Sarna's new muse: 111 verses of Zafarnama in English

New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Diplomat-author Navtej Sarna has always felt a creative kinship with exiles. This time round, he has penned an English translation of Zafarnama - 111 spiritually resonant Persian verses of impassioned plea for justice composed by Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh guru, while on the run from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's soldiers in the early 18th century.

'It's a blistering indictment of Aurangzeb's policies and statecraft, the lack of morality in governance and war during his tenure,' Sarna, who is at present India's ambassador to Israel, told IANS in an interview here before he heads to the Jaipur Literary Festival later this week.


'At the same time, it is a stirring praise to true god. Guru Gobind Singh was a prophetic poet, writer, a warrior poet and a polyglot who was well versed in Persian, Sanskrit and Brijbhasha,' said Sarna, who also served as spokesperson of India's Foreign Office for six long years.

with thanks : SIFY : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Burglars steal £42k of Sikh jewellery in Portsmouth

 

Sikh jewellery worth more than £42,000 has been stolen from a house in Hampshire.

More than £17,000 in cash was also lost when burglars removed a safe from the property in Goldsmith Avenue, Portsmouth, at the weekend.

Police said someone got in through the back door of the property between 2345 GMT on Saturday and 0320 GMT on Sunday.

With thanks : BBC News : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Sikhs warned of additional screening of turbans at US airports

Washington, Jan 14 (PTI) Already peeved by securitypat downs, Sikhs in the US have been warned that they couldnow face 100 per cent screening of their turbans at Americanairports as the new imaging technology cannot see throughtheir ''pagris''.

In a mass email alert to the community members, SikhCoalition, an advocacy group, told them that they should beready for additional screening at all the airports.

"Sikhs should now expect to be secondarily screened 100per cent of the time at American airports, even after passing through so-called Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines,"it said.

Although the Transport and Security Administration (TSA)publicly asserts on its website that its newest machines cansee through "layers of clothing," the TSA has made clear inboth word and practice that such machines are not powerfulenough to see through Sikh turbans.

 

with thanks : oneindia : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Lohri Celebration in Chandigarh: Dr.Kitty Singh

B S Vohra in the service to the RWA Community !!!!!

After years of working with the RWA's, On 1st January, 2010, B S Vohra had launched RWA Bhagidari blog with the sole aim of making it a Common Platform for the RWA community so that they could interact amongst themselves to share the local civic problems, regularly faced by the residents & RWAs of respective areas. After a gap of twelve months, the blog has thousands of worldwide hits, over a thousand of postings & a good number of RWAs as its members as well readers.

In this period, B S Vohra received twice the Appreciation letters from the Delhi CM. He & the blog ( www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.com ) was covered regularly by many prominent TV Channels as well almost all of the prominent News Papers in English & Hindi.

 

 
The blog is also visible on Facebook, Twitter as well Youtube.

On 15th August B S Vohra launched the RWA web portal ( www.RWABhagidari.com ), which included a Directory of RWAs of Delhi East as well many more features.

In order the further strengthen the bond of RWA cooperation, he decided to launch the EAST DELHI RWAs JOINT FRONT. A good number of RWAs showed great interest in this Joint Front & willingness to join it. As per B S Vohra, “ I intended to raise the issues of RWAs directly with the Authorities, in addition to uploading on the RWABhagidari blog.” A good number of RWAs of Delhi East have already joined this Joint Front which is on the stages of Registration in the very first week of January, 2011.

B S Vohra says, “ we are thankful to all those, who joined us in our endeavour to raise the common civic issues of the residents.”

“ We are sure, even this Joint Front will be a great success as the cream of the RWA community from Delhi East has already joined us,” says Vohra while wishing a very happy new year to one & all.

'Not just White girls, Pak Muslim men sexually target Hindu and Sikh girls as well

AMRITSAR: A day after UKs' former home secretary Jack straw blamed some Pakistani Muslim men for targeting "vulnerable" White girls sexually, UK's Hindu and Sikh organizations also publicly accused Muslim groups of the same offence.

Straw, in an interview to the BBC recently, had said, "...there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage men...who target vulnerable young white girls...they see these young women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care ... who they think are easy meat."

Feeling emboldened by Straw's statement, UK's Hindu and Sikh organizations have also come in open and accused some Pakistani men of specifically targeting Hindu and Sikh girls. "This has been a serious concern for the last decade," said Hardeep Singh of Network of Sikh Organizations (NSO) while talking to TOI on Monday.

