Another video : USA Gurudwara shooting

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2201399/Time-use-deadly-force-Video-footage-shows-police-officer-arriving-Sikh-temple-shooting.html

Video: Police release dash-cam of Sikh temple shooting

Sikhs to launch 'Forgotten Citizens' to mark 1984 riots

On the 29th anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, a number of human rights organizations, religious and social groups will start a public campaign in the first week of November, under the banner, 'Forgotten Citizens' to create mass awareness on the struggle waged by the next of kin f those who perished in these riots. The aim would be highlight the cases of people, still awaiting justice.

Senior Supreme Court advocate HS Phoolka will be spearheading the campaign. He has been fighting the cases of riot victims in court. The campaign to be initiated from New Delhi, will commence with a 'Akhand Paath' on November 1 at gurdwara Bangla Sahib. A 'bhog' will be organised at the same gurdwara on November 3. 

 

Phoolka added that a photo exhihibtition depicting the brutal killings of Sikh men, women and children will be organised at the same gurdwara. 

On November 3, as many as 3,000 turbans, each bearing the name of a victim killed during the riots, will be displayed either at India Gate or at Jantar Mantar. 

Phoolka added that 3,000 was the official figure of Sikhs killed during the riots as per government records, though the number was on the higher side.  Phoolka, along with former Jarnail Singh, also met Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh. 

"The Jathedar has told us that he will consult the heads of the other Takhts before arriving at a decision on whether to allow such a display of the Sikh head gear or not. We respect his views and will wait for his verdict," said Phoolka. 

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

BJP reaches out to Sikh Community

Jammu, September 08 (Scoop News) – Two successive meetings of prominent Sikh activists were held at BJP headquarters here under the chairmanship of BJP National Executive Member & State Chief Spokesperson  Dr. Jitendra Singh, who has also been assigned by the party to coordinate with Sikh community for the redressal of their community’s problems.

The prominent Sikh leaders who attended these meetings included S. Charanjit Singh Khalsa, S. Varinderjit Singh, S.Gurdyal Singh Bali, S. Harvinder Singh , S. Pritam Singh Nirdosh and S. Kulwant Singh.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that this was part of an initiative to reach out to the neglected sections of Sikh community in the state so that they feel physically as well as psychologically a part of the Jammu and Kashmir mainstream and do not feel alienated in any way. He said the Sikh community has traditionally been known for its uncompromising patriotism, nationalist commitment and uprightness. It is ironic that even when the country’s Prime Minister belong to Sikh community, repeated pleas from Sikh leaders and their organisations in J&K to the Prime Minister have failed to yield any results, he added.

Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that in the last six months, there have been a series of group meetings with Sikh members of different backgrounds which has helped identify certain major problems faced by the community in the state. He said, irrespective of political affiliations, the main issues of concern for the community include plight of Sikhs living in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in Kashmir valley, the problems of Sikh refugees from PoK and other parts and security concerns of Sikh families living in the Kashmir valley. He said the party plans to draw a long term roadmap for redressal of sikh communities issues and as a part of this effort, a Sikh sammelan is also planned in last week of this month.

BJP State Press Secretary Balbir Ram was also present in these meetings.   

with thanks : groundreport : LINK   

Sikh doctor leads stir against Toronto gurdwara membership freeze

 

A Sikh doctor hailing from Windsor in Ontario has gone on a hunger strike along with his supporters to protest membership freeze by the executive committee of the Sikh Cultural Society of Windsor. Dr Sukhdev Singh Kooner, who previously headed the committee, alleged that the executive committee is freezing the membership of 400 persons, including him, to take control of the gurdwara. The charges have been rubbished by the committee members.

Accompanied by a large number of supporters, Kooner started his strike on Sunday at Gurdwara Khalsa Parkash, and is since surviving only on water. "Everyone has the right to be a member; we did not have any other choice left," he said.

 

The Windsor police are minutely watching the protest to save any untoward incident and to keep an eye upon the doctor's health. In a news release, supporters of Kooner said he and some of his followers are suffering the effects of not eating and he has "already lost eight pounds". 

with thanks : hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

Gravestone of Duleep Singh's son restored

On a solemn occasion marked by cloudy skies and a piper playing the lament, Sikhs, Scots and others came together at a church in Perthshire in Scotland to commemorate one of Maharaja Duleep Singh's children, who died there in 1865. 

Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire, was exiled to Britain in 1854, aged 13, after the British annexation of Punjab.

Known for his lavish lifestyle, he moved to Scotland and came to be known as the Black Prince of Perthshire.

