FBI asked to track hate crimes against Sikhs

Washington, May 22: A bipartisan group of 23 lawmakers have asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin tracking hate crimes against Sikhs, the way it does for other communities.

Formed last month to address the Sikh community's issues, the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, co-chaired by Democratic House member Judy Chu and Republican David Valadao, made the request in a letter to the FBI last week.

The new letter builds on earlier letters spearheaded by Democrat House member Joseph Crowley and Democrat senators Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin.

About 140 members of the US Congress have so far endorsed the Sikh Coalition's request for the policy change that it says will translate into expanded Sikh awareness training for law enforcement officials and significantly strengthen efforts to fight hate crimes.

with thanks : IANS : LINK : for detailed news

Kenya: Sikh Students Host Art Competition in Nairobi

iSikh was at it again with an exciting art competition for young Sikh students last Sunday. The theme was 'Sikh Symbols'. The event was held at the Ramgarhia South C, Railway Gurudwara, in Nairobi.

The Gurudwara have a school known as the Gurmat whose primary objective is to educate students on Sikh religion, language, history and prayer. Daljeet Kaur, 13, addressed the audience about the various Sikh symbols, their origin and meaning.

Jasveen Kaur narrated how the Sikh symbols came into being through the creation of the religion over 300 years ago. Nominated MP Sonia Birdi was among the chief guests. She said: "Parents, please allow children to follow their dreams and support them in the right direction".

According to the judges, all the 120 children who participated were winners for their efforts and all received certificate of appreciation.

Lohana's Team Nairobi savours Dar-es-Salaam win

Team Nairobi of the Lohana Youth League were the winners of the 32nd Lohana Sports and Cultural Festival that was held in Dar-es-Salaam, in December. This grand festival included Lohana teams from Dar-es-Salaam, Mwanza, Kampala, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu. However, due to the general election and other commitments, they had not really had the chance to enjoy and thank all participants. They celebrated with a friendly bowling competition and a festive meal at the Village Market in Nairobi last Saturday. It was a chance to reminisce about the festival and look forward to more exciting events for 2013.

Theosophical Society Nairobi marks 50th anniversary.

with thanks : AllAfrica : LINK : for detailed news.

DSGMC plans memorial at Gurdwara Rakabganj

In an affront to the Congress government in the national capital, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) plans to build a memorial to 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims at Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib, adjacent to Parliament House. 

The 51-member general body of the DSGMC is scheduled to meet on Wednesday and is expected to give its approval to the memorial. On Thursday, the matter was discussed by the executive body of the DSGMC, which asked the general house to take the final decision.

Last year, the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government had allegedly scuttled the move of the Delhi unit of the Badals' Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to rename a park in Punjabi Bagh after the riot victims.

The SAD-ruled DSGMC had taken to the streets in Delhi recently in protest against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's acquittal in a riots case.

"We would declare our decision on the memorial on Wednesday after the approval of the general house," said DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK.

"The Congress was responsible for the Sikh genocide. The Congress-led UPA government as well as the Delhi government are trying to stop us from building the memorial by denying us a suitable location. But we have decided to build the memorial on the premises of Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib," GK told HT.

The controversy over the Punjabi Bagh park was a major issue during the January 27 DSGMC elections. Efforts of the SAD (Badal), backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to get the park renamed as the '1984 Sikh memorial park' were thwarted when the scheduled function in this regard was 'postponed' at the last moment in November last year.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

Renowned filmmaker comes up with docu film on 'langar' tradition

Internationally renowned award-winning filmmaker Meera Dewan has come up with 'Gur Prasad: The Grace of Food', a 58-minute documentary on the tradition of food-sharing through community kitchen, an integral aspect of Sikh religion known as 'langar'.  

Dewan paid a visit to this historical town connected to second Sikh master, Guru Angad Dev, and presented the first copy of her production to Baba Baldev Singh, a senior representative of Kar Sewa Khadoor Sahib, headed by noted environmentalist and religious preacher Baba Sewa Singh.

The documentary has basically been made for the film division of the union ministry of information and broadcasting. She had planned to personally present the first copy to Baba Sewa Singh, but he is currently abroad.

