November: The saddest month of the year

Khushwant Singh

November will go down in our history as the saddest month of the year because of what happened in November 1984. Mrs Gandhi was murdered a day earlier. And hell broke loose on Sikhs who had nothing whatsoever to do with her dastardly murder: upwards of 5,000 were slaughtered across India all the way down to Karnataka. On its heels came the Bhopal gas tragedy in which over a thousand were choked to death and thousands more maimed for life.

Have these tragedies lessons to teach? Yes, they tell us how to avoid their recurrence. First, let us take a closer look at the assassination of Mrs Gandhi. I have good reasons to believe that she was averse to deploying the army to clear the Golden Temple to rid it of Bhindranwale and his goons entrenched in the Akal Takht. She was persuaded to do so by her advisers who evidently knew very little about the Sikhs, their history and what the Golden Temple meant to them. She was assured that the operation would be over in a couple of hours as Bhindranwale would lay down arms as soon as he realised he had to face armoured tanks and aircraft. As it transpired, the battle lasted two nights and days with heavy casualties of life and sacred property. When Mrs Gandhi visited the Temple two days later, she was shocked by the sight. There were dead bodies still floating in the sacred tank and the Akal Takht was in ruins. Mark Tully has rightly described it as “The fatal miscalculation”. Mrs Gandhi herself should have known that her life was in peril.

Another aspect of the tragedy, which is rarely mentioned, is the cowardly silence maintained by leaders of the Sikh community, both Akalis and Congressmen, against the hateful utterances of Bhindranwale against Hindus and his gangsters pulling out Hindus from buses and shooting them. They were scared of losing their lives because Bhindranwale only knew one way of dealing with critics — killing them. I know because I was on his hit list for many years. This created a lot of ill-will against Sikhs and is the main reason why so few came to their help when they were attacked. It has not yet got into the skulls of Sikhs living abroad. Many gurudwaras overseas have Bhindranwale’s photographs on display and speakers refer to him as a martyr.

All that is now history. What remains is to punish those who took part in the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984. Hundreds have been named by eye-witnesses. Barely 20 have been brought to justice. As I keep repeating ad nauseam, crimes unpunished breed criminals. You can be sure if these criminals are not brought to justice soon, many of those who suffered will take to crime.

About the Bhopal gas tragedy, all I can say is that it was caused by criminal neglect of safety measures. We continue to use sub-standard material in laying roads, building houses and factories. We pay the price for doing so.

with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/November-The-saddest-month-of-the-year/H1-Article1-476567.aspx

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United Sikhs - Delhi

United Sikhs - Delhi : We have noticed that there are a lot of needy people who could enjoy the benefits of the Government schemes available, but just because, they are not educated or are not aware of these facilities,they could not. Considering these set of underprivileged people, we UNITED SIKHS - DELHI would like to take an initiative to help all those in need by providing them the complete information about the Government schemes which may benefit them according to their respective needs. We would help in completing the formalities and would guide them in order to get the aid.

For more information, you may contact :
Mrs. Satwinder kaur,
Cell. 9313562539

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French Bank Apologises For Refusing Entry To Turbaned Sikh

“I’m sorry... Also, please kindly accept my apology on behalf of the bank for the unpleasant feelings which could have been felt on that occasion.....the manifestly excessive and improper application of security instructions led to a situation I strongly regret.”: Valerie Manscour, BNP Head of Customer Relations. Paris, France - A major French bank in Paris, which last month refused entry to a young Sikh customer because he wore a turban, has apologised for its “manifestly excessive and improper security instructions.” Ranjit Singh, 22, a business entrepreneur and a Sikh customer of the BNP Paribas Bank, arrived on 8th October 2009 at the BNP branch at 168, rue de Belleville, 75019 Paris to carry out a routine inquiry of his bank account. However, he was stopped at the security door by an employee of the bank who gestured to him to remove his turban to enter the bank. Ranjit Singh explained to the employee that the turban is worn as an act of faith and that he wears it all the time. Despite his explanations, the employee called another colleague who repeated the same demand. Still blocked at the security door, Ranjit Singh repeated that he is a client and that he simply wishes to verify his account. After about twenty minutes, without success, Ranjit Singh left feeling humiliated and threatened by the bank’s discriminatory attitude.

