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Torlakson Encourages Schools to Teach About Sikhs

Valley school districts will be encouraging teachers to present materials on Sikhs as part of their studies of other cultures.

The Legislature designated November as Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month. State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Torlakson notified districts about the opportunity to assemble materials that would assist in teaching about Sikh culture.

Torlakson’s letter was dated Aug. 3, two days before a gunman killed six people and wounded three at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb.

Pleasanton school superintendent Parvin Ahmadi said, “It was ironic that we received the letter on Friday. Then this (Milwaukee attack) happened on Sunday.”

Although the timing of Tolakson’s letter and the Legislature’s declaration designating Sikh Awareness Month show they were not responses to the Milwaukee attack, concern about rude treatment of Sikhs were the motivators for Torlakson and the Legislature.

Torlakson’s letter said that members of Sikh communities in the Central Valley have testified to the state board of education, “Sikhs have been targets of hate crimes. Young Sikhs have been subjected to bullying, because of the different styles of clothing that they wear.”

with thanks : independentnews : LINK : for detailed news.

Sikhs seek equality and peace in spite of murders

The senseless murders of six Sikh worshippers in Oak Creek, Wis., on Sunday, Aug. 5, again shocked the country so soon after the Aurora, Colo. massacre in the movie theatre. It also exposed the Sikh religion to the general public.

When I lived on Magnolia Avenue in Jersey City, a Sikh family moved on the block and their son played with some of the children nearby. He had never cut his hair since birth and twisted it in the shape of a bun on his head, which was the subject of much discussion and curiosity.

He was a very polite boy and I remember him recounting how he was taunted in public school because of his hair. Today there are many Sikhs living in Jersey City, which also boasts the only gurudwara, or house of worship on Broadway and Corbin Avenue, in all Hudson County.

Two days after the murders, I felt moved to visit and found 50 men, women and children gathered for their daily evening prayers. As I walked in the door, two members came from inside, greeted me and welcomed me warmly to come inside. I took off my shoes and covered my head with an orange kerchief.

I sat on the floor with the rest just as someone was coming around spooning a sweet, brown sticky food called karah parsad, which is a mixture of wheat, honey and butter, into every person’s cupped hands. I immediately thought of Communion in the Catholic Church. Their ritual symbolizes equality, which is a hallmark of Sikhism. And it was also evident by the communal spirit shared not only in the worship but the common meal served afterward.

But before the meal, some 30 of the worshipers gathered around me and allowed me to engage them in a group discussion for about one hour. They had planned to discuss a possible candlelight service in Jersey City to remember the murdered Sikhs but deferred to my presence.

I had never met any of these people but their gentleness and peacefulness overwhelmed me. The large number participating made it difficult to track who said what made even more complicated by the fact that all the men use the same last name, Singh, and the women, Kaur.

How difficult, I thought, to distinguish one from the other! Their reply was that this practice developed in response to the caste system prevalent in India, where Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak - who lived from 1469 to 1539 - in the state of Punjab in northern India. Again stressing equality, Sikhs rejected the caste system and also incurred the wrath of the majority Hindus. For this and other reasons, Sikhs have experienced persecution in India.

Yet, many of those present immigrated to the U.S. for a better life, just like historic immigrant groups.

Among the members there were Talwinder Singh, 27, of Jersey City, a systems engineer, and his older brother, Sukhwinder Singh, 37, who owns an I.T.firm, and is also the president of the U.S. Sikh Chamber of Commerce, which he founded. Inderjit Singh is the son of the gurudwara’s president and a U.S. Navy engineer. His family also owns their own trucking company.

While Inderjit wore a turban, Talwinder and Sukhwinder did not and wore the same kerchief I did. Swinder Pal Singh, 46, explained that some Sikhs grow into this practice and there seemed no prejudice toward those who did not wear a turban and cut their hair.

with thanks : NJ : LINK : for detailed news. Must view.

Milford’s Sikh community reacts to Wis. shootings

Malkit Singh Gill is president of the Milford Gurdwara Sahib, run by the New England Sikh Study Circle. While the organization was founded in 1968, the group did not buy its own temple until 1990, when it bought the current building in Milford.

Gill, a 52-year-old business owner with a background in electrical engineering and computer programming, said the temple draws members from across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The Milford gurdwara, one of just four Sikh temples in Massachusetts, offers weekly services Friday nights and Sunday mornings in Punjabi, with English translation available, plus classes in Punjabi and Sikh theology. The state’s other Sikh temples are in Millis, Everett, and Somerville.

The Milford congregation has grown so large, with 200 to 300 families attending weekly services and upward of 600 at special events, that the organization is planning to move the temple to a 37-acre campus recently purchased in Westborough within two years, Gill said. The New England Sikh Study Circle broke ground on the new facility on July 29, a week before a gunman walked into a temple in Wisconsin and killed six people.

