Bhadra Sinha , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, September 29, 2009
The construction of religious structures — like shrines and temples — on public land has been banned.
The Supreme Court passed this order on Tuesday and told the Centre and states to ensure it is implemented strictly.
Calling such structures — of which there are more than 60,000 just in Delhi —“unauthorised”, the court told state governments to review existing constructions and file a status report within eight weeks.
The verdict came after Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian said the Centre and states had on September 17 reached an agreement on not permitting places of worship on public land.
The ruling has its roots in the Gujarat High Court’s May 2, 2006 order to all municipal corporations in the state to demolish places of worship that caused obstructions on public roads.
The Centre challenged this in Supreme Court, saying the high court had acted on the basis of a newspaper report, without verifying facts.
On July 31 this year, the top court said such structures were a nuisance and sought the Centre’s assurance in stopping them from coming up. At this, the solicitor general pointed out that land was a state subject and the state governments were entitled to their own decisions.
But in September, the Centre and states reached a consensus.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) got into action immediately. Its press and information director Deep Mathur said all deputy commissioners had been told to keep an eye out for new constructions.
The New Delhi Municipal Council, however, said it was yet to receive the order and would study it first.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/No-new-shrines-in-public-places-SC/H1-Article1-459332.aspx
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Obama State Dinner: First One Honors India
WASHINGTON — And the first state dinner of President Barack Obama's administration goes to ... India.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming to America for a state visit Nov. 24, just before Thanksgiving. Such visits include an elaborate arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, one-on-one time with the president and, in the evening, a state dinner.
It's a plum presidential nod of recognition for the world's largest democracy and most stable U.S. ally in a hostile corner of the world.
But why India first?
It was just four years ago that President George W. Bush and Singh raised their glasses and toasted the U.S.-India relationship at the start of a July 2005 state dinner.
Indian officials, however, have watched warily since then as the U.S. has become more engaged with its archrival, Pakistan, focusing on greater military cooperation in dealing with Islamist extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan. Honoring Singh with what is considered one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs 10 months into Obama's presidency may allay some of those concerns, along with perceptions that Pakistan has surpassed India as America's best friend in South Asia.
It also may be Obama's way of closing the loop with all the major U.S. allies as his freshman year in office draws to a fast close.
Obama's first-year international itinerary has taken him to the major European power centers of England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. He has toured the Middle East and is scheduled to visit China and possibly other Asian countries in November, before Singh visits.
The president has even scheduled a day trip to Copenhagen this week – he'll spend more time in the air than on the ground – in a bid to personally boost his adopted hometown's chances of bringing the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hand-delivered the state-visit invitation from Obama during her July trip to India.
Singh, re-elected to a second term earlier this year, and Obama met on the sidelines of a London economic summit in April, and discussed cooperating on the economic downturn, climate change and counterterrorism. Obama later called him a "very wise and decent man."
After years of mutual wariness during the Cold War, U.S.-Indian relations are at a high point, thanks partly to the Bush administration's push to allow American civilian nuclear trade with India. The Obama administration has used that accord as a foundation for improving ties and hopes of cooperation on the president's priority issues, such as climate change and countering terrorism.
"We are very committed to this relationship," Clinton said of India when questioned about deepening U.S. relations with Pakistan.
But a trip to India so far has escaped the sights of the president's travel planners.
That's where the state dinner comes in.
Obama's first one will be the talk of the town, perhaps second only to his inauguration and the parties that followed in terms of celebrity star power and got-to-be-there fever.
A ton of planning is involved, from creating the invitation itself to compiling a guest list. Meals, desserts and wines are tasted until the right pairings are found. Flowers must be chosen and arranged just so, along with the seating, place settings and entertainment.
Responsibility for the planning falls to first lady Michelle Obama and her staff, and people will be waiting to see what twists she and her social secretary, Desiree Rogers, will put on one of the White House's most staid traditions.
Early state dinner rumblings after Obama took office were about opening the events up to "real people."
Inquiring minds also want to know what other changes may be in store. Will they eat in the State Dining Room or shift chairs to the larger East Room? Will dinner courses be prepared with vegetables pulled from Mrs. Obama's popular South Lawn garden?
Would they consider putting their well-dressed guests on boats headed down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon? John F. Kennedy did that for his first state dinner a just few months into his term, in May 1961, for the president of Tunisia.
Or how about dinner and black-tie inside a big tent in the Rose Garden? Bill Clinton did that for his first such dinner a year and a half into his presidency, in June 1994, for the Japanese emperor.
Bush held his first dinner eight months in. It was for Mexico, less than a week before the terrorist attacks of September 2001.
with thanks : source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/obama-state-dinner-first-_n_303343.html
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming to America for a state visit Nov. 24, just before Thanksgiving. Such visits include an elaborate arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, one-on-one time with the president and, in the evening, a state dinner.
It's a plum presidential nod of recognition for the world's largest democracy and most stable U.S. ally in a hostile corner of the world.
But why India first?
It was just four years ago that President George W. Bush and Singh raised their glasses and toasted the U.S.-India relationship at the start of a July 2005 state dinner.
Indian officials, however, have watched warily since then as the U.S. has become more engaged with its archrival, Pakistan, focusing on greater military cooperation in dealing with Islamist extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan. Honoring Singh with what is considered one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs 10 months into Obama's presidency may allay some of those concerns, along with perceptions that Pakistan has surpassed India as America's best friend in South Asia.
It also may be Obama's way of closing the loop with all the major U.S. allies as his freshman year in office draws to a fast close.
Obama's first-year international itinerary has taken him to the major European power centers of England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. He has toured the Middle East and is scheduled to visit China and possibly other Asian countries in November, before Singh visits.
The president has even scheduled a day trip to Copenhagen this week – he'll spend more time in the air than on the ground – in a bid to personally boost his adopted hometown's chances of bringing the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hand-delivered the state-visit invitation from Obama during her July trip to India.
Singh, re-elected to a second term earlier this year, and Obama met on the sidelines of a London economic summit in April, and discussed cooperating on the economic downturn, climate change and counterterrorism. Obama later called him a "very wise and decent man."
After years of mutual wariness during the Cold War, U.S.-Indian relations are at a high point, thanks partly to the Bush administration's push to allow American civilian nuclear trade with India. The Obama administration has used that accord as a foundation for improving ties and hopes of cooperation on the president's priority issues, such as climate change and countering terrorism.
"We are very committed to this relationship," Clinton said of India when questioned about deepening U.S. relations with Pakistan.
But a trip to India so far has escaped the sights of the president's travel planners.
That's where the state dinner comes in.
Obama's first one will be the talk of the town, perhaps second only to his inauguration and the parties that followed in terms of celebrity star power and got-to-be-there fever.
A ton of planning is involved, from creating the invitation itself to compiling a guest list. Meals, desserts and wines are tasted until the right pairings are found. Flowers must be chosen and arranged just so, along with the seating, place settings and entertainment.
Responsibility for the planning falls to first lady Michelle Obama and her staff, and people will be waiting to see what twists she and her social secretary, Desiree Rogers, will put on one of the White House's most staid traditions.
Early state dinner rumblings after Obama took office were about opening the events up to "real people."
Inquiring minds also want to know what other changes may be in store. Will they eat in the State Dining Room or shift chairs to the larger East Room? Will dinner courses be prepared with vegetables pulled from Mrs. Obama's popular South Lawn garden?
Would they consider putting their well-dressed guests on boats headed down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon? John F. Kennedy did that for his first state dinner a just few months into his term, in May 1961, for the president of Tunisia.
Or how about dinner and black-tie inside a big tent in the Rose Garden? Bill Clinton did that for his first such dinner a year and a half into his presidency, in June 1994, for the Japanese emperor.
Bush held his first dinner eight months in. It was for Mexico, less than a week before the terrorist attacks of September 2001.
with thanks : source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/obama-state-dinner-first-_n_303343.html
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Emerald and seed-pearl Necklace, worn by Maharani Jindan Kaur wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh is for sale at www.bonhams.com
An important emerald and seed-pearl Necklace from the Lahore Treasury, worn by Maharani Jindan Kaur (1817-63), wife of Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab (1780–1839) Lahore, first half of the 19th Century
comprising six polished emerald beads, one later converted to a pendant, each bead gold-mounted and fringed with seed-pearl drop tassels, gold clasp, in fitted cloth covered case, the inside of the lid inscribed: "From the Collection of the Court of Lahore formed by HH The Maharajah Runjeet Singh & lastly worn by Her Highness The Late Maharanee Jeddan Kower"
8th Oct., 2009
the necklace 38 cm. diam.; emeralds total weight approx. 50 ct
Estimate: £25,000 - 35,000
Footnote:
Provenance:
Collection of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Maharani Jindan Kaur, sold by Frazer and Hawes from Garrards, Regent Street, London; English provincial saleroom, where it was acquired by the vendor: it was stated that the lot had been in the same local family for at least two generations.
Another necklace from the Lahore Court, retailed by Frazer and Hawes from Garrards, in a similar fitted case with identical inscription appeared at auction in 1999 (Christie's, Magnificent Mughal Jewels, London, 6th October 1999, lot 178) and is now in the collection of Satinder and Narinder Kapany.
Between 1849 and 1850, when the British took control of the court in Lahore, they entered the Treasury, where they found the court jewels wrapped in cloth. The Treasury was fabled to be the greatest and largest treasure ever found. The most famous and well-known jewels were taken away as gifts for Queen Victoria, including the Koh-i Noor and the Timur Ruby. Confiscated treasures were sold by Messrs Lattie Bros. of Hay-on-Wye in the Diwan-i-Am of the Lahore Fort. The items were listed in seven printed catalogues and the sales took place over five successive days, the last one starting on 2nd December 1850. It is also know that some jewels were boxed in Bombay by Frazer and Hawes, and were sent to London, where they were sold by Garrards, but this would have Garrards are said to hold a secret list of the jewellery, the contents of which has not been made public. From the boxing, this would have been done after the Maharani's death.
Maharani Jindan Kaur
Maharani Jindan Kaur was born in 1817 in Chahar, Sialkhot, Punjab. Of humble origins, she was the daughter of Manna Singh Aulak, the Royal Kennel Keeper at the Court of Lahore. She grew into a young lady of exquisite beauty and came to the attention of Maharajah Ranjit Singh at a young age. Manna Singh was reported to have pestered the Maharajah, promising that his daughter would make him youthful again. In 1835, she became Ranjit Singh's seventeenth wife and in 1838 bore him a son, Duleep. Duleep was his last child and just ten months later Ranjit Singh died following a stroke. Jindan was the Maharajah's only surviving widow, rejecting the practice of 'Sati' or throwing herself on the funeral pyre with his other wives, choosing to bring up her young son instead.
Ranjit Singh's empire stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas, with its southern boundary bordering British India. His court was fabled for its patronage of the arts and sciences, and for its riches. The Russian painter Alexis Solykoff wrote on visiting the court: "What a sight! I could barely believe my eyes. Everything glittered with precious stones and the brightest colours arranged in harmonious combinations". Upon the Maharajah's death, his body was carried through the streets to his funeral pyre in a golden ship, "with sails of gilt cloth to waft him into paradise'. Immediately after his death, Ranjit Singh's golden empire began to crumble. His eldest son, Kharak Singh took the throne, but was murdered two years later; the reign of Sher Singh was similarly short-lived and he was assassinated in 1843, upon which Duleep was proclaimed Maharajah at the age of five, with his maternal uncle as Prime Minister and his mother, Jindan, as Regent. His uncle's position as Prime Minister was brief, after the Khalsa Army declared him a traitor and killed him. As Jindan came to power, she was swiftly confronted by the British army that had moved to her southern border in the hope of conquering one of the last independent states of northern India.
As Regent, Jindan became a thorn in the side of the East India Company. She waged two unsuccessful wars against the British, the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1846-49, which brought about the annexation of the Punjab. In 1846 she was deposed as Regent and in February 1847 the British took possession of the capital, Lahore, installing Sir Henry Lawrence as British Resident to oversee their affairs. The British continued to see her as a major threat to their control of the Punjab, since she was instrumental in organising Sikh resistance, rallying her armies to battle and plotting rebellion against the British. Thus in August 1847, to halt her influence on the young king, Duleep was sent away from the palace and Jindan was ordered by Sir Henry Lawrence to the Summan Tower of Lahore Fort and was then was incarcerated in the fort at Sheikhurpura. After being moved around several prisons, in 1849 she escaped from British captivity at Chunar Fort, leaving a note for the British: "You put me in a cage and locked me up. For all your locks and your sentries, I got out by magic....I had told you plainly not to push me too hard – but don't think I ran away, understand well that I escape by myself unaided...When I quit the fort of Chunar I threw down two papers on my gaddi and one I threw on a European charpoy, now don't imagine I got out like a thief!". Disguised as a beggar woman, she fled to the Himalayas, where she found troubled sanctuary in Kathmandu, Nepal. All her jewels and gold that had been left in the government treasure in Benares were confiscated, with the added threat that if she went to Nepal she would lose her pension as well.
In Kathmandu, she lived under the protection of the Nepalese King and government, and spent her time studying scriptures and doing charitable work through a temple she had built near her house. Life was not easy for her and she was kept as a virtual prisoner with a meagre allowance. Under pressure from the British officials at Kathmandu, who portrayed her as dangerous with her alleged efforts to create disaffection against the British, the Nepalese imposed humiliating restrictions upon her. In the meanwhile, the British press began a campaign to blacken her name, calling her the 'Messalina of the Punjab', a term first coined by Governor-General Lord Hardinge. Like Messalina, the wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius, Jindan was portrayed as a licentious seductress, who was powerful and influential, and too rebellious to control.
The young Maharajah, Duleep, was moved to Fategarh, where he lived under the guardianship of Dr John Login and his wife, and eventually arrived in Britain in 1854, at the age of sixteen, where he was adopted as a godson by Queen Victoria. Under the influence of the Logins, he converted to Christianity and was brought up as a young English gentleman. In 1860, Duleep sent his native attendant to Kathmandu to find out about his mother and a report came back through the British resident at Nepal that: "The Rani had much changed, was blind and lost much of her energy, which formerly characterised her, taking little interest in what was going on". The Governor General agreed to a meeting based on this report of the Rani's condition, thinking that the last queen of the Punjab no longer posed a threat.
In 1860, tired of her exile and isolation, and the indignity she was made to suffer, she travelled to meet her son in Calcutta. For the first time in thirteen and a half years, they were reunited at Spence's Hotel in January 1861. Duleep found her almost blind and suffering from poor health. He offered her a house in Calcutta, but she expressed her wish to stay with her son, following years of enforced separation. And so it was agreed that the Rani would travel to England. Her private property and jewels, previously taken by the British authorities, would be restored to her on the basis that she left India and in addition she would be granted a pension of £3,000 per annum. Her jewels were returned to her at Calcutta at the start of the journey.
