikhs become ministers in Canada

Two Sikhs were named to the new Canadian cabinet announced on Wednesday. In a major surprise for the million-strong Indo-Canadian community, first-time MP Bal Gosal from the Toronto constituency of Bramalea-Gore-Malton was made minister of state for sport by Prime Minister Stephen Harper whose  Conservative Party was returned to power with a majority in the May 2 elections.

A Sikh from Mukundpur village near Jalandhar, 50-year-old Gosal, who is an insurance broker by profession, had defeated Sikh stalwart and six-time MP Gurbax Malhi. Malhi himself had created history in 1993 by becoming the first Sikh turbaned MP in the western world.

Tim Uppal, a 37-year-old Canadian-born turbaned Sikh from Edmonton, was also made minister of state for democratic reform. This is Uppal's second term in the Canadian parliament.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link above for detailed news.

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