After the shootings, Gill answered a series of questions from the Globe about his faith and the local Sikh community.

Q: What has the local community’s reaction been to the shooting in Wisconsin?

Gill: Shock. Disbelief. Support and solidarity.

The whole local American and Sikh American community was shocked to know that innocent devotees in a place of worship have been gunned down.

It being a heinous crime against humanity, it is unimaginable that any place of worship, where people go to attain peace and tranquility, can be attacked.

Q: How have you discussed the shootings with your congregation?

Gill: With the sincerest sense of sharing their grief as equal partners in grief, and ensuring them our full support in the days ahead.

As an expression of sense of loss, the community gathered for prayers and candle vigil. This allowed us to share the grief and pray together for the victims and their families. After the vigil, people talked about their feelings and how to help the victims and their family.

We had tremendous support from the entire community and people from all the faiths; the candlelight vigil was joined by the interfaith community.

Q: What are the lessons and tenets of the Sikhism that you would like the greater public to know?

Gill: Sikhism is the youngest “Way of Life,” started by its first guru, Guru Nanak Sahib (born in the year 1469). As its tenets it advocates as follows:

Belief in one creator, who resides within His creation.

Belief that all of us humans (irrespective of our color, creed, religion, belief system, national origin, gender, or anything else) are children of one common creator; hence, all of us (men as well as women) are equal in every respect. All of us are members of one human family. And all of us are brothers and sisters in humanity. Therefore, any form of division amongst us, based on color, creed, caste, or any other criteria, is man-made and not God-made.

Furthermore, such an understanding flows from a daily practice of the following pillars of the Sikh faith: Earning one’s livelihood through honest and truthful means; sharing it with others, including our sufferings and happiness; always staying focused on truth that emanates from the remembrance of the Creator.

To develop such a discipline and understanding of this unique Sikh way of life, a Sikh, as a start, is advised to keep his/her hair intact, clean and tidy by wearing a turban.

Furthermore, Sikhism is neither an offshoot of Hinduism nor of Islam, but is a full-fledged religion of its own with its own guiding scripture, Guru Granth Sahib; its own unique writing script, the Gurmukhi alphabet; its own fundamental doctrines; its own code of conduct; own Sikh flag; own Sikh culture, history, and proud Sikh heritage.

Q: Do you or your congregation face discrimination as a result of your faith? Could you give some examples?

Gill: Lot of Sikhs have been discriminated as a result of how they look, especially in their place of work due to their beard and turban.

There are more than 1,000 cases filed by the Sikh Coalition in the USA courts.

Sikhs feel discriminated at the airport. Their bags are searched most of the time and are singled out. I have personally been through this lot of times.

Q: What sort of reaction have you had from other faith communities, such as the Muslim community, that they have faced episodes of discrimination in the past?

with thanks : boston : LINK : for rest of the news. Must view.

Sikhs allege ragging and insult of religious symbols

Indore, Aug 16 (PTI) Scores of people of Guru Singh Sabha (GSS) here today held a protest outside the Superintendent of Police (East) office alleging that senior students indulged in ragging a Sikh student at a private college and poked fun at his religious symbols including "pagri and juri" on the eve of Independence Day. GSS president Gurudeep Bhatia who led the delegation and submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Police (East), alleged that three students, Shivam Yadav, Chanchal Yadav, and Rishi Batra not only indulged in ragging the Sikh fresher Dilraj Singh Khanuja, but also removed his "pagri" and touched religious symbols before beating him up badly. The GSS demanded action against the accused and a criminal case to be filed under ragging rules against the accused, a GSS functionary told reporters at the protest site. The victim, Dilaraj, was a first year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) fresher student in Prestige College and the brother of a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader, while the accused who indulged in ragging were seniors, including the son of a former Congress councillor, the police said. The SP East OP Tripathi assured the GSS delegation of action against the culprits after investigation and a report of the college's anti-ragging committee.

with thanks : IBNLive : LINK

Dalbir Singh Murdered: Another Sikh Killed in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Another Sikh has been murdered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

56-year old Dalbir Singh regularly attended the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, the same gurdwara where white supremacist Wade Michael Page opened fire and killed six members of the congregation.

According to a press release issued by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Milwaukee Police Department has been treating the case as a robbery, has not yet determined a motive, and has taken people of interest in custody. Furthermore, U.S. Attorney James Santelle "has assured the community that his office and law enforcement will look at this case critically and ensure that the motive of this crime is thoroughly investigated." 

 

This latest murder comes in the wake of the largest tragedy in Sikh American history, and community members are openly wondering whether the murder of Dalbir Singh is connected to the massacre that took place in the same town just ten days prior. While the Sikhs of Milwaukee publicly expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support from around the world, the community does not seem entirely surprised. In fact, some individuals had privately reported that they had received additional threats.

