California Governor vetoes AB 504 'kirpan' bill

Washington: A bill to educate law enforcement officers about the religious significance of 'kirpans' has been vetoed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who found it "unnecessary," drawing angry reaction from the Sikh community in the US.

The decision came as a shock to the organisations, individuals and lawmakers who supported the bill.

The veto was particularly surprising given bipartisan votes in favour of the bill in both houses of legislature, advocacy group Sikh Coalition said in a statement.

The bill was passed unanimously in both Houses, by 77-0 in the Assembly and by 36-0 in the Senate.

"This loss for the Sikh community is a reminder of our serious lack of political clout in this state. After months of hard work and 100 per cent support from our lawmakers, the Sikh voice was still not strong enough to overcome the whim of one man," said Prabhjot Singh, Sikh Coalition Board chairman.

The Bill AB 504 was introduced in February 2009 by Assembly member Warren Furutani to use education to help stem the arrests of Sikhs for carrying kirpans in California.

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the arrests of Sikhs nationwide for carrying kirpans in the absence of an understanding among law enforcers.

Police mistakenly believe them to be in violation of concealed weapons laws, the Sikh Coalition said.

"AB 504 was our first attempt to change this," the statement said.

with thanks : source : http://www.samaylive.com/

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CBI catches up with Sajjan Kumar

Twenty-five years after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the UPA government is set to give permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute former Delhi Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in four cases registered after the G.T. Nanavati Commission report of February 2005.

Sources confirmed that CBI chief Ashwani Kumar had written to the Home Ministry earlier this month to seek sanction to prosecute Sajjan Kumar and others as the agency’s investigations into four cases of rioting in Sultanpuri and Mongolpuri on November 1, 1984 were complete.

The CBI will file a fresh charge-sheet before the trial court once the sanction is granted.”We have asked for sanction for prosecution in all four 1984 riots cases recommended by the Nanavati Commission,” said a senior official.

The Nanavati Commission report had found evidence against Kumar and recommended fresh examination of cases in which he was named and no charge-sheet had been filed.

The Home Ministry asked the CBI to investigate the role of Kumar and fellow Congressman Jagdish Tytler in the anti-Sikh pogrom that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. The CBI filed a closure report in the cases against Tytler on April 2, 2009.

Sajjan Kumar was dropped in favour of his brother Ramesh for the South Delhi seat in the Lok Sabha elections this year.

with thanks : source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cbi-catches-up-with-sajjan-kumar/527690/

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Khalsa schools in Surrey, Vancouver, Phoenix, Tucson, Slough.....

KHALSA SCHOOLS IN SURREY :
http://www.khalsaschool.ca

Khalsa School, Newton Campus
6933-124th Street
Surrey, BC
V3W 3W6
Canada

Khalsa Primary School, Newton Campus
6962-124th Street
Surrey, BC
V3W 3W7
Canada

KHALSA SCHOOLS IN VANCOUVER :
http://www.khalsaschool.ca

Khalsa School, Vancouver Campus
5987 Prince Albert Street
Vancouver, BC
V5W 3E2
Canada

Khalsa School, Old Yale Road Campus
10677-124th Street
Surrey, BC
V5V 0B1
Canada

KHALSA SCHOOLS IN PHOENIX :
http://khalsamontessori.org

Khalsa Montessori School Administration
2536 N. 3rd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Elementary School
2536 N. 3rd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Primary School
346 E Coronado Road
Phoenix, AZ 85004

KHALSA SCHOOLS IN TUCSON ( AZ ) :
http://www.khalsamontessorischool.com

Khalsa Montessori School,
3701 River Rd.,
Tucson, AZ 85718,

KHALSA SCHOOL IN SLOUGH :
http://khalsaschoolpta.co.uk

Khalsa school PTA,
C/o. Khalsa primary school,
Wexham road, Slough,
Berks, SL2 5QR, UK

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Intra-Sikh fight in Manila over gurdwara control

Khalsa Diwan, Indian Sikh Temple1350 U.N. Avenue, Paco, Manila

WSN 10/10/09. Manila: Two Filipino-Indian groups are battling for control over the Khalsa Diwan Sikh gurdwara in Paco, Manila. It is the richest, oldest and largest institution of Punjabis here.

