Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji di shahidi nu kot kot parnaam

DSGMC - New announcement on Patit puna at Sikh Institutions

In various discussions on TV channels : B S Vohra

Yogi’s security staff ask Sikh to remove turban

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, May 27

A local Sikh at Yogi Aditayanath’s “Janata Darbar”at Gorkahpur was today asked to remove his turban before meeting the Chief Minister. The incident occurred on the second day of the CM’s two-day visit to his constituency.

Tejpal Singh, a resident of Dharamshala Market area, was waiting for the Chief Minister at his Gorakhnath Temple ashram. He was asked by security personnel to remove his kirpan. Tejpal reluctantly did so after putting up some resistance. Then as he was about to clear the security cordon, he was told to remove his turban too.

Taken aback, Tejpal refused to oblige and there was a commotion. Others waiting to meet the CM came to Tejpal’s rescue and the security staff had to give in.

Tejpal complained against the security staff to the CM, who reportedly instructed his personal secretary to reprimand the officials.

“My family has been visiting the Gorakhnath Temple ashram for generations. Even when Yogi was MP, I had visited him on several occasions. This is the first time that I have been humiliated in this manner,” a dejected Tejpal said.

with thanks : Tribune : LINK : for detailed news.

A gift for generations to come

Sarika Sharma

Historian Gurinder Singh Mann is building, in New York, a repository of texts and artefacts related to Sikhism

For the last 30 years, Prof Gurinder Singh Mann has been working in the trenches — he has straddled villages, towns and countries to gather Sikh texts. He has made night trips to Pinjore on several puranmaashis to copy manuscripts that none in the family that owned them could decipher. He clicked 32 rolls of film in four hours at a Patna gurdwara. He has scanned and handwritten thousands of pages that are a matter of faith for most, but treasure trove for a historian. And now, Professor Mann is giving it all away. The texts and artefacts he has collected over the last three decades are now part of a repository in New York.

“The idea is to make Gurmukhi manuscripts available to people who can’t get their hands on them,” says Mann, who recently retired as Kapany Professor of Sikh Studies from UC Santa Barbara after 15 years and has now set up the Global Institute of Sikh Studies. The idea is also to set out on a fresh exploration of fundamental issues in a globalised world.

“During the period I was contemplating retirement, I had long conversations with people who I had been associated with and who had a long experience in university-level education and history of community organisation and development. We all acknowledged that the Sikh community continued to face severe religiopolitical challenges, whether in Punjab, in India or around the globe and something needed to be done,” says Professor Mann, who was visiting Punjab earlier this month.

He realised there was a need for radical reorientation of the prevailing academic discourses within Sikh studies regarding fundamental issues such as founding of the community, Sikh beliefs and practices, social structures and political aspirations, etc.

“Nothing seems to have changed since the mid-1960s. It is as if we are living in the shadow of a Mcleod [W Hew Mcleod (1932-2009) was a New Zealander and a prominent scholar of Sikhism] with the same distorted narratives being uncritically re-hashed,” he says.

He says the narrative of Sikh history that has dominated scholarly work was built on the assumption that Guru Nanak’s concerns were primarily spiritual, and the development of Sikh institutions, rituals and ceremonies was seen to have taken place under the guidance of the later gurus. 

“Given the new focus on Baba Nanak’s founding of Kartarpur (West Punjab), and activities such as the compilation of a sacred text recorded in a new script, three daily prayers, local authority within distant Sikh congregation, and even the practice of pilgrimage to Kartarpur that the Sikhs undertook, provide us a different understanding of his mission, which later expanded under the guidance of the later Sikh gurus,” he points.

He points out that the situation had also changed in another way: Sikhs are now living in a globalised world and their aspirations need to be understood in this changed framework. “As a concerned Sikh scholar, I felt I owed it to the Sikh community to play a small part in creating a revised narrative of their early history and current opportunities and challenges,” he says.

The GISS thus aims to act as a resource centre where one can have access to physical as well as digital resources on important manuscripts, early Sikh art and artefacts as well as original archival materials relating to Sikh migration experience overseas. Acting as a repository of Sikh heritage at one location, researchers will have instant access to a variety of early sources of Sikh history.

