Unfortunately South East Asia’s coverage in The Langar Hall remains sparse, except for often tragic stories that make the world headlines.

Here we report on something much more pleasant.

It seems that in New Zealand, we have our first Sikh elected as a member of parliament (MP).  Delhi-born businessman, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, won his precinct as a member of the conservative National Party, winning the immigrant-dominated Manukau East constituency in suburban Auckland.

Now I am the first to admit that I don’t know much about New Zealand’s politics, nor much about the National Party (other than that the “Nats” seemed poised to form the new government in New Zealand, after nearly a decade of Labour Party rule).

Still for some strange ethnic solidarity purpose (although I have a feeling I would have not voted for Bakshi), I do think his victory is a good thing for New Zealand in general and the Sikh community there in particular.

Reflecting on the results of the recent Canadian elections, I have created a sort of informal list of national-level elected leaders that come from Sikh backgrounds as of 2008.  Do you have any others to add to the list?

• Kanwaljit Bakshi – New Zealand
• Navdeep Bains – Canada
• Gurbax Malhi – Canada
• Tim Uppal – Canada
• Ruby Dhalla – Canada
• Devinder Shory – Canada
• Nina Grewal – Canada
• Ujjal Dosanjh – Canada
• Sukh Dhaliwal – Canada
• Parmjit Dhanda – UK
• Marsha Singh – UK
• Navjot Sidhu – India
• Parmjit Gulshan – India
• Sukhbir Badal – India
• Zora Mann – India
• Gurjit Rana – India
• Sharanjit Dhillon – India
• Preneet Kaur – India
• Charanjit Atwal – India
• Sukhdev Libra – India
• Sukhdev Dhindsa – India
• Karpal Singh Deo – Malaysia
• Gobind Singh Deo – Malaysia
• Inderjit Singh – Singapore (thank you Singh is King!)

Am I missing some?

As mentioned, it is remarkable that we have 24 MPs, with 14 coming from outside South Asia.

[Joint post by Singh and Reema]

The plot is thick. Nearly 100 million Phillipine pesos are at stake (roughly $ 2.2 million USD). Multiple groups of god-father like figures control entourages of loyal henchmen. Money is being used for unauthorized purposes, and powerful figures have put competitors out of play – risking not just the money, but [dun dun dun]…their lives!

Is this:

(a) The set of Al Capone?

(b) A government paramilitary force under a dictatorship?

(c) The Punjab Police?

(d) Or is it just the story of a gurdwara?

You guessed it: the answer is (d)!

This is the set for the latest episode of “Who Wants to be a Pardhaan (President of the Gurdwara),” and it takes place in Manila, where a battle for control of the local guru ghar has been waged for years. We had heard of this type of thing being publicized in the West (Europe and the Americas), but why should the Phillipines be any different – and undoubtedly this story has just as much drama and un-Sikh-like behavior as any we have heard. It goes something like this:

2004: Bansal became Gurdwara president following a court-supervised elections. After coming into power, he looked into organization’s assets and found that Amardeep’s group (the old committee) had siphoned off P30.6 million from Gurdwara donations to a new corporation they had created—Khalsa Diwan (Sikh Religious Association) Inc.

2005: Bansal said Amardeep’s group had “unaccounted cash balances” from 2000 to 2004 amounting to P30.6 million. He then said that “[a]s the new president then, I gave them nine months to account for the funds or to surrender to the Khalsa Diwan the properties they bought using the same funds. When they failed to comply, I decided to file the case. Then I was ambushed.” Amardeep’s group put the smack down on Bansal.

2006: Bansal states, “I was about to call for an election in 2006 before I was ambushed. Instead of facing me in an election, they [Amardeep’s group] decided to kill me. Luckily, I survived. Now when I was about to call for new elections again, the Samalsar group [a third group! and the new committee] came and grabbed power just like that…”

Meanwhile– Amardeep and some of his compadres were charged with murdering the past pardhan and attempted murder in the failed ambush on Bansal. Of the eight suspects, Amardeep and one other are in jail. Bansal was shot in the neck, but survived and later identified the suspects.

2008: Eventually, Samalsar & Co. (new committee) took over the Gurdwara in a “fake” election on May 9 – shoving out Bansal.

But the story doesn’t end here… On Sept. 18, an unidentified man left an envelope at the parking lot of the condominium where Bansal lives, with a letter saying that Bansal would be killed.

Forced to stay at a safehouse in Quezon City, Bansal told a local newspaper that he believed he was being targeting again because he opposed the Gurdwara’s new leadership under Samalsar…(Really? Does he really think so?)

In case you couldn’t keep all the above juicy tid-bits straight, don’t worry – we don’t get it all either, but just in case they help – some salient points of the story:

• There is no record of there ever being an actual MEETING of the general members of the gurdwara.
• Bansal himself suffers from unclean hands – having “overstayed” his term (which was supposed to be for ONE year) by three years and even refusing to accept new members.
• Bansal still claims he is the president of the Gurdwara and is trying to regain his seat (old habits die hard???)