The Maharajah returned to London with his mother and took a house in Bayswater. Lady Login observed: "The half-blinded woman, sitting huddled on a heap of cushions on the floor with health broken and eyesight dimmed, her beauty vanished, it was hard to believe in her former charms of person and conversation! However, the moment she grew interested and excited in a conversation unexpected gleams and glimpses of the torpor of advancing age revealed the shrewd and plotting brain of the one who had been known as the 'Messalina of the Punjab'".
Lady Login noted a change in the Maharajah and for the first time heard him talk about his private property in the Punjab, information that only Jindan could have given to him. It is possible that the Rani saw it as a chance for retribution against the British for what they had done. During this time, she reawakened her son's true faith and royal heritage, telling him stories of all that had been lost to the British. She had sown the seeds of discontent in Duleep Singh's mind, which would bring about his fall from grace in later life. John Login tried to persuade the Maharajah to find his mother a separate house, feeling that her influence was bad for him. This did not happen until 1862 when she was moved to Abingdon House in Kensington under the charge of an English lady.
By 1863, Duleep Singh had set his sights on the Elveden Estate in Suffolk. On the 1st August of the same year, Jindan died in her Kensington home in the country of her sworn enemy, just two and a half years after being reunited with her son and leaving him inconsolable.
As a Sikh queen, cremation was the traditional practice, but one that was not allowed under English law. With the help of John Login, the Maharani's body was moved to the Dissenters Chapel at Kensal Green Cemetery until such time that it could be take to India for the last rites. The simple ceremony at Kensal Green was attended by a number of Indian dignitaries and the Maharani's retinue that she had brought with her, and the Maharajah spoke to them in their own language. Her body remained at Kensal Green for nearly a year and recently a marble gravestone bearing her name inscribed in English and Gumurkhi was found in the catacombs of the Dissenters Chapel. At the time, Charles Dickens wrote: "Down here in a coffin covered with white velvet, and studded with brass and nails, rests the Indian dancing woman whose strong will and bitter enmity towards England caused Lord Dalhousie to say of her, when in exile, that she was the only person our Government near feared".
In 1864, permission was granted to take the body to India, which had been her dying wish, and she was cremated at Bombay (Duleep was not allowed to go to the Punjab), her ashes scattered on the Godavai and a small memorial or samadh erected on the left bank. In 1924, her ashes were later moved to Lahore by her grand-daughter Princess Bamba Sutherland, and deposited at the samadh of Ranjit Singh. Finally the 'Messalina of the Punjab' returned home to rest.
with thanks : source : http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4387717&iSaleNo=16851&iSaleSectionNo=1
thanks : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/19162/92/
SikhsIndia
spreading awareness
comprising six polished emerald beads, one later converted to a pendant, each bead gold-mounted and fringed with seed-pearl drop tassels, gold clasp, in fitted cloth covered case, the inside of the lid inscribed: "From the Collection of the Court of Lahore formed by HH The Maharajah Runjeet Singh & lastly worn by Her Highness The Late Maharanee Jeddan Kower"
8th Oct., 2009
the necklace 38 cm. diam.; emeralds total weight approx. 50 ct
Estimate: £25,000 - 35,000
Footnote:
Provenance:
Collection of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Maharani Jindan Kaur, sold by Frazer and Hawes from Garrards, Regent Street, London; English provincial saleroom, where it was acquired by the vendor: it was stated that the lot had been in the same local family for at least two generations.
Another necklace from the Lahore Court, retailed by Frazer and Hawes from Garrards, in a similar fitted case with identical inscription appeared at auction in 1999 (Christie's, Magnificent Mughal Jewels, London, 6th October 1999, lot 178) and is now in the collection of Satinder and Narinder Kapany.
Between 1849 and 1850, when the British took control of the court in Lahore, they entered the Treasury, where they found the court jewels wrapped in cloth. The Treasury was fabled to be the greatest and largest treasure ever found. The most famous and well-known jewels were taken away as gifts for Queen Victoria, including the Koh-i Noor and the Timur Ruby. Confiscated treasures were sold by Messrs Lattie Bros. of Hay-on-Wye in the Diwan-i-Am of the Lahore Fort. The items were listed in seven printed catalogues and the sales took place over five successive days, the last one starting on 2nd December 1850. It is also know that some jewels were boxed in Bombay by Frazer and Hawes, and were sent to London, where they were sold by Garrards, but this would have Garrards are said to hold a secret list of the jewellery, the contents of which has not been made public. From the boxing, this would have been done after the Maharani's death.
Maharani Jindan Kaur
Maharani Jindan Kaur was born in 1817 in Chahar, Sialkhot, Punjab. Of humble origins, she was the daughter of Manna Singh Aulak, the Royal Kennel Keeper at the Court of Lahore. She grew into a young lady of exquisite beauty and came to the attention of Maharajah Ranjit Singh at a young age. Manna Singh was reported to have pestered the Maharajah, promising that his daughter would make him youthful again. In 1835, she became Ranjit Singh's seventeenth wife and in 1838 bore him a son, Duleep. Duleep was his last child and just ten months later Ranjit Singh died following a stroke. Jindan was the Maharajah's only surviving widow, rejecting the practice of 'Sati' or throwing herself on the funeral pyre with his other wives, choosing to bring up her young son instead.
Ranjit Singh's empire stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas, with its southern boundary bordering British India. His court was fabled for its patronage of the arts and sciences, and for its riches. The Russian painter Alexis Solykoff wrote on visiting the court: "What a sight! I could barely believe my eyes. Everything glittered with precious stones and the brightest colours arranged in harmonious combinations". Upon the Maharajah's death, his body was carried through the streets to his funeral pyre in a golden ship, "with sails of gilt cloth to waft him into paradise'. Immediately after his death, Ranjit Singh's golden empire began to crumble. His eldest son, Kharak Singh took the throne, but was murdered two years later; the reign of Sher Singh was similarly short-lived and he was assassinated in 1843, upon which Duleep was proclaimed Maharajah at the age of five, with his maternal uncle as Prime Minister and his mother, Jindan, as Regent. His uncle's position as Prime Minister was brief, after the Khalsa Army declared him a traitor and killed him. As Jindan came to power, she was swiftly confronted by the British army that had moved to her southern border in the hope of conquering one of the last independent states of northern India.
As Regent, Jindan became a thorn in the side of the East India Company. She waged two unsuccessful wars against the British, the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1846-49, which brought about the annexation of the Punjab. In 1846 she was deposed as Regent and in February 1847 the British took possession of the capital, Lahore, installing Sir Henry Lawrence as British Resident to oversee their affairs. The British continued to see her as a major threat to their control of the Punjab, since she was instrumental in organising Sikh resistance, rallying her armies to battle and plotting rebellion against the British. Thus in August 1847, to halt her influence on the young king, Duleep was sent away from the palace and Jindan was ordered by Sir Henry Lawrence to the Summan Tower of Lahore Fort and was then was incarcerated in the fort at Sheikhurpura. After being moved around several prisons, in 1849 she escaped from British captivity at Chunar Fort, leaving a note for the British: "You put me in a cage and locked me up. For all your locks and your sentries, I got out by magic....I had told you plainly not to push me too hard – but don't think I ran away, understand well that I escape by myself unaided...When I quit the fort of Chunar I threw down two papers on my gaddi and one I threw on a European charpoy, now don't imagine I got out like a thief!". Disguised as a beggar woman, she fled to the Himalayas, where she found troubled sanctuary in Kathmandu, Nepal. All her jewels and gold that had been left in the government treasure in Benares were confiscated, with the added threat that if she went to Nepal she would lose her pension as well.
In Kathmandu, she lived under the protection of the Nepalese King and government, and spent her time studying scriptures and doing charitable work through a temple she had built near her house. Life was not easy for her and she was kept as a virtual prisoner with a meagre allowance. Under pressure from the British officials at Kathmandu, who portrayed her as dangerous with her alleged efforts to create disaffection against the British, the Nepalese imposed humiliating restrictions upon her. In the meanwhile, the British press began a campaign to blacken her name, calling her the 'Messalina of the Punjab', a term first coined by Governor-General Lord Hardinge. Like Messalina, the wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius, Jindan was portrayed as a licentious seductress, who was powerful and influential, and too rebellious to control.
The young Maharajah, Duleep, was moved to Fategarh, where he lived under the guardianship of Dr John Login and his wife, and eventually arrived in Britain in 1854, at the age of sixteen, where he was adopted as a godson by Queen Victoria. Under the influence of the Logins, he converted to Christianity and was brought up as a young English gentleman. In 1860, Duleep sent his native attendant to Kathmandu to find out about his mother and a report came back through the British resident at Nepal that: "The Rani had much changed, was blind and lost much of her energy, which formerly characterised her, taking little interest in what was going on". The Governor General agreed to a meeting based on this report of the Rani's condition, thinking that the last queen of the Punjab no longer posed a threat.
In 1860, tired of her exile and isolation, and the indignity she was made to suffer, she travelled to meet her son in Calcutta. For the first time in thirteen and a half years, they were reunited at Spence's Hotel in January 1861. Duleep found her almost blind and suffering from poor health. He offered her a house in Calcutta, but she expressed her wish to stay with her son, following years of enforced separation. And so it was agreed that the Rani would travel to England. Her private property and jewels, previously taken by the British authorities, would be restored to her on the basis that she left India and in addition she would be granted a pension of £3,000 per annum. Her jewels were returned to her at Calcutta at the start of the journey.
The Maharajah returned to London with his mother and took a house in Bayswater. Lady Login observed: "The half-blinded woman, sitting huddled on a heap of cushions on the floor with health broken and eyesight dimmed, her beauty vanished, it was hard to believe in her former charms of person and conversation! However, the moment she grew interested and excited in a conversation unexpected gleams and glimpses of the torpor of advancing age revealed the shrewd and plotting brain of the one who had been known as the 'Messalina of the Punjab'".
Lady Login noted a change in the Maharajah and for the first time heard him talk about his private property in the Punjab, information that only Jindan could have given to him. It is possible that the Rani saw it as a chance for retribution against the British for what they had done. During this time, she reawakened her son's true faith and royal heritage, telling him stories of all that had been lost to the British. She had sown the seeds of discontent in Duleep Singh's mind, which would bring about his fall from grace in later life. John Login tried to persuade the Maharajah to find his mother a separate house, feeling that her influence was bad for him. This did not happen until 1862 when she was moved to Abingdon House in Kensington under the charge of an English lady.
By 1863, Duleep Singh had set his sights on the Elveden Estate in Suffolk. On the 1st August of the same year, Jindan died in her Kensington home in the country of her sworn enemy, just two and a half years after being reunited with her son and leaving him inconsolable.
As a Sikh queen, cremation was the traditional practice, but one that was not allowed under English law. With the help of John Login, the Maharani's body was moved to the Dissenters Chapel at Kensal Green Cemetery until such time that it could be take to India for the last rites. The simple ceremony at Kensal Green was attended by a number of Indian dignitaries and the Maharani's retinue that she had brought with her, and the Maharajah spoke to them in their own language. Her body remained at Kensal Green for nearly a year and recently a marble gravestone bearing her name inscribed in English and Gumurkhi was found in the catacombs of the Dissenters Chapel. At the time, Charles Dickens wrote: "Down here in a coffin covered with white velvet, and studded with brass and nails, rests the Indian dancing woman whose strong will and bitter enmity towards England caused Lord Dalhousie to say of her, when in exile, that she was the only person our Government near feared".
In 1864, permission was granted to take the body to India, which had been her dying wish, and she was cremated at Bombay (Duleep was not allowed to go to the Punjab), her ashes scattered on the Godavai and a small memorial or samadh erected on the left bank. In 1924, her ashes were later moved to Lahore by her grand-daughter Princess Bamba Sutherland, and deposited at the samadh of Ranjit Singh. Finally the 'Messalina of the Punjab' returned home to rest.
with thanks : source : http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4387717&iSaleNo=16851&iSaleSectionNo=1
thanks : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/19162/92/
SikhsIndia
spreading awareness
Haryana Sikhs, expressing support to SGPC, appear before Akal Takht
By Ravinder Singh Robin
Amritsar Sep. 28 - ANI: Opposing the demand to form a separate Sikh committee for Sikhs in Haryana, thousands of Sikhs from the State appeared before Akal Takht and presented a memorandum.
The group urged Jathedar Akal Takht to ex-communicate Jagdish Singh Jhinda and others those who were responsible for the attack on the historical shrineChevin Patshahi, dedicated to the sixth Sikh Guru Guru Hargobind Singh--on September 13 in Kurukshetra.
Supporting Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC), the group, claiming to represent hundreds of thousands of Sikhs in Haryana, presented a memorandum to Giani Gurbachan Singh, the Jathedar of Akal Takht.
It also demanded a stern action against Jagdish Singh Jhinda and his associates who occupied the Gurdwara Chevin Patshahi, located around 110 kilometres from Chandigarh.
The group opposed the move to create separate Sikh committee for Haryana at any cost.
Bhupinder Singh, former member SGPC from Haryana said, We will never allow this to happen and will do everything to stop a separate committee for the Sikhs to be formed in Haryana.
He said that we also urged the Jathedar to excommunicate those who not only hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs but also violated the Sikh code of conduct.
Kulbir Kaur, a Sikh activist from Panchkula of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said: We fully support the SGPC to take care of the Sikh shrines situated in Haryana and elsewhere. Poeple like Jhinda should be given punishment for trying to divide the Sikh community.
Meanwhile Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh confirmed that today he did receive a memorandum on behalf of Sikhs living in Haryana conveying their support to SGPC and demanding action against Jagdish Singh Jhinda.
Gurbachan Singh said that five Sikh Jathedars would be meeting at Akal Takht on October 1 to discuss the issue. - ANI
with thanks : source : http://www.littleabout.com/news/36806,haryana-sikhs-expressing-support-sgpc-akal-takht.html
SikhsIndia
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Amritsar Sep. 28 - ANI: Opposing the demand to form a separate Sikh committee for Sikhs in Haryana, thousands of Sikhs from the State appeared before Akal Takht and presented a memorandum.
The group urged Jathedar Akal Takht to ex-communicate Jagdish Singh Jhinda and others those who were responsible for the attack on the historical shrineChevin Patshahi, dedicated to the sixth Sikh Guru Guru Hargobind Singh--on September 13 in Kurukshetra.
Supporting Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC), the group, claiming to represent hundreds of thousands of Sikhs in Haryana, presented a memorandum to Giani Gurbachan Singh, the Jathedar of Akal Takht.
It also demanded a stern action against Jagdish Singh Jhinda and his associates who occupied the Gurdwara Chevin Patshahi, located around 110 kilometres from Chandigarh.
The group opposed the move to create separate Sikh committee for Haryana at any cost.
Bhupinder Singh, former member SGPC from Haryana said, We will never allow this to happen and will do everything to stop a separate committee for the Sikhs to be formed in Haryana.
He said that we also urged the Jathedar to excommunicate those who not only hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs but also violated the Sikh code of conduct.
