Monday, December 5, 2011

Sikh man stabbed waiting for plane at Fresno airport

A Sikh man in his mid-50s was stabbed near the security area at Fresno Yosemite International Airport on Sunday evening, Fresno Police said.

The man was waiting in a public area near the Transportation Security Administration terminal around 5:30 p.m. with his translator when the suspect, described as a 26-year-old white man, approached him, Fresno police Lt. Tom Rowe said. The victim thought he had been punched in the upper torso, but was actually stabbed, Rowe said.

The suspect ran from the airport but was arrested by airport police officers on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Rowe said. The victim was treated at the airport for non-life threatening injuries and declined to be taken to a hospital, instead opting to board his flight, Rowe said.

 With thanks : fresnobee : link in headline above for detailed news.



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Saturday, December 3, 2011

I Am Singh : A Family’s Irreparable Loss for the Crime of Being Sikh

Once there were two eras, B.C. and A.D., says an aging, grieving Indian woman at the start of “I Am Singh,” sitting in a graveyard near ground zero in Manhattan. Now there is before and after Sept. 11. And with that, this drama commences its impassioned if melodramatic jeremiad against anti-Sikh sentiment in America. More than a plea for tolerance, it is an assertion of pride in Punjab, home to much of India’s Sikh population.


But neither Punjab nor New York is the principal setting. Ranveer Singh (Gulzar Chahal), in India, learns that one of his brothers has been killed, and another is missing, after an attack by skinheads in Los Angeles; his beaten father has been hospitalized. In California, Ranveer consults the police, only to face stonewalling and rebuke.

with thanks : movies.NYTIMES : link in headline above for detailed movie review.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Golden gate of history

The holy city of Amritsar (meaning pond of nectar), derived its name from the sarovar that surrounds the beautiful Golden Temple.

The town, which can undoubtedly be mistaken for a dusty small city by first-time visitors, is amongst the most popular pilgrim centres for Sikhs. Not only does it attract the local Indian travellers but it is certainly a part of the ‘places to visit’ list of foreign tourists also.

The sense of purity that one experiences inside the gurudwara premises is unforgettable. The magnificent Golden Temple and other gurudwaras situated in various corners of this small town gives it an apt name — Guru ki nagari.

This historic city was once known as Ramdaspur after the name of the fourth Sikh Guru who founded the city. In 1947, after the Partition, the state of Punjab was one of the worst hit areas and was divided into parts out of which few went to Pakistan and the rest remained with India making Amritsar a border city.

Amritsar is a mix of old heritage and recently developed township areas. As soon as the name of the city comes into one’s mind, what people are reminded of is the world heritage site of Harminder Sahib. The clean water, the pure surroundings and the beautiful carvings on the top of the main hall are most attractive features of the gurudwara.

with thanks : asianage : link in the headline above for detailed news.

Sikhs being targeted deliberately in Italy-Harsimrat

CHANDIGARH: Member Parliament from Bathinda ,Harsimrat Kaur Badal said on Thursday that Sikhs were being deliberately targeted in the airports of Italy repeatedly and Government of India owes an explanation to the country for its complete failure to safeguard the interests of Sikhs despite various hollow assurances.

Registering a strong protest in a communiqué to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Harsimrat said that she on behalf of entire Sikh community was lodging a protest over intolerable way Sikhs are treated at airports in Italy and other countries of the world. She also moved adjournment motion over recent incident of forcible removal of turban of Commander of Jet Airways at Milan airport thereby hurting the sentiments of Sikh community and government’s utter failure to ensure dignity of Sikhs. 
 
Pointing to the total failure of Congress led UPA government in pressurizing Italy government, she referred to the latest incident that happened with Ravijodh Singh Dhupia, a commander of Jet Airways, who was forced to remove his turban at Milan Airport. She said that it was intolerable and unfortunate that the officials deployed on international airports harass Sikhs again and again by removing their turbans under security check excuses. She said that repeated incidents in the Italy have proved that the Union Government has failed to convey to the Italian Government and other foreign governments not to remove the turbans of Sikhs. She said that to ask a Sikh to remove his turban was in fact an atrocity on him and all over the world Sikhs in one voice have stood up to call this an act of great violence and cruelty on Sikhs.

with thanks : PunjabNewsLine : link in headline above for detailed news.