Incidentally, a senior management member was killed in the turf war for supremacy in the predominantly Sikh organization whose coffers are estimated to hold some P100 million.

The Khalsa’s duly-elected president, Bhagwant Rai Bansal, survived an ambush in 2006, allegedly staged by rivals whom he charged for misusing more than P30 million. Now, he claims to have received another death threat because he opposed another leader Gurmeet Singh Samalsar, whose faction managed to take over the gurdwara last May. Samalsar was earlier a vice president under Bansal, and is now the new leader of the Khalsa Diwan since a controversial election. Philippines has more than 200 Gurdwaras that draw thousands of worshippers during weekends.

with thanks : source : http://maninblue1947.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/world-sikh-news-intra-sikh-fight-in-manila-over-gurdwara-control/

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Manjot Kaur wins iPHONE at GGSSC Canada Gurmat Crash Course Prize Ceremony

The prize ceremony of GGSSC Gurmat Crash Course on Sikh Bhagats was held at Dixie Gurdwara, Toronto on 4th October 2009. Over 200 students took this exam on 6th September and today was the day to announce the winners. Manreet Singh won an Aspire Netbook, Manjot Kaur who is studying engineering won an iPhone and Harkamal Kaur won a Sony PSP. Harjee Singh and Rabjee Singh won Toys r Us Gift Cards

The following students excelled in this exam and won trophies.

Grand Prizes
Under 8 Yrs Name
Grand Prize Mohit Singh
Grand Prize Gurnoor Singh
Grand Prize Harjee Singh
Grand Prize Rabjee Singh

Consolations Varinder Singh
Consolations Jasmine Kaur
Consolations Udaybir Singh
Consolations Gurjot Singh
Consolations Ajay Singh
Consolations Harpreet Singh
Consolations Gulwinder Singh
Consolations Malhar Singh
Consolations Tanvir Kaur
Consolations Jarnail Singh
Consolations Karan Singh
Consolations Tarleen Kaur
Consolations Varinder Singh
Consolations Taranpret Kaur
Consolations Ekum Singh
Consolations Amrinder Singh

8-12 Yrs
Grand Prize HARKAMAL KAUR
Runner ups PREET KAUR
Runner ups AGAM SINGH
Runner ups BIBEK SINGH
Runner ups ANISH KAUR


13-16Yrs
Grand Prize Manreet Singh
Runner ups Pavneet Kaur
Runner ups Jasmeet Kaur
Runner ups Sukhmeet Kaur


17-24Yrs
Grand Prize Manjot Kaur
Runner ups Harneeta Kaur
Runner ups Kunwarpal Singh
Runner ups Amitoj Singh

For more information please contact Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle Canada at 647 280 5940 or email us at amargold@yahoo.com

with thanks : source : http://www.sikhnet.com/news/manjot-kaur-wins-iphone-ggssc-canada-gurmat-crash-course-prize-ceremony?utm_source=SikhNet&utm_campaign=2292a236e3-Daily_News_Email&utm_medium=email

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Fauja Singh: “I Run While Talking to God”

Fauja in Adidas 'Nothing Is Impossible' advertising campaign

He replaced David Beckham as Adidas’s new poster boy. On the Adidas billboards, spread across London, he was sitting cross-legged; as if cooling his heals after a day’s work out, peeping over Londoners, tired and overworked, telling them the secrets of his unfailing energy.

Fauja Singh, Britain’s most popular Sikh is 98 now, the oldest runner in London Marathon.

He is threatening to break his own world record of 5.40 hours in the 90 plus age bracket that he set previously. While running Marathon races in London, New York and Toronto, he raised thousands of pounds for various charities promoting Sikh culture around the world. He has also raised money for B.L.I.S.S., a charity dedicated to the care for premature babies. He describes it as the ‘oldest running for the youngest.

Fauja’s jogging skills were developed on an Indian farm in Punjab, and then at the magical age of 81, when he moved to the UK, his love for the sport became more “serious”.

