Court resumes recording of statements in '84 Sikh riots

NEW DELHI: Following the apex court's dismissal of the plea of former MP Sajjan Kumar to quash all the charges against him pertaining to 1984 anti-sikh riots, a trial court on Wednesday resumed recording of statements of witnesses in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against the politician.

The proceedings started with the cross-examination of Jagdish Kaur who rejected suggestions that she was implicating the Congress leader at the behest of his political opponents. ''It is incorrect to suggest that the mentioning of Sajjan Kumar was done and his presence in the meeting introduced for the first time at the behest of his political opponents and Gurudwara persons (Akali Dal),'' Kaur, testifying as first prosecution witness, said before additional sessions judge Sunita Gupta.

with thanks : times of India : link in headline for detailed news.

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Queen's Baton Relay reaching at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib

It is a matter of great pride for all of us that Queen's Baton Relay is reaching at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib on 2nd October 2010 at 8.00 a.m. A grand reception has been organised by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee.A contingent of 21 Vintage Cars in which eminent Sikh personalities,other dignitaries will be sitting,college & school children carrying CWG flags and School Band shall escort the Baton Relay up to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.

Since,it is life time opportunity for the Delhities to receive the Queen's Baton in an enthusiastic manner,therefore all are requested to attend the function to make it a grand success.

Harvinder Singh Sarna,Chairman,Reception Committee for Common Wealth Games,Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee,successfully organised/chaired two days Meeting (28th & 29th Sep.2010) along with Bhajan Singh Walia ,Chairmen & coordinators of Delhi's Khalsa aided Schools,Colleges & Institutes at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib to make this event memorable with joint efforts.

Punjab govt to pass resolution for free corridor to Sikh shrine in Pakistan

BATALA: Punjab government has decided to adopt a resolution regarding free corridor from border town of Dera Baba Nanak to Gurdawar Kartarpur sahib in Pakistan in the current session of Vidhan Sabha. This was disclosed by Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Speaker Vidhan Sabha while taking to the newspersons at Dera Baba Nanak Tuesday.

Kahlon said that Punjab government would send the resolution to the union government after passing it in the current assembly session for further consideration. He said that devotees have faith for the corridor and they have been performing monthly prayer on Indo Pak border last so many years.

Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is located in town by the same name Kartarpur (Ravi) in Pakistan. The nearest town on the Indian side of the border is Dera Baba Nanak [1Km. from Border] in the district of Gurdaspur. The shrine is located about 3 kms from the Indo-Pakistan border.

The original abode established by Guru Nanak was washed away by floods of the river Ravi and the present Gurudwara was established by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Recently, there has been lobbying to open the corridor for Sikhs from India to visit the shrine without any hindrance or visa. It lies only 3km from the border.

When Guru Nanak departed for his heavenly abode, Hindus and Muslims disagreed on how to perform the last rites. The Hindus as per their tradition wanted to carry out a cremation while the Muslims wanted to carry out a burial. A samadh (Hindu tradition) lies in the Gurdwara and a grave (according to Muslim traditions) lies on the premises as a reminder of this discord.

The gurdwara is located next to a small village named Kothay Pind (village) on the West bank of the Ravi River in Punjab, Pakistan. The Gurudwara at Kartarpur can be seen from another Gurudwara located across the border at the historical town of Dera Baba Nanak in India (It is not Daara, as so many people wrongly call it. Dehra is derived from the word Deh or body). Both sites are one of the holiest places in Sikhism located in the Majha region. Recently, there has been lobbying to open the corridor for Sikhs from India to visit the shrine without any hindrance or visa.

with thanks : punjabnewsline : link in headline.

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Boston firm sued for calling Sikh employee 'Bin Laden'

Boston: Automobile parts retailer AutoZone has been sued by a federal agency for discriminating against a Sikh employee, who was not allowed to wear a turban and was called 'bin Laden' and 'terrorist' by the company's other employees and customers.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination, has filed a lawsuit against AutoZone alleging that it "created a hostile work environment for Frank Mahoney Burroughs because of his Sikh religion".