With thanks : TIMES OF INDIA : link above for detailed news.

Ex-Jawan released by Pak alleges brutal torture

Jammu:  Homecoming has been a long and arduous journey for 50-year-old Amar Singh, a retired soldier of the Indian Army, who was whisked away by the ISI sleuths in April 2010.

He had gone to Pakistan to visit the Sikh shrines and while he was waiting to board the train for India, he was taken away.

Released now, nine months later, Singh says he does not know where he was kept and claims to have been subjected to brutal torture.

''They kept asking me which Indian agency sent you here, and why," said Amar Singh.

with thanks : NDTV : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Nagar Keertan on 11th Jan from Gurudwara Damdama Sahib to Gurudwara Bala sahib

As the SGPC has declared Jan 11th as the date of Gurupurab i.e. Parkash Purab of Guru Gobind Singh ji, A Nagar Keertan is being arranged on 11th Jan in Delhi from Gurudwara Damdama Sahib to Gurudwara Bala Sahib. It will begin from Gurudwara Damdama Sahib by 11 AM in the morning.

Recognize 1984 riots as genocide: Canadian MP

CHANDIGARH: Sukh Dhaliwal, the Canadian member of parliament of Indian origin, who created a flutter by introducing a petition in Canadian Parliament for recognizing 1984 anti0Sikh riots as 'Sikh genocide', in June last year, is now carrying the same appeal back home. The Canadian government, though, has rejected the demand.

''I would love to see the Indian government acknowledge this. You have a very competent PM, who has a credible image on international scene. Even the leader of ruling party has a very positive image. Both of them should come forward and acknowledge this,'' Dhaliwal, the Liberal MP from Newton-North Delta told TOI here on Saturday evening.

''It is very difficult for Canadian parliament to say whether it was genocide or not, but for me, it was more of a matter of creating awareness,'' Dhaliwal said asserting that petition was filed out of the need to create awareness about human rights rather than simply a community issue.

With thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

School considers Sikh fourth-grader's sword a weapon

CANTON, Mich. — Tensions have erupted here over a Sikh fourth-grader who brought a religious sword to his elementary school.

After they are baptized, Sikh males are expected to carry the 3- to 5-inch blunt saber, called a kirpan. The principal initially decided to allow the boy to have it last month, but after concerns from parents and a legal review, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools decided to ban the kirpan because it violated local, state and federal polices against bringing weapons or items that look like weapons to school.

 

"It's not an assault weapon," said Tejkiran Singh, 47, of Canton, Mich., a Sikh community leader. "It's so small, so blunt. ... The whole purpose of wearing it is that it's a reminder of our spirituality."

It symbolizes their commitment to fighting against evils, such as greed, he said. Similar disputes have erupted in other parts of the U.S.

On Dec. 16, Kenneth Jacobs, Plymouth-Canton Schools deputy superintendent sent a letter to parents alerting them to the incident involving the kirpan. The district did not release the boy's name.

 

with thanks : baxterbulletin : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Indo-Pak thaw resurrects sacred Sikh shrine

My remote village of Dera Baba Nanak on the Pakistani border in Punjab is once again obliquely in the news, but this time for positive reasons.

Normally as tensions rise with Pakistan it comes alive to the roar of tanks and the rattle of field guns as they camouflage themselves in scattered mango groves, their barrels aimed across the now near-dry Ravi river meandering between the two countries.

But with the incremental improvement in ties with Pakistan, the proposal to open the corridor from DBN to the  some 4 kilometres away on the Pakastani side, founded in memory of Sikhism's founder Nanak Bedi has once again been resurrected. 

According to news reports from Islamabad Syed Asif Hashmi head of Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board, responsible for maintaining shrines of minority communities in the country, indicated his willingness to create a special passageway for pilgrims up to the Kartarpur gurdwara that is of special import to both Sikhs and Hindus.

Dera, meaning encampment, is where my ancestor Nanak spent the last 17 years of his life till 1539 farming a small plot of land.

A distant relative is the custodian of his white homespun cloak and wooden slippers which are displayed each year at a special fair in the village in March attended by tens of thousands of devotees.

Before Partition even Muslims flocked to visit the holy man's effects as he was revered by all communities, but all that has long ended.

with thanks : REDIFF : link above for detailed news report.

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