Fauja Singh (born April 1, 1911) is a Sikh marathon runner in his nineties from India who is a world-record holder in his age bracket. His current personal best time for the London marathon is 6 hours 2 minutes, and his marathon record, for age 90-plus, is 5 hours 40 minutes.

singh, run, running, running shoes, marathons, runnersFauja Singh shot to fame, when aged 89, he completed the gruelling 26.2 mile distance in 6 hours and 54 minutes. This knocked 58 minutes off the previous world best for anyone in the 90 plus age bracket. The career of this extraordinary Marathon runner is closely supervised by his personal trainer Harminder Singh. He says ‘he can still run for a few more years. And perhaps he might be the oldest man to run a Marathon.

Fauja Singh came to London in 1992 to live with his son after his wife’s death in his village in Jalandhar. He says ‘Sitting at home was really killing. Most elderly people in Britain eat a rich diet, don’t move about and only travel in cars, and that makes them sick’. He wasn’t prepared to go the same way. So he took up jogging initially to beat the boredom of sitting at home.

‘I never thought of running a Marathon then. But slowly it grew.’ What surprises many is that he supports singh, london Marathonhis eight stone and six feet tall body frame with a very simple vegetarian diet. ‘I am very careful about different foods. My diet is simple phulka, dal, green vegetables, yoghurt and milk. I do not touch parathas, pakoras, rice or any other fried food. I take lots of water and tea with ginger’.

And that smile is eternally fixed beneath his silver haired beard. Perhaps that’s the reason behind his strikingly inspiring and positive attitude. ‘I go to bed early taking the name of my Rabba [God] as I don’t want all those negative thoughts crossing my mind.’ Doesn’t he find it difficult to cover 26 miles at this age? ‘The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God.’

Adidas signed him up for its ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ advertising campaign. He won’t reveal how much money the deal involves, but says that a large part of his earnings goes to charity.

Fauja Singh has stated,”I won’t stop running until I die. The next target, God willing, is to be the oldest marathon runner ever.

Fauja Singh hopes to return in 2009 to break the record for the oldest marathon runner - presently held by a 98-year-old Greek athlete.

His profile as found in the face book

Born: 1st April 1911 in India

Former Occupation: Farmer

Running Career: Rediscovered at age of 81

Diet: Ginger Curry

Marathons: London (5), Toronto (1), New York (1)

Marathon Debut: London, 2000 aged 89

London Marathon Personal Best: 6h 2m

London Flora Marathon 2000 6 Hours 54 m

London Flora Marathon 2001 6 Hours 54 m

London Flora Marathon 2002 6 Hours 45 m

Bupa Great North Run (Half Marathon) 2002 2h 39m

London Flora Marathon 2003 6h 2m

Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2003 5h 40m

New York City Marathon 2003 7h 35m

London Flora Marathon 2004 6h 7m

Glasgow City Half Marathon 2004 2h 33m

Capital Radio Help a London Child 10,000m 2004 68m

Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 2004 2h 29m 59s

This is his interview found in Youtube.



with thanks : source : http://gconnect.in/gc/lifestyle/get-ahead/fauja-singh-i-run-while-talking-to-god.html

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UK School Bans Kirpan Forcing Sikh Out of School

"The Compton School's decision is a blow to religious freedom in Barnet schools whilst schools throughout the UK have accommodated Sikh students who wear a Kirpan. The school should recognise that the Kirpan poses no greater risk to other students than scissors, cutters or cutlery that exist in greater numbers in schools and are regularly handled by students ," said Mejindarpal Kaur, UNITED SIKHS Legal Director.

London, U.K. - After two years of negotiating with his school, a 14 year old Sikh boy was told by his North London school that he would no longer be allowed to wear his Kirpan that he had been wearing for two years, because it posed a health and safety risk.

