Friday, July 29, 2011

Rahul Gandhi praises Sikhs



















New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Attempting to improve the Congress’s ties with the Sikhs, party general secretary Rahul Gandhi Friday heaped praise on the community, saying they have ‘done the country proud by their achievements’.

Inaugurating a memorial dedicated to Tegh Bahadue, the Sikhs’ ninth Guru, Rahul Gandhi hailed the teachings of the Sikh spiritual gurus and also the contributions of the community.

‘The Sikhs of this country have done the nation proud with their achievements. They have hoisted the flag of India in every part of the world,’ he said in Hindi.

Gandhi also thanked Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, for taking the country on the path of development and progress.

‘The country is thankful to the Sikh community, for the progress and development brought by them. I am very thankful to Prime Minister Mamohnan Singh, who has brought progress and development in the country,’ he said.

He was all praise for Guru Teg Bahadur.

‘We must understand the importance of Guru Teg Bahadur. This country in not the country of any caste or religion, this is a country of every Indian.’

‘These were the teaching of Guru Tegh Bahadur and we must understand the importance of his teachings,’ Gandhi said.

The Congress general secretary added that he goes back to the teachings of ancient gurus of India for guidance.

‘When I think of my work, I go through the teachings of the ancient gurus of India and follow them. The whole country must follow their path for the development of the country,’ he added.

The Congress’s ties with Sikhs were strained after the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984. More recently, many Sikh groups are demanding the release of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a former Khalistan Commando Force militant, who has been given the death penalty in a 1993 car bombing case in Delhi.

with thanks : link above.

SGPC poll on Sept 18

Chandigarh, July 28

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Gurdwara Election Commission to hold the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections on September 18 as recommended by the Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections, Justice (retd) HS Brar.


Justice Brar said the elections would be held simultaneously in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. With the announcement of the election date, the Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately.

As per the code, the state government cannot announce new programmes and policies or lay foundation stones for projects. It cannot undertake any activity that can be interpreted as an attempt to influence the voter.

In all, a little over 55 lakh voters will exercise franchise. This time only “keshdhari” Sikhs (who have given an undertaking that they strictly follow the Sikh tenets) have been included in the voters’ list. During the last SGPC elections in 2004, “sehajdhari” (clean-shaven) Sikhs were allowed to vote too.

Justice Brar said preparations for the smooth conduct of the elections were completed way back in May.

“We were only waiting for a date from the MHA, which we received today”.

with thanks : tribune : link above

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

All we need a desire in our hearts to ignite a fire of Transformation



Fr.Nigel Barrett head of the Church’s communications centre said “We are teaching Church leaders about Facebook and other new-age media. We held a seminar recently where we taught priests how to use the media to reach out to congregations and the public, and are now planning follow-ups to make them Computer savvier as far as new-age media is concerned ”

With the same spirit,if we love Sikhi,then we also need to show in REAL terms with our noble motive of “sarbat-da-bhala“ (Welfare of All ).

We have to help Sikh Community preachers to overcome fear about the new-age media. Educating them on e-media is essential in contemporary time,not just for communication purposes,but with an intention to have online counselling sessions for people who need help/ information on Sikh Religion. Quite often it has been observed that at the initial stage,many youngsters prefer to be anonymous while seeking help/knowledge about religion to overcome their anxiety or unknown fears/doubts. This will surely change the Sikh Community from the very core and its impact would be long lasting.

Lets begin a transformation at the ground level.We can talk to our respective authorities in SGPC,DSGMC and local Gurdawara Management Bodies to organise Computer Workshops with the inclusiveness of our Gururdwara’s Granthis,Sewadars,Prabandhaks (Preachers).We can also provide them computers to make them efficient to practice more on their own initiative.

In Mumbai,Young Sikh Volunteers have already taken an initiative to get course in “Gyani ji” themselves .They are also sparing their valuable time & offering their services by helping Gurdwara Sewadars( Sikh Preachers) to be comfortable with computers.





With thanks :Young Sikh Leaders

Dr.Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
S.G.N.D.Khalsa College
University of Delhi
Dev Nagar
New Delhi-110005

Monday, July 18, 2011

NDTV debate on Mumbai Blasts

Please view Mr B S Vohra in the debate on Mumbai Blasts on NDTV India :

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Really Shocking ! Three blasts in Mumbai !!

Really Shocking ! Serial blasts struck Mumbai this evening. The three blasts, in sequence, were timed at 6.30 pm, 6.45 pm, and 7 pm IST, and targeted in that order Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and the Kabutarkhana area of Dadar West. Chief Minister Chauhan confirms 20 dead and 113 injured so far; extent of injuries is not clearly known and casualties are expected to rise.