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Pak Allows Delhi Sikh Body to Renovate 2 Gurudwaras

Pakistan government has authorised the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee to do renovation work at two historic Gurudwaras situated in the country.

"They have asked the DSGMC to conduct the 'kar sewa' of Gurudwara Dera Sahib, Lahore and Gurudwara Ber Sahib, Sialkot," DSGMC president Paramjeet Singh Sarna said today.

Sarna was on a visit to Pakistan and returned today.

The Dewan hall of Gurudwara Dera Sahib would be raised and we would build it new, he added.

When asked about old structures where Guru Granth Sahib has been installed, he said as of now no decision has been taken to disturb the old structure.

"We would take into confidence the Archaeological department of Pakistan in this regard," he said.

"We will also form an expert committee along with the finance committee to carry out the construction work," he said.

Sarna also claimed that the PETPB has also authorised DSGMC to carry out maintenance work at an inn at Nankana Sahib, which has a capacity to house 2,000 devotees.

"The DSGMC will bear the cost," he said.

There are more than five hundred Sikh Gurudwaras and other historical Sikh places in Pakistan, except 20 all others are in bad condition.

with thanks : OUTLOOK : LINK

Don't let it be a Rape Capital please ! Sign our online petition now !

Dear Friends,

Don't let it become a Rape Capital please !
Sign our Online Petition Now & forward to friends.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Dont_let_it_become_a_Rape_Capital_please/?cLBYzdb

Thanks & Regards

B S Vohra

www.sikhsindia.blogspot.in

Turban in Fashion : Dr. Kitty Singh

With thanks : Dr. Kitty Singh ( Chandigarh,India )

DSGMC Elections !

DSGMC elections on 27th January

A tragic story : 21st November 2012

 

His name was Ravinder Singh Saluja, though known as RAVI BHARTI. A Reporter with AAJTAK TV Channel. He used to cover East Delhi. In a short span of 3 years, we became too close. We used to speak many a times daily on various news stories. Even on that fateful day, we spoke just half an hour before his death.Than i got the message that he is no more. It was all shocking. I was shivering. I ran towards Hegdewar hospital, uncovered his face & yeah it was Ravi and he was no more. SHOCKING. UNBELIEVABLE. Lost a real friend. Though very tragic, but his wife donated all of his body parts.

TODAY, on FB, i got a message from Mr Hora about a similar incident in Jallandhar on that very day i.e. 21st November, 2012. I have uploaded it on SIKHSINDIA just to request to the general public that PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY. IT MAY COST SOMEONE HIS LIFE.

http://sikhsindia.blogspot.in/2012/12/a-tragic-story-21st-november-2012.html

B S Vohra

A tragic story : 21st November 2012

Hold polls by Dec 31: SC chides DSGMC

Friday, December, 14 2012 - 14:01

 

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) plea to extend the deadline for extending the deadline for elections by six months. The polls will be held by December 31 as ordered by the Apex Court earlier.

A bench of Justices Anil Dave and RM Lodha ordered for the elections saying there “is no justification now for granting extension of time” adding that the Gurdwara Committee had already been granted three months earlier on September 17, 2012.

DSGMC’s counsel senior Advocate Soli Sorabjee urged the bench to postpone the election till June 30 as the Delhi Government was in the process of amending the Delhi Gurdwara Act 1971.

It may be recalled that after the amendments come to effect, the tenure of the DSGMC president will increase from two to four years and the Sikh community will be able to elect the president directly. The move will put an end to the horse-trading and corruption prevalent in the committee as the President will be accountable to the electorate and also be able to work on the developmental agenda of the committee.  

Meanwhile, counsels Gurbaksh Singh and Abhinash Mishra appearing for Dashmesh Sewa Society argued that the DSGMC plea was nothing but a ploy to retain control over gurdwara affairs.  

The Bench directed that ‘elections must be held’ by December 31 adding that the amendment can continue as it is.The Court also said that the amendment of the Gurdwara Act cannot be cited as an explanation for seeking relaxation in time.
DSGMC pleaded that as the poll procedure will take at least six weeks, however, the Apex Court was not persuaded, the applicants withdrew the application.

Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron and his son and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal have ever since opposed the amendment in the Gurdwara Act terming it as interference of the Congress in the religious affairs of the Sikh community.

