Book on Sikh shrines in Pak presented to PM

LUDHIANA: Leading businessman of the city Ranjodh Singh, president of Ramgarhia Educational Council and Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, presented the first copy of his book 'Nankana Sahib and Sikh Shrines in Pakistan' to the Prime Minister during the latter's visit to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Ranjodh said, "The valuable book comprises a vivid description of Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sri Baal Lila Sahib and other Sikh shrines related to the life of Guru Nanak Dev. This book is written in three languages English, Hindi and Punjabi." "It is replete with illustrative pictures of the shrines. This book will serve as a strong link for the whole Sikh community, creating awareness among them about the rich Sikh religious heritage in Pakistan." 

with thanks : Times of India : LINK

Gurdwara Act: Cong pushes for change, BJP contests move

Gurdwara Act is crucial to hold the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee elections, which the Supreme Court wants before December 31.

 

The Delhi government is pushing hard to pass the much-debated and amended Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act in the Assembly winter session, beginning Tuesday. 

The legislation is important because it will set the norms for elections to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). The Supreme Court had ordered elections to the DSGMC before December 31. 

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had criticised the amendments to the Act, alleging that the Congress government in Delhi was “meddling” with religious affairs of the Sikhs and trying to foist its loyalists into the gurdwara committee. 

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit refuted the allegations. “We have proposed changes to the Act to increase transparency and would like to hold elections to the DSGMC under the amended Act. The elections will be held before the deadline of December 31, but we might ask the Supreme Court to give us more time if required,” she said. 

She said the amendments would be tabled in the winter session of the Assembly. 

Senior Delhi government officials said Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna last week gave his consent to the amendments and sent the returned the file to the government. “We will now send it to the Union Home Ministry, which has to clear the amendments before they can be tabled in the Assembly,” an official said. 

The amendments seek to directly elect the DSGMC president. At present, members of the executive elect the committee chief. 

with thanks : INDIAN EXPRESS : LINK : for detailed news.

VIP movement in Delhi : Delhi Aajtak : B S Vohra

Come, share the joy of our children at Guru Harkrishan Public School

Come, share the joy of our children at Guru Harkrishan Public School, Hargobind Enclave. We have a very creative set of teachers who ensure that the atmosphere of the school generates a sense of happiness and joy in the process of learning.

 

With regards,

Mrs. Jasmeet Kaur

Guru Harkrishan Public School,
Hargobind Enclave, Delhi-92
Phone:- 011-43714444

http://ghpshargobind.org

Can you guess who is this person ?

Plz answer on our Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/SikhsIndia

US has much to learn from Sikhs: Harvard professor Diana Eck

NEW YORK: As the Sikh community in the US makes efforts to recover from the tragedy of the Gurudwara shooting, a Harvard professor has said Sikhs have emerged as a role model for Americans who can learn from the dignity and generosity the community.

"Most Americans still know little of the Sikh Americans whose history in the United States, dating to the early 20th century, is now firmly part of our common history."

"While we catch up on our basic education, however, it is important to know that Sikhs share three distinctly and deeply American values -- the importance of hard work, a commitment to human equality, and the practice of neighbourly hospitality," Harvard University professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Diana Eck said in an editorial in the Dallas Morning News.

Eck said if the gunman Michael Wade Page had been simply a neighbour or a local visitor, he would have been warmly welcomed by the community and served food in the gurudwara.

The assailant would have "discovered a religious community so confident and expansive in its hospitality that it would embrace a complete stranger".

In the face of immense tragedy after the shooting, Sikhs still offered the food they had prepared to the hundreds of emergency workers, police officers and staff who surrounded the temple.

"The dignity and generosity of the Sikh community in the wake of this violence remind us just how much we have to learn from these neighbors," Eck added.

Eck said no other religious community demonstrates the meaning of hospitality as abundantly as the Sikhs, noting that the huge, "industrial-size kitchens" in gurudwaras prepare food for community members and strangers alike.

"This hospitality is not just a gesture; it is foundational to the Sikh faith. Eating together is what knits the Sikh community together and breaks down the barriers that divide the wider human community," Eck said adding that eating together symboliSes a Sikh's personal rejection of discrimination and prejudice.

"Sikhs remind us that eating together is one of the important liturgies of the human community, for people of every faith and none," the professor said.

Six members of the Sikh community were killed in the Wisconsin gurudwara on August 5 when Page opened fire as they were getting ready for Sunday morning prayers.
Page was wounded by a police officer and died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.

The shooting shocked the peaceful Sikh community, which received wide spread support and sympathy.

with thanks : Economic Times : LINK

"I complain to Waris Shah today"

I say to Waris Shah today, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love

Once one daughter of Punjab wept, and you wrote your long saga;
Today thousands weep, calling to you Waris Shah:

Arise, o friend of the afflicted; arise and see the state of Punjab,
Corpses strewn on fields, and the Chenaab flowing with much blood.

Someone filled the five rivers with poison,
And this same water now irrigates our soil.

