Fresh clashes rock Valley, mob targets Sikh locality

June 05, 2009
Srinagar:

A predominantly Sikh neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city was targeted by a mob as fresh protests and a strike triggered by the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian continued to cripple life in large parts of the Valley for the fourth consecutive day.

A group of people ransacked 20 houses at Rangreth, breaking window panes and damaging other property on Wednesday evening. Paramjit Kaur, whose house was among those targeted, said: “It happened around 7.45 pm on Wednesday when a group of people first started hurling stones. They broke our gate and destroyed everything that came their way. I along with my children hid in the attic to save ourselves from the frenzied mob.”

“This had never happened in the past 20 years,” said Jaspal Singh, an engineer whose house, too, was ransacked. A few cars were also damaged by the mob.

Locals said trouble began when a group of protesters enforcing the strike stopped a car being driven by a Sikh. They damaged the car following which there was a scuffle, in which one of the protesters was injured. This was followed by the violence at Rangreth.

with thanks : source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Fresh-clashes-rock-Valley--mob-targets-Sikh-locality/471524

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A Sikh Web Portal with Photo gallery of gurdwaras ....

SikhsIndia
4th June, 2009

Please log on to the Sikh Portal www.sohnijodi.com and view the Photo gallery of :
Golden Temple - Amritsar Sahib; Gurdwara Data Bandi Chor Sahib - Gwalior;
Gurdwara Mandi Sahib - Himachal which contains pics of Guru Gobind Singh ji's Bed, Gun, Kuppi,Rabab sahib as well Signatures of Guru Gobind Singh ji; Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib - Himachal; Gurdwara Anandpur Sahib - Himachal.

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The sikh web portal also contains a Sikh news Section, Sikh view section & a Matrimonial section where you can add the matrimonial profiles with or without pics absolutely free.

The portal www.sohnijodi.com has a World Gurdwara Section which contains contact details of Gurdwaras. You can add your Gurdwara in the Directory.The portal also has a Sikh Business Directory.

Please promote the Sikh web portal www.sohnijodi.com in your area by adding the links in your local & regional websites & sikh blogs.

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Thousands pour in for Dera leader's cremation in Punjab

Thousands pour in for Dera leader's cremation in Punjab
4 Jun 2009, 1455 hrs IST, IANS

JALANDHAR: Thousands of followers of slain Dera Sachh Khand sect leader, Sant Rama Nand Dass, trooped into Ballan village, 15 km from here, as his body was brought from Vienna amid extremely tight security.

The body was accompanied by the sect head, Sant Niranjan Dass, who was also injured in the attack on them in a gurdwara in Vienna May 24.

Thousands of Ravidassias, who are followers of 14th century preacher Sant Ravi Dass, started arriving at the sect headquarters at Ballan village since Wednesday, to pay their last respects to the sect leader.

Contingents of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police were stationed in large numbers in and around the sect headquarters. The sect had appealed to its followers to maintain peace.

Areas of central Punjab, especially Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Ludhiana and a few other places had witnessed large-scale violence last week following the Vienna attack on the sect leaders.

Three people died and dozens were injured in the violence that also saw coaches of three trains being set on fire and many cars, trucks and buses being burnt by the protesters.

Public and private property suffered extensive damage during the violence as the civil authorities called in the army and paramilitary forces to control the situation. Train and road traffic was severely affected as the protesters blocked highways, roads and rail tracks.

Draped in saffron, the body of Sant Rama Nand Dass, 57, was kept in a glass coffin in an open area of the sect campus for followers to pay their respects.

The Punjab government had sent a chartered aircraft to Vienna from New Delhi Tuesday to bring back the sect head Niranjan Dass and the body of Sant Rama Nand Dass. Punjab chief minister's principal secretary D.S. Guru went by the special flight to Vienna to bring them back.

The sect head and the body were flown by a special helicopter from New Delhi to the sect headquarters here Thursday morning.

The cremation is likely to be attended by leaders from all political parties. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and other central leaders are likely to attend the cremation later Thursday.

Most followers of the Dera Sachh Khand sect are Dalit Sikhs. There has been an undercurrent of resentment by the sect followers against the dominant Jat Sikh community in the past few decades, mainly owing to social disparity between the two.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Dera-leaders-cremation-today/articleshow/4615567.cms

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Tight security in India's Punjab for slain preacher's funeral

June 3, 2009 -- Updated 1424 GMT (2224 HKT)
By Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police tightened security Wednesday in India's Punjab for the funeral of a preacher whose killing in Vienna, Austria sparked violent protests in the Sikh majority state last week.The body of Rama Sand lies in state in Vienna before being transported to India. Top-ranking officers are camping in Jalandhar district, where Rama Nand will be cremated Thursday, said Parag Jain, Punjab's inspector-general of police."Security arrangements are elaborate," he told CNN.

