Sikh students labelled terrorists in New Zealand

New Zealand: Some Sikh men studying in Invercargill have been repeatedly labelled terrorists and racially abused to the point where one student went against his religious beliefs to protect his safety.

Five students out of a group of 25 who arrived in Invercargill this month to study at the Southern Institute of Technology said they have experienced 16 incidents of racial abuse in the past 12 days.

The five said they have all been called terrorists and told to “leave our country” by pedestrians and motorists in the city.

Four of those targeted are Sikh and wear turbans, which they said made some “ignorant” people confuse them with Arabs or Muslims and target them for racial abuse.

One victim, Jasdeep Singh, said he was forced to go against his Sikh beliefs and get a haircut to avoid wearing a turban because he feared for his safety. “I haven’t told my parents yet; they will be shocked and quite angry.”

Fellow student Jasmail Singh said he had had bomb references made to him.

Perpetrators were both male and female, generally in their early 20s, he said.

The attacks had occurred mainly on Friday and Saturday nights and had put the students off walking around the city after dark, Mr Singh said.

One of the students not attacked, Suresh Kumar, said the group had been through a lot to get to New Zealand and were not yet ready to throw it all away.

“We came here with so many dreams and we want to realise those dreams here. We just want the people of Invercargill to accept us as normal human beings,” he said. “But if this is going to continue, then who knows?”

The group said they had all encountered a lot of friendly, helpful people in the city as well, especially at SIT.

SIT business manager Bharat Guha said the institute had contacted police and was investigating ways to help its Indian students.

It was also considering getting getting their recruitment agents in India to brief new students about potential racism, he said.

SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said the issue had been blown out of proportion and Southland was not the only part of the country that experienced racial abuse.

Southland police area commander Barry Taylor said racial abuse did happen in Invercargill from time to time.

However, he had never encountered 16 cases of racial abuse in 12 days before.

“I would be very disappointed if the general community was participating in this sort of thing. I’m confident it’s a small minority,” Mr Taylor said.

With Thanks : Source: MICHAEL FORBES, The Southland Times

Punjab & Haryana High Court told: Unshorn hair is basic for Sikh

The unshorn hair is not only vital but basic for a Sikh and those who do not adhere to this most important ingredient prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, could not call himself to be a Sikh even if he had adopted four of the total five essential symbols that go with the followers of this religion.
This was submitted by well known senior Supreme Court lawyer K T S Tulsi in the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the resumed hearing on the issue of the definition of a Sikh in the limited context of the importance of hair for a true Sikh.
Appearing for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) before a full bench, comprising Justices Jagdish Singh Khehar, Jasbir Singh and Ajay Kumar Mittal, now going into the constitutional validity of the definition of the Sikh as contained in the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, Mr Tulsi submitted that the Guru was specific on providing a distinctly different identity to the Sikh so that he was recognisable even in thousands of people, hence the stress on keeping unshorn hair. If this one principle of Kesha (hair) was not adhered to the other four principles were irrelevant, Tulsi argued while arguing that a person not keeping unshorn hair was a Patit (depraved) and hence not a Sikh.
The constitutional validity of the definition of the Sikh has been challenged by Ms Gurleen Kaur who was denied admission under the quota reserved for the Sikhs by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee(SGPC)-controlled Sri Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Education and Research, Amritsar on the ground that she plucked her eyebrows.
Anyone who trims beard or cuts hair or plucked eyebrows thereby violates the provision and importance of unshorn hair, was a Patit and not a Sikh, Mr Tulsi reiterated in response to the queries from the Bench.
DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna was present in the court room during the hearing besides some other Sikh scholars including Gurtej Singh, an ex-IAS officer and former professor of Sikhism in SGPC, Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, Atinder Pal Singh former MP.
The case would now come up for further hearing now on February 27 when Mr Tulsi would conclude his arguments and others too would make their permission.
The Bench also indicated that it is keen to conclude the hearing in the first week of March and to set the controversy at rest so far the crucial role of the unshorn hair is concerned.
with thanks : UNI

Sikhs in America - Mistaken identity

"MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Sikhs in America" - winner of 3 first prize awards at American Film Festivals six months after its release in the USA. Production started six days after 9/11, when the producers learned that Sikhs were being racially profiled, physically attacked and shot and killed simply because they wore turbans and beards for religious reasons and mistaken for Bin La Din and terrorists.

