Anti-Sikh Riots: Nath denies inciting violence

Urban development minister Kamal Nath has rejected allegations of his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in a US court, and claimed diplomatic immunity in the case. "I expressly reject the allegations contained in the Affidavit of Service (of Yoselin Genao)," he told a New York court in an affidavit this week. Nath said that he never received court summons informing him of the complaint filed against him in connection with 1984 anti-Sikh Riots. The complaint against him stated that the, "The defendant was seen and heard by many on the scene of Gurudwara Rakab Ganj. In this particular incident defendant was leading and in control of a mob of about four thousand people."Nath has repeatedly denied any involvement and has been cleared by the Nanavati Inquiry Commission, which described the minister's testimony as "vague" but concluded that there was no evidence that he had incited a mob.

He said that he never received summons at the Indian consulate where the plaintiff's say he was handed summons.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link above for detailed news.

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Kamal Nath claims diplomatic immunity in 1984 riots case in US

WASHINGTON: Indian Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath has claimed diplomatic immunity and lack of service of summons before a US court in a case over his alleged role in the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

In response to summons issued by Judge Robert W. Sweet of the US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, Kamal Nath claimed diplomatic immunity stating that he was on a special mission as a government official on his numerous travels to New York.

He has also claimed sovereign immunity under common law; and immunity under Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA) of the US in the case filed by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based human rights advocacy group, and some victims of the 1984 riots.

Requesting the court to dismiss the law suit, Kamal Nath filed a sworn affidavit that during his April 2010 visit to New York, no one ever served him with the summons and complaint.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ legal advisor, suggested that Kamal Nath's June 24 affidavit "clearly and blatantly contradicts his earlier statements".

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

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Memories of anti-Sikh riots hard to forget: Amarinder

JALANDHAR: Almost 27 years after the anti-Sikh riots took place, the Punjabi and Sikh communities have moved on but it would be unfair to ask them to forget the wounds as asked by home minister P. Chidambaram recently, senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh has said.

Amarinder Singh, who is the Punjab Congress president, said that even though Punjabis and Sikhs were large-hearted, the wounds of the violence in the 1980s and 1990s were hard to forget.

"The guilty must be brought to justice for people to come to terms with their loss," Singh told reporters on Thursday.

"Punjabis, and Sikhs in particular, are enterprising and large-hearted people. They are forgiving and the community has certainly moved on. But it would be unfair to ask them to forget the wounds so easily," the former Punjab chief minister said.

Singh said that the community still remembers the 18th century 'ghallughara' (holocaust) in which thousands of Sikhs were killed by Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces.

"How can anyone expect them to forget the tragedy that occurred just over two decades back," he said. 

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news.

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‘Time To Forgive and Build A New India’: Chidambaram Requests Sikhs

 

NEW DELHI: Seeking to put behind memories of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the country has moved on since the “tragic incident” and that it was time to “forgive” and build a new India.

“It is time that we forgive and move on to build a new India where every citizen irrespective of faith has equal place,” he said, addressing a function to felicitate him for his role in removing names of 142 Sikhs from a ”Black list”.

Recalling the tragic incidents in 1984 after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards, Chidambaram said the country has moved on since then and one small step of removing names of large number Sikhs from the ”Black list” was left which has been addressed to by the government recently.

“We have moved on when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, we have moved on subsequently, we have moved on when Manmohan Singh made that poignant speech asking for forgiveness, we moved on since Sonia Gandhi became Congress president,” he said.

The Home Minister was referring to Singh’’s speech in Parliament in 2005 where he apologised to the Sikh community for the incident.

“One small step had remained and that is to remove the names of large number of names from what is called Black List. I am happy that I played a small and humble part in removing 142 names from the Black List,” the Home Minister said.

In a significant decision, the government had removed from its “blacklist” the names of 142 wanted terrorists and their associates, including the heads of various Sikh extremist groups.

Noting that government was would initiate all possible steps to address grievances of the Sikh community, Chidambaram said government would issue orders “shortly” to help the Sikhs who have returned from Afghanistan following violence in the neighbouring country.

Meanwhile Sikh Students Federation (SSF) has announced it could not forget the genocide of Sikhs without getting justice.

 

with thanks : thelinkpaper : link above.

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SGPC President in New Zealand

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC ) President Avtar Singh Makkar (along with a high level delegation of educationists ) is in New Zealand these days .

They will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Waikato Institute of Technology, New Zealand for pursuing courses in Engineering and Business and will also seek assistance from Massey University, New Zealand for framing Interantional standard courses of Guru Granth Sahib University.

Dr.Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
SGND Khalsa College
University of Delhi

Must view : Found the pic on my FaceBook wall .

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Unique exhibition on faith in Taxis : Adelaide (Australia ) Sikh Community by Daniel Connell

Made by Australia Network Television for ART SHOW a short piece describing the art project called Faith created by Daniel Connell and the Adelaide Sikh Community

A celebrated Australian Visual artist captures the essence of a Sabat-Soorat Sikh and describes it in his unique way.

