Protest In London : Against Discecretion of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

 1000s of Sikhs from across the UK are protesting in London against the desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the killing of 2 young protestors in Panjab by the police . Further 100s of protesters were wounded.

https://www.facebook.com/Khalsa-Aid-163220440824/

Goindwal Sahib : SikhsIndia

Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege: Woman, gurdwara granthi held for Ghawaddi incident

THE first arrests made in the series of sacrilege cases reported from across the state recently, the Ludhiana police on Monday said that Ghawaddi sacrilege was executed by a woman resident of the same village and that gurdwara granthi Sikander Singh helped her in hiding the incident. 

The police claimed that the woman, Balwinder Kaur, 48, had confessed to her crime, saying she tore 20 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib at Guru Ravidas Gurdwara at Ghawaddi village around 4 am on Saturday. Later, she herself raised the alarm to avoid suspicion. 

While the woman has been booked under sections 295-A and 34 of the IPC for hurting religious sentiments, the granthi has been booked under Section 201 of the IPC for disappearance of evidence. 

During the press briefing, Police Commissioner P S Umranangal and Deputy Police Commissioner Narinder Bhargav did not divulge why she did it. “It is an extremely sensitive issue and certain things are under investigation as of now. There is a third person behind the whole scene but it is a matter of investigation,” said Umranangal. 

Police sources told The Indian Express that Kaur, a baptised (Amritdhari) Sikh and a widow, confessed that she was promised Rs 1 lakh for carrying out the sacrilegious task but was not paid a penny. She was closely associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal and her son Ranjit Singh became nambardaar of the village since SAD came to power in 2012. She first claimed that a local Congress leader told her to do the job. Later, she backtracked. “She is denying as of now if some Sirsa Dera follower was behind it,” said a source. “She has been closely associated with the Akali Dal for years and lived mostly inside gurdwara as a sewadaar. Her younger son was rarely seen in the village since his father died.” 

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

Arvind Kejriwal on Beadbi of Guru Granth Sahib Ji In Punjab

Guru Granth Sahib desecration: Congress MLA quits, 3 Akali Dal leaders resign

In signs of an intensifying crisis for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over the repeated desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, Ramanjit Singh Sikki, the Congress MLA of Khandoor Sahib, resigned from the Assembly on Sunday, while three high-profile SAD members quit their party. 

An office-bearer of the Sant Samaj, a pro-SAD association of Sikh preachers, also quit his post. 

Calling himself a ‘true Sikh’ in the resignation letter forwarded to the Punjab Speaker, Sikki said he was pained by the desecration incident in Bath village, which falls in his constituency. 

“Being a true Sikh and understanding my moral responsibility, I resign from my assembly seat. Kindly accept my resignation,” Sikki, who is in the Amarinder faction of the Congress, wrote in the brief resignation letter. 

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

Plans to build new Sikh temple in Irvine

PLANS have been submitted to build a new Sikh temple in Irvine.

North Ayrshire Council last week received proposals to construct a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, to the north of George Court. This would be built just yards from the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Bank Street, which is currently Ayrshire’s only Sikh temple.The site identified for the new temple is on vacant land, north to the current block of flats in the area.

Mr B.Singh, the man behind the plans, has also proposed to build 51 new car parking spaces around the new temple as well as outlining a possible future link road from new developments. If approved, the building would be fitted with a meeting hall, offices, a classroom, kitchen and dining hall on the ground and first floors.

The main prayer hall and rooms would be included on the second floor. It remains unclear whether the Sikh temple in Bank Street would close to be replaced by the building. 

with thanks : irvinetimes : LINK : for detailed news.

Sikhs protests continue; three held for desecration of holy book

Chandigarh: Two 'granthis' and a woman were arrested in connection with cases of desecration of the holy book of the Sikhs in Punjab where activists of various outfits blocked roads and highways at several places to protest the sacrilege.

While a 'granthi' in a gurudwara in Nijjapura village of Amritsar district was arrested for allegedly committing an act of sacrilege, police took into custody a woman working as a sweeper and a granthi in connection with the Ghawaddi village desecration case in Ludhiana district.

Amritsar Senior Superintendent of Police (rural) Jasdeep Singh Saini said police received a call from the priest of a gurudwara at Nijjarpura late last night that three persons forcibly entered the shrine and tore the pages of the holy book.

"The statement of priest appeared false following which he was interrogated by police before other people working in the shrine," he said.

The 30-year-old 'granthi' Jagdeep Singh confessed that he had committed the crime and had tried to mislead the police, Saini said.

"The perpetrator of crime, who himself is the granthi of gurdwara, has been arrested," the SSP said.

