Tilbury container stowaways included 13 children

Thirteen children aged between one and 12 were among 35 Afghan Sikh immigrants found in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks, Essex Police have said.

The group arrived on Saturday on a ship from Belgium and were said by police to be victims of "people trafficking".

One man was found dead and the others were taken to hospital to be treated for severe dehydration and hypothermia.

The 30 people released to police include nine men and eight women aged between 18 and 72.

They have been brought to a makeshift reception centre set up inside the terminal buildings at Tilbury Docks.

Police said they are "being spoken to about their ordeal" before they are passed on to the UK Border Force.

with thanks : BBC : LINK : for detailed news & A Video.

Community spirit? Sikhs and Lord Suri

The very notion of a community leader promotes the idea that ethnic or religious identity defines an individual's views on all other matters

It turns out that Ranbir Singh Suri isn't a leading representative of the Sikh community; he's just a Sikh bloke. How easily we become confused. In fact Lord Suri, who was ennobled last week, is many things beside being Sikh. He's been a magistrate for more than a decade, he's the chairman of a very successful jewellery company and a long-term donor to the Tory party. 

 According to the Sikh Federation UK he also has about as much to do with Sikh community organisations as Lord Alan Sugar. Lord Suri is, however, a leading representative of another misunderstood group: "community leaders". 

 This is not a status Lord Suri claimed for himself. The title is almost always awarded by a second party, usually the government or the media. In Lord Suri's case it was a No 10 spokesperson who described him as a leading figure in the British Sikh community and an official citation which represented him as "former General Secretary of the Board of British Sikhs" – a group which folded more than 20 years ago after holding a few meetings.

with thanks : Independent : LINK : for detailed news.

Together let us Bowl Out Religious Discrimination from Sports - Bishan Singh Bedi

Dear Friends,
Sat Sri Akal

The world knows me as a Master Off-Spinner and the Turban has been my identity. I have represented India from 1966 to 1979, finding a place in Wisden Cricketer's Almanack and while playing across the world, I always sported a colourful Patka and never have I been asked to remove my turban.

Exactly opposite happened last month to two young basketball players from India -Amarpal and Amjyot Singh. They were representing India at the Asia Cup Championship in China.

Just before the game, both of them were asked to remove their turbans if they wanted to play. They were told that wearing turbans violated the rules of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

This is a shame! How can our country’s top sportsmen be humiliated like that?Sign this petition and ask FIBA to change its policies. Sikhs should be able to play with their turban on if they want to.

My faith and religion have played a big part in my successful career. FIBA’s policies should be more sensitive to people’s faith. Sign this petition and tell them so.

If atleast 25,000 people sign this petition, FIBA will know that this is an issue of great importance and change its policies to be more sensitive.

After you sign this petition, forward my mail to your friends and family. Let us support our country’s sportsmen in every way that we can.

Thanks in Advance


The Master Spinner

Read life of a Sikh teen

After a successful inaugural event last year, the Big Town Read is back for the 2014 Marlborough LitFest.

Book lovers are invited to read The Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera’s debut book The Boy with the Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton ahead of a question session with the author in September.

It puts a spotlight on the typical teenage frustrations of growing up in a provincial town focusing on of life in a Punjabi Sikh family in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Sanghera depicts how he and his family came to terms with his father and sister having a serious mental illness.

The event is run in partnership with The Reading Agency which chose this novel for World Book Night in April.

with thanks : gazatteandherald : LINK : for detailed news.

Stop attacks on Sikhs in US, Pakistan: Punjab MPs

Members of Parliament from Punjab on Tuesday voiced their anguish in Rajya Sabha over alleged repeated attacks on Sikhs in United States and Pakistan. They asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the matter to ensure their safety and security.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Shiromani Akali Dal's Balwinder Singh Bhunder said Sikh minorities in US and Pakistan were being assaulted and many of them have been murdered due to hate crimes. He demanded that the Prime Minister should take up the matter with the two countries and ensure they get protection.

He also raised the issue of citizenship not granted to Afghan Sikhs coming to India. Bhunder said Sikhs were a brave community and had taken part in many freedom struggles and sacrificed their lives and their protection needs to be ensured. These hate crimes should stop, he said.

with thanks : IndiaToday : LINK : for detailed news.

Sikh group asks Indian PM to take up safety issues of the community abroad after string of hate crimes

A north Indian committee has urged the Indian government to take up the matter of hate crimes against Sikhs in the United States and New Zealand in the wake of recent attacks.

Chandigarh-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has approached Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue of safety of Sikhs with the U.S. and New Zealand governments, reported IANS. According to SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, they have demanded the culprits behind the alleged hate crimes be brought before law.

In a similar development, U.S.-based civil rights group The Sikh Coalition appealed to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to address the issue of discrimination against Sikh minority community, reported the Press Trust of India.

with thanks : vancouverdesi : LINK : for detailed news.

Construction has begun on Sikh temple in Westborough

Vantage Builders Inc. said Wednesday that construction has begun on a 21,000-square-foot Sikh temple in Westborough.

The new temple will be called Gurduara Sahib, and it will become the principal place of worship for the New England Sikh community, Waltham-based Vantage Builders said. The temple is for the New England Sikh Study Circle, which was established in 1968 to serve as a Sikh center for spiritual growth, political understanding, community activism, and social gathering.

with thanks : bostonglobe : link : for detailed news.

Another Sikh, his mother attacked in New York

Just days after a Sikh man was hit and dragged by a truck, another Sikh man and his mother were attacked here by a group of teenagers who called them 'Osama Bin Laden' in an apparent hate crime, sparking fresh outrage among the community members. 

The Sikh man, a physician scientist, said in a statement that he and his mother were attacked in a Queens neighbourhood on the night of August 7. 

He said that in accordance with Sikh religious beliefs, both he and his mother wear turbans and maintain uncut hair. 

They were confronted by about 10 teenagers who called them "Osama bin Laden and told us to go back to your country." 

The teenagers also used derogatory language against the man's mother and made fun of her facial hair. 

The Sikh man told them to stop, but the teenagers surrounded him and punched him in the face and neck. They also tried to throw a bottle at the Sikh man and then fled. 

The man, who chose to remain anonymous, said he tried to pursue them but could not as he was in a lot of pain. He then called the police and was treated at a hospital. 

"I want the New York Police Department to investigate this attack as a hate crime and arrest the people who attacked me before they hurt someone else. I want witnesses to come forward and contact the police immediately," the man said, adding that his mother was visiting him from India. 

with thanks : Business Standard : LINK : for detailed news.

Alleged hate crime in New York City leaves Sikh father critically injured

A New York City Sikh father of two is seriously injured and recovering in hospital after a pick-up truck ran him over in an alleged hate crime last week, according to a release from the Sikh Coalition.

The Sikh activist group organized a rally on Tuesday, calling on law enforcement to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

According to the Huffington Post, the 29-year-old father, Sandeep Singh, was walking home with a friend in Queens when a man in a pick-up truck began shouting racial slurs at them.

Amardeep Singh, with the Sikh Coalition, told HuffPost the driver called the men “terrorists” and told them to “go back to your country.”

Singh then attempted to engage the driver in conversation by saying “I am not a terrorist,” while standing in front of the truck as he called police, HuffPost reported.

But as Singh began to dial, the truck lurched forward and struck Singh.

with thanks : vancouverdesi : LINK : for detailed news.

Anti-immigration flyer targeting Sikhs surfaces in Brampton

LINK

HSGMC issue : Hindustan Times