Professor Mann’s decades of relentless research aside, there is a lot that is building up the archive at GISS. Texts from private collections, universities and museums are being photographed. Families of early migrants to the US are sharing old letters, photographs. And amid this, sometimes, springs up a surprise.

with thanks : Tribune India : LINK : for detailed news report. MUST READ

6, including sarpanch, arrested for assaulting Rajasthan Sikhs

Yash Goyal

Jaipur, May 28

Rajasthan Police have so far arrested six men, including the sarpanch of Chainpura village in Ajmer district, for allegedly thrashing and assaulting four Sikh ‘sewadars’ last month.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan State Commission for Minorities has summoned the victims, the accused and the Ajmer SP on June 2 in Jaipur.  

One of the victims Harpal Singh of Khairtal in Alwar district filed an FIR on Saturday with the Nasirabad Sadar police station against at least six persons under various Sections of the IPC, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) N Ravindra Kumar Reddy told The Tribune on Sunday. 

The accused, including sarpanch Ramdev Singh, were booked under the Sections 295 A and 298 (hurting religious sentiments), 143, 341, 323, the ADG said.

A few other persons of Chainpura village were also being interrogated. 

Five other arrested are Shravan Singh Rawat, Raju Singh Rawat, Bhanwar Singh Rawat, Manna Singh Rawat, and Vijay Singh Rawat.

Four ‘sewadars’ — Nirmal Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Harpal Singh, and Malkiat Singh (two from Khairtal in Alwar, and two from Haridwar) — were thrashed by residents of Chainpura on April 24 when they had gone to collect donations.

Allegedly mistaken as thief or kidnappers, they were beaten up and a video of the incident went viral on social media on May 25.

State Minority Commission Chairman Jasbeer Singh said he has summoned all parties; victims, accused and a senior cop from Ajmer district for personal appearance on June 2.

The commission would probe the case independently and submit its report to the Centre and the chief minister at the earliest, Singh said.

with thanks : Tribune : LINK : for detailed news.

The Sikh Kirpan and Italy: Religious freedom or a threat to security?

The Italian Supreme Court has recently ruled against a Sikh migrant carrying a ceremonial knife in public. News of this are travelling all around the world, raising serious questions about respect, freedom of religion and the relationship between law and religion.

According to the Italian media, the specific case concerns a Sikh man’s appeal against a court’s decision that ordered him to pay a £1,700 fine because he left his house armed with a 20 centimetre-long knife.

The specific knife is a religious symbol of Sikhism and is called the Kirpan. Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru/spiritual master of the religion, gave a religious commandment in 1699 ordering Sikhs to wear five articles of faith at all times: the Kirpan,Kesh (uncut hair), Kangha (a wooden comb for the hair), Kara (an iron bracelet) and Kachera (100 per cent cotton tie-able undergarment).

Despite, the defendant’s religious arguments, the court ruled that he, as an immigrant, must ensure that his beliefs are legally compatible with those of his host country: “Multi-ethnic society is a necessity, public safety is an asset to be protected.”

On 24 October 2006, Denmark was the first country in the world to ban the wearing of the Kirpan. In Belgium in 2009, it was declared that carrying a Kirpan was regarded as “carrying a freely obtainable weapon without any legal reason”, overturning a €550 fine.

On the other hard, in 1994, it was held in the US that Sikh students in public schools have the right to wear the Kirpan. It is also allowed in most public places in Canada, including the federal parliamentary building and school premises as long as it is sealed and secured on the person.

In England, possession of the Kirpan without valid reason in a public place is illegal. However, the defendant could invoke the defence of carrying it for “religious reasons”. It should be highlighted that while all kinds of weapons were prohibited at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the Kirpan was allowed.

with thanks : MANCUNION : LINK : for detailed report

Attackers Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison For Hate Crime Against Sikh Man

Two Texas men were sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for beating and cutting the hair of a Sikh man in Richmond, California last year.

Maan Singh Khalsa, 42, appeared before Judge Patricia Scanlon to recount the Sept. 25 attack.

Khalsa, a Sikh American father and IT specialist of South Asian descent, pulled up to a red light as he was driving home on the night of the attack. A white Ford F-150 with five people inside pulled up next to him and the passengers started throwing beer cans at his car, authorities said.

Khalsa drove off and called 911, but the truck followed him. When he stopped at another red light, Chase Little, 31, and Colton Leblanc, 25, got out of the truck, approached Khalsa’s car, and repeatedly punched his face through his open window.