The film was produced to inform and educate Americans on Who are Sikhs, What is Sikhism and the contribution of Sikhs overseas. Unfortunately, due to the lack of distribution funds, the film has not been able to have theatre releases in USA, Canada, UK and India, nor worldwide TV and DVD distribution. Producers have screened the one hour TV program (mostly free) via DVD across Sikh gurdwaras (for the younger generation), in schools and universities in 33 U.S. States, Canada (House of Commons, Ottawa), and across the UK gurdwaras and British universities in Coventry, Birmingham, Leeds, London, etc. and in Belgium, France, Spain, etc., where there are large populations of Sikhs settled.

The producers are now appealing to the Sikhs in India to assist in sponsoring the premiere screening of MISTAKEN IDENTITY on Doordarshan TV in India, so that people understand the importance of informing and educating the world about Sikhs and Sikhism, especially the younger generation. It is very important not to forget Who are Sikhs, What is Sikhism and What the Sikh work ethics taught by Guru Nanak makes all Sikhs hardworking contributors living in the global village society. Young Sikhs need to be proud of their social, religious and cultural heritage.

Producers of "MISTAKEN IDENTITY" are also seeking funds to complete the triology: "SIKH WOMEN & FAMILY VALUES" & "SIKH ENTREPRENEURS," as 3-part TV series to be distributed around the world.

World's Largest Blood Donation Camp - 10th March - Sri Anandpur Sahib

World's Largest Blood Donation Camp will be held on 10th March, 2009 at Sri Anandpur Sahib. This is being organised by SGPC Amritsar.

News forwarded by : http://www.sohnijodi.com/

Ludhiana hosts Sikh couple contest

For the first time ever in India, Sikh couples walked down a ramp in a couple contest in Ludhiana. Donning both exquisite traditional and western outfits, around 170 couples participated in the contest titled Guru Sikh Couple Contest out whom ten contestants were chosen as the best.
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BANK OF AMERICA CREDIT CARDS WITH GOLDEN TEMPLE PIC

GTCC, Inc. is a privately held investment services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 2002, Golden Temple Credit Corporation is the brainchild of five mature, experienced, community minded businessmen with proven credentials.

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Anti-Sikh riot case: HC sets free 5 implicated by police

NEW DELHI: Terming the police investigation as "inefficient" and "inadequate" in a case pertaining to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Delhi High Court today slammed the city police for implicating five "innocent" men and allowing the real culprits to flee.

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A Sikh web portal

A Sikh web portal www.sohnijodi.com is emerging one of the fast upcoming sikh web portal. In january, 2009, the portal received over 70,000 hits from all over the world. If you are looking for Gursikh Boys and Girls for matrimonial, please put your matrimonial profile with pics on www.sohnijodi.com.

Look after your parents and senior citizens in Punjab or go to jail

Chandigarh, January 19 - Days before his son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal would be sworn in as his deputy, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has given sanction for implementation of the Punjab Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. The law provides for efficacious provision of maintenance of elderly people.

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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ANNOUNCES PRESTIGIOUS DR. MANMOHAN SINGH SCHOLARSHIP 2009

St. John’s College, a leading college of the University of Cambridge, today released details of this year’s prestigious ‘Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarships’, the programme first launched at the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi last year.

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Giving wings to prayers

The all consuming aspiration of large numbers of Punjabis to settle permanently abroad can sometimes assume bizarre forms. One such is the sight at the main sanctum of Gurdwara Sant Baba Nihal Singh Ji Shaheedan in Talhan, a small settlement 10 km east of Jalandhar, which looks like a child’s nursery. That too of a child obsessed with aviation. It is littered with dozens of toy aeroplanes of various sizes and colours.

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