"At a time when India talks about food security to check widespread hunger and also take care of the nutritional crisis, the film recalls a rich living tradition of food-sharing as widely practiced at 'langars' or community kitchens by the Sikh community," said Dewan while talking with media persons here on Thursday.  

"Filmmaking is my passion and activism through which I portray the problems and issue that exist in Indian society. My first documentary 'Gift of Love' is an anti-dowry film that won 11 international awards at leading film festivals worldwide," she added.

She wholeheartedly appreciated the arrangements for 'Mata Kheevi Langar' run by Baba Sewa Singh's organisation. During her day-long stay here, she paid obeisance at the holy places and visited numerous educational institutes and training academies run by Nishan-e-Sikhi charitable society of Baba Sewa Singh.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

Australian Porn Mag Apologises to Sikh Community for Offensive 'Turban Legend' Article

Bauer Media in Australia has apologised to the Sikh community over an offensive article it ran in its porn magazine The Picture.

The company made an out of court settlement with United Sikhs after the group brought legal action over an article entitled Turban Legend.

Bauer Media said it was sorry if members of the Sikh community in Australia were offended and that the magazine did not intend to upset anyone.

Of particular offence was the inclusion of a photo of a Nihang Sikh - Nihang is a greatly respected Sikh order famed for its military victories.

The magazine showed a photo of a praying Nihang Sikh in a Golden temple surrounded by pictures of naked women.

Sukhwant Singh, director of national legal affairs at United Sikhs Australia, negotiated the agreement which was mediated by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

"We filed a complaint with the AHRC after we were notified by a Sikh from Queensland about this offensive article titled 'Turban Legend' that was published in the 30th January 2013 issue of Bauer Media's magazine, The Picture," he said.

with thanks : ibtimes UK : LINK : for detailed news.

Amend law to include Sikhs, Hindus in hate crime victims: US to FBI

Meeting one of the long pending demands of Sikhs and Hindus in the US, Attorney General Eric Holder has recommended widening the FBI's mandate to include the two communities among victims of growing hate crimes.

Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Holder said he made this recommendation to the Advisory Policy Board of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to make the necessary changes in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) in this regard.

"The (Justice) Department recommended to what's called the Advisory Policy Board last year that the UCR be amended to include anti-Sikh, anti-Hindu, anti-Arab, anti-Middle Eastern categories in the ethnicity or race section," Holder said.

"That board is supposed to meet again in June, where it will consider those potential changes before they make them to the FBI director. But it would be my strong recommendation the form be modified so that it captures anti-Sikh, anti-Muslim, anti-Middle Eastern violence," the Attorney General said.

Holder was responding to questions from California Congresswoman Judy Chu, who recently announced the formation of the first ever American Sikh Congressional Caucus.

with thanks : Indian Express : LINK : for detailed news.

Jan Akrosh Rally against 1984 Anti Sikh Riots by Sh Vijay Goel at Gandhi Nagar in Delhi.

Parents seek answers in British Sikh schoolgirl's death

LONDON: The parents of an eight-year-old British Sikh schoolgirl have alleged that their daughter was killed by health workers in India in a failed attempt to harvest her organs.

Gurkiren Kaur Loyal was being treated for dehydration in a small clinic in Punjab when staff reportedly gave her a mystery injection.

"Within a split-second Gurkiren's head flipped back, her eyes rolled in her head, and the colour completely drained from her. I knew they had killed her on the spot. I knew my innocent child had been murdered," her mother Amrit Kaur Loyal told the 'Birmingham Mail'.

According to Gurkiren's family, the girl was then subjected to a "medieval" postmortem during which all her major organs were removed in a bid to hide the truth of how she had been killed.

It was only once her body was flown home to Britain that they discovered her organs weremissing and only her eyes remained.

Local police are believed to have taken their statements but the family is unsure if a proper investigation was carried out.

Their local councillor in Birmingham, Narinder Kooner, and Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood, have now joined the family's campaign to press the Indian and UK governments for answers.

with thanks : Times of India : LINK : for detailed news.