On the first day of school last month, he attempted to attend classes at The Compton School, but was escorted out after he told his teachers that he was wearing his Kirpan, which is a sheathed scimitar, one of the five kakaar ( articles of faith), as an initiated Sikh, he must wear at all times. An award winning student who is starting his crucial GCSE year, J Singh (who is a minor, hence not named) had been out of school for 4 weeks until yesterday, when he obtained admission in a private school after his family took a loan to pay his £6,000- a- year fees.

The legal costs of engaging Bindmans LLP have exceeded £6000. If you wish to assist the family to pay J Singh's private school fees and legal fees incurred to date and in the future, please donate at www.unitedsikhs.org/donate.

UNITED SIKHS has been meeting with community leaders to consider the way forward so that Sikh students may be able to practise their faith freely.

After J Singh was turned away from The Compton School, the Barnet Council's Director of Children's Services, Robert McCulloch-Graham and the Council's legal advisor, Lanna Childs, met UNITED SIKHS legal director, Mejindarpal Kaur and J Singh's family. Lanna Childs insisted that J Singh was not 'excluded' from school as he could return if he removed his Kirpan. Mr Mc Culloch said that since J Singh was not excluded there was no duty for the Council to find him an alternative school, even though he was of compulsory education age.

"Why is a Sikh student being asked to choose between his education and his faith?" Mejindarpal Kaur asked Mr. McCulloch, to which he replied, that the school governors had agreed that J Singh could wear a two inch 'kirpan' from tip of handle to blade, which is welded shut in its sheath.

"We had informed the school that the two-inch alternative is a replica and not a Kirpan, hence not acceptable to J Singh or the community," Mejindarpal Kaur informed Mr Mc Culloch.

Prior to the exclusion, UNITED SIKHS had contacted the Equality and Human rights Commission who offered to provide a mediation service which was declined by the school. We also obtained legal advice from Helen Mountfield, a senior barrister who had represented Sarika Singh in her Kara case last year. The School refused to budge despite representations by Bindmans lawyers following counsel's advice.

UNITED SIKHS has written a letter, cosigned by a number of Sikh organizations, to Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and also sought assistance from the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Sikhs, Rob Marris MP and chair for APPG for Punjabis John Mcdonnell MP. Both also wrote to Ed Balls MP. You may read UNITED SIKHS' letter to ED Balls MP here.

In reply to Rob Marris' letter to Ed Balls, Diana Johnson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, stated that the non-statutory guidance to schools on the wearing of Kirpan explains that schools should be fully aware of the religious observances of Sikhs and the need to deal with this issue sensitively.

"We expect disputes. to be resolved locally. The Department (of Children Schools and Families) does not usually intervene. If challenged, it would ultimately be for the courts to decide if the school is justified in restricting the wearing of the Kirpan in this case," Diana Johnson said.

"The Compton School's decision is a blow to religious freedom in Barnet schools whilst schools throughout the UK have accommodated Sikh students who wear a Kirpan. The school should recognise that the Kirpan poses no greater risk to other students than scissors, cutters or cutlery that exist in greater numbers in schools and are regularly handled by students ," said Mejindarpal Kaur. Sikhs have a statutory exemption under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 that allows them to wear a Kirpan in public, including at schools.

For the last five weeks, as parents saw their children settle into a new academic year, J Singh's family was desperately looking for a school for their son.

"We knew that no school in the Barnet borough would take my brother as they would be bound by the same legal advice given by the Council's lawyers. We looked at schools in other boroughs even though it meant my brother would have to travel an hour each way to school or live away from home. Even that was a challenge as schools had a waiting list and it was too late to join school in the 10th year as most schools took new admissions at year 7," said Ravjeet Singh, J Singh's elder brother.

"We were hopeful that a Sikh faith school in Hayes, the Guru Nanak Sikh School, would accommodate my son. However, they too turned us away saying they have a long waiting list," said J Singh's father, Bhupinder Singh.

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.

with thanks : source : http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=7648

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Sikh woman, three kids found dead in Canadian city

TORONTO: A young Sikh woman and three children were found dead under mysterious circumstances inside their apartment in Calgary city, police said on Thursday.

Calgary in Alberta province has the third largest concentration of the Punjabi community in Canada.