In another case, police arrested a woman, identified as Balwinder Kaur (45), and 'granthi' Sikandar Singh (46) in connection with the Ghawaddi desecration case, Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Paramraj Singh Umrangal said.

Sikh outfits, meanwhile, continued to stage dharnas at several places in Punjab against incidents of sacrilege and to press for arrest of police officials involved in firing at Behbal Kalan village in which two persons were killed.

Several highways in the state remained blocked for hours together as traffic was diverted, police said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Sucha Singh Chhotepur visited the dharna site near Gurdaspur.

In Jalandhar, dharnas were staged at Chiheru bridge on GT road, chowk Maqsoodan and several other places, police said, adding a minor clash between Sikh activists and shopkeepers also took place at Jalandhar.

Peace marches were also taken out at various places, including Faridkot, Moga, Mansa, Tarn Taran, Sangrur and Bathinda in the state by the Sikh activists.

Trucks coming from Srinagar carrying apple to Maharashtra have been stranded near Harike bridge, police said.

In Ludhiana, protesters have started dharna at Baba Than Singh chowk, police said.

PTI 

with thanks : Zee News : LINK 

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Parliament of the World's Religions 2015 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City,USA

Link :http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865639220/Parliament-of-the-Worlds-Religion

Parliament of the World's Religions attendees break bread together at Sikh community's langar :Salt Lake City ,USA

Members of the international Sikh community and a host of volunteers are preparing and serving thousands of communal meals, langar, each day to people taking part in the Parliament of the World's Religions at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City ,USA.

Their guests are people taking part in the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions. Sikhs throughout the world are offering langar throughout the five-day event.

In the Sikh religion, langar means common kitchen in temples where food is served to all visitors without distinction of background for free.

Visitors are asked to remove their shoes, cover their heads and wash their hands before taking a seat on a carpet, where they are served a vegetarian meal that commonly includes dishes such as rice, curry vegetables and naan, an oven-baked flatbread.

"Everyone sits on the floor and feels equal. Let's say President Obama and a homeless man come to the langar. They would sit down together," said Sarbjit Singh, of Los Angeles, a Sikh who is affiliated with the Khalsa Care Foundation.

Singh said Sikhs feed all people who visit their temples so they regularly serve hundreds of free meals. But scale of the langar served each day at the Parliament is massive.

Since Thursday, thousands of pounds of food prepared at two Sikh temples in Salt Lake County have been trucked to the Salt Palace Convention Center, where the Parliament is being conducted, said Jagdish Singh Gill, a Utah Sikh who is a leader of the langar committee.

"It's service to humanity. We want to share with them. They're coming from all over the world. We want to be able to provide them free food, tea and coffee," he said.

At the Salt Palace, dozens of volunteers cook hundreds of pounds of rice in enormous pots, bake some 4,000 naan in ovens, and prepare hundreds of gallons of tea and coffee.

"Sharing and caring, those are the two keys. Every Sikh must do it with everyone, not just each other. We're all children of God," Singh said.

Parliament participant Jen Bernstein of Petaluma, California, said sitting down for a meal with people of such diverse faith backgrounds was "incredible."

"It's just remarkable. It tears me up a little bit, quite honestly, to see so much hospitality, so much grace and unflagging hospitality and kindness," she said. "It's really quite overwhelming, actually."

Bernstein, who said she is Jewish and Pagan and serves as a veterinary and community chaplain, is deeply immersed in interfaith activities.

"This is still remarkable, special and unique," she said.

Cameron Kennedy, a filmmaker from Australia, said he had his first experience with langar when the Parliament of the World's Religions met in Barcelona in 2004.

When his group arrived in Spain, they were exhausted, spoke no Spanish and came upon langar by happenstance.

"We felt the love and the food and the give. This one is a little spicier than the one in Barcelona," he said.

Kennedy's daughter, Emily, took part in her first langar Friday.

"I'm feeling the love," she said as volunteer servers walked down rows offering additional helpings of rice, garbanzo beans and other dishes.

"They keep coming back and they want to make sure everyone is served, that they're very full and that makes me happy," she said.

Singh said hundreds of volunteers will prepare and serve langar each day for the duration of the five-day parliament.

While local volunteers representing many faith traditions are helping out, some Sikhs traveled throughout the county and the globe to contribute. There are 60 volunteers from the United Kingdom alone.

Kennedy said he brought his daughter to the last two Parliament so she could be immersed in religious diversity and to learn about the global service performed by interfaith organizations.

"The world would probably be a different place without the people at this event, he said.

Link :http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865639220/Parliament-of-the-Worlds-Religions-attendees-break-bread-together-at-Sikh-communitys-langar

Midland Langar on BBC MIdlands Today