In charge of DSGMC, Badal's SAD has say in Delhi

The newly-formed Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has started bearing fruit for the Shiromani Akali Dal. The turn of events during the past fortnight has proved that being in charge of the DSGMC is not an ordinary achievement for the SAD. 

SAD's Delhi president Manjit Singh GK, who took over as the committee president on February 26, led the protests in Delhi, against the central government in the past 10 days, forcing the central government to bow, promising to move an appeal in a higher court against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, an accused in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, who was acquitted recently.

After acquittal of Sajjan Kumar 10 days ago, the activists of the SAD swung into action and went on the rampage in Delhi, blocking traffic, stopping metro trains, holding a protest outside the house of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and doing everything to draw the attention of the central government.

Finally, the central government succumbed to the pressure and a signal was sent to the Akalis to come for discussion across the table.

On May 8, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, deputy Chief minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the entire SAD team, including MLAs, MPs and other leaders, gathered in Delhi. A memorandum was given to the President, and a core committee meeting was held, asking the DSGMC and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to move the Supreme Court, seeking directions to the central government to form a special investigation team to probe all cases of the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the country in 1984.

The entire team, along with Akali Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, also went to Jantar Mantar where riot victim Nirpreet Kaur was on a hunger strike as a mark of protest, and asked her to end her fast.

Speaking here, Parkash Singh Badal acknowledged the efforts of the Delhi unit of his party and the DSGMC, which fought for the Sikh cause. It was made evidently clear that the Akali faction having control over the DSGMC could only make things move in the central government.

The Delhi faction of the SAD is also closely following the case of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who is on death row for a bomb blast in the early 1990s. The SAD is seeking clemency for Bhullar and the DSGMC is acting as a catalyst in this.

Badal also must have realised that there can't be a better choice for the post of the DSGMC president than Manjit Singh GK, who was made to join the SAD in 2008. GK is the son of slain Akali leader Jathedar Santokh Singh, and has a flair for handling Sikh issues. Youth Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, general secretary of the DSGMC, is complementing GK and has shown that he can match the Akali aggression and can undertake long protests for which Akalis are known.

With GK in charge of the DSGMC, Badal has got the opportunity to come closer to the urban Sikhs and show to the masses that the SAD is not a party of peasants only. Political analysts also see the recent turn of events as efforts to make his son and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal have a better say in the national politics.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK

Sikh Regiment's passion for excellence

The room reverberated with talk of Tongpeng La, Raja Hill, Burki, OP Hill, Poonchh, Siramani and Tiger Hill 1999 - battles long ago emblazoned on the Sikh Regiment's glorious history. 

Keeping them and other laurels fresh in our minds were the regiment's veterans with their tales of  honour and glory. The occasion was this year's Baisakhi Lunch organised by the Sikh Regiment as an annual get-together of its veterans, serving officers and other associates of the regiment. Not just battle honours and gallantry awards, the regiment's history is a saga of achievements whether in sports or professional competitions.

How did the regiment achieve these commanding heights? No doubt the legends of the regiment, commanders like Harbaksh Singh, Dewan Ranjit Rai, Satinder Singh, NN Khanna, Trevor Morlin, Prem Vadhera and others handed down the tradition of excellence that has sustained it.

A command style of 'Follow Me', leadership by example and a passion for superiority are what they bequeathed to their worthy successors. One could well ask, how's the Sikh Regiment different, the officers of all the regiments do that? In this case, the regiment's commanders channelised the natural characteristics of the men they commanded - positivism, a 'can do' attitude and spirited exuberance into a battle-winning factor. The Sikh Regiment brings this reaching for the stars into everything that they do.

India's most highly decorated infantry regiment always does things in great style befitting a great regiment, whether advancing on the battlefield in the face of tremendous odds or organising a reunion of old comrades. In keeping with the regiment's traditions, the function ended with a rousing Jaikara raised by the Colonel of the Regiment, General Sumer Singh, which would've been the envy of any Jathedar in Punjab!

A soldier and his charitable work

Soldiers despite their preoccupation with war and destruction have a strong sense of compassion and empathy for less fortunate human beings. Lieutenant General JL Malhotra was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment in 1957, served with 5 Sikh on counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland and in defending Chhamb in 1971 and commanded 1st Sikh.