Kulbir Kaur, a Sikh activist from Panchkula of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said: We fully support the SGPC to take care of the Sikh shrines situated in Haryana and elsewhere. Poeple like Jhinda should be given punishment for trying to divide the Sikh community.
Meanwhile Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh confirmed that today he did receive a memorandum on behalf of Sikhs living in Haryana conveying their support to SGPC and demanding action against Jagdish Singh Jhinda.
Gurbachan Singh said that five Sikh Jathedars would be meeting at Akal Takht on October 1 to discuss the issue. - ANI
with thanks : source : http://www.littleabout.com/news/36806,haryana-sikhs-expressing-support-sgpc-akal-takht.html
SikhsIndia
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Sikh personalities
Sat Sri Akal,
Please read about a few Sikh personalities as below :
- Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh - Paintings
- Amarjit Singh Bamrah / Jagdish Kaur Bamrah - Tanjore paintings
- Gulab Singh ji - minare khalsa
- Jaswant singh Jafar : Sikh art mool mantar through oil paintings
- Dr. (Mrs.) Gurdeep Kaur - PHD on Guru Granth Sahib
- Jatinder singh Shunty - a massiha for the downtrodden
- Bhupinder singh Kohli - in the service of mankind
- Kanwar Singh Dhillon - art of Punjab
You can read about these persons by clicking the link as below :
http://www.sohnijodi.com/Sikh%20Personalities.htm
If you can add more such personalities, plz mention in the comments section or plz mail us. We will be pleased to upload details about them.
Best regards
sikhsIndia
spreading awareness
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Please read about a few Sikh personalities as below :
- Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh - Paintings
- Amarjit Singh Bamrah / Jagdish Kaur Bamrah - Tanjore paintings
- Gulab Singh ji - minare khalsa
- Jaswant singh Jafar : Sikh art mool mantar through oil paintings
- Dr. (Mrs.) Gurdeep Kaur - PHD on Guru Granth Sahib
- Jatinder singh Shunty - a massiha for the downtrodden
- Bhupinder singh Kohli - in the service of mankind
- Kanwar Singh Dhillon - art of Punjab
You can read about these persons by clicking the link as below :
http://www.sohnijodi.com/Sikh%20Personalities.htm
If you can add more such personalities, plz mention in the comments section or plz mail us. We will be pleased to upload details about them.
Best regards
sikhsIndia
spreading awareness
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sikh matrimonial : add your profiles absolutely free on a Sikh web portal with around a lakh hit's per month
Sat Sri Akal,
Please feel free to add your matrimonial profile with / without a pic, absolutely free, on a Sikh web portal with around a lakh hit's per month. You can also add your Gurdwara listing, your Business listing absolutely free on the portal. You can also add details of any Gurmat samagam in your Gurudwara, anywhere in the world, absolutely free on the web portal. The portal contains wide details about Sikhism alongwith pics & vids. Please log on to www.sohnijodi.com
Best regards
SikhsIndia
Please feel free to add your matrimonial profile with / without a pic, absolutely free, on a Sikh web portal with around a lakh hit's per month. You can also add your Gurdwara listing, your Business listing absolutely free on the portal. You can also add details of any Gurmat samagam in your Gurudwara, anywhere in the world, absolutely free on the web portal. The portal contains wide details about Sikhism alongwith pics & vids. Please log on to www.sohnijodi.com
Best regards
SikhsIndia
Punjabi to be Canada’s 4th biggest language by 2011
Punjabi is set to become the fourth largest spoken language in Canada by 2011 after English, French and Chinese, according to Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
The minister made the announcement Friday night after inaugurating the seventh Spinning Wheel Film Festival at the Royal Ontario Museum here that will feature films by or about Sikhs.
More than two dozen films from around the world will be screened at the two-day festival.
Before opening the event, the minister unveiled two huge portraits of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his son Duleep Singh. These portraits will now be permanently displayed at the museum.
Lauding the contribution made by Sikhs to the Canadian society, the minister said they have thrived after their initial struggles and made a place for themselves in Canada.
The 2006 census showed that Punjabi is the sixth largest spoken language after English, French, Chinese, Italian and German in Canada. But it is projected to surpass German and Italian by 2011.
Referring to the 1914 incident when more than 350 passengers from India – Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus – were not allowed to disembark from the Komagata Maru ship and sent back to Kolkata, the minister said Canada has recognized its racist past and apologized for it.
Toronto-based philanthropist and physician Birinder Singh Ahluwalia, the brain behind the festival, said the aim was to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Sikhs.
The Amritsar-born doctor, among most successful 25 Canadian immigrants, said the organisers received more than 120 film entries from around the world.
“But we are showing only the 27 best films chosen by the screening committee,” said Ahluwalia, who announced that $50,000 will be given every year to filmmakers wishing to make films with Sikh themes.
A huge exhibition of Sikh paintings has also been mounted at the museum.
Some rare paintings depict the struggle of Sikhs in the two World Wars in which many of them won the highest military honour of Victoria Cross.
“A Prisoner’s Song” featuring a rare audio recording of a Sikh prisoner of war in Germany in World War I opened the film festival.
with thanks : source : http://www.123breakingnews.com/punjabi-to-be-canada%E2%80%99s-4th-biggest-language-by-2011-12829-123
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Sikhs spool out their angst on film
Divya A, TNN 27 September 2009, 03:02am IST
In an attempt to tell their side of the story, NRI Sikhs have undertaken an interesting exercise – they’re making films about their faith and their
community and screening them at festivals they organize for the purpose in various parts of the world.
The trigger, it seems, is the community’s collective angst over developments such as the Army operation at the Golden Temple in 1984, the riots that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the recent turban ban in France.
Just last week, the Sikh Art and Film Foundation (SAFF) in New York organized the Annual Sikh Film Festival, which acquired especially grand tones for the first time in its 10-year history. There was a red carpet and it was attended by more than 1,000 people. Meanwhile, Visions of Truth, a two-month-long traveling film festival with movies about 1984, was on in California. It was organized by Jakara, a California Sikhs’ club. In addition, Sikhnet, a website dedicated to building bridges between Sikhs abroad, announced its 2009 Youth Online Film Festival, inviting Sikh youth to share videos about “being a Sikh”.
But how healthy is it for a community to focus on a painful past and present itself to the world as a suffering and wronged people?
Why ever not, retorts Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh. “There are 25 million Sikhs worldwide, with more than a million in America and Canada, and about half a million in UK. An acute identity crisis in the post 9/11 world has compelled them to tell people that there is a difference between a Sikh and an Iranian or the Taliban.”
Prof S P Singh, former V-C of Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, explains it as a consequence of “the wounds inflicted on the collective Sikh psyche (which) have not been addressed so far. Time doesn’t heal the injury that hasn’t been redressed. Otherwise, Udham Singh wouldn’t have avenged Jallianwala Bagh massacre 25 years later!” Perhaps. The film Storming the Temple, part of Visions of Truth, lays out the events that ended in the Army entering the Temple; Reaching for Home is a fictional account around the incident and Amu addresses issues of identity with 1984 as the backdrop.
So too the New York film festival, which kicked off with 1984 and the Via Dolorosa, an attempt to portray Sikh suffering in the context of the Christian belief in the pain Christ suffered while carrying the cross.
So, does the community collectively alternate between self-congratulation and suffering then? On the phone from New York, SAFF president Tejinder Singh Bindra explains, “We celebrate the heritage of Sikhs and their immigrant experience and promote Sikhism in a land where people persecuted us in the wake of 9/11.”
Gurumustak Singh Khalsa, an American Sikh, who founded SikhNet told STOI from New Mexico that it would be wrong to see the festivals as navel-gazing hype. “Most people don’t have a clue who Sikhs are. The genesis of the festival came from the proliferation of short videos on websites and enabled us to reach out to more people.”
But isn’t it maudlin for Sikhs to focus so acutely on 1984? S P Singh says there may be another angle to this. He says that playing up the 1984 imagery serves the vested interests of those who sought political asylum abroad in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star. “If the movement dies down, all facilities and aid extended to them will be terminated.”
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/special-report/Sikhs-spool-out-their-angst-on-film/articleshow/5061084.cms
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
In an attempt to tell their side of the story, NRI Sikhs have undertaken an interesting exercise – they’re making films about their faith and their
community and screening them at festivals they organize for the purpose in various parts of the world.
The trigger, it seems, is the community’s collective angst over developments such as the Army operation at the Golden Temple in 1984, the riots that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the recent turban ban in France.
Just last week, the Sikh Art and Film Foundation (SAFF) in New York organized the Annual Sikh Film Festival, which acquired especially grand tones for the first time in its 10-year history. There was a red carpet and it was attended by more than 1,000 people. Meanwhile, Visions of Truth, a two-month-long traveling film festival with movies about 1984, was on in California. It was organized by Jakara, a California Sikhs’ club. In addition, Sikhnet, a website dedicated to building bridges between Sikhs abroad, announced its 2009 Youth Online Film Festival, inviting Sikh youth to share videos about “being a Sikh”.
But how healthy is it for a community to focus on a painful past and present itself to the world as a suffering and wronged people?
Why ever not, retorts Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh. “There are 25 million Sikhs worldwide, with more than a million in America and Canada, and about half a million in UK. An acute identity crisis in the post 9/11 world has compelled them to tell people that there is a difference between a Sikh and an Iranian or the Taliban.”
Prof S P Singh, former V-C of Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, explains it as a consequence of “the wounds inflicted on the collective Sikh psyche (which) have not been addressed so far. Time doesn’t heal the injury that hasn’t been redressed. Otherwise, Udham Singh wouldn’t have avenged Jallianwala Bagh massacre 25 years later!” Perhaps. The film Storming the Temple, part of Visions of Truth, lays out the events that ended in the Army entering the Temple; Reaching for Home is a fictional account around the incident and Amu addresses issues of identity with 1984 as the backdrop.
So too the New York film festival, which kicked off with 1984 and the Via Dolorosa, an attempt to portray Sikh suffering in the context of the Christian belief in the pain Christ suffered while carrying the cross.
So, does the community collectively alternate between self-congratulation and suffering then? On the phone from New York, SAFF president Tejinder Singh Bindra explains, “We celebrate the heritage of Sikhs and their immigrant experience and promote Sikhism in a land where people persecuted us in the wake of 9/11.”
Gurumustak Singh Khalsa, an American Sikh, who founded SikhNet told STOI from New Mexico that it would be wrong to see the festivals as navel-gazing hype. “Most people don’t have a clue who Sikhs are. The genesis of the festival came from the proliferation of short videos on websites and enabled us to reach out to more people.”
But isn’t it maudlin for Sikhs to focus so acutely on 1984? S P Singh says there may be another angle to this. He says that playing up the 1984 imagery serves the vested interests of those who sought political asylum abroad in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star. “If the movement dies down, all facilities and aid extended to them will be terminated.”
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/special-report/Sikhs-spool-out-their-angst-on-film/articleshow/5061084.cms
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Punjabi English Magazine from Seatle titled " Aasra "
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Since January of 2006, we have published Punjabi English Magazine from Seattle titled “Aasra”. We wanted to have a media for the Sikhs. Our goal was to educate about Sikh religion and to encourage literature and poetry and other events. We print it every two months. We have received encouragement and response from the community and the public. You will see contributions from American and other non-Sikh community coming to contribute to this magazine. We have plans now to expand it and reach other cities and audience also.
I am happy to inform you that it is now available through the Saltfleet Branch Library, Ontario, Canada, King County Library System, Whatcom County Library System and WA State Library.
Please check it out and help spread the word. At this time we do not have any media to represent Sikhs. The content that targets the wider audience is very little. National magazines, television, radio or other media hardly cover people of other faiths, but rather give message of violence and attack. Top it with discrimination in the work place. Hardly a day passes when there isn’t an incident when Sikhs face hardships to practice their religion freely. Aasra Magazine is an effort to overcome this. It is this lacuna that we are trying to fill. I had dreamed of seeing a Sikh magazine in every library. It is this sewa that Waheguru has given us. We can’t do it alone. A lot needs to be done. We need your help. I look forward to your feedback, advertisement and subscription to help us reach more community.
A Sikhnet review of the magazine is also available.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sarab Singh Editor, Aasra Punjabi English Magazine PO Box 5716, Kent, WA 98064
Phone: (206) 550-3154Email: aasra@q.com Web: www.sikhism.com/aasra
SikhsIndia
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Kanwar Singh Dhillon - art of Punjab
Born in Amritsar India, Kanwar Singh Dhillon has been engaged in the process of art making for as long as he can remember. He is influenced by a host of past masters such as Sobha Singh, Caravaggio and J.W Waterhouse.
Growing up in Toronto Canada, Kanwar explored several paths that would allow him to work as a professional artist including animation and book illustration. However, it wasn’t until he started to take an interest in the history of the Sikhs that his art took a definitive turn for the better.
With his painting style Kanwar Singh Dhillon aspires to combine the grace and beauty of Sobha Singh’s portraits with the documentary style of Sikh history painters such as Devender Singh. Punjab’s history is rich with the exploits of heroes and sages from the time of Alexander to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The spread of the Sikh faith and the rise of the Khalsa have featured heavily in his recent works.
With thanks : source : www.artofpunjab.comSikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
SHABAD VICHAR SMS Posts by Sd. Jagjot singh ji, Delhi
· Je asi Parmatma naal preet jodna chahnde ha, ta pehle usdi banayi kudrat, usde bande te usde kite karam naal preet lani payegi. Jad tak asi Krit naal prem nahi karange,tad tak Karta vi door hi nazar aayega ji.
· Guru Da Shabad Atma layi hajme di goli da kam karda hai. Jis tarah sada sharir bhojan nu pacha ke takat paeda karda hai,us hi tarah, Shabad jape hoye Naam nu pacha ke hirde vich nirmal gun paeda karda hai. Je ko khave, Je ko bhunche, Tis ka hove udharo.
· Je Mata, bina sharirak peeda to guzhre, ek jeev nu janam nahi de sakdi. Te socho ek Bhagat, Parmatma nu apne hi hirde to janam den layi (prakat karan layi), kini mushkilan da samna karda hovega. Bhave marag kina vi okha hove, Bhagat Guru de sidhant to kadi dolda nahi.
· Jad vi man vich apni vadiyayi aaye, ta usnu samjhao 'Mein te kuch vi nahi'.Ahankaar ik rog hai, te ek suchet Man, usda Anti-Biotic.
· Maaf karna te sab de naal prem karna, Parmatma de gun ne. Je asi sehje-sehje Parmatma de guna nu apne jivan vich kamavange,tad hi sada Parmatma nal antar mit sakega. Guru Kirpa kare ta asi vi ek din keh sakiye "Ram Kabira Ek Bhaye hai, koi na sake pachani"
· Manukh di har Icha puri nahi hondi,te honi vi nahi chahidi.Nahi te oh apne nu Karta samajh ke Hankari ho jaanda hai.Vekho, Raavan te Harnakash da ki haal hoya.Waheguru har kisi nu usdi jharoorat anusaar denda hai,es layi koi icha puri na hon te shikwa na karo.