Duleep Singh's child was born in Perthshire on August 4, 1865, but died within hours. The child was buried in Perthshire. 

The gravestone where the child was buried was restored and consecrated at the ceremony organised by the Anglo-Sikh Heritage Trail (ASHT) in Kenmore Kirk on Thursday.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

California schools to teach about Sikhs

California governor Edmund Brown has signed into law the two legislations protecting the rights of the Sikhs in the State and including information about the religion in high school curriculum. One of the legislations updates the California high school curriculum so that every student in the state learns about the about the history, tradition and theology of Sikhism and California Sikhs. The other legislation clarifies the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to ensure that employees receive equal protection under law, specifically protecting religious observances such as the turban, hijab and yarmulke.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

Sikhs applaud as Brown signs 2 anti-discrimination bills

Blue, green, saffron, red, pink and black turbans crowded around Gov. Jerry Brown on the north steps of the Capitol on Saturday when he signed two bills designed to battle anti-Sikh discrimination.

"Breaking down prejudice is something you've got to do every day, and to help us do that, I'm going to sign a couple of bills," Brown told an enthusiastic crowd of 500 Sikhs from as far away as Texas and Colorado. "Sikhs everywhere can see in California they are a powerful presence."

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act, Assembly Bill 1964 by Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, ensures that employees receive equal protection under law, protecting workers who wear turbans, hijabs and yarmulkes. In California, employers faced over 500 cases of religious discrimination in 2011.

Brown declined to wear a turban, saying, "I've worked hard to get my head cleared," but honored the thousands of Sikhs who have given their lives in a long history of struggle for religious freedom both in India and the United States.

Brown also signed Senate Bill 1540, sponsored by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, changing how history and social sciences are taught in schools so that students learn about the history, tradition and theology of California Sikhs. Education can blunt hatred, prejudice and fatal misunderstandings, such as the massacre of Sikhs outside a Wisconsin temple, Brown said. Since the Gold Rush of 1849, California's been built by waves of immigrants including Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Mexicans, Punjabis and Europeans Brown said.

"My own great-grandfather came here in 1852 from Germany and didn't speak English," Brown said. "He was driving a stagecoach from Placerville, then called Hangtown. ... There's always new and different people coming around they speak 113 languages in California," Brown said.

with thanks : sacbee : LINK : for detailed news.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/08/4800993/sikhs-applaud-as-brown-signs-2.html#storylink=cpy

California governor to sign into law to protect Sikhs rights in state

California governor Edmund Brown would sign into law the two legislations protecting the rights of the Sikhs in the state and including information about the religion in high school curriculum. 

One of the legislation updates the California high school curriculum so that every student in the State learns about the about the history, tradition and theology of Sikhism and California Sikhs.

The other legislation clarifies the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to ensure that employees receive equal protection under law, specifically protecting religious observances such as the turban, hijab and yarmulke.

In a statement, the governor's office said that Brown would give remarks and sign both the legislations at the North American Punjabi Association's peace and unity rally on Saturday, held to celebrate religious coexistence and recognize the victims of the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK : for detailed news.

Guru Teg Bahadar Services Training Institute by DSGMC

Sikhs in Gujarat's Kutch fear displacement

CHANDIGARH: They have created a little Punjab in the arid Kutch region of Gujarat. Now, a number of these Sikhs - who have made Gujarat their home over a period of almost five decades now - are faced with the fear of displacement.

The Gujarat government has put a "freeze" on the land-holdings of hundreds of farmers by invoking the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1958, disabling the Punjab agriculturists from selling, buying or taking any loan or subsidy on their land.

"After working hard for so many years, we turned the barren land of Kutch into an oasis and now the Gujarat government wants us to go," Surender Singh, 61, said here on Tuesday. "We are being treated by the Gujarat government as if we don't belong there. It's almost the same way as Biharis are being treated in Maharashtra," added Singh, who originally belongs to Fazilka district of Punjab and is now a cotton farmer in Kutch.

A group of farmers from Kutch have met Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and asked him to intervene in the matter.

Punjabi farmers began settling in Kutch, along the border, after the India-Pakistan war of 1965 on the insistence of then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had felt that courageous men were needed close to the international border.

"The Gujarat high court has already given a decision in our favour, but the Gujarat government has moved the Supreme Court. We are poor farmers and can't afford high fees required to fight the case in the apex court," said Prithavi Singh, 43, who originally belongs to a village in Sangrur district of Punjab.

with thanks : Times of India : LINK : for detailed news.