In a statement, Calgary police said they were called to a home in the northeast part of the city on Monday following reports of a dead woman.

They found the body of 27-year-old Harsimrat Kahlon and three newborns inside the apartment. It is unknown whether they were her kids.

Police said Kahlon's death did not look suspicious, but they were treating the deaths of the three newborns as suspicious. The cause of the deaths would be known only after weeks of testing, they said. No age or gender of the newborns was given. Police also didn't say when the deaths took place and how long they had been inside the home before they were found.

Quoting the landlord, a local newspaper said Kahlon had rented one of two suites in the home and had lived there for about three years. She lived with a man, the landlord said, without mentioning whether he was her husband or someone else. According to neighbours, the woman was reportedly pregnant at the time of her death.

with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Sikh-woman-three-kids-found-dead-in-Canadian-city/articleshow/5104559.cms

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Happy Gurupurab

Aap sab ji noo Guru Raam Das ji de Aagman diwas diyaan lakh lakh wadhaaiyan.

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AKHAR - sewa of humanity

Who we Are??

It was in the year of 2007, some like minded people guided by the Principle of Universal brotherhood, equality came together to make a lasting change in the lives of the under-privileged people. As a result AKHAR-SOH was born.

AKHAR is the need of Hour?? --In India there are 25 crore people living below the poverty line, and the weakest among them are the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. People belonging to these communities are landless, and they travel from one place to another place for business purpose.

AKHAR started with the sole aim of improving the socio-economic condition of nomadic/semi-nomadic tribes.Sikligars belong to the semi-nomadic tribe and their socio-economic condition is very weak.

Right now AKHAR works for Sikligars directly in the state of Maharshtra and indirectly through the other like minded organizations in other parts of the country.We aim to uplift them through education, and bring them at par with the other sections of the society.

Plz contact Sd. Ravinder singh & Sd. Balwinder singh on akharsoh.org

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Landmark ruling on marriage awaited

By NATION CorrespondentPosted Wednesday, October 7 2009 at 20:14

The Court of Appeal is set to determine whether unions made in temples without a Registrar of Marriages are legal under the law. A British woman is urging the highest court in the land to rule that her union with a Kenyan man she has lived with for 14 years is “not a marriage.”

Ms Papinder Kaur Atwal, through lawyer Ahmed Nassir, urged the appellate judges, Mr Justice Philip Tunoi, Mr Justice Philip Waki and Mr Justice Erustus Githinji to establish that “a ceremony conducted in a Sikh temple in 1995 between her and Mr Manjit Singh Amrit is not a binding legal marriage.”

Pending determination of the case, the judges have blocked Mr Amrit from evicting Ms Atwal from the matrimonial home.

Bigamy

“This court restrains Mr Amrit, his agents, servants, employees, companies and associates from evicting the applicant from the matrimonial home she occupies.”

The judges gave the order after submissions urging them to quash a judgment by High Court judge Mr Justice David Onyancha who found Ms Atwal “guilty of bigamy.”

Justice Onyancha ruled on July 3 that Ms Atwal had contracted an earlier marriage on January 4, 1986 with Mr Intermit Singh Purewal.

Ms Atwal admits she was forcefully married off to Mr Purewal by her parents at the age of 17 at the Registrar’s Office in Coventry, in the United Kingdom. But the marriage was “not consummated” as she fled to her parents’ home the same day, the court heard.

Nullified

Justice Onyancha nullified the marriage between Mr Amrit and Ms Atwal solemnised in a Sikh temple in London on September 25, 1995. He also gave Mr Amrit custody of their only son.

The judgment was criticised by Mr Nassir, who said that the judge erred in saying that there was a “second marriage” between Ms Atwal and Mr Amrit.

Mr Nassir said that the ceremony conducted at the Sikh temple could not be described as a marriage because it was not presided over by a Registrar of Marriages as stipulated by British law.

However, lawyer Ochieng’ Oduol defended the judgment, saying that Ms Atwal admitted that she did get married at the age of 17. A ruling whether or not on there were two marriages will be made on November 3.

with thanks : source : http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/669490/-/unil8s/-/

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