· Sikhi is more than just a physical saroop. It is a set of values like: Nimarta,Santokh,Prem,Bandagi,D aya,Dridhta,Bharosa and more. We must try to induce these values in our character,so that we can be closer to the definition of Sikh according to Guru Sahib.
· Jivan da asli anand sehaj vich hai. Ais layi, jo vastu ya insaan twanu vikaran val le jaye, usto parhej karo ji. Sehaj awastha vich kita ik ghadi da Simran bahut phal denda hai ji.
· Guru Nanak ne sanu sharir di puja to vanjiya si, te asi aaj unha di hi photo nu matha tek rahe ha! Guru Nanak da satkar unha di photo di puja nahi, unha di bani/updesh nu kamana hai ji.
· Sada Guru shuru to hi Shabad si. Guru Nanak de bol: “Shabad Guru Surat Dhun Chela”. Agar asi Guru nu Shabad/Updesh kar ke samajhiye (sharir nahi) ta sanu dasah Guruan vich koi antar nahi disega ji.
· Majority is no justification of Moral Correctness. Log ki kehnde ne, usde piche na chalo. Apne Guru da hukam unconditionally manoge, ta Guru sab karaj aap hi raas kar denge ji.
· "Parmatma Sab Jagah Hai Par Do Than te nahi : Sade Man Vich te Sadi Yaad Vich" - Giani Maskeen Ji.
· Jithe Icha/Expectation hove,uthe icha puri na hon da dar ya icha puri hon di excitement hondi hai. Better hai ki sab icha chad ke, ik awastha vich tik ke, Karte nu apne jivan di lagaam phada daiye.
· Simran karde hoye jad ras aan lag jaye, ta Gursikh kehnda hai "Jis Waheguru di yaad ehni mithi hai, usde darshan kine sohne hovenge" Tad Naam di bhuk aur vad jandi hai.
• We would like to know your feedback on our SMSs. Pls. send MSG SHABADVICHARSMS followed by your opinion as an SMS to 567678.
• If you feel our SMSs are any help to you, pls. ask your friends/relatives to join in by sending JOIN SHABADVICHARSMS as an sms to 567678.
Sent by Sd. Jagjot Singh ji, Lajpat nagar, Delhi
SikhsIndia
spreading awareness
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
· Guru Da Shabad Atma layi hajme di goli da kam karda hai. Jis tarah sada sharir bhojan nu pacha ke takat paeda karda hai,us hi tarah, Shabad jape hoye Naam nu pacha ke hirde vich nirmal gun paeda karda hai. Je ko khave, Je ko bhunche, Tis ka hove udharo.
· Je Mata, bina sharirak peeda to guzhre, ek jeev nu janam nahi de sakdi. Te socho ek Bhagat, Parmatma nu apne hi hirde to janam den layi (prakat karan layi), kini mushkilan da samna karda hovega. Bhave marag kina vi okha hove, Bhagat Guru de sidhant to kadi dolda nahi.
· Jad vi man vich apni vadiyayi aaye, ta usnu samjhao 'Mein te kuch vi nahi'.Ahankaar ik rog hai, te ek suchet Man, usda Anti-Biotic.
· Maaf karna te sab de naal prem karna, Parmatma de gun ne. Je asi sehje-sehje Parmatma de guna nu apne jivan vich kamavange,tad hi sada Parmatma nal antar mit sakega. Guru Kirpa kare ta asi vi ek din keh sakiye "Ram Kabira Ek Bhaye hai, koi na sake pachani"
· Manukh di har Icha puri nahi hondi,te honi vi nahi chahidi.Nahi te oh apne nu Karta samajh ke Hankari ho jaanda hai.Vekho, Raavan te Harnakash da ki haal hoya.Waheguru har kisi nu usdi jharoorat anusaar denda hai,es layi koi icha puri na hon te shikwa na karo.
· Sikhi is more than just a physical saroop. It is a set of values like: Nimarta,Santokh,Prem,Bandagi,D aya,Dridhta,Bharosa and more. We must try to induce these values in our character,so that we can be closer to the definition of Sikh according to Guru Sahib.
· Jivan da asli anand sehaj vich hai. Ais layi, jo vastu ya insaan twanu vikaran val le jaye, usto parhej karo ji. Sehaj awastha vich kita ik ghadi da Simran bahut phal denda hai ji.
· Guru Nanak ne sanu sharir di puja to vanjiya si, te asi aaj unha di hi photo nu matha tek rahe ha! Guru Nanak da satkar unha di photo di puja nahi, unha di bani/updesh nu kamana hai ji.
· Sada Guru shuru to hi Shabad si. Guru Nanak de bol: “Shabad Guru Surat Dhun Chela”. Agar asi Guru nu Shabad/Updesh kar ke samajhiye (sharir nahi) ta sanu dasah Guruan vich koi antar nahi disega ji.
· Majority is no justification of Moral Correctness. Log ki kehnde ne, usde piche na chalo. Apne Guru da hukam unconditionally manoge, ta Guru sab karaj aap hi raas kar denge ji.
· "Parmatma Sab Jagah Hai Par Do Than te nahi : Sade Man Vich te Sadi Yaad Vich" - Giani Maskeen Ji.
· Jithe Icha/Expectation hove,uthe icha puri na hon da dar ya icha puri hon di excitement hondi hai. Better hai ki sab icha chad ke, ik awastha vich tik ke, Karte nu apne jivan di lagaam phada daiye.
· Simran karde hoye jad ras aan lag jaye, ta Gursikh kehnda hai "Jis Waheguru di yaad ehni mithi hai, usde darshan kine sohne hovenge" Tad Naam di bhuk aur vad jandi hai.
• We would like to know your feedback on our SMSs. Pls. send MSG SHABADVICHARSMS followed by your opinion as an SMS to 567678.
• If you feel our SMSs are any help to you, pls. ask your friends/relatives to join in by sending JOIN SHABADVICHARSMS as an sms to 567678.
Sent by Sd. Jagjot Singh ji, Lajpat nagar, Delhi
SikhsIndia
spreading awareness
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
HPSGROUP SMS service
Agar tuhanu HPSGROUP de SMS nahi aa rahe, ate agar tusi koi sajan SMS pana chande ho te sirf ik wari apne mobile ton 9219592195 te JOIN HPSGROUP SMS kar devo. Horna nu v daso ji.
In the service of mankind - Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli
Working for the poor, the downtrodden the needy and the helpless is more than just a hobby for BHUPINDER SINGH KOHLI from Nerul. It is a daily ritual. Apart from his busy schedule as an employee of the State Bank of India at CBD Belapur , Kohli is immersed in social work and constantly attempts to find solutions to the problems of the helpless in his own unique ways.
Kohli’s latest idea has been to convert his own Santro Car to a vehicle for people in distress. Explains Kohli, “Four months back, I happened to see an accident nearUran Phata at around 7 pm. The victim was fatally wounded but he could reach the hospital only after precious time had lapsed, for want of timely ambulance services. This incident made me think of alternative sources to help people in distress. And that very night, I realised that I had one of these sources with me. I could help with my new car which I’d been using sparingly. I decided to use the car in emergencies for shifting patients from or to hospitals, free of cost. “ The very next day, Kohli sprung into action and inscribed ‘FREE HOSPITAL SERVICE WITHIN NAVI MUMBAI DURING THE NIGHT’ on his car. During the next three months, he helped seven patients to reach the hospital during medical emergencies.
As appreciation for his dedication, the local Gurudwara presented Kohli with a second hand ambulance.. Though my car would serve the purpose of dropping patient to the hospital, proper medical equipment is not available inside the car. Now, with the ambulance service available, I’m sure more lives will be saved. This ambulance service too comes at no cost,” he reveals.This devout Sikh has done seven first aid courses in various hospitals across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
Says Kohli, “When I was studying, I happened to see many rich patients dumping expensive medicines, which were not past their expiry date, after they recovered from their illness. These medicines would have otherwise served poor patients.” From then on, Kohli started collecting unused and un-expired medicines as well as free samples given by doctors. The medicines collected thus were sent to charitable dispensaries.
Kohli also collects used equipments like walking sticks, saline stands and oxygen cylinders,among others, sterilises them, and gives them to poor patients. He also collects old and usable clothes, utensils, reading materials and toys for needy people in villages. The jewel in the crown of Kohli’s social work is his mammoth compilation of a computerised Blood Group Directory that has a list of around 4,800 donors’ names and addresses, collected individually. This social worker, who is responsible for organising many medical camps, is also a member of Civil Defence, Red Cross Society and Traffic Wardens.
If you want to join Mr. Kohli, Bhai Ghanaiya ji sewa, in the service of mankind, plz contact him at :
BHUPINDER SINGH KOHLI
e-mail : ghanaiyaji@khalsa.com
PH : 9821421058
Res : B-21/3, SBI QUARTERS, SECTOR-13, NERUL
NAVI MUMBAI 400706 (INDIA)
Kohli’s latest idea has been to convert his own Santro Car to a vehicle for people in distress. Explains Kohli, “Four months back, I happened to see an accident nearUran Phata at around 7 pm. The victim was fatally wounded but he could reach the hospital only after precious time had lapsed, for want of timely ambulance services. This incident made me think of alternative sources to help people in distress. And that very night, I realised that I had one of these sources with me. I could help with my new car which I’d been using sparingly. I decided to use the car in emergencies for shifting patients from or to hospitals, free of cost. “ The very next day, Kohli sprung into action and inscribed ‘FREE HOSPITAL SERVICE WITHIN NAVI MUMBAI DURING THE NIGHT’ on his car. During the next three months, he helped seven patients to reach the hospital during medical emergencies.
As appreciation for his dedication, the local Gurudwara presented Kohli with a second hand ambulance.. Though my car would serve the purpose of dropping patient to the hospital, proper medical equipment is not available inside the car. Now, with the ambulance service available, I’m sure more lives will be saved. This ambulance service too comes at no cost,” he reveals.This devout Sikh has done seven first aid courses in various hospitals across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
Says Kohli, “When I was studying, I happened to see many rich patients dumping expensive medicines, which were not past their expiry date, after they recovered from their illness. These medicines would have otherwise served poor patients.” From then on, Kohli started collecting unused and un-expired medicines as well as free samples given by doctors. The medicines collected thus were sent to charitable dispensaries.
Kohli also collects used equipments like walking sticks, saline stands and oxygen cylinders,among others, sterilises them, and gives them to poor patients. He also collects old and usable clothes, utensils, reading materials and toys for needy people in villages. The jewel in the crown of Kohli’s social work is his mammoth compilation of a computerised Blood Group Directory that has a list of around 4,800 donors’ names and addresses, collected individually. This social worker, who is responsible for organising many medical camps, is also a member of Civil Defence, Red Cross Society and Traffic Wardens.
If you want to join Mr. Kohli, Bhai Ghanaiya ji sewa, in the service of mankind, plz contact him at :
BHUPINDER SINGH KOHLI
e-mail : ghanaiyaji@khalsa.com
PH : 9821421058
Res : B-21/3, SBI QUARTERS, SECTOR-13, NERUL
NAVI MUMBAI 400706 (INDIA)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Sikhs Secure Right To Wear The Kirpan In 61 Schools In Six States
"We appreciate National Heritage Academies level-headed approach in addressing this important issue pertaining to fundamental religious freedoms. While UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh community do not want any restrictions to be placed on the wearing of the Kirpan, we believe this is an educational issue about the Kirpan and it will take time for people in the USA to realize that the Kirpan is not a weapon of offense, as they have in Canada and the UK." - Jaspreet Singh, Staff Attorney, UNITED SIKHS
"It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practice their faith freely. It is important for my daughter to have her freedom of religion, especially since she made her own commitment to become amrit-dhari last year. We thank UNITED SIKHS for their work on this case." - Gobinder Singh, Sukhmeet's father.
UNITED SIKHS encourages the Sikh community to wear their kakaars, fearlessly exercise their freedom of religion, and to contact us with any problems, concerns, or incidents of discrimination.
Battle Creek, MI, USA: Sikhs moved one step further in their continuous struggle to practice their religion freely. Sukhmeet Kaur, a Sikh student in the 8th grade, had been ordered by school authorities to remove her Kirpan during school hours or not come to school at all. The Kirpan is a short religious sword that is worn as one of five mandatory articles of faith by initiated Sikhs and reminds a Sikh of their duty to uphold truth and justice. After being contacted by Sukhmeet's father, Gobinder Singh, UNITED SIKHS legal team wrote to her school, the Endeavor Charter Academy in Springfield, MI. Endeavor is one of sixty-one schools run by the National Heritage Academies in six states.
Attorneys for National Heritage Academies responded earlier this month to UNITED SIKHS, stating that Sikh students enrolled at their schools would be allowed to carry the Kirpan, subject to certain restrictions. Commenting on the result, Gobinder Singh, Sukhmeet's father, stated, "It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practice their faith freely. It is important for my daughter to have her freedom of religion, especially since she made her own commitment to become amrit-dhari last year. We thank UNITED SIKHS for their work on this case."
The National Heritage Academies was first contacted by UNITED SIKHS in May 2009 with detailed information on the importance of the Kirpan, supporting case law, and an offer to conduct Sikh cultural awareness training for their staff. National Heritage Academies replied that they value their diverse pool of students and respect their rights, and would allow Sikh students to wear the Kirpan subject to certain restrictions.
The restrictions are as follows:
Students are required to inform school officials before wearing the Kirpan to school;
The student and their parents are required to sign an agreement that acknowledges that they will abide by the restrictions;
The Kirpan blade must be dull and under 3 inches long;
The Kirpan must be sewn tightly into its sheath, and worn under the clothing so that it is not visible;
The student may not remove the Kirpan from its sheath or from under clothing while in school or at school activities;
The student must allow periodic inspections of the Kirpan to ensure that these conditions are being met.
Commenting on the restrictions imposed by the Academies, Jaspreet Singh, UNITED SIKHS Staff Attorney stated, "We appreciate National Heritage Academies level-headed approach in addressing this important issue pertaining to fundamental religious freedoms. While UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh community do not want any restrictions to be placed on the wearing of the Kirpan, we believe this is an educational issue about the Kirpan and it will take time for people in the USA to realize that the Kirpan is not a weapon of offense, as they have in Canada and the UK." UNITED SIKHS will continue to advocate for the right to wear the Kirpan, and aims to reach a point where the world at large can understand the rich meaning of the Kirpan and the significance it has for Sikhs.
National Heritage Academies has sixty-one schools in Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, and New York, and acknowledged that they will allow Sikh students to wear the Kirpan in their schools. Sikhs in the six states were pleased with the news. Tehal Singh, President, Sikh Cultural Society of New York, commented, "It is very good that Sikh students are being allowed to wear the Kirpan in these schools. In the future, we hope that public schools will also accommodate our children's right to practice their faith freely."
