with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK in headline above.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Another electoral battle readies for SAD
JALANDHAR: With the elections of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC) scheduled on March 11, another electoral battle is ready for Shiromani Akali Dal.
For PPCC president Amarinder Singh, this will be an electoral battle through proxy as SAD (Delhi) headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna has been openly aligning with him and even campaigned for the Congress in the just-concluded polling in Punjab.
SAD had a considerable clout on DSGMC, sometimes complete sometimes partial; but in 2001, a separate Akali Dal was formed by Sarna under the name of SAD (Delhi) which ended Badal-led SAD's control on DSGMC in 2002 elections in which Badal's party got 16 votes. Sarna further reduced SAD (Badal)'s clout as they got 12 seats in the 2007 elections.
with thanks : TOI : link in headline above for detailed news.
SikhsIndia
Punjab polls: Clan in mind, border seat votes big
GURU HAR SAHAI (FEROZEPUR): This sleepy assembly segment bordering Pakistan seems to have truly woken up and come out and voted in droves, making it one of the seats that recorded high polling.
One reason behind the record 90% turnout, with total voter population of 1.45 lakh, is being attributed to Sanjha Morcha fielding a Rai Sikh candidate from Guru Har Sahai.
Political observers said the area has a large population of around 30,000 Rai Sikhs and it was after many years that a candidate of this community was in the fray, which helped mobilize large number of voters.
Interestingly, a Rai Sikh candidate, Sajawar Singh, had recorded two wins from this constituency- as in independent in the1985 elections and as a Congress nominee in the 1992 polls.
In 1985, he bagged a vote share of 23.59% of the total 69.60% polled. In 1992, his share rose to 30.86% of the total 62.61% polling.
with thanks : TOI : link in headline for detailed news.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Punjab goes to polls today; Third front may play spoilsport
The decline of Sikh Panthic issues as electoral agenda and the rise of a development rhetoric would be the highlight when Punjab goes to elections on 30 January, 2012. This is the first time in the history of the state that both Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Indian National Congress did not raise any Sikh identity issues, which were at the helm of debate in the militancy and post-militancy period of the 1990s and early 2000s. While this would give added ground to the Congress to practice its assimilative politics, as envisioned by the party high command, it would also give the Akalis a chance to emerge as an autonomous party that would take into account also the concerns of the Hindus who are almost half of Punjab’s population. The SAD is seen as an upper caste Jat Sikh party, primarily comprising big farmers. In all the elections, it has to depend on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), SAD’s ally in the assembly and parliamentary polls, to cash in the Hindu votes.
However, if the 2009 parliamentary election’s performance is to be believed, the BJP is set to suffer a major setback in the assembly elections because of its declining organisational strength and non-performance of its elected legislators. The party had lost almost all its assembly segments. It is for this reason that SAD’s heir apparent Sukhbir Badal and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal’s son had started his campaign on a developmental all-inclusive agenda from February last year. Since 2009, Sukhbir, credited for three successful election campaigns, has tried to give an unprecedented electoral representation to Hindus, Dalits and Other Backward castes.
The Congress, instead, is banking on anti-incumbency factor and the historical tradition of Punjab which has never voted back an incumbent government. Amarinder Singh, the captain of the Congress team, has been using the Khunda (a farmer’s staff used for self-defence) in all his rallies as a message to the people that if the Congress party comes to power it will seek revenge from the Akalis for the growing incidents of police torture and widespread corruption in the state. The perception among the people, according to many surveys, has been that the SAD-BJP government has been one of the most autocratic and corrupt governments. However, the Congress has also had to face the anti-incumbency that runs against the UPA government at the centre and something that the SAD-BJP has frequently been raising. It also has to tackle 27 of its dissident candidates who are now contesting elections independently after being denied a party ticket.
In this bi-polar sharing of power between the Akalis and the Congress, a third front called the Sanjha Morcha has emerged strongly for the first time in Punjab’s polity, raising doubts over psephological calculations. The leader of the Sanjha Morcha, Manpreet Badal was a former Akali and the finance minister of the ruling government before he decided to form his own party by the name of People’s Party of Punjab (PPP). In political circles, he was seen as the heir-apparent to Prakash Singh Badal, before Sukhbir Badal asserted himself in the party even after joining politics much later than Manpreet Badal. This led to Manpreet’s resignation from the party and the Sanjha Morcha that comprises the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India and Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal along with the PPP. The Morcha is banking on clean image and development programme that it had much before any other party.
with thanks : thehindubusinessline : link in headline for detailed news.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Racist murder of Sikh waiter to be reinvestigated after 10-year campaign
The racist murder of a Sikh waiter has been officially reopened by Scotland's chief prosecutor after a 10-year campaign by the dead man's family.
Frank Mulholland, the lord advocate, said the police had been asked to reinvestigate the murder of Surjit Chhokar in November 1998 after he met the man's family in Edinburgh on Thursday morning.
Mulholland confirmed that the Crown Office was now reviewing the case after the Scottish parliament last year scrapped the so-called double jeopardy rule that prevented someone previously cleared of a seriouscrime being prosecuted again for that offence.
Chhokar's death from multiple stab wounds, after he was allegedly attacked by a group of men on a street in Overtown near Motherwell, has been likened to the Stephen Lawrence case in south London.
Lesley Thomson, the solicitor general for Scotland, said: "The prosecution service is committed to make use of the powers under the new double jeopardy legislation.
with thanks : guardian : link in the headline above for detailed news.
Jay Leno takes heat over "Tonight Show" Sikh sketch
(CBS/AP) Sparks continue to fly over a recent Jay Leno skit. British lawmakers say Prime Minister David Cameron should complain to the United States over a Leno routine that joked about the holiest site in the Sikh religion.
On the Jan. 19 episode of "The Tonight Show," Leno showed a photo of an impressive gold building and joked that it was Republican Mitt Romney's summer home. The site was actually the Golden Temple, a revered Sikh site.
In a motion published at Parliament on Thursday, two legislators said Leno had shown a complete misunderstanding of the Sikh faith. British opposition Labour Party lawmakers Virendra Shrama and John McDonnell proposed a motion demanding Cameron call on the U.S. to show more respect toward Sikhs. The move does not compel Cameron to take any action.
Leno is also causing a stir stateside. TMZ reports the 61-year-old host is now being sued by a man in California named Dr. Randeep Dhillon, who argues the comedian is spreading hatred and ridicule of his religion.
with thanks : cbsnews : link in headline for detailed news.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Jay Leno sued over Sikh joke
Jay Leno
Photograph by: Handout, NBC
Jay Leno's really taking it on the chin over his joke about Mitt Romney last week.
Leno has taken heat from a religious group after cracking that presidential contender Romney keeps the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, as his summer home. And how he's being sued by a religious organizer who claims that Leno libeled the entire Sikh religion with his joke.
In court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday and obtained by TheWrap, Dr. Randeep Dhillon, who does business as Bol Punjabi All Regions Community Organization, claims that Leno "hurt the sentiments of all Sikh people in addition to those of the plaintiff" with his joke. Dhillon further claims that Leno's joke "clearly exposes plaintiff, other sikhs and their religion to hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy because it falsely portrays the holiest place in the Sikh religion as a vacation resort owned by a non-Sikh."
With thanks : Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Leno+sued+over+Sikh+joke/6049223/story.html#ixzz1kU1gFH9P
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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