A helping hand for homeless Indians in Southall

AMRITSAR: Every year, several Sikhs travel from India to the UK both on travel as well as working visas. But there are several homeless Sikhs who have been languishing in Southall in West London. 

United Sikh, Sikh NGO, has revealed the untold misery of Southall's homeless Indians who are unable to find jobs in the UK. Due to their immigration status, there are several Sikhs who want to come back to India. 

Speaking to TOI, the director of United Sikh, Mejinderpal Kaur said: "Satbir Kaur (name changed) had gone to the UK from Amritsar on a visitor's visa and ended up overstaying, so that she could earn some money for her husband and son back home." 

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

France violated Sikh’s right to wear turban says UN

In an important victory for the Sikh community in France, the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) has ruled that France has violated the right of a Sikh who had been asked to remove his turban for a photo ID card.

Ranjit Singh, a 76 year old Sikh living in France has not had access to public healthcare any other social benefits since 2005 as he refused to take off his turban for the photo ID card. United Sikhs, a Sikh rights group had filed a communication with the UNHRC on behalf of Ranjit Singh in December 2008.

The UN body has found that France violated Ranjit Singh’s right to wear a turban in accordance to his religion. UNHRC observed in its judgment: “Even if the obligation to remove the turban for the identity photograph might be described as a one-time requirement, it would potentially interfere with the author’s (Ranjit Singh’s) freedom of religion on a continuing basis because he would always appear without his religious head covering in the identity photograph and could therefore be compelled to remove his turban during identity checks.”

with thanks : nvonews : link in headline above for detailed news.

It's 'Namma Kannada' for these Sikh kids from Rajasthan

These five children meticulously learn the Kannada alphabet as their parents busy themselves each day within the manufacture and sale of cutlery. 

Their teachers at the Government Higher Primary School at KEB Colony here are thrilled that Ankit Singh, Karan Singh, Amrit Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Bharati Kaur - belonging to Sikh families hailing from Rajasthan - are learning the rudiment of the language that they have embraced as their own.

While Ankit, Amrit and Karan are in Class II, Kuldeep and Bharati are students of Class IV. Sumit, another child from Rajasthan, had studied Class I in a Hindi school, but has now joined this Kannada school for Class II. 

They reside at Sunnada Bhatti area of Siya Talab extension in the city, known for the utter lack of basic amenities. 

Livelihood

The Sikh families migrated six years ago to Raichur in search of a livelihood and it has been their home ever since.

with thanks : DeccanHerald : link in headline above for detailed news.

Holy book pages found in factory, Sikhs protest

Amritsar, Jan 14 (PTI) Over 40 gunny bags containing pages of Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib were found today in a cardboard manufacturing factory sparking protests from members of the community. Several radical Sikh outfits including Damdami Taksal, Shiromani Akali Dal Panch Pardhani and Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee held protests demanding immediate arrest of factory owners. Later, factory owners Ravinder Kumar and Arun Kumar were arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiments of a community, police said. The factory owners told police that they had purchased the bags from Amrtitsar-based Jawahar Publisher and were not aware that the pages were from principal Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib. The Jawahar Publisher used to publish copies of the Guru Granth Sahib but the Punjab government later banned publishing of the holy book by any private publisher. The publishing rights were give to the SGPC, police said. Two workers of Jawahar Publisher were also booked for wilfully hurting sentiments of the Sikh community, police said.

with thanks : IBNLive : link in headline above.

Sikh held after British colleague's body found at his home

London, Jan 13 (IANS) A 49-year-old Sikh mathematics lecturer at Oxford University has been arrested after the body of a British colleague was found at his home.

The body of Steven Rawlings, a 50-year-old astrophysicist, was found at the home of Devinder Sivia in Oxfordshire Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Sivia -- who lectures at St John's College -- was arrested from his bungalow in Southmoor Thursday and questioned by officers from Thames Valley Police.

He is a stipendiary lecturer in Mathematics for Sciences at Oxford University. He lectures to undergraduates studying chemistry and physics and has published two books.

Rawling's family, however, said they did not believe that Sivia could have murdered his friend and blamed the death on "a tragic accident".

Linda Davey, the 64-year-old elder sister of Rawling, said he was not the type of man to get into an argument over anything.

with thanks MSN : link in headline above for detailed news.

UN human rights body backs French Sikhs on turbans

A Sikh man in France has won the backing of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in his fight over religious headgear.

It said France was violating Sikhs' religious freedom by forcing them to remove their turbans when having photos taken for passports and ID cards.

Ranjit Singh, 76, said he had turned to the UN because he found the French policy disrespectful and unnecessary.

The ruling is not legally binding. France was asked to respond by March.

Mr Singh welcomed the decision, telling the BBC: "[The turban] is part of my body. It is my identity and I cannot part with it."

Long battle
with thanks BBC : link in headline above for detailed news.

Proud of being a sikh !