Lakhwinder Singh, President of the Sikh Society of Dayton, OH stated, "We welcome this accommodation and appreciate that the school has cooperated with UNITED SIKHS for the benefit of our children. We will continue to work with other schools and UNITED SIKHS to ensure that other schools also understand our community better."
Commenting on the decision, Dr. Gurnam Singh of Michigan stated, "The executive and the trust committees of Gurdwara Singh Sabha Kalamazoo laud the enlightened decision taken by the National Heritage Academies allowing their Sikh students to wear the Kirpan, one of the five articles of faith for the Sikhs. We are also very appreciative of the persistent efforts expended by UNITED SIKHS in promoting understanding of the Sikh faith in the community at large."
Parminder Kaur, President of Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina stated, "Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina and its membership are delighted to hear that the National Heritage Academies have made it possible for one of our fellow Sikhs, Sukhmeet Kaur, to continue to practice her faith by allowing her to wear the Kirpan, one of the five articles of faith for Sikhs. It is a significant step in recognizing the importance of tolerance for other religions and their practices, and we look forward to proliferation of such tolerance across other school systems in the United States. Both the National Heritage Academies and UNITED SIKHS are to be congratulated for their efforts."
Dr. Surendrapal Singh, President, Charlotte Gurdwara stated, "We appreciate the decision of the National Heritage Academies authorities to allow the wearing of the Kirpan by Sikh students. I also thank UNITED SIKHS for taking this task of educating School authorities about Sikh articles of faith."
UNITED SIKHS encourages the Sikh community to wear their kakaars, fearlessly exercise their freedom of religion, and to contact us with any problems, concerns, or incidents of discrimination. Kuldip Singh, Director, UNITED SIKHS stated, "I thank the Sikh community for their diligent work in bringing incidents like this one to our notice. These are important steps in our communities' civil rights advocacy."
To read a previous press release on UNITED SIKHS advocacy efforts around the Kirpan, please visit: http://unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-14-05-2009-00.htm.
Help us tailor our advocacy initiatives for the greatest global impact by participating in the Global Sikh Civil Rights Survey.
Donate to assist us in initiatives like this one; your donation is tax-deductible.
Issued by:Harpreet Singh Legal DirectorInternational Civil and Human Rights Advocacy (ICHRA)UNITED SIKHSPhone: 646-315-3909 mailto:646-315-3909contact@unitedsikhs.org
with thanks the SOURCE.
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
"It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practice their faith freely. It is important for my daughter to have her freedom of religion, especially since she made her own commitment to become amrit-dhari last year. We thank UNITED SIKHS for their work on this case." - Gobinder Singh, Sukhmeet's father.
UNITED SIKHS encourages the Sikh community to wear their kakaars, fearlessly exercise their freedom of religion, and to contact us with any problems, concerns, or incidents of discrimination.
Battle Creek, MI, USA: Sikhs moved one step further in their continuous struggle to practice their religion freely. Sukhmeet Kaur, a Sikh student in the 8th grade, had been ordered by school authorities to remove her Kirpan during school hours or not come to school at all. The Kirpan is a short religious sword that is worn as one of five mandatory articles of faith by initiated Sikhs and reminds a Sikh of their duty to uphold truth and justice. After being contacted by Sukhmeet's father, Gobinder Singh, UNITED SIKHS legal team wrote to her school, the Endeavor Charter Academy in Springfield, MI. Endeavor is one of sixty-one schools run by the National Heritage Academies in six states.
Attorneys for National Heritage Academies responded earlier this month to UNITED SIKHS, stating that Sikh students enrolled at their schools would be allowed to carry the Kirpan, subject to certain restrictions. Commenting on the result, Gobinder Singh, Sukhmeet's father, stated, "It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practice their faith freely. It is important for my daughter to have her freedom of religion, especially since she made her own commitment to become amrit-dhari last year. We thank UNITED SIKHS for their work on this case."
The National Heritage Academies was first contacted by UNITED SIKHS in May 2009 with detailed information on the importance of the Kirpan, supporting case law, and an offer to conduct Sikh cultural awareness training for their staff. National Heritage Academies replied that they value their diverse pool of students and respect their rights, and would allow Sikh students to wear the Kirpan subject to certain restrictions.
The restrictions are as follows:
Students are required to inform school officials before wearing the Kirpan to school;
The student and their parents are required to sign an agreement that acknowledges that they will abide by the restrictions;
The Kirpan blade must be dull and under 3 inches long;
The Kirpan must be sewn tightly into its sheath, and worn under the clothing so that it is not visible;
The student may not remove the Kirpan from its sheath or from under clothing while in school or at school activities;
The student must allow periodic inspections of the Kirpan to ensure that these conditions are being met.
Commenting on the restrictions imposed by the Academies, Jaspreet Singh, UNITED SIKHS Staff Attorney stated, "We appreciate National Heritage Academies level-headed approach in addressing this important issue pertaining to fundamental religious freedoms. While UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh community do not want any restrictions to be placed on the wearing of the Kirpan, we believe this is an educational issue about the Kirpan and it will take time for people in the USA to realize that the Kirpan is not a weapon of offense, as they have in Canada and the UK." UNITED SIKHS will continue to advocate for the right to wear the Kirpan, and aims to reach a point where the world at large can understand the rich meaning of the Kirpan and the significance it has for Sikhs.
National Heritage Academies has sixty-one schools in Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, and New York, and acknowledged that they will allow Sikh students to wear the Kirpan in their schools. Sikhs in the six states were pleased with the news. Tehal Singh, President, Sikh Cultural Society of New York, commented, "It is very good that Sikh students are being allowed to wear the Kirpan in these schools. In the future, we hope that public schools will also accommodate our children's right to practice their faith freely."
Lakhwinder Singh, President of the Sikh Society of Dayton, OH stated, "We welcome this accommodation and appreciate that the school has cooperated with UNITED SIKHS for the benefit of our children. We will continue to work with other schools and UNITED SIKHS to ensure that other schools also understand our community better."
Commenting on the decision, Dr. Gurnam Singh of Michigan stated, "The executive and the trust committees of Gurdwara Singh Sabha Kalamazoo laud the enlightened decision taken by the National Heritage Academies allowing their Sikh students to wear the Kirpan, one of the five articles of faith for the Sikhs. We are also very appreciative of the persistent efforts expended by UNITED SIKHS in promoting understanding of the Sikh faith in the community at large."
Parminder Kaur, President of Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina stated, "Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina and its membership are delighted to hear that the National Heritage Academies have made it possible for one of our fellow Sikhs, Sukhmeet Kaur, to continue to practice her faith by allowing her to wear the Kirpan, one of the five articles of faith for Sikhs. It is a significant step in recognizing the importance of tolerance for other religions and their practices, and we look forward to proliferation of such tolerance across other school systems in the United States. Both the National Heritage Academies and UNITED SIKHS are to be congratulated for their efforts."
Dr. Surendrapal Singh, President, Charlotte Gurdwara stated, "We appreciate the decision of the National Heritage Academies authorities to allow the wearing of the Kirpan by Sikh students. I also thank UNITED SIKHS for taking this task of educating School authorities about Sikh articles of faith."
UNITED SIKHS encourages the Sikh community to wear their kakaars, fearlessly exercise their freedom of religion, and to contact us with any problems, concerns, or incidents of discrimination. Kuldip Singh, Director, UNITED SIKHS stated, "I thank the Sikh community for their diligent work in bringing incidents like this one to our notice. These are important steps in our communities' civil rights advocacy."
To read a previous press release on UNITED SIKHS advocacy efforts around the Kirpan, please visit: http://unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-14-05-2009-00.htm.
Help us tailor our advocacy initiatives for the greatest global impact by participating in the Global Sikh Civil Rights Survey.
Donate to assist us in initiatives like this one; your donation is tax-deductible.
Issued by:Harpreet Singh Legal DirectorInternational Civil and Human Rights Advocacy (ICHRA)UNITED SIKHSPhone: 646-315-3909 mailto:646-315-3909contact@unitedsikhs.org
with thanks the SOURCE.
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Promote sikhi in the Sikh community atleast
SikhsIndia requests to one & all in the Sikh community, to suggest us, that how can we join together to promote Sikhi, atleast in the Sikh community. Your valued comments & suggestions are being awaited very eagerly.
Regards
SikhsIndia
SikhsIndia - A sikh blog
Sat Sri Akal,
SikhsIndia requests the visitors of the blog :
- to subscribe the RSS feeds to get the daily news & information in your mail box.
- to give your valued comments on various topics being added regularly.
- to contribute Sikh news & pics from your area from any where in the world.
- to submit details of Gurmat samagam in your area from any where in the world.
- to suggest how to control the problem of patit khalsa, the trimmers etc.
- to suggest how to promote Sikhi in the Sikh community atleast.
Looking forward for your comments.
Best regards
Team
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
SikhsIndia requests the visitors of the blog :
- to subscribe the RSS feeds to get the daily news & information in your mail box.
- to give your valued comments on various topics being added regularly.
- to contribute Sikh news & pics from your area from any where in the world.
- to submit details of Gurmat samagam in your area from any where in the world.
- to suggest how to control the problem of patit khalsa, the trimmers etc.
- to suggest how to promote Sikhi in the Sikh community atleast.
Looking forward for your comments.
Best regards
Team
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Sikh children can carry 'Kirpan' in 61 US schools
Washington, Sep 25 (PTI) Sikh students enrolled in 61 schools run by the National Heritage Academies in the US have been allowed to carry 'Kirpan', a symbol of their faith, subject to certain restrictions.
The National Heritage Academies (NHA), which runs its schools in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and New York, has allowed Sikh children to carry 'Kirpan' in the institutions, a statement issued by the United Sikhs, a Sikh advocacy group, said.
It all started when Sukhmeet Kaur, a Sikh student in the 8th grade, was ordered by school authorities to remove her 'Kirpan' during school hours or not to come to school at all.
After being approached by her father, Gobinder Singh, the United Sikhs' legal team wrote to the school, the Endeavour Charter Academy at Springfield in Michigan.
"It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practise their faith freely.
with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/300393_Sikh-children-can-carry--Kirpan--in-61-US-schools
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
The National Heritage Academies (NHA), which runs its schools in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and New York, has allowed Sikh children to carry 'Kirpan' in the institutions, a statement issued by the United Sikhs, a Sikh advocacy group, said.
It all started when Sukhmeet Kaur, a Sikh student in the 8th grade, was ordered by school authorities to remove her 'Kirpan' during school hours or not to come to school at all.
After being approached by her father, Gobinder Singh, the United Sikhs' legal team wrote to the school, the Endeavour Charter Academy at Springfield in Michigan.
"It really affects a child's growth when they cannot practise their faith freely.
with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/300393_Sikh-children-can-carry--Kirpan--in-61-US-schools
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Thursday, September 24, 2009
4,000 Sikh pilgrims arrive from India
Thursday, September 24, 2009
LAHORE
AT least 4,000 Indian pilgrims, wearing colourful turbans and with smiling faces, arrived at Wagah Station to take part in the ceremony being held in connection with the 470th death anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Narowal.
The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) welcomed them at Wagah Station. Tonnes of petals were showered on them amidst drum beats and dancing horses especially arranged for their warm reception.
The pilgrims were entertained with a hearty lunch and drinks by Syed Asif Hashami, chairman of the ETPB.
Speaking at the Wagah Railway Station after arriving from India, the leader and senior member of Sharmini Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, Sardar Ameerit Singh Wachaoo, said that after Maharaja Ranjeet Singh it was Syed Asif Hashami who had taken care of the sacred places of Sikhs in Pakistan and the Sikh community had no enough words to thank him.
He said the services Asif Hashami rendered for Sikhs were unparallel and he was respected by the Sikhs all over the world. He thanked Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani for appointing such a devoted person as chairman of ETPB.
Former Indian parliamentarian Sardar Guldeep Singh Wandala said that he was overjoyed at the reception they received at Wagha and wanted peace in the region. He said that he was happy over the security arrangements for the Sikh devotees and was thankful for the free residence, medical and transport facilities provided to them. He said, “We have not seen such good arrangements in the last 60 years.”
Sardar Balvinder Singh said that Asif Hashami had a lot of respect and love for the Sikh community and the Sikhs respect him a lot.
Dr Pertapal Singh, who has come from America, said that Asif Hashami had been able to successfully assembly people of two different religions in a befitting manner which was a big achievement.
Sardar Sham Singh, Sardar Bishen Singh, Sardar Soren Singh and many others also spoke. The pilgrims hoped that the governments of India and Pakistan would work to bring harmony and peace in the region while resolving all the disputes amicably. They said that visa restrictions should not be removed but they should be eased as regulations were also necessary to foil nefarious designs of those hidden elements that had been trying to disrupt peace efforts between two countries.
They said economic and cultural ties should be promoted in the region. They also stressed resolution of all contentious issues including Kashmir issue. They said both the governments should release prisoners languishing in jails of each other’s countries. They thanked the Pakistani government for providing them with first-class facilities at Wagah Station.
Speaking on the occasion, ETPB Chairman Asif Hashami said that Guru Nanak spread peace and love in this region and Mian Mir, Bhullay Shah and others spread the same message to make this region an area of peace.
He said, “More Sikhs should come to Pakistan and give us an opportunity to show hospitality towards them and when they return, their hearts should be filled with appreciation of our country.” Asif Hashami said that the President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani had issued special instructions for the wellbeing of the visiting Sikh pilgrims.
The visiting Indian pilgrims would visit various sacred places during their stay in Punjab. All the departments were working in collaboration and they have set up their counters separately to facilitate the pilgrims.
with thanks : source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=199775
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
LAHORE
AT least 4,000 Indian pilgrims, wearing colourful turbans and with smiling faces, arrived at Wagah Station to take part in the ceremony being held in connection with the 470th death anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Narowal.
The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) welcomed them at Wagah Station. Tonnes of petals were showered on them amidst drum beats and dancing horses especially arranged for their warm reception.
The pilgrims were entertained with a hearty lunch and drinks by Syed Asif Hashami, chairman of the ETPB.
Speaking at the Wagah Railway Station after arriving from India, the leader and senior member of Sharmini Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, Sardar Ameerit Singh Wachaoo, said that after Maharaja Ranjeet Singh it was Syed Asif Hashami who had taken care of the sacred places of Sikhs in Pakistan and the Sikh community had no enough words to thank him.
He said the services Asif Hashami rendered for Sikhs were unparallel and he was respected by the Sikhs all over the world. He thanked Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani for appointing such a devoted person as chairman of ETPB.
Former Indian parliamentarian Sardar Guldeep Singh Wandala said that he was overjoyed at the reception they received at Wagha and wanted peace in the region. He said that he was happy over the security arrangements for the Sikh devotees and was thankful for the free residence, medical and transport facilities provided to them. He said, “We have not seen such good arrangements in the last 60 years.”
Sardar Balvinder Singh said that Asif Hashami had a lot of respect and love for the Sikh community and the Sikhs respect him a lot.