Proud to be Sikh

As the film 'I Am Singh' releases today, some prominent Sikhs speak to DT about how 9/11 changed the world's perception towards them

A turban is the honour and pride of all Sikhs. It is very important for each Sikh and when, because of mistaken identity, they are asked to remove their pagdis, then everyone should unite to fight it. This film is to educate the West about the difference between the Arabs and Sikhs. Innocent people were targetted across the world after 9/11, because of mistaken identity,"- Ajit Pal Singh (former Indian ockey captain and winner of Hockey World Cup, 1975)

Sikhs are treated as the irrelevant minority. "I Am Singh" is a voice that echoes a sentiment of Sikhs across the world, who stand for universal brotherhood. The Sikhs are the survivors. They stand for truth and are martial. "Iss film ko dekhna mere liye mazhab hai, iss film ko support karna mera dharm hai" - Navjot Singh Siddhu (cricket and TV personality) .


with thanks : TIMES OF INDIA : link in headline above for detailed news.

 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Amitabh pleads innocence in 1984 anti-Sikh riots

Amritsar, Dec 1 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has pleaded his innocence in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in various parts of the country in which thousands of Sikhs were massacred, a top Sikh religious leader said.
In a letter to jathedar (chief) Gurcharan Singh of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, Amitabh stated that he had no role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The letter was delivered to the Akal Takht head by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member from Mumbai, Gurinder Singh Bawa.
with thanks : thaindian : link in the headline above for detailed news.

After memorials on Sikh history, Punjab to erect one for freedom fighters, martyrs

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday announced that a memorial — to be named Jang-e-Azadi — will be built to showcase the rich contribution of Punjabi freedom fighters and martyrs to the country’s struggle for freedom.
Speaking after inaugurating and dedicating \Wadda Ghallughara Ghallughara Martyrs’ Memorial to the people and Khalsa Panth, Badal announced that the Jang-e-Azadi will be set up in Doaba. “We will spend Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore on the memorial,” he said, adding that the nitty-gritty of the project will be finalised in next cabinet meeting.
Underlining the sacrifices made by Punjabis in the freedom struggle, Badal said that despite constituting a mere two and a half percent of the country’s population, Punjabis had made 80 per cent sacrifices in the freedom struggle. He added that the memorial will showcase how Punjabis fought against the British Rule.

with thanks : Indian Express : link in headline above for detailed news.

Centre ready for certain amendments in Anand Marriage Act: Salman Khurshid

MALERKOTLA: Punjab Congress presidentAmarinder Singh will have his say in making amendments to the century-old Anand Marriage Act, being hotly debated in Sikh circles. 

Amarinder will discuss the modalities of amendments to be made with Union home minister and the report prepared after Amarinder' deliberations with home ministry would be put before the Union cabinet for approval. Revealing this here on Wednesday, Union law and justice and minorities minister Salman Khurshid said Union government is ready to make certain amendments or to frame new act altogether. 

Salman Khurshid on the sidelines of a Congress rally said, "the union law ministry is thinking of making certain amendments to the act wherein the marriages solemnized under Anand Karaj Act could be registered in the deaths and birth act and these will be certified.Or a separate act for registration of marriages could be made incorporating Anand Marriage Act wherein marriages solemnized under Sikh Act could be accommodated and the Nikahnama by Muslims too could be taken up".


with thanks : Times of India : link in headline above for detailed news.

It’s cool to be a Sikh

It has become fashionable to play a Sardar on screen. Akshay Kumar did it in Singh Is Kinng. 

Ajay Devgn in The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Saif Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal and Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year. And the latest actor to cash in on the trend of playing a Sikh character on screen is debutant Gulzar Chahal, who takes pride playing a Sardar in his very first venture - I Am Singh. 

Says the actor, "I am a Jat Sardar and thus the character's portryal in I Am Singh came very naturally to me. It takes immense guts to play this kind of character that too in your very first film because the turban and the beard make your looks go through a complete transformation. The audience has accepted our main actors in Sardar roles and I hope to make a mark, too." 

with thanks : Times of India : link in headline above for detailed news.

Pilot told to take off turban at Milan airport

A Sikh senior commander with Jet Airways on Tuesday was asked to take off his turban during security check for his Flight 141 to Delhi from the Milan airport.
The incident happened just six months after the Italian government’s promise against continuation of such a practice.
After an uproar over the humiliation caused to golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh, who was made to take off his turban at the same airport in March this year, Italy had announced in June that Sikhs travelling to the country will no longer have to remove their turbans at the airports during security screening.
with thanks : Indian Express : link in headline above for detailed news.

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