Nand's body is due to arrive from Vienna early Thursday in Sachkhand Ballan, a monastery dedicated to Guru Ravidass, a 14th-century low-caste Hindu spiritual figure.

Guru Ravidass' writings are predominantly found in the primary Sikh scriptures called the Guru Granth Sahib, placed in the sect temples as in the Sikh houses of worship.

Sect head Niranjan Dass, who was injured in the Vienna assault, will also be arriving Thursday, Sachkhand Ballan secretary S.R. Heer said.

The sikh guru's death led to widespread violence across the Punjab region, which resulted in the army and federal security forces being called in to restore order.
Thousands took part in demonstrations across the Doaba region, where protesters attacked public transportation, knocking out train service in some areas. They also blocked a national highway to Jammu, CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported.

A number of businesses were ransacked as well. Police reported one death.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, appealed for calm, in a statement."There is no place for violence in a secular society like India's and certainly no excuse whatsoever for the violation of the sacred premises of a (Sikh temple) for narrow sectarian or other purposes," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

with thanks : source : http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/03/india.punjab.funeral/

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Punjab's Gandhigiri to stem attacks

3 Jun 2009, 0543 hrs IST, Amit Sharma , TNN

CHANDIGARH: Frustrated and angry at their friends and kin facing “curry bashing” in Australia, a group of students from Panjab University decided to do something about it.

No, they didn't round up foreigners and subject them to reverse racism. Instead, they caught hold of 20-odd ‘firangs’ and gave them a lesson in, well, Indian hospitality and “universal brotherhood”.

The befuddled foreign students were garlanded with flowers and made to take part in a peace march through the campus. They were then lectured on ‘Gandhigiri’ before being treated to a sumptuous lunch. The university students even made their foreign counterparts hold placards that read ‘Treat Guest As God’ and ‘Stop Racism’.

Punjab, which reportedly sends 50,000 students abroad each year, a large number of them to Australia, is seething in rage at the turn of events Down Under. Thankfully, the university students chose a different way to vent their feelings, giving their foreign counterparts a liberal dose of Ghandigiri.

Visibly confused but enjoying all the attention, Simin, president of the foreign students association here, said, "It's really a heartwarming thing done by the Indian students. I really liked the garlands. After today’s function, we feel safer and more secure in this city. We just hope the same treatment is reserved for Indians abroad."

Scott, a student from Canada, here to learn Punjabi, was equally pleased. “I am really happy at what happened (in PU) today. These guys have certainly set an example for others to follow.’’ Arif, another foreign student, said he was so impressed he immediately called up his family in Yemen to narrate the day’s incident.

And although the Indian students did well to hide their pain and anger at the events in Australia, the emotions just spilled over. “Even after getting bashed up in Australia, we don’t want to retaliate. It’s all about sending a message to the Australians that, unlike them, we treat foreigners as our guests and guests are like gods,” said Rajwinder Singh Aulakh, a university student.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Punjabs-Gandhigiri-to-stem-attacks/articleshow/4611130.cms

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Gurdwara vandalized, student stabbed in Oz

3 Jun 2009, 0000 hrs IST, TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES

MELBOURNE: Racial assaults continue unchecked in Australia. On Monday, a Sikh gurdwara was vandalized in Shepparton, a small town 90km north of Melbourne.

Racist graffiti and swastikas were scribbled on its walls, eggs thrown at it and the fencing around the gurdwara smashed by a car. On Tuesday, another Indian student was stabbed in the chest by a box-cutter knife on his way to college in east Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Australia set up an inquiry committee to look into the attacks even as Union minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi said his ministry would prepare and maintain a register of all Indians studying abroad and streamline campus placements to foreign universities.

Nardeep Singh, a 20-year-old from Ludhiana, was assaulted in a car park. The five attackers initially asked for cigarettes. When the student replied he was a non-smoker, they asked for money. On refusal, one of them stabbed him in the chest. Nardeep is a student of nursing at the Chisholm Technical Institute.