Dr Pertapal Singh, who has come from America, said that Asif Hashami had been able to successfully assembly people of two different religions in a befitting manner which was a big achievement.
Sardar Sham Singh, Sardar Bishen Singh, Sardar Soren Singh and many others also spoke. The pilgrims hoped that the governments of India and Pakistan would work to bring harmony and peace in the region while resolving all the disputes amicably. They said that visa restrictions should not be removed but they should be eased as regulations were also necessary to foil nefarious designs of those hidden elements that had been trying to disrupt peace efforts between two countries.
They said economic and cultural ties should be promoted in the region. They also stressed resolution of all contentious issues including Kashmir issue. They said both the governments should release prisoners languishing in jails of each other’s countries. They thanked the Pakistani government for providing them with first-class facilities at Wagah Station.
Speaking on the occasion, ETPB Chairman Asif Hashami said that Guru Nanak spread peace and love in this region and Mian Mir, Bhullay Shah and others spread the same message to make this region an area of peace.
He said, “More Sikhs should come to Pakistan and give us an opportunity to show hospitality towards them and when they return, their hearts should be filled with appreciation of our country.” Asif Hashami said that the President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani had issued special instructions for the wellbeing of the visiting Sikh pilgrims.
The visiting Indian pilgrims would visit various sacred places during their stay in Punjab. All the departments were working in collaboration and they have set up their counters separately to facilitate the pilgrims.
with thanks : source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=199775
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Gurmat samagam : Akhand Keertani Jatha Delhi
Please view details of 5 day programme at various Gurudwaras in Delhi by
Akhand Keertani Jatha Delhi ( Regd):
Akhand Keertani Jatha Delhi ( Regd):
Abolish visas, demand Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan
by IANS on September 22, 2009
Over 350 Sikh devotees from India, who arrived in this Pakistani city to attend the death anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, have urged Islamabad and New Delhi to abolish visas for pilgrims.
The Sikh devotees, who are travelling under the aegis of India’s Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, arrived here Monday and would be visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib situated in Narowal district of Pakistan.
The devotees urged both the governments “to abolish the visas for the pilgrimages”, Geo TV reported Tuesday.
The group would also visit other Sikh shrines, including Punja Sahib, Dera Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Sacha Sauda Sahib and Rohri Sahib, before leaving for India Sep 28.
with thanks : source : http://www.latestnewsonline.net/world/abolish-visas-demand-sikh-pilgrims-to-pakistan/45033.html
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Over 350 Sikh devotees from India, who arrived in this Pakistani city to attend the death anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, have urged Islamabad and New Delhi to abolish visas for pilgrims.
The Sikh devotees, who are travelling under the aegis of India’s Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, arrived here Monday and would be visiting Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib situated in Narowal district of Pakistan.
The devotees urged both the governments “to abolish the visas for the pilgrimages”, Geo TV reported Tuesday.
The group would also visit other Sikh shrines, including Punja Sahib, Dera Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Sacha Sauda Sahib and Rohri Sahib, before leaving for India Sep 28.
with thanks : source : http://www.latestnewsonline.net/world/abolish-visas-demand-sikh-pilgrims-to-pakistan/45033.html
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Sapreet Kaur named Executive Director of Sikh Coalition
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
NEW YORK : Sapreet Kaur has been named as the new Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. Sapreet Kaur was most recently the managing director of human assets strategy for Teach for America (www.teachforamerica.org), a national non-profit which focuses on eliminating educational inequity.
Sapreet Kaur served on the Sikh Coalition's Board of Trustees for the last one and a half years and will now lead the organization in a staff role. She will continue the work shepherded by Amardeep Singh, co-founder and outgoing Executive Director of the Coalition. Singh will be assuming the role of Director of Programs and Advocacy.
"We are thrilled to have a senior executive like Ms. Kaur on the Coalition's staff team," said Amardeep Singh. "I look forward to partnering with her to take the Sikh Coalition to a higher level of impact and growth."
Over the past three years, the Coalition has grown over 500% in its budget and staff. The Coalition opened an office in the San Francisco Bay Area last year, giving it coast to coast coverage for its services. The Coalition has long attracted a dedicated core of professionals and the expertise that Ms. Kaur brings to the team will further institutionalize the organization in the coming years.
"Sapreet will guide the next phase of the Coalition's growth," said Prabhjot Singh, the Coalition's Board Chair. "Our goal is for her to bring her vast management experience and keen insight to bear on expanding programmatic efforts and shoring up the infrastructure to continue the Coalition's work. I want to thank Amardeep for leading the Coalition during an unprecedented era of growth. I am excited about this opportunity for him to focus his energies on our overall programming strategy."
Kaur plans to advance the Sikh Coalition's legal, advocacy, community organizing, and public education programs to focus on further serving the community, while creating a deeper grassroots presence. She also plans on leveraging her experience from Teach for America to provide stewardship of the Coalition's public education work, which seeks to inform the broader community about Sikhs and the Sikh way of life.
"Only after we successfully educate our neighbors, will we be able to stem the tide of employment discrimination, school bullying, and the myriad of other bias incidents our community suffers everyday," said Ms. Kaur. "At the same time, we will bring the full force of all our program areas, partner organizations and volunteers across the country to defend the rights of Sikhs to fearlessly practice our faith."
Born and raised in central New Jersey, Ms. Kaur attended Camp Chardi Kala in New York as well as the Khalsa School at Bridgewater Gurdwara while growing up and has been active in different Panthic community activities for the last two decades. She has a passion for working with the Sikh community and especially enjoys working to empower the next generation of youth and children. Ms. Kaur is a graduate of the Stern School of Business at New York University with a dual degree in marketing and international business.
Ms. Kaur's appointment marks the first time that a female and someone steeped in nonprofit management has led a Sikh civil rights organization in the U.S. Prior to joining Teach for America, she held management positions at Coach Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. She also served in the United States Peace Corps in Kenya and Uganda, where she designed and executed local community programs around income generation related to conservation, conflict resolution, lobbying & advocacy, as well as organizational development & capacity building. Ms. Kaur also serves as a board member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (wagggsworld.org), a 10 million member worldwide movement across 135 countries providing non-formal education where girls and young women develop leadership and life skills.
Founded after September 11, 2001, the Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. The Coalition has offices in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area and 10 full time staff members. The Coalition serves as a resource on Sikhs and Sikh concerns for governments, organizations and individuals.
with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/19000/92/
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
NEW YORK : Sapreet Kaur has been named as the new Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. Sapreet Kaur was most recently the managing director of human assets strategy for Teach for America (www.teachforamerica.org), a national non-profit which focuses on eliminating educational inequity.
Sapreet Kaur served on the Sikh Coalition's Board of Trustees for the last one and a half years and will now lead the organization in a staff role. She will continue the work shepherded by Amardeep Singh, co-founder and outgoing Executive Director of the Coalition. Singh will be assuming the role of Director of Programs and Advocacy.
"We are thrilled to have a senior executive like Ms. Kaur on the Coalition's staff team," said Amardeep Singh. "I look forward to partnering with her to take the Sikh Coalition to a higher level of impact and growth."
Over the past three years, the Coalition has grown over 500% in its budget and staff. The Coalition opened an office in the San Francisco Bay Area last year, giving it coast to coast coverage for its services. The Coalition has long attracted a dedicated core of professionals and the expertise that Ms. Kaur brings to the team will further institutionalize the organization in the coming years.
"Sapreet will guide the next phase of the Coalition's growth," said Prabhjot Singh, the Coalition's Board Chair. "Our goal is for her to bring her vast management experience and keen insight to bear on expanding programmatic efforts and shoring up the infrastructure to continue the Coalition's work. I want to thank Amardeep for leading the Coalition during an unprecedented era of growth. I am excited about this opportunity for him to focus his energies on our overall programming strategy."
Kaur plans to advance the Sikh Coalition's legal, advocacy, community organizing, and public education programs to focus on further serving the community, while creating a deeper grassroots presence. She also plans on leveraging her experience from Teach for America to provide stewardship of the Coalition's public education work, which seeks to inform the broader community about Sikhs and the Sikh way of life.
"Only after we successfully educate our neighbors, will we be able to stem the tide of employment discrimination, school bullying, and the myriad of other bias incidents our community suffers everyday," said Ms. Kaur. "At the same time, we will bring the full force of all our program areas, partner organizations and volunteers across the country to defend the rights of Sikhs to fearlessly practice our faith."
Born and raised in central New Jersey, Ms. Kaur attended Camp Chardi Kala in New York as well as the Khalsa School at Bridgewater Gurdwara while growing up and has been active in different Panthic community activities for the last two decades. She has a passion for working with the Sikh community and especially enjoys working to empower the next generation of youth and children. Ms. Kaur is a graduate of the Stern School of Business at New York University with a dual degree in marketing and international business.
Ms. Kaur's appointment marks the first time that a female and someone steeped in nonprofit management has led a Sikh civil rights organization in the U.S. Prior to joining Teach for America, she held management positions at Coach Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. She also served in the United States Peace Corps in Kenya and Uganda, where she designed and executed local community programs around income generation related to conservation, conflict resolution, lobbying & advocacy, as well as organizational development & capacity building. Ms. Kaur also serves as a board member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (wagggsworld.org), a 10 million member worldwide movement across 135 countries providing non-formal education where girls and young women develop leadership and life skills.
Founded after September 11, 2001, the Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. The Coalition has offices in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area and 10 full time staff members. The Coalition serves as a resource on Sikhs and Sikh concerns for governments, organizations and individuals.
with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/19000/92/
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
Daily live video Kirtan program from Harmandir Sahib on the internet demanded
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
AMRITSAR: Amritsar Vikas Manch has demanded a site for the video broadcast of daily live video Kirtan program from Harmandir Sahib on the internet and also an extension of its audio broadcast on the internet radio from the beginning to the end. In a reminder to the SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar, the Manch patron Dr. Charanjit Singh Gumtala has apprised him of the technological developments in USA, Canada, UK and many other countries (included India) where by all Gurdwaras have set up their own websites and started dishing out video programs just like TV and one of the most visited sites http://www.sikhnet.com/ provides links to different Gurdwara websites so as facilitate the users.
Even the service from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib Ludhiana telecast from 4:30 am to 11 am (IST) and 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm (IST) is linked to benefit viewers sitting anywhere. Last year on 22nd August,Dr.Gumala wrote a letter in this regard to Makkar but nothing has been done.
Programs from the Harmandir Sahib Amritsar are viewed with respect and enjoyed worldwide by not only the Sikh population but also many others. These programs are telecast daily by PTC Punjabi channel in India and by Alpha/ETC Punjabi channel all over the world.
Unfortunately these channels are not available on the internet and a special and costly connection is required from satellite and cable companies. In USA , Dish Network (Satellite Company) charges $150 for installing a new dish and $20 per month for showing this channel alone thus robbing huge sums of money from Gurbani Lovers. And, Alpha/ETC Punjabi is not available in many countries, so it is not possible to watch Gurbani Kirtan from Harmandir Sahib even if they want to spend any amount. In fact, even in USA , Canada , where Alpha/ETC Punjabi channel is available through Dishnetwork, viewers living in apartments cannot watch this channel because it requires putting up a dish which is not permitted in apartment housing. One of the biggest cable company Time Warner show Indian channels but skips Alpha/ETC Punjabi.
Besides, the moment Gurbani Kirtan program stops, the screen of Alpha/ETC Punjabi is taken over by ads from taantriks and venders of superstitions and dogma.
With the availability of direct video programs from the Harmandir Sahib on the SGPC site, viewers, whether in Europe or America or Far East or middle East or even Australia and New Zealand would be able to access them. So world over, thousand of University students can also view and listen to Gurbani on the internet. This would also neutralize the charge of marketing Gurbani which the SGPC has to face not unoften.
Similarly, the radio hours of Gurbani Kirtan should be extended to cover the entire service i.e.from the beginning to the end, daily.
with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/18966/38/
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
AMRITSAR: Amritsar Vikas Manch has demanded a site for the video broadcast of daily live video Kirtan program from Harmandir Sahib on the internet and also an extension of its audio broadcast on the internet radio from the beginning to the end. In a reminder to the SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar, the Manch patron Dr. Charanjit Singh Gumtala has apprised him of the technological developments in USA, Canada, UK and many other countries (included India) where by all Gurdwaras have set up their own websites and started dishing out video programs just like TV and one of the most visited sites http://www.sikhnet.com/ provides links to different Gurdwara websites so as facilitate the users.
Even the service from Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib Ludhiana telecast from 4:30 am to 11 am (IST) and 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm (IST) is linked to benefit viewers sitting anywhere. Last year on 22nd August,Dr.Gumala wrote a letter in this regard to Makkar but nothing has been done.
Programs from the Harmandir Sahib Amritsar are viewed with respect and enjoyed worldwide by not only the Sikh population but also many others. These programs are telecast daily by PTC Punjabi channel in India and by Alpha/ETC Punjabi channel all over the world.
Unfortunately these channels are not available on the internet and a special and costly connection is required from satellite and cable companies. In USA , Dish Network (Satellite Company) charges $150 for installing a new dish and $20 per month for showing this channel alone thus robbing huge sums of money from Gurbani Lovers. And, Alpha/ETC Punjabi is not available in many countries, so it is not possible to watch Gurbani Kirtan from Harmandir Sahib even if they want to spend any amount. In fact, even in USA , Canada , where Alpha/ETC Punjabi channel is available through Dishnetwork, viewers living in apartments cannot watch this channel because it requires putting up a dish which is not permitted in apartment housing. One of the biggest cable company Time Warner show Indian channels but skips Alpha/ETC Punjabi.
Besides, the moment Gurbani Kirtan program stops, the screen of Alpha/ETC Punjabi is taken over by ads from taantriks and venders of superstitions and dogma.
With the availability of direct video programs from the Harmandir Sahib on the SGPC site, viewers, whether in Europe or America or Far East or middle East or even Australia and New Zealand would be able to access them. So world over, thousand of University students can also view and listen to Gurbani on the internet. This would also neutralize the charge of marketing Gurbani which the SGPC has to face not unoften.
Similarly, the radio hours of Gurbani Kirtan should be extended to cover the entire service i.e.from the beginning to the end, daily.
with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/18966/38/
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sardars unite to make more Singhs king
By: Varun Singh Date: 2009-09-21 Place: Mumbai
Maharashtra Sikh Association to walk the extra mile to ensure at least five Sikh candidates win the forthcoming Assembly polls.
Sardar Daljeet Singh Bal, the president of the Maharashtra Sikh Association (MSA), feels that Mumbai's five lakh Sikhs are sorely underrepresented in the state's political setup.
There are just two elected representatives from the community MLA Sardar Tara Singh of the BJP from Mulund and BMC corporator Harvinder Kaur Singh Bira from GTB Nagar.
In a close-door meeting at Dadar last week, the MSA decided to support Sikh candidates in the forthcoming Assembly polls irrespective of the party that fields them.
"We want at least five MLAs from our community. We have communicated this to various political parties and asked them to field more Sardars.