Ranjit Singh, 22, Refused entry into BNP bank

“Ranjit Singh contacted the UNITED SIKHS and we wrote to BNP Paribas to ask for an explanation for their discriminatory conduct of refusing entry to a turbaned Sikh,” said Shingara Singh, UNITED SIKHS Director in France. We pointed out to them that, in 2005, HALDE, the Independent High Commission for Equality and Against Discrimination, had held, in a case involving Raghbir Singh, that the Banque de France had unlawfully discriminated against him when they refused him entry for wearing a turban. The HALDE had held: “In this case refusing the benefit of a legally-granted right on the grounds of physical appearance or affiliation or non affiliation, actual or assumed with a ethnic group, nation, “race” or specific religion, is a discrimination.” The HALDE had also recognized that the refusal of entry was disproportionate because the Sikh turban does not hinder identification. Valerie Manscour, BNP Head of Customer Relations, wrote to UNITED SIKHS on 22nd October 2009 and said, “I’m sorry about the events that you describe. Also, please kindly accept my apology on behalf of the bank for the unpleasant feelings which could have been felt on that occasion.” She also indicated that “the manifestly excessive and improper application of security instructions led to a situation I strongly regret.” The letter may be read here. You can also read the letter in French here. UNITED SIKHS will be writing to the BNP bank to ensure that it changes its policy, procedure and practice so that it expressly requires its security staff to allow entry to a turbaned Sikh. We will also offer to provide sensitivity training to the bank’s staff so that they are more aware of the Sikh community and its identity. Ranjit Singh commented on the experience: "Being born and raised in France I did not understand why they treated me in this way. I never thought I would be discriminated because of my religion. This incident will always be on my mind every time I enter a public building. I continue to feel both angry and sad that I was humiliated in public.” The dastaar (Sikh turban) is the most recognizable feature of a Sikh. It is an inextricable part of the Sikh identity and is worn by a Sikh at all times, to cover the kesh (unshorn hair), one of the five articles of faith that initiated Sikhs are required to maintain. The requirement of unshorn hair and a dastaar tied over it has been codified in the Sikh Code of Conduct (Sikh Rehat Maryada). To read a previous press release on UNITED SIKHS advocacy efforts for the right to wear a turban, please visithttp://www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-15-12-2008-00.htm

Sikhnet Sevadar - Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa

By Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa :

I was born on March 24th, 1975 in Los Angeles, California. from the most wonderful mother S.S. Sat Kirin Kaur Khalsa & father Govinda Singh Khalsa. My mother was raised Jewish and my father was raised in the Christian religion. They both came into contact with Sikhism after studying Kundalini Yoga & Meditation with Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi Ji. As they spent more time with Yogi Bhajan they became more and more interested in wearing a turban and living as Sikhs. A few years later they adopted the Sikh religion and were arranged to be married. Two years later I was born.From early on, my parents instilled in me the values and practices of living as a Sikh. We would get up early in the morning, take a cold shower (which I dreaded at the time), and then get together with many of the other Sikhs in our area to recite Japji and practice Kundalini Yoga (to stretch and exercise our bodies). After the yoga we would do about an hour of meditation to various mantras from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, followed then by Gurdwara. This started our day by giving 2-1/2 hours to the Guru......10% of our day. I studied in India for about 11 years (1983 - 1994) during which I developed many different interests and passions, including photography, computers, wood carving, electronics, basket ball, fixing and making every thinkable gadget, Kundalini yoga and meditation, singing, and understanding the mind, body and spirit.

Plz read more about Sikhnet Sevadar : Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa at :
http://fateh.sikhnet.com/s/Gurumustuk

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Sikh leaders seek UN intervention in 1984 riots cases

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) Leaders from a group of Sikh organisations today appealed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to intervene immediately to bring justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Leaders from Khalsa Action Committee, Dal Khalsa, Punjab Human Rights Organisation, Shiromani Panthic Council, and Shiromani Akali Dal (Panch Pardani) met UN officials at its Information Centre here to submit a memorandum, saying unless it intervened, human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration would be seriously jeopardised.

Noting that official figures put the number of Sikhs killed in 1984 in Delhi alone at 2,733, the leaders said in the memorandum that the victims' families were still waiting for justice, 25 years after the carnage.

with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/372740_Sikh-leaders-seek-UN-intervention-in-1984-riots-cases

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SAD to raise anti-Sikh riots issue in Parliament

Ferozepur, Nov 11 (PTI) The ruling SAD in Punjab will raise the 1984 anti-Sikh riots issue during the winter session of Parliament to combat what it called Congress's attempts to scuttle trial of its leaders including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in connection with the carnage.

Announcing this while addressing a series of 'sangat darshan' programmes in Jalalabad constituency here, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party will make all effort to ensure that the ongoing trials in cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were expedited and brought to their logical conclusion.

Asserting that the party is all set to raise the issue during the forthcomiong winter session of Parliament along with like-minded parties, he said the alleged perpetrators of the Sikh massacre would be definitely brought to book.

with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/372649_SAD-to-raise-anti-Sikh-riots-issue-in-Parliament

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NEW SikhNet Radio iPhone Application

Finally, the long awaited SikhNet Radio iPhone App is available. It allows fast, easy streaming of all 15 existing SikhNet radio channels directly to your iPhone and will accommodate new music channels as they are added.

Now you can easily listen to SikhNet Radio anytime and anywhere you go. This includes the five main SikhNet Gurbani channels plus ten live Gurdwara audio broadcasts from all around the world. Music can be streamed in high bitrate for the best sound quality, or in low bitrate for when your data connection is slow.

You can go to the iTunes store and open the app to download it in iTunes on your computer or you can download it directly on your iPhone (or in the iTunes store) by simply searching for "sikhnet".

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Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli - few pics

These are the pics from the routine but busy life of Sd. Bhupinder singh ji Kohli, who has become a well known face in Mumbai areas. We must support him in his humanitarian efforts.

With best wishes

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Sd. Bhupinder singh ji Kohli - in the service of mankind : view press articles

Please view Press Articles related to Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli ji, in the service of mankind. A detailed report on him alongwith pics can be viewed at :

http://www.sohnijodi.com/Sikh%20Personalities.htm

Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli - in the service of mankind

Please view Press Articles related to Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli ji, in the service of mankind. A detailed report on him alongwith pics can be viewed at : http://www.sohnijodi.com/Sikh%20Personalities.htm