No cure for Punjab’s drug problem

Chandigarh, Feb 10, 2012, (IANS):

From leading politicians to the Chief Election Commissioner to the Sikh’s mini-parliament, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, everyone expresses concern over the growing menace of drug abuse in Punjab but no one really suggests the cure.

The state, which is the food bowl of the country as it contributes over 60 per cent of grains (wheat and paddy) to the national kitty, has a widespread problem of drugs especially among youth.An earlier study by researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, 250 km from here, estimated that “73.5 per cent of youth between 16 and 35 years are addicted to drugs.”

In the last couple of months, security agencies in Punjab have recovered nearly 75 kg of heroin, a high-end drug, worth over Rs 350 crore in the international market, said a Punjab police official. Heroin is smuggled mainly through the Afgha -nistan-Pakistan route, said an official from state anti-narcotics department.

“We have encountered the problem of liquor during elections in almost all states. But drug abuse is unique only to Punjab,” CEC S Y Qureshi said during the run up to the Jan 30  Assembly polls in the state.

State anti-narcotics department revealed that five weeks from the January polls, various agencies recovered nearly 50 kg of heroin apart from huge amount of unaccounted cash and illicit liquor. Punjab had accounted for 60 per cent of the total drugs seized in the country in 2010-11, it added.

with thanks : Deccan Herald : link in the headline for detailed news.

Sd. Param jit Singh Sarna on Stay on the DSGMC Elections - Part 2 : SikhsIndia

SikhsIndia
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Sd. Param jit Singh Sarna on Stay on the DSGMC Elections - Part 1 : SikhsIndia

SikhsIndia
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.in

SGPC challenges HC order on Sehajdari Sikhs

Challenging the High Court order quashing the notification of the Centre banning Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in SGPC elections, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court.

The recent Punjab and Haryana High Court order quashing the Centre notificaition banning Sehajdhari Sikhs from casting votes in the SGPC elections has affected the working of the Sikh body.

The order meant that the newly-elected house has not been able to hold its first meeting to elect its office bearers. The SGPC has not filed a writ petition against the High Court order in the Supreme Court.

with thanks : dayandnightnews : LINK in headline above for detailed news.

Sd. Paramjit Singh Sarna on DSGMC Elections - 9th Feb 2012 : SikhsIndia

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Pak should allow Sikh pilgrims to enter without visa: Sarna

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjeet Singh Sarna requested the Pakistan government on Tuesday to allow Sikh pilgrims to visit their religious places located in the neighbouring country without passport and visa.

“When a Kashmiri from India is allowed to enter on the basis of a certificate issued by an SDM to visit Pakistan, then why is a Sikh not allowed to visit religious places in Pakistan? We request them to allow us enter without passport or visa,” said Sarna in a press conference. 

Sarna also revealed that he has received a letter from Pakistan government giving DSGMC permission for taking up any renovation work in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Lahore and Babay-de-Bairee in Sialkot. “We had requested the Pakistan government to allow us to take up renovation work in our Gurdwaras there. We managed to get permission now as I received a letter in this regard signed by Deputy Secretary Shrines Evacuee Trust Property Board, Government of Pakistan, Syed Faraz Abbas,” said Sarna.

with thanks : Deccan Herald : link in headline for detailed news.

Sikh house of worship in Sterling Heights vandalized with anti-Muslim graffiti

A Sikh house of worship in Sterling Heights under construction was vandalized with what appears to be anti-Muslim graffiti.

The Sikh building, known as a gurdwara, was defaced sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning, a Sikh advocacy group said today. Some of the graffiti reads: “Don’t Builed” and “Mohmed,” which seems to refer to Islam’s prophet, Mohammed. The graffiti also included a Christian cross, a pistol, and the letters R and A. It’s unclear what the letters refer to.

In the West, Sikh men are sometimes confused for being Muslim because they wear full beards and turbans. Over the past ten years, some Sikhs in the U.S. have been victims of violent bias attacks because they’re wrongly perceived to be Muslim. Based in India, Sikhism arose about 300 years ago and now has about 25 million adherents.

Jasjit Singh of the Sikh American Legal Defense Education Fund, said: “attacks and vandalism against any of the nation’s houses of worship must be condemned by all Americans.”

Singh asked anyone who has information about the incident to call Sterling Heights police at (586) 446-2800. The Sikh house of worship is on Dequindre Rd. just north of 14 Mile.

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

Delhi court stays DSGMC polls, asks govt to prepare new voters’ list

In an indictment of the manner in which the Delhi government hurried into initiating the election process for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), the Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the poll process after noting that there was an unjustified "turnaround" over preparation of fresh voters' list as well as delimitation of certain constituencies.

As per the government notification, the election process was scheduled to begin on February 16 while the polling had to take place on March 11. The election will be held for 46 wards in the city. The term of the DSGMC is four years. Of the over a million Sikhs living in Delhi, 4.5 lakh are registered as DSGMC voters.

The court was adjudicating a petition by one Harmohan Singh, who had challenged the merger of the two voters' list and holding elections without delimitation.

Justice Vipin Sanghi directed the government to re-start the process of preparing the fresh electoral roll and complete the task within a month. The court also ordered the government, Gurdwara Election Directorate and the incumbent Committee to complete the process of delimitation as there has been an increase in the Sikh population in Delhi in recent years.

Observing that the entire process was "short-circuited" by the stakeholders, Justice Sanghi also restrained the government from issuing any further notification until the process of preparing fresh electoral roll and delimitation was concluded.

with thanks : Indian Express : link in headline above for detailed news.

Gülen Chair Award for research on Sikhs :KU Leuven,Belgium

Sara Cosemans receiving prestigious Gülen Chair for Intercultural Studies for her research on "Sikhs in Haspengouw: Migration and integration from a female perspective".Her thesis was considered best master's thesis on multiculturalism,immigration and minorities at KU Leuven, Belgium.

Sara Cosemans says"Migration and integration have always fascinated me.I have mainly focused on the role of women. The study shows that young women are clearly experiencing a conflict between their traditional background and Western modern society. They are opposed to the older generation and its caste system”.

With thanks:Het Belang van Limburg.

Dr Gurdeep Kaur

Railways to offer Tour of Sikh pilgrimage centres

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link in headline above.

Sarnas, Badals gear up for Delhi gurudwara polls

The stage is being set for another electoral battle — this one in the national capital as the elections of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) are due on March 11. A core committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) will meet in Chandigarh on Sunday to finalise its agenda for the polls.

The Badals’ rival and DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who heads the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), is also set to kick-start his campaign.

“Corruption in Delhi’s gurdwaras is going to be the SAD-Badal’s agenda to take on the Sarnas in the forthcoming elections. We will fine-tune things on Sunday,” said SAD (Badal) secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema, adding that apart from corruption, DSGMC-run educational institutions running into losses and sale of gurdwara committee-owned land to the Delhi government for building parking places would be the areas of focus for the SAD (Badal).

“Moreover they (the Sarnas) have shut down four schools being run by the committee, and have been using donations in gurdwaras to run a political campaign against us to support the Congress,” Cheema said.

General secretary of SAD (Delhi) and Paramjit’s younger brother Harvinder Singh Sarna, however, dismissed allegations of corruption.

“We are not like the Badals. They are corrupt and have used SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) money in the January 30 assembly elections,” said Harvinder, who was DSGMC president in 2005-06. “Our donation is 10% of what SGPC gets, and our expenditure is manifold.”

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link in headline for detailed news.