We will ask political parties to not pit one Sikh candidate against another in the forthcoming polls," said Bal.
The MSA has already extended its support to Mandeep Singh Sehgal, a Samajwadi Party ticket hopeful, from the Sikh dominated Sion-Koliwada neighbourhood.
"I am certain that I will win the seat, as the Sikh community is united in its support for me.
The Congress is fielding a non-Sikh candidate from the constituency, who does not enjoy the support of the locals," said Sehgal.
Sikh MLA
Sardar Tara Singh, the lone Sikh in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, however, said political parties should consider competence of a candidate and not membership to a community as a criterion when they issue tickets.
"North Indians and Gujaratis are demanding tickets for members of their community. Tickets, I feel, should be given to deserving candidates irrespective of the religion they profess or the state they come from," he said.
Raj Shroff, the general secretary of Mumbai Congress, said, "Electing the right representative irrespective is of paramount importance.
As long as the persons chosen do their job, their religion or community should not matter." said Shroff.
with thanks : source : http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/sep/210909-Mandeep-Singh-Sion-Koliwada-area.htm
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
500 Indian Sikh pilgrims due in Pakistan today
Over 500 Sikhs from India will arrive in Pakistan from today for about a week to participate in the Joti Jot (death anniversary) of Guru Nanak. The Sikhs will reach Wagah railway station by Samjhota Express and arrive at the Gurdawara Dera Sahib in Lahore.
They will visit Gurdawara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpura, Narowal, on September 22 where Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Asif Hashmi will host a reception in their honour and address them. They will travel to Nankana Sahib later in the week. They will also visit Gurdawara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad, Gurdawara Panja Sahib in Hasanabdal and Gurdawara Rori Sahib in Aimanabad.
with thanks : source : http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=315979&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
They will visit Gurdawara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpura, Narowal, on September 22 where Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Asif Hashmi will host a reception in their honour and address them. They will travel to Nankana Sahib later in the week. They will also visit Gurdawara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad, Gurdawara Panja Sahib in Hasanabdal and Gurdawara Rori Sahib in Aimanabad.
with thanks : source : http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=315979&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Monday, September 21, 2009
Gurmat samagam : Sri Guru Nanak Sewak Jatha
Please view details of Gurmat Samagam arranged by Sri Guru Nanak Sewak Jatha,
Chand mohalla, Gandhi nagar, Delhi
Chand mohalla, Gandhi nagar, Delhi
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Shabad Vichar SMS postings
Please read some of the postings from Shabad Vichar SMS - Sent by Sd. Jagjot singh ji.
· "BIN SATGUR NAO NA PAYIYE, BIN NAAVE KYA SUAO"Sada man roopi bhanda vikaran di mael nal bhareya hai. Bina Guru Shabad(Gyan) roopi sabun de eh man manjeya nahi jayega. Te jad tak eh bhanda manjeya nahi jayega, tad tak es vich pavitar Amrit Naam kive niwas karega ji?
· Guru Gobind Singh Ji ne aisa Sikh banaya, jisda prabhav duniya kabool kare. Afsoos, aj te sade naujawan veer/bhena filmstars te TV actors da prabhav kabool kar, unha varga saroop bana rahe han. Sanu apna etihaas padna te hora nu prerna chahida hai te ardaas kariye ki Guru sanu puratan sikhan varga sidak bakshe.
· We generally take God's Gifts for granted. Just do a small exercise. List down 10 things that you love the most in this world. And for a moment, imagine life without them. Then, you will realize what all Waheguru has given us."Das Bastu Le Pache Pave, Ek Bastu Karan Bekhot Gavave"
· Baal awastha vich Parmatma naal judna zyada sokha hai,kyuki tad manukh padarathan de moh vich nahi pya honda.Sanu apne bacheyan, rishtedaran ate jankaran de bacheyan nu Simran,Sewa,Bani naal judan di prerna deni chahide he, taki aan wale samay vich Sikhi chardi kala vich rahe.
· Shabad Guru, manukh de Jeevan di POTENTIALITY nu REALITY vich badal denda hai. Manukha Jeevan bahut kimti hai ji, es nu vyarth na gvayiye.
· Jad tak asi ekaant vich beth ke, apne dhyan(surat) nu bani(shabad) vich nahi jodhde, tad tak Man tikega nahi te manukh sansaar de sab sukh bhogde hoye vi dukhi hi rahega. Agar asli sukh chahida hai, te thodi mehnat kar ke din da kuch samay Guru nu do,taki man bani anusar ho jaye ji.
· Jis tarah Guru sharir nahi, Shabad hai. Us hi tarah, Sikh vi sharir nahi... ASI JOT HAA (MAN TU JOT SAROOP HAI, APNA MOOL PACHAN) Kadi observe karo, sadi sari energy sharir di jharooratan vich lagi hai, ki asi Atma nu vi savarya hai; kadi Guru da gyan le ke,apne man nu badalna chahya hai?
· Kaam,Krodh,Lobh,Moh te Ahankaar sade man de charo taraf ek chakravyu bana ke bethe ne. Sanu Nimarta,Simran,Sewa,Daya te Sach roopi yodheyan de sahare enha naal jhoojhna hai.Ta hi Man de kile te fateh ho sakagi, ta hi man vich vasde Parmatma tak pahuch ho sakegi. MAN JITE JAG JIT.
· Sikh nu Guru agge apni mang rakhan da adhikaar hai, par eh gal dhyan rahe ki usdi mang Vikaaran di poorti layi na hove. Nahi te haalat eh ban jayegi ki "Bin Tudh Hor Je Mangna, Sir Dukha Ke Dukh" Guru da gyan le ke Sikh eh mang karda hai "De Naam Santokhia, Utre Man ki Bhuk"
· Prem te Moh vich thoda hi antar hai. Kisi padarath/vyakti layi pyaar di bhavna rakhna Prem hai. Par jad eh sade man nu apne adhin kar le, ta eh Moh da roop le lendi hai. Gurmat sansar naal Prem karan to nahi rokdi, par kisi de moh vich Guru de bhane nu na kabulna, Gurmat to ult hai.
· We would like to know your feedback on our SMSs. Pls. send MSG SHABADVICHARSMS followed by your opinion as an SMS to 567678.
· If you feel our SMSs are any help to you, pls. ask your friends/relatives to join in by sending JOIN SHABADVICHARSMS as an sms to 567678.
Sent by : Sd. Jagjot singh ji
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
· "BIN SATGUR NAO NA PAYIYE, BIN NAAVE KYA SUAO"Sada man roopi bhanda vikaran di mael nal bhareya hai. Bina Guru Shabad(Gyan) roopi sabun de eh man manjeya nahi jayega. Te jad tak eh bhanda manjeya nahi jayega, tad tak es vich pavitar Amrit Naam kive niwas karega ji?
· Guru Gobind Singh Ji ne aisa Sikh banaya, jisda prabhav duniya kabool kare. Afsoos, aj te sade naujawan veer/bhena filmstars te TV actors da prabhav kabool kar, unha varga saroop bana rahe han. Sanu apna etihaas padna te hora nu prerna chahida hai te ardaas kariye ki Guru sanu puratan sikhan varga sidak bakshe.
· We generally take God's Gifts for granted. Just do a small exercise. List down 10 things that you love the most in this world. And for a moment, imagine life without them. Then, you will realize what all Waheguru has given us."Das Bastu Le Pache Pave, Ek Bastu Karan Bekhot Gavave"
· Baal awastha vich Parmatma naal judna zyada sokha hai,kyuki tad manukh padarathan de moh vich nahi pya honda.Sanu apne bacheyan, rishtedaran ate jankaran de bacheyan nu Simran,Sewa,Bani naal judan di prerna deni chahide he, taki aan wale samay vich Sikhi chardi kala vich rahe.
· Shabad Guru, manukh de Jeevan di POTENTIALITY nu REALITY vich badal denda hai. Manukha Jeevan bahut kimti hai ji, es nu vyarth na gvayiye.
· Jad tak asi ekaant vich beth ke, apne dhyan(surat) nu bani(shabad) vich nahi jodhde, tad tak Man tikega nahi te manukh sansaar de sab sukh bhogde hoye vi dukhi hi rahega. Agar asli sukh chahida hai, te thodi mehnat kar ke din da kuch samay Guru nu do,taki man bani anusar ho jaye ji.
· Jis tarah Guru sharir nahi, Shabad hai. Us hi tarah, Sikh vi sharir nahi... ASI JOT HAA (MAN TU JOT SAROOP HAI, APNA MOOL PACHAN) Kadi observe karo, sadi sari energy sharir di jharooratan vich lagi hai, ki asi Atma nu vi savarya hai; kadi Guru da gyan le ke,apne man nu badalna chahya hai?
· Kaam,Krodh,Lobh,Moh te Ahankaar sade man de charo taraf ek chakravyu bana ke bethe ne. Sanu Nimarta,Simran,Sewa,Daya te Sach roopi yodheyan de sahare enha naal jhoojhna hai.Ta hi Man de kile te fateh ho sakagi, ta hi man vich vasde Parmatma tak pahuch ho sakegi. MAN JITE JAG JIT.
· Sikh nu Guru agge apni mang rakhan da adhikaar hai, par eh gal dhyan rahe ki usdi mang Vikaaran di poorti layi na hove. Nahi te haalat eh ban jayegi ki "Bin Tudh Hor Je Mangna, Sir Dukha Ke Dukh" Guru da gyan le ke Sikh eh mang karda hai "De Naam Santokhia, Utre Man ki Bhuk"
· Prem te Moh vich thoda hi antar hai. Kisi padarath/vyakti layi pyaar di bhavna rakhna Prem hai. Par jad eh sade man nu apne adhin kar le, ta eh Moh da roop le lendi hai. Gurmat sansar naal Prem karan to nahi rokdi, par kisi de moh vich Guru de bhane nu na kabulna, Gurmat to ult hai.
· We would like to know your feedback on our SMSs. Pls. send MSG SHABADVICHARSMS followed by your opinion as an SMS to 567678.
· If you feel our SMSs are any help to you, pls. ask your friends/relatives to join in by sending JOIN SHABADVICHARSMS as an sms to 567678.
Sent by : Sd. Jagjot singh ji
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
405th installation anniversary of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
2009-09-19 18:40:00
People of all religions and communities gathered to celebrate the 405th anniversary of the installation of the Sikh holy scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, at Gurudwara Maithan in Agra.
This was a significant landmark for the Sikhs, as the 275-year-old handwritten scripture, whose front pages are written with gold, was put on display for the devotees.
"The Guru Granth Sahib has the preaching or 'bani' of famous poets like Kabir ji, Guru Ravidas ji and Baba Farid ji. It is symbol of humanity and so people of all the religions have gathered here to celebrate the 'Prakash Parv', the installation ceremony together," said Kanwldeep Singh, President of Sri Gursikh Sabha.
Also on display was a miniature scripture of Guru Granth Sahib, which has been preserved at the Gurudwara Maithan for the past 15 years.
"We have Guru Granth sahib of 1 X 1 inches long. The British for the convenience of Sikh soldiers especially designed the holy book during the First World War, as they could not carry a normal sized book in the battlefield. The miniature Guru Granth Sahib was printed in Germany. It was kept in a silver box," said Gyani Kashmir Singh, head Granthi of Gurudwara Maithan.
To mark the anniversary of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib, special prayers were also held in the Gurudwara premises, which once the house of Mai jassi that was visited by Guru Sri Tegh Bahadur.he gurudwara is currently undergoing renovation and will be expanded to facilitate the large number of devotees visiting the shrine.
A total of 20 million dollars will be spent on renovation and construction of new Gurudwara, a 100-bed hospital and a community hall.
Gurudwara Maithan also upheld the tradition of Langar, which has been followed over the centuries. Guru Arjan Dev and Mata Ganga set the precedent of preparing and serving food to the hungry, in the langar hall, where all social, economic and religious barriers collapse and all - the laborer, the lord, the peasant and the prince, are treated alike and served the same food in the same manner.
This is a practice of great social significance, and it is the key to the understanding of Sikhism.
with thanks : source : By Brijesh Sharma (ANI) &
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jjtsEehchii&title=405th_installation_anniversary_of_Sri_Guru_Granth_Sahib
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
People of all religions and communities gathered to celebrate the 405th anniversary of the installation of the Sikh holy scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, at Gurudwara Maithan in Agra.
This was a significant landmark for the Sikhs, as the 275-year-old handwritten scripture, whose front pages are written with gold, was put on display for the devotees.
"The Guru Granth Sahib has the preaching or 'bani' of famous poets like Kabir ji, Guru Ravidas ji and Baba Farid ji. It is symbol of humanity and so people of all the religions have gathered here to celebrate the 'Prakash Parv', the installation ceremony together," said Kanwldeep Singh, President of Sri Gursikh Sabha.
Also on display was a miniature scripture of Guru Granth Sahib, which has been preserved at the Gurudwara Maithan for the past 15 years.
"We have Guru Granth sahib of 1 X 1 inches long. The British for the convenience of Sikh soldiers especially designed the holy book during the First World War, as they could not carry a normal sized book in the battlefield. The miniature Guru Granth Sahib was printed in Germany. It was kept in a silver box," said Gyani Kashmir Singh, head Granthi of Gurudwara Maithan.
To mark the anniversary of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib, special prayers were also held in the Gurudwara premises, which once the house of Mai jassi that was visited by Guru Sri Tegh Bahadur.he gurudwara is currently undergoing renovation and will be expanded to facilitate the large number of devotees visiting the shrine.
A total of 20 million dollars will be spent on renovation and construction of new Gurudwara, a 100-bed hospital and a community hall.
Gurudwara Maithan also upheld the tradition of Langar, which has been followed over the centuries. Guru Arjan Dev and Mata Ganga set the precedent of preparing and serving food to the hungry, in the langar hall, where all social, economic and religious barriers collapse and all - the laborer, the lord, the peasant and the prince, are treated alike and served the same food in the same manner.
This is a practice of great social significance, and it is the key to the understanding of Sikhism.
with thanks : source : By Brijesh Sharma (ANI) &
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jjtsEehchii&title=405th_installation_anniversary_of_Sri_Guru_Granth_Sahib
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Live internet broadcasting sewa for Gurmat samagams
We are pleased to inform that www.baani.net offers Video recording, Projector & Live internet broadcasting sewa for Gurmat samagams.For bookings as well other co-operations, please log on to the website to contact the organisers.
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Gurmat samagam : Shabad chowki jatha : Pics
Plz view pics of the programme arranged by Shabad Chowki jatha, Gurdwara Sri guru singh sabha, F block, Krishna nagar, Delhi-110051
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Real Gurmat Prachar
Dear Veerji,
I happened to come accross your website ( http://www.sohnijodi.com/ ) and read the Gurmat Prachar page. I must say, that I totally agree with your point of view. There is an urgent need for proper and practical means of Gurmat Prachar.