It needs no mention here the proximity of DSGMC and Delhi Akali Dal president Paramjit Singh Sarna to Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit.The Badals’ opposition to the amendment is being seen as their fear that a similar demand might gain momentum in Punjab where Sikhs might seek direct election of SGPC president who is till now decided by the Badals.

with thanks : Punjab newsline : LINK

The Turban is a means to an end :SIKHS Win School Turban Ban Case Against France in the UN

Bikramjit Singh who was expelled from school in France for refusing to remove his turban

Paris, France, 14 Dec 2012 – 

The UN Human Rights Committee has ruled that France's ban on the wearing of "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools - introduced in a law adopted in March 2004 - violated a Sikh student's right to manifest his religion, protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In a decision that was sent out this week to the UNITED SIKHS legal team, in relation to a complaint made by Bikramjit Singh in 2008, the Committee accepted that the wearing of a turban is regarded as a religious duty for a Sikh and is also tied in with his identity; and that France had not justified the prohibition on the wearing of the turban.

The Committee accepted that the France was entitled to uphold the principle of secularism (laïcité), a means by which a State party might seek to protect the religious freedom of all its population; it recognised that the adoption of the 2004 law had responded to actual incidents of interference with the religious freedom of pupils and sometimes even threats to their physical safety.

However, the Committee went on to express the opinion that this was not enough to justify the interference with religious rights that the law represented. France had "not furnished compelling evidence that by wearing his keski (small turban) [Bikramjit] would have posed a threat to the rights and freedoms of other pupils or to order at the school. The Committee also considered that the penalty of permanent exclusion had not been shown to be necessary; and that it had been imposed not because of any harmful conduct by Bikramjit, but because he belonged to a broad category of people by their religious conduct. In the Committee's view, France had not shown "how the sacrifice of those persons' rights is either necessary or proportionate to the benefits achieved". 

Less than a year ago, the UNHRC had also concluded that France had violated the religious freedom of 76 year old Ranjit Singh when he was asked to remove his turban for his ID photograph. A UN decision is still awaited for Shingara Singh, whose passport has not been renewed by France because he refused to remove his turban for his ID photograph.

Mejindarpal Kaur, UNITED SIKHS International Legal Director told a media conference in Paris today: "Laicite or secularity is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. The end that laicite must achieve is freedom, equality and fraternity. Likewise the Turban is a means to an end and Sikhs in France will continue to wear the turban so they may work towards a society that is free, fair and for the good of all mankind."

"We now look to France to fulfil its treaty obligations under International law. It also has a moral duty to ensure that the freedom of religion and belief is upheld for everyone who lives within its territory," she added.

Stephen Grosz of London solicitors Bindmans, who was instructed by UNITED SIKHS to represent Bikramjit Singh, said: "The UN Human Rights Committee is the first international body examine the substantive merits of France's ban on religious symbols and clothing in schools. In this significant ruling, it has made clear that the prohibition is unjustified. France must now prevent similar violations in future, and in particular, the Committee said that it should review the law of 2004 that imposed the ban. France must also provide Bikramjit Singh with a remedy, including appropriate compensation. France has 180 days to explain to the Committee how it proposes to give effect to the decision.

Bikramjit Singh, whose religious rights the UN decided had been violated, said, "I am very pleased with the UN's decision and would like to reassure the French government that we are in favour of secularity, in its true sense. The Sikh turban stands for liberty, equality and fraternity because the right to wear a Turban is open to all - men and women, rich and poor.

"In fact, the Turban is a symbol of laicite- it does not discriminate. The Turban is not a sign of oppression. It's a practice of freedom," added Bikramjit Singh, who after being expelled from school, completed his education privately and is now a project engineer with an engineering firm in Paris.

President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Paramjit Singh said in a telephone interview: "Bikramjit Singh is an Indian national and it should have been the responsibility of the Indian government to protect his religious freedom abroad so that he and other Sikhs were not banned from wearing the turban in French public schools. Instead it took an NGO, UNITED SIKHS, to take up and win this case at the UN. We are very proud of UNITED SIKHS and congratulate the global Sikh community for the victory at the UN. I will personally ensure that this issue is raised at the Indian Parliament to ensure that France complies with the UN's decision and reverses the ban on the turban in schools".

"Religion and politics are two wheels that balance civil society. If one wheel comes off, society ceases to be stable. Laicite or secularism is the oil that ensures that the two wheels keep moving. Sikhs do not see laicite as the enemy. We see it as our friend to help us be good citizens." Said Shingara Singh, UNITED SIKHS-France Director.

"Our stand for the turban will not only benefit France but the whole world. It is not a coincidence that this battle of the turban is being fought in France - a country that lives by laicite. The Turban will show the world that the true meaning of laicite can only be achieved if its people are allowed to be free to practice their faith," said Gurdial Singh of the Turban Action Committee of France, who has been defending campaign relentlessly.

With thanks : UNITED SIKHS