Now it is up to us that we do not choose roles in media where Sikhs are being shown in poor light,or shown as a source of entertainment for others in Hindi movies as shabbily actors dressed as Sikhs and doing all funny things.

All we need is to believe in ourselves !!

Dr.Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
SGND Khalsa College
University of Delhi
Dev Nagar
New Delhi-110005

With thanks :Young Sikh Leaders

Gatka camp by Jathedar Gurcharan Singh ji Gatka master

Some of the Comments on the beautification of GRGS project

Tajinderpal Singh Virdi 

har sikh chaunda hai gurudara sahib hor sona banaya jaye per jo lagat aani hai shi aani hai per uss lagat vicho pata nhi kina ku paisa taan commettie te kayi bande hi apni property te bank balance layi use kange, sirf aaj di mojuda party ch hi nhi sariya sikh parties ch h koi na koi hai jo sangat da paisa apne layi use krda hai . aaj assi ehna paisa gurudware layi la rhe haan jo ki achi gal hai je ehi leader es lagat da daswant sirf skul colleges nd hospitals ch lavan te pata nhi kiniya da bhala hove.per nhi uhte lavange te apna kitho jodange,,, assi es rakab ganj sahib ik pavitar esthaan da neeh pathar most corrupted lady shiela dixit toh krvaya ki gal sade panth ch jathedara di kami hai mahanpursha di kami hai .. 5 takht de jathedar saab v te neeeh pather kr skde sun per nhi its all politic..atleast guru de ghar te guru di virasat nu poliics layi istmaal na na kita jaye te gud hai..baki jinna ne apne bank te jeba bharniya ne uhna nu guru saab budhi bakhan te nadan smjh ke baksh lain..

Sikhs India Thanks for saying, " har sikh chaunda hai gurudara sahib hor sona banaya jaye,". Its true SOME leaders swap the sangat money into their personal accounts but we cant criticise or name all the leaders, in the absence of any evidence. We require a proper system to check the funds received n spent so that none can dare to swap the sangat money into personal coffers.

Baljinder Kaur 

dear frnd who so ever is comparing gurudwara wd da temples is i think not aware of da panth etics da beauty which v r seeing in dese temples is merely da idol wrship where as a persn cming 2 guru ke dwar is enlitend wd hyms gurbani n shabad kirtan BEAUTIFICATION is required not in materialistic terms but rather in da spread of awreness of our principles n da dharam prachar of da gurus a persn cuming 2 our holy place is nt 2 b impressed by da marbles but by da sanctity of da 3 golden rules of our sikhism 4 vich sarnas shud cum 4rward by utilising da sangats money in promoting da sikh literature n opening educational institutions

Sikhs India We r talking about the places of worship n not the ways of worship. So plz dont be confused as we r not comparing Gurudwaras with Temples. If we can beautify our own house which is given by our Guru, than why cant we beautify the house of our GURU. Ofcourse opening of educational institutions, hospitals & similar institutions is a MUST.

Have you seen Akshardham Temple, Birla Mandir, Lotus Temple ?

Have you seen Akshardham Temple, Birla Mandir, Lotus Temple & other similar beautiful shrines ? 

Don't you wanna see the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib complex too, as beautiful ? 

No Political views please. Just simple, neat & clean answers. 

Thanks & Regards

B S Vohra

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June 16th – The Day of Guru Arjan Dev Martyrdom

June 16th of every year since 1606 has been very special for Sikhs  worlwide since they have commemorated the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Guru and the 1st Sikh Martyr. Before the arrest, torture and Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, the Sikhs had nothing to do with weapons or violence, as all the Sikh Gurus had taught the message of compassion, love, dedication, hard work, worship of one God and the commitment to peace and harmony for all the peoples of the world.

During the Guruship of Guru Arjan thousands of the native people had began to follow the teachings of Sikhism.

The Islamic Mughal clergy, who had long chaffed at the tolerance of Akbar, grew ever more angry of the popularity and the growing following of the Sikh Gurus, but after the death of Akbar in 1605, in his son Jahangir they saw their best chance to destroy the Sikh institution. Jahangir, unlike his father was a Muslim funamentalist who soon was influenced with the idea of turning the whole of India into an Islamic State. Over time Jahangir become determined in arresting Guru Arjan, hoping to demoralize the Sikh population.

Many baseless allegations were soon levelled against Guru Arjan and Sikh community and is claimed that the rebellious Khusrau, Jahangir’s son who Akbar and many nobles of his Darbar (court) saw as a more fitting Emperor, worthy of ruling India, had been aided by Guru Arjan. But in the war of succession Jahangir had won and Khusrau had managed to hold onto Punjab alone.


with thanks : Chakranews : link above for details.


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