We, in a small way are doing our share of Sewa to bring awareness of Gurmat Principles into Sikh Sangat. We collect Katha/Kirtan audio files as well as articles from various sources, make CDs of them and distribute amongst every Sikh we meet, free of cost. Though we have been doing this for some time now, and have seen positive results, but we still feel, we are working on a very small scale and are not able to reach the Sikh masses.
For the same cause, I realized that rather than telling people about Gurmat principles on individual basis, why not urge them to attend Katha programmes or atleast listen to Katha CDs. Trust me, Gurbani Vichar/Katha works tremendously in clearing your doubts/ thoughts about Gurmat. So, we are now trying to promote Katha programmes amongst Sikh Sangat. In the same regards, we wrote a short write up which we are distributing amongst all. Pls. find the same attached to this email.
Anyways, if you want a copy of the CDs we distribute, just let me know. I will courier it to you.
I happened to come accross your website ( http://www.sohnijodi.com/ ) and read the Gurmat Prachar page. I must say, that I totally agree with your point of view. There is an urgent need for proper and practical means of Gurmat Prachar.
We, in a small way are doing our share of Sewa to bring awareness of Gurmat Principles into Sikh Sangat. We collect Katha/Kirtan audio files as well as articles from various sources, make CDs of them and distribute amongst every Sikh we meet, free of cost. Though we have been doing this for some time now, and have seen positive results, but we still feel, we are working on a very small scale and are not able to reach the Sikh masses.
For the same cause, I realized that rather than telling people about Gurmat principles on individual basis, why not urge them to attend Katha programmes or atleast listen to Katha CDs. Trust me, Gurbani Vichar/Katha works tremendously in clearing your doubts/ thoughts about Gurmat. So, we are now trying to promote Katha programmes amongst Sikh Sangat. In the same regards, we wrote a short write up which we are distributing amongst all. Pls. find the same attached to this email.
Anyways, if you want a copy of the CDs we distribute, just let me know. I will courier it to you.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa,
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,
Jagjot Singh
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sikh police officer 'left humiliated for refusing to remove turban during training’
A Sikh police officer was “humiliated” by his Greater Manchester Police colleagues after refusing to remove his turban for training and undergoing practices that would breach his faith, an employment tribunal heard.
By Andrew Hough Published: 7:00AM BST 17 Sep 2009
Gurmeal Singh, 31, was “deeply offended” by his Greater Manchester Police colleagues’ actions that left him suffering panic attacks and high blood pressure and has been hospitalised twice.
Pc Singh, who is based at Wythenshawe Police station, near Manchester, told the hearing that he was told to remove his turban during a training exercise.
He also claims he was “coerced” into walking through a petrol fire, despite telling trainers about a flammable gel he had applied to his beard, which he feared if it was burnt would break the strict beliefs which he had observed since he was 15.
When officers suggested he get a modified turban, the officer, who joined the force in 2003 as a Police Community support officer at Northernden police station, said he feared he would be made to look like a character from the BBC comedy Only Fools and Horses.
The tribunal in Manchester heard that he felt like he was from an episode of the TV sitcom in which Del Boy Trotter took a delivery of “crash turbans” - helmets with cloth wrapped around it.
When he complained, he claimed one sergeant appeared to trivialise the matter, telling him: “This is what you signed up for.”
Senior officers were even alleged to have made “racist remarks about machine gunning down Eid celebrators” who were celebrating the end of Ramadan, the hearing heard.
The officer, who is claiming £200,000 in compensation from the force, was serving at Northenden, Greater Manchester at the time. "I am deeply offended by the way I have been treated by the police organisation and by various colleagues," he told the hearing.
“My turban is not an article of clothing like a shirt or tie - it is part of me, a part of my religion and I feel as though my religion and I have become an issue for GMP.
“It has made me feel alienated. I was deeply offended and humiliated.”
The hearing was told PC Singh was off sick in April for three months but has returned to light duties at Wythenshawe police station.
GMP deny racial discrimination.
The British Sikh Police Association is backing PC Singh in his legal action.
The hearing continues.
with thanks : source :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6197652/Sikh-police-officer-left-humiliated-for-refusing-to-remove-turban-during-training-tribunal-hears.html
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/
http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/
SikhsIndia : looking for your comments
SikhsIndia
17th September, 2009Sat Sri Akal,
We are pleased to inform that our Sikh web portal http://www.sohnijodi.com/ has crossed 15 Lakh hits.
We are also thankful to the most valued visitors of our Sikh blog http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/.
We are trying our best to gain the wider reach. Therefore, we request to all of you to pass on your most valued comments as well suggestions for our Sikh web portal & Sikh blog.
Please add your comments as well suggestions by clicking the comments button below. We will be thankful to you.
With best regards
SikhsIndia
http://www.sohnijodi.com/ - A sikh web portal
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Mohali golf range threatens to wipe out Sikh history
Ramaninder K Bhatia, TNN 17 September 2009, 02:40am IST
CHHAPAR CHIRI (Mohali): The most significant slice of Sikh history, the battleground where the Khalsa avenged the killing of the two younger sons of the 10th Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh, may soon be lost to a swank golf range if the recently approved master plan of Mohali is executed.
Barely 20 km away from Chandigarh, off Kharar-Landran road, lies Chhappar-Chiri village — once known for its plentiful ponds and mangroves on the banks of Patiala Ki Rao — where in 1710, the brave Banda Singh, anointed general of the Khalsa army by Guru Gobind Singh and sent to stop the tyranny of Mughals, defeated the army of Wazir Khan, the subedar of Sirhind who had ordered the killing of Sahibzada Zoravar Singh and Fateh Singh by bricking them alive. Khan was put to death and his body dragged to Sirhind, about 25 km from the village, before the Khalsa army proceeded to decimate the town.
Sikh historians are unanimous in their observation that this was the most important victory against the Mughals as it paved the way for a number of similar triumphs across several towns in Punjab. Yet, except for a simple board, bearing a history of the place, outside the local gurdwara, there are no memorials even though the place, spread across 14-15 acre of dense forests, has been visited by many VIPs, including CM Parkash Singh Badal, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar and his predecessor GS Tohra.
The gurdwara displays five handmade iron weapons and turban rings (chakkar) which were dug out by a farmer while installing a tubewell. ‘‘We’ve heard from our ancestors how the Khalsa forces, despite being outnumbered and ill-equipped, used the forest and guerrilla warfare tactics to defeat a far superior army,” says Zora Singh, a former sarpanch, whose ancestors’ participation in the war has been documented in books on the battle.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/chandigarh/Mohali-golf-range-threatens-to-wipe-out-Sikh-history/articleshow/5020583.cms
SikhsIndia
Religious bias against Sikhs rising, claims group
Khushwant Singh, TNN 17 September 2009, 02:16am IST
CHANDIGARH: The US-based leading Sikh advocacy group, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), has claimed that community's rights
were being constantly curbed in that country and that the US could be fast going the France's way as far as framing laws for minorities was concerned.
Over the last one year alone, SALDEF says it has confronted many attempts by US state governments to perpetuate or enact laws that impair or would have impaired the right of Sikh Americans to practise their religion. "Many of these laws bore a disturbing resemblance to French laws,'' which have seriously impinged on the lives of Sikhs and other religious minorities in that country, said SALDEF in an e-mail statement to TOI.
Citing various such regulations, SALDEF claimed that there were more than five instances in 2009 that hindered Sikhs from wearing their mandated head covering. "The Oklahoma legislature's attempt to ban head covering in ID photos, followed by a similar attempt by Minnesota state, the Maryland attorney general's views on veils and head coverings, the Oregon legislature's ratification of a law banning religious clothing for teachers and the Michigan supreme court allowing judges to order head covering removals were all new challenges for the Sikh community,'' claimed SALDEF.
Eight years after 9/11 terror attacks and the subsequent surge in hate crimes and discrimination against Sikh Americans, "our new challenge is in ensuring that our government works for us, not against us, in the cause of defending religious freedom,'' the Sikh group said.
"One significant test of their commitment will be the manner in which the federal government and the states handle the PASS ID Act of 2009,'' said Manjit Singh, acting chairperson, SALDEF.
The proposed law is designed to standardize photographic identification documents in the US. "The law does not contain explicit protection for religious head coverings, and the high-level bureaucrats at the Department of Homeland Security believe that head coverings should not be worn in identification photographs,'' SALDEF claimed. It said it did not want a situation in which state governments depart from well-settled State Department standards and force Sikh Americans to remove their turbans as a condition to receiving critical identification documents.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Religious-bias-against-Sikhs-rising-claims-group/articleshow/5019796.cms
SikhsIndiaCHANDIGARH: The US-based leading Sikh advocacy group, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), has claimed that community's rights
were being constantly curbed in that country and that the US could be fast going the France's way as far as framing laws for minorities was concerned.
Over the last one year alone, SALDEF says it has confronted many attempts by US state governments to perpetuate or enact laws that impair or would have impaired the right of Sikh Americans to practise their religion. "Many of these laws bore a disturbing resemblance to French laws,'' which have seriously impinged on the lives of Sikhs and other religious minorities in that country, said SALDEF in an e-mail statement to TOI.
Citing various such regulations, SALDEF claimed that there were more than five instances in 2009 that hindered Sikhs from wearing their mandated head covering. "The Oklahoma legislature's attempt to ban head covering in ID photos, followed by a similar attempt by Minnesota state, the Maryland attorney general's views on veils and head coverings, the Oregon legislature's ratification of a law banning religious clothing for teachers and the Michigan supreme court allowing judges to order head covering removals were all new challenges for the Sikh community,'' claimed SALDEF.
Eight years after 9/11 terror attacks and the subsequent surge in hate crimes and discrimination against Sikh Americans, "our new challenge is in ensuring that our government works for us, not against us, in the cause of defending religious freedom,'' the Sikh group said.
"One significant test of their commitment will be the manner in which the federal government and the states handle the PASS ID Act of 2009,'' said Manjit Singh, acting chairperson, SALDEF.
The proposed law is designed to standardize photographic identification documents in the US. "The law does not contain explicit protection for religious head coverings, and the high-level bureaucrats at the Department of Homeland Security believe that head coverings should not be worn in identification photographs,'' SALDEF claimed. It said it did not want a situation in which state governments depart from well-settled State Department standards and force Sikh Americans to remove their turbans as a condition to receiving critical identification documents.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Religious-bias-against-Sikhs-rising-claims-group/articleshow/5019796.cms
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sikhnet youth online 2009 Film Festival
Sikhnet youth online 2009 Film Festival is on now and can be viewed at :
http://www.sikhnet.com/filmfestival/?utm_source=SikhNet&utm_campaign=eef4a1f840-Film_Festival_Announcement9_15_2009&utm_medium=email
Best viewing
SikhsIndia
http://www.sikhnet.com/filmfestival/?utm_source=SikhNet&utm_campaign=eef4a1f840-Film_Festival_Announcement9_15_2009&utm_medium=email
Best viewing
SikhsIndia
Gurmat samagam by Shabad chowki jatha
Plz view the details of the programme at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, F Block, Krishna nagar, Delhi - 110051 by Shabad Chowki Jatha.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Gurmat samagam : please mail us details of your programme
SikhsIndia
15th September, 2009,
Sat sri akal,
If you are celebrating a Gurupurab or having a Keertan samagam in your area, please mail us details of your programme for wider coverage, for uploading on our Sikh web portal with around a LAKH HITS per month from all over the world. You can also mail the pics of the programme for uploading here.
It will be uploaded at : http://www.sohnijodi.com/gurmatsamagam.htm
as well on our Sikh blog : http://www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com/.
If you could add a line in your posters that "Details of the programme can also be viewed on Sikh Web Portal www.sohnijodi.com" , we will be thankful to you.
Best regards
sikhsIndia
Monday, September 14, 2009
Italian ambassador admires Sikhs wearing turban in Italy
September 13, 2009
Punjab: Italy does not mind more immigrants from India, provided they come legally, says Italy’s ambassador to India, a man who estimates that the number of illegal Indian settlers in Italy is over the half the number of legal immigrants.
“Apart from the movement of goods and investments, we consider movement of people of utmost importance for the overall growth of Italy. Immigrants from India have proved a boon for Italy as they are doing extremely well there,” Ambassador Roberto Toscano told IANS in an interview here.
“There are around 77,000 Indians who are legally residing in Italy and a large majority of them are from Punjab. But at the same time there is a huge population of illegal immigrants from India, that is around 40,000,” he said.
Toscano said Italians no longer “feel astonished when we see a Punjabi Sikh, with a turban on his head, moving on a bicycle on Italy’s roads. They have very well become a part of our society and we have also accepted their traditions and customs.
“There are many good, success stories of Indian immigrants, especially from Punjab, and we would like to stress on these.”
The ambassador was in Chandigarh to meet top functionaries in the Punjab government.
State Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal discussed with Toscano the issue of Punjabi youth stranded in Italy after reaching there through illegal means.
“We are also concerned about the tendency of illegal immigration by Punjabi youth,” the ambassador told IANS. “Our government is already looking into this matter and we have assured the Punjab government that all possible help will be provided to such people in Italy.”
Italy, which attracts over 42.3 million tourists annually, wants to tap the tourism market from India.
“We are not geographically close to Punjab but our ambitions are same and we share many similarities with this country. In fact, we have a long history of association with Punjab and centuries-old ancient roman artefacts found here have proved our old links,” the ambassador said.
Italy is the seventh largest economy and sixth largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world.
With thanks : Source: Alkesh Sharma, IANS
“Apart from the movement of goods and investments, we consider movement of people of utmost importance for the overall growth of Italy. Immigrants from India have proved a boon for Italy as they are doing extremely well there,” Ambassador Roberto Toscano told IANS in an interview here.
“There are around 77,000 Indians who are legally residing in Italy and a large majority of them are from Punjab. But at the same time there is a huge population of illegal immigrants from India, that is around 40,000,” he said.
Toscano said Italians no longer “feel astonished when we see a Punjabi Sikh, with a turban on his head, moving on a bicycle on Italy’s roads. They have very well become a part of our society and we have also accepted their traditions and customs.
“There are many good, success stories of Indian immigrants, especially from Punjab, and we would like to stress on these.”
The ambassador was in Chandigarh to meet top functionaries in the Punjab government.
State Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal discussed with Toscano the issue of Punjabi youth stranded in Italy after reaching there through illegal means.
“We are also concerned about the tendency of illegal immigration by Punjabi youth,” the ambassador told IANS. “Our government is already looking into this matter and we have assured the Punjab government that all possible help will be provided to such people in Italy.”
Italy, which attracts over 42.3 million tourists annually, wants to tap the tourism market from India.
“We are not geographically close to Punjab but our ambitions are same and we share many similarities with this country. In fact, we have a long history of association with Punjab and centuries-old ancient roman artefacts found here have proved our old links,” the ambassador said.
Italy is the seventh largest economy and sixth largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world.
With thanks : Source: Alkesh Sharma, IANS
SikhsIndia
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