Thursday, September 1, 2011
Few Sikhs qualify for gurdwara poll
New Delhi:The city is home to an estimated 10 lakh Sikh voters,but only 1.9 lakh have enrolled with the states directorate of gurdwaras to elect members to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.The panels four-year tenure has ended and polls are scheduled later this year.Lukewarm response from the community has triggered concern among Sikh leaders in the city.
To be a voter,a person has to fit into the definition of a Sikh as laid out in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1971.Besides,one needs to fill up Form 2,which seeks a declaration from the applicant that he does not trim or shave his hair,does not smoke or consume liquor and is a Sikh as per definition of the word given in section 2 (n) of the Act.Not many can pass this eligibility test,but Sikh leaders attribute the low enrolment to growing disenchantment among citys Sikhs to gurdwara politics.But the directorate is still hopeful of registering at least 3.5 to 4 lakh voters in its final voter list before the polls.
The form ends with a footnote saying any person who makes a statement or declaration which is false and which he either knows or believes to be false can be punished under the Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act,1971,under Rule 36 of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (Registration of Electors) Rule,1973.Such a person can be summoned by gurdwara authorities to give an explanation and may be asked to pledge that he would not violate principles of Sikhism again
.The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC),an autonomous organization with 51 elected members,has a four-year tenure and manages the gurdwaras in Delhi.The last election was held in January,2007 and Paramjit Singh Sarna from the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) was elected president.A counterpart of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee of Amritsar,this committee operates independently.
To revise the voter list,we are using the latest data on Sikh voters available with Delhis chief electoral officer.The Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act lays down a definition of a Sikh and to participate in gurdwara elections,every applicant has to give a declaration to fulfil that definition, said the minister in charge of gurdwara elections,Arvinder Singh Lovely.
with thanks : times of india : link above.
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Birmingham's Sikh Nishkam primary free school to open
The first Sikh-ethos "free" school in the country is preparing to open.
The Nishkam Primary in Birmingham will be in the first batch of 24 free schools across the country to begin teaching children this September.
It has been set up by the Nishkam Education Trust - a charity which already runs a private nursery in Handsworth.
The group had planned to open a grant-maintained primary school three years ago, but could not secure the funding.
Head of school, Narinder Brach, says the coalition government's free school policy gave the chance to do to revisit the plans.
with thanks : BBC News : link above for detailed news
SIKHSINDIA
Centre says no to separate Sikh Marriage Act, SAD to meet PM
Chandigarh In a major blow to the Sikh community, the Centre has ruled out any amendments to the Anand Karaj (Marriage) Act of 1909 and said providing a separate Act for the Sikhs would invite similar demands from other communities.
“There may not be any justification for secluding Sikhs from the rest of the categories (covered by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955) as such a step would invite similar demands from other religious denominations. It is against the directive principles in Article 44 of the Constitution which aims at bringing in a Uniform Civil Code,” Law Minister Salman Khurshid said in reply to a query by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in Rajya Sabha.
The Centre’s move to enact a separate Act for Sikh marriages drew criticism from different quarters with various Sikh bodies terming it as “anti-Sikh”, while SAD said it will take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and raise it in Parliament.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal reacted strongly to the government’s decision and called it a “breach of trust” by the Centre, as the former law minister M Veerappa Moily had assured the draft bill for Sikh Marriage Act was ready and would be sent for Cabinet approval soon before being placed in Parliament.
The marriages performed under Sikh religious rights are registered either under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act.
The proposal was that under the Special Marriage Act, which was to be amended, provision for the registration of marriages performed according to the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 shall also be incorporated.
with thanks : expressindia : link above for detailed news.
SIKHSINDIA
New York law to ensure freedom to Sikhs practicing religious beliefs
Sikhs in the US will be allowed to wear turbans and grow beards in federal agencies like the police department and transit authority after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday signed into law a bill that will ensure freedom for employees to practice religious beliefs at workplace.
The 'Workplace Religious Freedom' bill was initiated by civil rights group Sikh Coalition and sponsored by Queens Democrat Council member Mark Weprin.
In signing the law, Bloomberg said employers must make a "reasonable accommodation" for an employee's religious practices unless following such practises creates an "undue hardship."
The undue hardship is now defined as requiring "significant expense or difficulty."
"This bill sends the message that people should not have to choose between serving our city and adhering to their religious beliefs. All Americans should receive the full embrace of our country’s constitutional freedoms," Weprin said.
Sikh Coalition's programme director and co-founder Amardeep Singh said the law would ensure that religious minorities like Sikhs and Muslims in the US are not discriminated against by their employers for practising their religion.
with thanks : DNA india : link above for detailed news.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
FYI the SGPC is busy,no asssistance provide in Amritsar for we poor Indonesia Sikhs
Sardar ji,
FYI the SGPC is busy,no asssistance provide in Amritsar for we poor Indonesia Sikhs. What was written in our faith( Karma) we happily accepted and now wish to try in N.Delhi. Our Gurmat school project will be completed anyway with or without SGPC donation.
www:gurudwaragurunanak.org "Jithey niche semalien,Thithey Nader teri bakshish"(SGGS ang 14). I am at present in N.Delhi after giving up in my request for assistance from SGPC unheeded,and neglected.