Later, while commanding 7 Division in Punjab, he initiated the successful induction of his troops into combating terrorism which eventually bought about peace. The experiences in counter-insurgency in both places, including helping the local population, left him thoughtful. Should he continue to enjoy God's bounty while others less fortunate were denied it? He resolved to do his best for the world's deprived.

After retiring in 1994, he came in contact with Colonel DS Vohra whose Prosthetic Centre at Zirakpur, near Chandigarh, was able to help a large number of people live a normal life. Malhotra decided to help a dozen people every year with prosthetics using his life savings.

As the word about his philanthropy spread, others came forward to help him. In about five years' time, he was able to help some 360 people with artificial limbs, wheelchairs and other aids by acting as a link between them and prospective donors. This gave him tremendous fulfilment.

A new phase of his charity work started in 2002 when he was approached by a poor woman to help educate her daughter in an English medium school. This set the underpinning for the Society for Meritorious Students with the help of other like-minded generous people keen to give back to society.

The dedicated team members identify meritorious but needy students and sponsor their entire education including training in personality development and life skills. Their pragmatic approach ensures that the students get good placements and are set for life. So far, the organisation has helped 1,200 students realise their dreams.

Malloo, as he is popularly known in the Army, is a satisfied man having lived a life of accomplishment but as a good soldier wants to do more to give back to society what he got from it.

ECHS facility for reimbursement of travel

One of the lesser known facilities available to veterans covered by the Ex-servicemens' Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) is reimbursement of cost of travel when referred to another station due to non-availability of the required facility at one's local station.

The authority for this is Central Organisation, ECHS letter no. B/49782/AG/ECHS dated 8th November 2005. Travelling allowance is subject to of course in the first place being referred by the local polyclinic to another station due to non-availability of the required facility at the local station.

In addition, travelling allowance will be limited to rail fare as per entitled class as applicable to the individual at the time of retirement. If the journey is made by road because the desired station is not connected by rail, then actual bus fare is admissible.

Naval Aviation's 60th anniversary

Congratulations to the Fleet Air Arm on completing 60 years of guarding our maritime frontiers on May 11.

Please write in with your feedback, comments, suggestions and personal narratives of war and military service to msbajwa@gmail.com or call on 093161-35343

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK

27 Sikh couples tie knot in Hyderabad mass marriage ceremony

Hyderabad: It was a dream come true for 27 Sikh couples who got married in a befitting manner without spending a penny in the presence of over 25,000 Sikhs who came from across the state to bless them.

The happiest of them were the couples' parents who never dreamt of their sons and daughters getting married in such a grand and befitting manner that too without spending any money from their pockets.  Government officials and Sikh Heads graced the function and blessed the newly-wed couples. On behalf of the State Government, they handed over cheques to the newly wed couples.

The marriages were organised by the Prabhandak Committee, Gurudwara Saheb Barambala, Sikh Chawni, Attapur under the Chairmanship of S. Gurcharan Singh Bagga. On Sunday, as many as 27 couples got married at 'Samuhik Vivaha Samagam' (Mass Marriages) under one umbrella at Gurudwara Saheb Barambala in the presence of noted religious heads. Most of the brides and bridegrooms hailed from Hyderabad city and few from other districts.

The Samuhik Vivaha Samagam started at 10 AM with a colourful 'Baraat' of bridegrooms on horses from Asha Singh Bagh Gurudwara, Sikh Chawni to Gurudwara Barambala Saheb. "Anand Karaj (Lawan Phere)", ie, soleminsing of marriage was performed at 11 AM.

All the Sikh Gurudwaras of Hyderabad extended support for the successful conduct of these marriages. Various Gurudwara Committees and individuals presented domestic articles to the newly married couples which will help in settling their lives.

The Minorities Welfare Department has extended a financial support to each couple in form of household articles.

The Prabhandak Committee President Harbans Singh and General Secretary S Iqbal Singh said that only Gurmukh and Amritdhari Sikhs were allowed to participate in the marriages. The Prabhandak Committee made all arrangements including accommodation facilities and Guru-ka-Langar.

with thanks : Deccan Herald : LINK