Where was lost the flute, where the songs of love sounded?
And all Ranjha’s brothers forgotten to play the flute.

Blood has rained on the soil, graves are oozing with blood,
The princesses of love cry their hearts out in the graveyards.

Today all the Quaido’ns have become the thieves of love and beauty,
Where can we find another one ,like Waris Shah?

Waris Shah! I say to you, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love.

Poetry: AMRITA PRITAM


Uploaded by : Dr Gurdeep Kaur ji

Our Salute to ASI Ravinder Pal Singh ji : SikhsIndia

Our Salute to ASI Ravinder pal singh ji who was killed in Amritsar by local Akali leaders while he was trying to save his daughter from eve teasers & molesters. Our deepest condolences to the family of ASI Ravinder pal singh ji.

SikhsIndia

Shame on what happened in Amritsar today !

Bring Akali leader before me, I'll kill him: daughter of Amritsar cop

The daughter of a Punjab Police officer, who was shot dead by a ruling Shiromani Akali Dal leader in full public view on Wednesday, said she would kill the accused if he is brought before her. "Bring him before me. I will shoot and kill him like he did to my helpless father. No one came to help us as he (the accused) attacked us," the daughter of slain Assistant Sub-Inspector Ravinder Pal Singh said in Amritsar on Thursday.

ASI Ravinder Pal Singh was allegedly shot dead by Ranjit Singh Rana, a general secretary of the Amritsar district Akali Dal, and his accomplices in Chheharta area on outskirts of the city after he objected to his daughter being subjected to their harassment on Wednesday. Rana had been stalking the ASI's daughter for the last few days.

Sobbing continuously, the victim said that no one from the public came to help her and her father as Rana continued to shoot and assault them.

"After he shot at my father with his rifle, my father collapsed. Rana then hit me and I fell on my father. He kept kicking and hitting us in full public glare. I cried and pleaded for help but everyone ran away. Even when the ambulance came, I had to lift my father into it as no one came to help me," she said.

She said that the same gang, led by Rana had harassed her on December 1 also and she had complained to the nearby police station. "However, no one listened. Had police acted on that day, my father would have been alive today," she said.

About Wednesday's shooting, the victim said that after her father confronted Rana and his accomplices, Rana took out a pistol and shot her father in the leg. She also received gunshot wounds on the hand.

"After that, he ran away and I rushed my father to the hospital in my car. They came back with a rifle after some time and as my father came out of the car, he (Rana) shot him. We didn't even know him or had any enmity. I want justice," the victim said.

Rana and his accomplice were arrested on Thursday over the killing while two other men continued to elude the police. The police officer was in uniform when he was attacked by Rana.

Punjab director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini told media in Amritsar that police had swung into action immediately after Wednesday's killing and arrested the main accused. Three weapons, all licensed, were recovered from them.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK

SHO dismissed after Akali leader kills police officer

Punjab Police on Thursday dismissed a station house officer (SHO) for dereliction of duty a day after an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was shot dead by a ruling Shiromani Akali Dal leader near Amritsar.

ASI Ravinder Pal Singh was allegedly shot dead by Ranjit Singh Rana, general secretary of Amritsar district Akali Dal, and his accomplices in Chheharta area on the outskirts of the city after he (ASI) objected to his daughter being harassed by them Wednesday. 

Rana had been stalking the ASI's daughter for the last few days.

Rana and his accomplice were arrested on Thursday for the ASI's killing while two other men continued to elude the police. 

The police officer was in uniform when he was attacked by Rana. The accused fired at and injured the ASI and his daughter after the officer confronted them for harassing his daughter. 

After some time, Rana and his accomplices returned with more weapons and shot him in the chest, leaving him dead.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini told mediapersons here that police swung into action immediately after Wednesday's killing and arrested the main accused. Three weapons, all licensed, were also recovered.

He said the accused, who were first confronted  by a police party at Sohal village near here, were fired upon. 

"Police were able to corner them and arrest them at Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district," Saini said.

"Our colleague has been shot dead. We are taking this incident very seriously. We will get the accused punished," he said.

Saini admitted that Chheharta SHO had shown dereliction of duty and a decision was taken to dismiss him from service. 

He said the ASI's daughter had complained to the police station about being harassed by the youth but the SHO did not take any action. The officer was suspended Wednesday.

"If any child complains to police, the police official has to take action. Yesterday (Wednesday), we suspended the SHO. After further enquiries, we have dismissed him," Saini said.

However, Akali Dal leaders washed their hands of the entire incident saying the killing of the ASI was an "individual act" of Rana.

"We have expelled him from the party. This was his individual act. We cannot foresee what a particular leader may do in the future. The Akali Dal has nothing to do with it," Punjab's Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia told reporters.

Majithia is the brother-in-law of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Police officials in the area had failed to reach the spot of the shooting even 30 minutes after the incident. The incident took place near Chheharta police station, on the outskirts of Amritsar city, 250 km from state capital Chandigarh.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK for detailed news.