Khalsa pleaded with his attackers, he recalled in Thursday’s hearing, saying: “There is a misunderstanding; I am your brother.”

with thanks : huffingtonpost : LINK : for detailed news.

GURUDWARA GIAN GODRI - Sarna

14 ਮਈ ਨੂੰ ਗਿਆਨ ਗੋਦੜੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਸਬੰਧੀ ਅਰਦਾਸ, ਅਸਲੀ ਸਥਾਨ ਤੇ ਉਸਾਰੇ ਜਾਣ ਦੀ ਕੀਤੀ ਜਾਵੇ- ਸਰਨਾ

ਨਵੀ ਦਿੱਲੀ 12 ਮਈ () ਸ੍ਰ ਪਰਮਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਰਨਾ ਪ੍ਰੁਧਾਨ ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਨੇ ਗੁਰੂਦੁਆਰਾ ਗਿਆਨ ਗੋਦੜੀ ਦੀ ਬਹਾਲੀ ਲਈ ਮੰਗ ਕਰਦਿਆ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ 14 ਮਈ ਨੂੰ ਜਿਥੇ ਜਿਥੇ ਵੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਗੁਰੂ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਅੱਗੇ ਗੁਰੂਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੀ ਮੁੜ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਨਗੀਆ ਉਥੇ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਵਾਲੇ ਅਰਦਾਸੀਆ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਸਲੀ ਜਗ•ਾ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਨੂੰ ਯਕੀਨੀ ਬਣਾਏ।

           

ਜਾਰੀ ਇੱਕ ਬਿਆਨ ਰਾਹੀ ਸ੍ਰ  ਪਰਮਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਰਨਾ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਗਿਆਨ ਗੋਦੜੀ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੀਆ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਭਾਵਨਾਵਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਜੁੜਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਮਾਮਲਾ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਕਿਸੇ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਇਸ ਮਾਮਲੇ ਤੇ ਸਿਆਸਤ ਨਹੀ ਕਰਨ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਜਾਵੇਗੀ ਕਿਉਕਿ ਕੁਝ ਲੋਕ ਸਿਆਸਤ ਕਰਕੇ ਆਪਣਾ ਹਲਵਾ ਮੰਡਾ ਇਸ ਮੁੱਦੇ ਦੀ ਗਰਮਾਹਟ ਤੇ ਸੇਕਣਾ ਚਾਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ ਜਿਹਨਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਰੋਕਿਆ ਜਾਣਾ ਬਹੁਤ ਜਰੂਰੀ ਹੈ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਕਰੀਬ 500 ਸਾਲ ਪੁਰਾਣਾ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਕਦੋ ਢਾਹਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਇਸ ਮਾਮਲੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਪੈਣ ਦੀ ਲੋੜ ਨਹੀ ਸਗੋ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਲਈ ਠੋਸ ਤੇ ਨਿਸ਼ਕਾਮ ਯਤਨ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਲੋੜ ਹੈ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਤੇ ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੇ ਸਥਾਨ ਨੂੰ ਤਬਦੀਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਲੁਕਵੇਂ ਢੰਗ ਨਾਲ ਯਤਨ ਕਰ ਰਹੀਆ ਹਨ ਕਿਉਕਿ ਉਤਰਾਖੰਡ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਭਾਈਵਾਲਾਂ ਭਾਜਪਾ ਦੀ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਭਾਈਵਾਲ ਦਾ ਪੱਖ ਵੀ ਪੂਰਣਾ ਇਹਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਮਜਬੂਰੀ ਤਾਂ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ ਪਰ ਸਿੱਖ ਪੰਥ ਦੀ ਕੋਈ ਮਜਬੂਰੀ ਨਹੀ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਅਸਲੀ ਸਥਾਨ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਉਸਾਰਨਗੀਆ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਬਾਦਲ ਮਾਰਕਾ ਇਹਨਾਂ ਦੋਵਾਂ ਕਮੇਟੀਆ ਦੇ ਕੁਝ ਸਾਥੀ ਦੂਸਰੀ ਜਗ•ਾ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਲਈ ਹਰਿਦੁਆਰ ਵਿਖੇ ਪਿਛਲੇ ਕਰੀਬ 220 ਦਿਨਾਂ ਤੋ ਧਰਨਾ ਲਗਾ ਕੇ ਬੈਠੇ ਹਨ ਪਰ ਸਿੱਖ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਰਾਜਨੀਤੀ ਤੋ ਵਾਕਫ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਛਲਾਵੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਨਹੀ ਆਉਣਗੀਆ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਜੇਕਰ ਬਾਬਰੀ ਮਸਜਿਦ ਢਾਹ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਜਗ•ਾ ਰਾਮ ਮੰਦਰ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਯਤਨ ਕੀਤੇ ਜਾ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ ਤਾਂ ਫਿਰ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦਾ ਗੁਰੂਦੁਆਰਾ ਉਸ ਜਗ•ਾ ਤੇ ਕਿਉ ਨਹੀ ਬਣਾਇਆ ਜਾ ਸਕਦਾ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਅਸਲੀ ਥਾਂ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਦੀ ਹਮਾਇਤ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਲੋੜ ਪੈਣ ਤੇ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਕਰਨ ਤੋ ਵੀ ਪਿੱਛੇ ਨਹੀ ਹੱਟੇਗਾ। ਉਹਨਾਂ ਸਿੱਖ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖਤ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਵੱਲੋ 14 ਮਈ ਨੂੰ ਹਰ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ, ਹਰ ਘਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਜਪੂਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਕੇ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਕਰਨ ਦੇ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਗਏ ਆਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਹਮਾਇਤ ਕਰਦਿਆ ਕਿਹਾ  ਕਿ ਇਸ ਸਮੇਂ ਅਰਦਾਸੀਏ ਸਿੰਘ ਆਪਣੀ ਜ਼ਮੀਰ ਦੀ ਅਵਾਜ਼ ਤੇ ਅਸਲੀ ਸਥਾਨ ਤੇ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਉਸਾਰੇ ਜਾਣ ਦੀ ਗੁਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਅੱਗੇ ਜੋਦੜੀ ਕਰਕੇ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੀਆ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਭਾਵਨਾਵਾਂ ਦੀ ਕਦਰ ਕਰਨ। 