The lawsuit alleges that a manager at AutoZone asked Burroughs "if he was a terrorist and had joined Al-Qaida and whether he intended to blow up the store".

with thanks : NDTV : link in headline for detailed news.

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Never-displayed rare Sikh chain armour to be restored

The Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham has held a set of Sikh chain armour for over 50 years but it is so frail it has never been on public display.

The set of armour including gauntlet, helmet, breast and back plates dates from the mid 1700s.

It was given to the museum in 1959 by a member of the Corps of Royal Engineers.

Whilst a piece of chain armour like this is not hugely rare, it is rare to find a set so complete, with its original silks.

The piece has been linked to the ‘Lahore Armoury’ and was almost certainly brought to the UK with boy Maharajah, Duleep Singh, and the Governor General of India, Lord Dalhousie.

The armour then became part of Lord Dalhousie’s collection and when he died without an heir, it was sold at auction in Edinburgh on 7 December 1898.

Conservation assessments of the armour have resulted in a cost of approximately £30,000 to restore and to display the piece and the museum is trying to raise the funds to conserve the armour and its history.

Lauren Jones is the museum’s Collections Care Officer:

“The museum is confident the armour can be well conserved, but we are however very keen to preserve its history, a history the armour’s current condition reflects. The armour will not be restored to an as-new condition; this technique would destroy part of the object’s history and allure.

“For all of us at the museum these are extremely exciting times; we have never carried out a project like this before, but we feel this armour is of such cultural and historic importance it warrants the very best attention we can give.”

To highlight the plight of the armour, the Royal Engineers Museum will show the piece for one night only on Thursday 30 September from 7pm to 8.30pm. For more information call 01634 822221 or email collectionscare@re-museum.co.uk

with thanks : Source: BBC News

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Sky to launch Sikh TV in early October

The launch of Sikh TV is set to go ahead from early October, it has been reported.

A digital TV channel dedicated to religion and Punjabi culture will launch on Sky at the start of next month.

Sikh TV has been ready to make its debut transmission since August 2010, but has been prevented from doing so by technical issues, reports the BizAsia website.

However, these glitches have seemingly now been resolved, as the news provider has revealed that Sikh TV will permanently take over channel 848 from October 4th.

with thanks : cable.co.uk : link in headline for detailed news.

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Sikh gets life sentence in Vienna temple attack trial

VIENNA: A radical Sikh man was convicted early Tuesday in Vienna of having murdered an Indian sect leader there last year and was sentenced to life behind bars, the Austrian press agency APA reported.

After hours of deliberations, the jury found four other Indian-born defendants guilty of having aided the crime that took place in a temple of the Dera Sach Khand sect in Austria's capital.

with thanks : Times of India : link in headline above for detailed news.

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Billionaire Hinduja Brother Insults Sikhs With Games Comments

NEW DELHI – Indo-British billionaire Gopichand Hinduja, who has faced corruption charges in India, tried to give a clever analogy of the Commonwealth Games chaos but ended up insulting Sikhs with his insensitive comments.

“It will be like a rough and ready Punjabi wedding where, amid the caparisoned elephants, brass bandsmen in grubby Sergeant Pepper suits and celebratory gunfire, one or two guests might be wounded by a stray bullet and no one will know whether it’s going ahead until the turbaned groom arrives at the very last minute on a clapped-out old nag,” Hinduja told a British newspaper.

“It’s only in Europe and America where weddings are planned three or four months ahead, the bride’s dress is ready and the guest list finalized,” he said

Many local Sikhs took exception to Hindujas comments, saying he should watch what he says about the Sikh community.

“He could have used a general Indian wedding analogy to describe the games mess but he chose to deliberately bring in a “turbaned” groom into the picture,” said Raj Singh, who was incensed that Hinduja was directing the comments at India’s Sikh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

with thanks : source : http://www.thelinkpaper.ca/?p=3236

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Two day 7th International Sikh Film Festival to be held in New York

According to the latest reports, a two day seventh International Sikh Film Festival by the Sikh Art and Film Foundation will be held on Oct. 22-23 in New York.