Singh, who had arrived in Australia only a month ago, fled to the police station where his statement was recorded. He is under observation in a Melbourne hospital.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gurdwara-vandalized-student-stabbed-in-Oz/articleshow/4608367.cms

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Sikh Culture in Maryland School Curriculum

Sikh Culture in Maryland School Curriculum
North America
Posted Jun 01, 2009 - 11:34 PM

A teaching package on Sikh culture, which was part of the social studies curriculum this year in eight elementary schools in Howard County, Maryland, will be incorporated into all of the county’s approximately 39 elementary schools in the next school year, a county education-official said.

Kaur Foundation’s Cultural Safari video and resource package, which was released in June 2008, was incorporated into the social studies curriculum by fall and is being used in the county’s eight pilot-schools.

Teaching packages normally end up sitting on the shelf because teachers just don’t have time to squeeze in additional lessons. It is only when new material is approved and incorporated into the curriculum that students see it in the classroom.

“I’m very happy to (say) teachers are using this resource,” said Florence Hu, principle of Centennial Lane Elementary, one of the pilot schools where Cultural Safari is being tested. “It shows the importance of diversity and of being respectful of other cultures.”

Howard County has a large minority population. About 30 percent of its students come from Asian countries, Hu said. “I really think the success of making sure that our school is a safe place is to be proactive of different cultures and to learn (about them) before they come (here).”

Last year, when the county’s curriculum office was revising certain units in social studies, and was looking for resources on diversity, Cultural Safari was there to fill the need. But that was no coincidence, it was a well thought-out plan, said Mirin Kaur Phool, the foundation’s president.

Kaur Foundation spent 18 months doing research before developing the package. It involved surveys of teachers and faculty on what they would like to know, and of Sikh students on what they would be known about them.

“Every line was not random, it was carefully structured to answer these questions,” Mirin Kaur said. The target audience was the schools. Information on Sikhi was presented in a manner that said everything and answered all their questions. “It’s a very fine walk to show everything and not get thrown out.”

Foundation representative began talking to county and state administrators as the package was being developed. When it was released, several administrators got their first look at the video at the foundation’s gala in June, an annual event with Sikh glitterati such as Fauja Singh and the Kaur twins as special guests.

“(They saw) that this was a savvy community, doing nice things, incredible things, at a level they are used to,” Mirin Kaur said. But the video spoke for itself.

“It was apparent when I saw the video it was very applicable to curriculum development,” said John Krownapple, cultural proficiency coordinator for the county’s public schools. Having it in the curriculum “made it instantly credible.”

Krownapple was the first to introduce the package at a meeting of a variety of education officials. Mirin Kaur made the presentation, beginning with the death of Balbir Singh Sodhi, the first person killed in a 9/11-related hate crime, and ending with a discussion on the gap in cultural awareness. The curriculum coordinator, principals, and social studies superintendents were very interested, she said.

Foundation representatives for the county, Harsharan Kaur and Arvinder Kaur, are continuing the legwork with Mirin Kaur, going school to school to show the package to teachers, librarians and faculty.

The package will be incorporated into all of the county’s elementary schools in the fall, Krownapple said. But the county will also use it in other ways.

“The intended audience is students, but every adult I have shown it to has learned from it,” he added. The package will be used for professional development to help staff extend cultural awareness, included as a resource in school libraries and eventually included in a central cultural-databank.

Meanwhile, Kaur Foundation is looking beyond Howard County to the rest of the state. Foundation representatives presented Cultural Safari to the social studies coordinator at the Maryland Department of Education, Marcie Taylor-Thoma, last summer.

“It is a safe DVD for students to learn from,” Taylor-Thoma said. “The follow-up lessons use the DVD to talk about not only Sikhs, but also other cultures.“

She introduced the video at an education event in November with educators from many of the state’s 24 counties, and a social studies superintendants’ event in April. At least eight county education officials have asked Mirin Kaur to present it to their decision makers.

Outside Maryland, Sikh parents are showing the video at their kids’ schools, at multicultural cultural events and asking libraries to make it available to the public. From Rochester, N.Y., to Uba City, Calif., the foundation has sent out 2,000 videos at $15 each, with 1,000 more on the way, Mirin Kaur said.

Jatinder Singh Hundal of Roseville, Calif., used the video at his Khalsa school at the West Sacramento Gurdwara. All the parents wanted a copy, he said.

“I have three boys, 12 and 8-year-old twins,” he added. “They enjoy it and like mostly that there are no embarrassing moments when they see it with their friends.”

with thanks : source : http://www.sikhnn.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=675&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0