Gurfateh
Balwant singh
FYI the SGPC is busy,no asssistance provide in Amritsar for we poor Indonesia Sikhs. What was written in our faith( Karma) we happily accepted and now wish to try in N.Delhi. Our Gurmat school project will be completed anyway with or without SGPC donation.
www:gurudwaragurunanak.org "Jithey niche semalien,Thithey Nader teri bakshish"(SGGS ang 14). I am at present in N.Delhi after giving up in my request for assistance from SGPC unheeded,and neglected.
Gurfateh
Balwant singh
Lokayukta orders probe against Badal
 The Punjab Lokayukta on Monday ordered a probe against Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and former MLA of the Akali Dal Bibi Jagir Kaur to ascertain charges of misuse of public land in the state. | |
Elections in the state are around the corner and this probe is likely to embarrass the ruling combine. |
with thanks : deccanherald : link above for detailed news.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Please answer !
Do you think that the members of various Gurdwara committees are capable enough for that seat ?
Do you think that members of various Gurdwara committees have done anything for the Sikhism ?
Factual replies please, may be for or against. Please post your reply at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/SikhsIndia/251420214892987?sk=wall
SGPC Elections 2011: Non-keshdharis attempting to vote would be arrested, Election Cheif
Chandigarh (August 28, 2011): Chief Commissioner of Gurdwara Elections, Justice H S Brar (retd), is reported to have that non-keshdharis attempting to vote in the SGPC elections will be arrested.
“Express News Service” report adds that Justice Brar, while speaking to the media, said: “We have received complaints that some non-keshdahri Sikhs have been included in the electoral rolls. Besides arresting non-keshdharis attempting to vote, we shall also initiate action against the officials concerned.’’ Around some 60 complaints have been received till date, he added.
He said that 19 elections observers have been deployed in Punjab — all senior Haryana cadre IAS officers of the rank of secretary. In Amritsar and Ludhiana districts, two observers per district have been posted, as these have more SGPC seats.
In Haryana, seven election observers have been posted — senior IAS officers in the rank of secretary, this time from Punjab. On one seat each in Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh, one observer each has been posted. They are Punjab cadre officers.
“The cut-off date of getting late votes made will be September 2. By this date, applications can be given to concerned deputy commissioners. On the same day, they will have to decide whether the vote can be made or not. Now, by September 17, the commissioner of gurdwara elections will have to decide on the applications rejected by the DCs,” he is reported to have added.
with thanks : link above.
Three-day-long procession begins from Akal Takht
Amritsar, Aug 28 (PTI) The three-day-long colourful Nagar Kirtan, a Sikh religious procession, began here from the highest Sikh Temporal seat Akal Takht marking the 305th year of compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib.Earlier, Jatehdar Akal Takht Gyani Gurbachan Singh performed Ardas or prayer as per Sikh rituals in the presence of nearly 50,000 Sikh devotees before the beginning of the procession in the marbled periphery of the Golden Temple. There was a big cavalcade with the Nagar Kirtan when it was passing through the city's streets and was accorded rousing welcome at various places in the city.Gyani Gurbachan Singh on this occasion said that tenth Singh Guru Gobind Singh had compiled the Guru Granth Sahib after inserting religious discourse scripted by ninth Sikh master Guru Teg Bahdur. He said that on August 30 at Talwandi Sabo a great religious day would be observed to mark the 305th anniversary of the compilation of the Sikh religious scripture.
with thanks : IBNLive : link above for detailed news.
Sikh temple celebrates 100 years
When the Gur Sikh Temple opened in Abbotsford in 1911, there were only 2,300 Sikhs in all of British Columbia.
On Sunday, at least that many people showed up for a parade celebrating its 100 years of serving the community.
The gurdwara, believed to be the oldest still-standing Sikh temple in North America, opened the doors to its archives on the main floor so people could see photographs from the community's long history.
Pioneers working in B.C.'s forestry and farming industries began building the temple in 1908, using lumber donated by a local mill. At that time, Sikhs in Canada were nearly all men because immigration policies restricted their wives and children from joining them in the country.
"This temple is a great gift to the Sikh community," said Gurdev Sidhu, 71, as he stood chatting with friends outside the simple white, three-storey building.
"I came into this country in 1969 and settled in Mission. At that time, we struggled to get more people, to provide more services, and we've come a long way."
Free samosas and water bottles were handed out as the parade wound its way from the temple down South Fraser Way to Rotary Stadium, where speakers continued the celebration.
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