For example, less than a week after the temple shootings, a member of the Oak Creek Sikh community stopped his car at an intersection next to a pickup truck. The driver of the truck looked at the Sikh American, manipulated his thumb and pointer-finger to make the shape of a gun, and pulled the trigger while mouthing the words "This isn't over yet." 

This sort of anecdote raises questions about the toxicity of our society. 

It also shows how much work we still have to do. 

One of our key failures is our inability to identify the source of these problems. By framing the Oak Creek massacre as an isolated incident, we delude ourselves into thinking of it as a randomized event carried out by a troubled individual. However, if we place the gurdwara shooting within its broader context, we can clearly see that it fits a troubling pattern of hate and bigotry within this country. 

But Sikh Americans are not the only targets. The anti-Muslim vitriol in this country has reached an all-time high. Hateful Americans have attacked seven mosques over the past 11 days -- some razed a mosque in Joplin, others threw pig's feet at a mosque site in California, some shot paintballs at a mosque in Oklahoma City, and still others hurled a homemade chemical bomb at a mosque outside of Chicago. 

Given the Islamophobic sentiment raging throughout modern America, we cannot afford to view the pattern of bigotry in this country as disparate, random acts. While the assailant's intent in murdering Dalbir Singh remains to be determined, the very fact that we are considering hate as a possible motive speaks volumes about the condition of our nation. We're in trouble. The nationwide desecration of mosques and the terrorizing of Sikhs in Oak Creek are symptoms of a larger problem. Determining the source of these symptoms has become an urgent and pressing need. 

We can no longer just hope for improvement. 

with thanks : Huffington Post : LINK : for detailed news.

Another Sikh killed in Wisconsin, shot dead in an attempted robbery

Barely 12 days after the shooting at a Gurdwara that killed six worshippers, an elderly Sikh man has been shot dead in an attempted robbery incident in the same Wisconsin state.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the assailant, police said. The death of another Sikh has sent shock waves among the Sikh community members in Washington, even though the police have termed it as a robbery incident and ruled out any link to the August 5 shootout inside the Oak Creek Gurdwara that killed six Sikh worshippers.

The deceased Dalbir Singh, 56, assisted his nephew Jatinder Singh in running a grocery store in Milwaukee city, Wisconsin.

The incident happened Wednesday night when some unidentified men entered the shop and put a gun to Jatinder Singh head.

Jatinder Singh said he and his uncle made it back into the store and pushed the side door shut, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

But one of the men fired a shot through the door, killing Dalbir Singh, it said. Dalbir Singh was a regular visitor to the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, but was not present when the tragic incident happened on August 5.

with thanks : HINDUSTAN TIMES : LINK : for detailed news.

Being Sikh in America

By HARTOSH SINGH BAL

Scott Olson/Getty ImagesOak Creek, Wisconsin community members on August 10 mourn the loss of the six worshipers who were killed at the Sikh Temple.

DELHI — From 1988 to 1993 I was a graduate student at New York University. Like many nonobservant Sikhs, I did not wear a turban, but I did keep a beard. When I would travel to small-town America, my appearance sometimes gave rise to a barely concealed hostility, occasionally even a comment or two.

I am not claiming that such incidents were the norm, but they were not uncommon.

Once, as I was stepping out of my own apartment in Jersey City with a bag slung over my shoulders, the police pulled out a gun and searched me. On another occasion, camping in North Carolina, I was made to stand in a police car’s high-beams with my hands over my head, again with a gun pointed at me, until the cops saw my white companions.

The years I am talking about precede 9/11 by a decade. As far as I can see,post 9/11, it has become considerably easier to express and act on such prejudices. My point, though, is this: these prejudices have always existed in the United States, and they are not restricted to white supremacists.

So while it’s understandable that in the wake of the Wisconsin killings President Barack Obama is intent on acknowledging the Sikhs’ contribution to the United States, the Sikh religion is being praised for its inclusivenessand some Sikhs hope to cast the incident as an opportunity to be better understood, these well-meaning efforts are absurd.

Does anyone really believe that if Sikhs are recognized for who they are, they will no longer be figures of hate?

Looking at the problem this way is a classic case of stigmatizing the victim instead of the perpetrator. The white supremacist views of Wade M. Page are what count. It is they that need to be confronted head on, and they cannot be confronted by pretending that they are the aberrant manifestation of an isolated fringe.

The 200,000 or more Sikhs in America should know something about this. Their encounter with prejudice dates back to their first wave of immigration to the West Coast at the beginning of the twentieth century.

After landing in Vancouver, Sikh immigrants soon began moving down the West Coast, working in lumber mills and at building the railways. As soon as 1907, in the town of Bellingham in Washington, white workers attacked Sikhs — whom they mistakenly termed Hindus — eventually cleansing the town.

with thanks : latitude blogs nytimes : LINK : for detailed news story.

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