PR 12.5.2017

GURUDWARA GIAN GODRI - Sirsa

MANJINDER SINGH SIRSA URGES SIKH SANGAT TO PARTICIPATE IN RECITATION OF JAP JI SAHIB AND ARDAAS FOR GURUDWARA GIAN GODRI ON MAY 14TH

          

New Delhi, May 12: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) General Secretary Mr. Manjinder Singh Sirsa today urged the sikh sangat of Delhi particularly young generation to whole heartdly participate in programme of recitation of Jap ji Sahib followed by Ardaas on May 14^th, 2017 at 9.00 at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.

          

In a statement released here today, S. Sirsa said that Sri Akal Takht Sahib has issued directions for recitation of Jap ji Sahib followed by Ardaas to support efforts on reclaiming land and reconstruction of historic Gurdwara Gian Godri Sahib where first sikh Guru Guru Nanak Dev Ji had visited on Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar, Uttrakhand. He said that feelings of Sikhs residing in every part of the world are linked to this historical place but everybody is concern over the fact that this Gurdwara which is place visited by Guru Nanak Dev Ji was demolished in 1979 and Sikhs were not allowed to reconstruct it.  He said that this is very emotive and serious issue for sikh community and representative bodies of Sikhs Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management committee (DSGMC) have jointly initiated efforts to get back the land and reconstruct it. He said that it is also proud moment for Sikhs as Sri Akal Takht Sahib has directly taken over the command for this cause on the request of both the institutions.

          

Mr. Sirsa urged the sikh sangat particularly young generation to whole heartly support and participate in this movement to reconstruct Gurdwara Gian Godri Sahib. He said that this will also provide young generation to become aware of our glorious heritage and sikh history.

PR dt 12.5.17

'SikhsIndia' will support the US campaign - WE ARE SIKHS

'SikhsIndia' will support the US campaign - WE ARE SIKHS. Please feel free to share with us any material related to the campaign for uploading on SikhsIndia. 

We are also starting a similar campaign from India, supporting the cause i.e. to raise awareness about Indians & Sikhs in USA, against the racial as well hate crimes there.