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
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Sunday, September 20, 2009
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
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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.
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