With a motive to create awareness about the culture and history of Sikhs, this two day event will showcase 12 films based on Sikh stories received either by established or emerging filmmakers.

The premiere will take place at the Asia Society and Museum in New York on Oct. 22 from 7 pm to 9 pm. The event will be concluded on the second day at the Foundations annual Heritage Gala where awards will be presented to winners of the films.

The winners will be awarded $15,000 from the Bollywood actor-cum-politician Raj Babbar.

with thanks : livepunjab : link in headline for more details.

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Sikh group meets Obama on anti-Sikh riots

NEW YORK: A Sikh group, campaigning for justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, met US President Barack Obama, ahead of his visit to India in November.

The group met Obama in Philadelphia on Monday, according to Sikhs For Justice, a New York-based group, which has initiated a case against Transport Minister Kamal Nath in NYC for his alleged role in the riots.

"It was very brief meeting and he listened patiently and nodded affirmatively," said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to Sikhs for Justice, who also noted that it was an "informal meeting" that took place when Obama came for the fundraiser for Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak's campaign.

with thanks : economic times : link in headline for detailed news.

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Sikh Appointed as Presidential Advisor

WASHINGTON - Amardeep Singh, co-founder of the Sikh Coalition, was appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and given a mandate to work on civil rights issues.

Amardeep Singh of Hoboken, New Jersey, was appointed on Sept. 16 to the President's Advisory Commission for Asian American and Pacific Islanders. He was sworn-in, along with 16 other commissioners, at a ceremony on Capitol Hill on Sept. 21. Images by SikhNN.

Amardeep Singh's parents were among nearly 400 guests at the ceremony. Sapreet Kaur(right) is executive director of the Sikh Coalition. Image by SikhNN.

At the swearing-in ceremony Tuesday night on Capitol Hill, he was among the 17 new commissioners charged with finding ways for these communities to have increased access to and participation in federal programs, where they remain under served.

“Given my background, the focus of the advice that I will be giving the president and the administration is going to be on the issue of civil rights,” Amardeep said, following the ceremony. “And I’m happy to say that the commission is quite committed to addressing the issue of school bullying, …specifically the South Asian and Sikh communities. We are also going to be addressing issues of hate crimes, working with the commission to do as much as we can to prevent bias and discrimination going up to the 9/11 10-year anniversary.”

These are some of the commitments the commission has been making during the course of the last two days, since its appointment on Sept. 16.

“Our nation will be well-served by the skill and dedication these men and women bring to their new roles, President Obama said in a White House news release. “I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

The commission will work collaboratively with the White House Office of Public Engagement and designated federal agencies to increase Asian American and Pacific Islander participation in programs concerning civil rights, economic development (loans), sustainable (green) initiatives, educational opportunities and healthcare access.

“How many community members are aware that on Thursday, Sept. 23, everyone in our community who is up to 26-years-old can get on their parents’ healthcare plan?” Amardeep said, as an example. “A lot of kids in college have no idea that they have access. That law is changing and our community needs to know that.

“Our job is to advise the president on how the White House, in particular, can play a role in ensuring that the community is connected to the White House and that the White House is connected to the community,” Amardeep Singh added. “We’ll be reaching out to the community to get a sense from them on what is important for them so that we can report to the president in a way that is helpful.”

The commissioners serve the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, which was originally formed under President Clinton and revived by executive order in October 2009. The initiative’s goal is to improve the quality of life and opportunities for these communities by collaborating with top government agency officials and community leaders in roundtable discussions.

Mike Honda, D-California, was the keynote speaker at the commissioners’ swearing-in ceremony. He represents the 15th congressional district in northern California, which has a large Sikh population. Honda has been a stalwart supporter of the Sikh community for many years and has appeared at events hosted by several Sikh advocacy groups, including the Sikh Coalition.

Honda also is chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, which worked for several years to revive this initiative, Honda said.

When it came time to select the commissioners, Amardeep Singh, Honda’s longtime acquaintance from the Sikh Coalition, was a logical choice.

with thanks : sikhnn : link in headline for more detailed news.

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