Now we present the above plot in jest, but we do realize how sad and serious it is that the above sequence of events (or some form of it) has become so familiar to our community. This struggle for control, often fueled by money, power, and egotism is one of the biggest things that turns many people away from gurdwaras.

Maybe we need better internal disciplinary systems, or more (neutral) people participating in the political process so that elections, votes, and leadership is more democratic…? Maybe job descriptions and expectations would help?

Any other suggestions?

Original story here.

Langa(w)riters have posted on AIDS/HIV infection amongst Sikh women here and here. We have discussed issues around support groups and causes of infection. One of the number one risk factors for contracting HIV/AIDS for Punjabi Sikh women is marriage. Many women are infected by their husbands who are intravenous drug addicts and/or clients of prostitutes. Not only are these women’s lives reaped with more havoc at no fault of their own, but there is also an insurmountable amount of stigma these women endure.

This past week, a Sikh woman, Kiranjit Kaur, stood up with tremendous strength and bravery to help combat this stigma. She become the poster-woman for people living with HIV/AIDS in Malaysia. At the age of 35, Kaur has decided to put her face to this disease because “I am here to help the ‘positive’ community and empower them and tell them they are not alone.”

Kiranjit Kaur contracted HIV in 1996 through her husband who was a former drug addict and has since passed away.

After contracting the disease she began working full-time with the Asian Pacific Council on AIDS Services as an advocate for other HIV/AIDS patients.

The Malaysia Sun reports that:

In 2005, when Perak mufti Da-tuk Seri Harussani Zakaria suggested HIV/AIDS carriers should be cast away on an island to make sure that they did not infect others, Kiranjit and four positive people had a news conference and imparted information about the disease. We are human beings. We hold jobs and we are productive. HIV/AIDS is not about people who go to prostitutes or drug addicts.

In an effort to shed light on married women and children who are unknowingly infected, Kaur refuses to play the blame-game of determining who is more of a “victim” – an innocent housewife or a prostitute. She says:

It is in households. People say I’m a victim because I contracted it from my husband. But to a prostitute they say: ‘Oh, she deserves it’. It’s not about blame any more.

Ultimately, it’s about recognizing this disease exists in our community, providing support to those infected, combating stigma, and moving towards preventive solutions.

P.S. If anyone has found the poster of Kiranjit Kaur, it would be great if you could send me a digital copy (phulkari@thelangarhall.com) so we can post it! I’ve been searching, but haven’t found it yet.

At one time Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, Punjab was THE agricultural university in Asia.  Largely due to this university’s role in promoting the Green Revolution (fellow Langa(w)r-iters have described the Green Revolution’s darker sides, another monograph is by Vandana Shiva), students from throughout East Asia came to Ludhiana to study at PAU.  In California, I have always been surprised to randomly meet some Chinese men that know Punjabi.  However, here is an impressive Malaysian-Chinese man Kian You (AKA Karam Singh) that will leave your mouth wide open.  He discusses the importance of continuing the Punjabi language and can even recite the first Pauri of Japji Sahib.  On this Friday as many of us tune in to watch the Olympics in China, take a few minutes to watch this video of an ethnically Chinese man teach us about our maboli.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The police have apprehended two suspects and are charging them with the killing of Navtej Singh. The police are still searching for additional suspects and accomplices.

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Many of our friends and family own small businesses. Whether gas stations or convenience stores, the hours are long and the risks are high. Few of us would probably not be aware of some friends or family that have not had some circumstance occur while working.

In Auckland, the New Zealand Sikh community suffered a tragedy with the killing of 30 year old, Navtej Singh, a father of three children all under 5 years of age.

Almost as disturbing as the cold-blooded murderers, who stole fifteen bottles of beer and a few dollars, was a callous customer that stole a box of alcopops as the victim lay in his blood.

The 12,000 member Sikh community in New Zealand is an established community with five gurdwaras and are asking questions. There is some division as to whether these crimes have a racial motivation or are crimes of opportunity:

“What is happening in South Auckland?” asked Sandeep Verma, who was with Navtej Singh when he was shot, and when he later died in hospital.

“All the people from the Indian community, whether they are Fiji Indians, Indians, Punjabis, Gujaratis; only those people are the main target.

“What are the police doing for the security of our people?” [link]

Another disturbing element of this crime was the police’s hindrance of the ambulance from picking up Navtej Singh. Navtej Singh’s friend narrates that Navtej was alive and well, he had even used the bathroom by himself, when the ambulance dispatcher told them they were one minute away. Then the police seemed to bar the ambulance from reaching Navtej Singh for almost 30-45 minutes, during which time he passed away.

While this tragedy occurred thousands of miles away, I cannot help but feel connected. Unfortunately this will not be the last time, we hear of such cases. Although I have mixed feelings on the subject, if the police cannot protect, then I am not sure why they are dissuading the Punjabi shopkeepers from defending themselves.

One last note, the police justify the delay as being part of ‘proper procedure,’ I always find such dereliction of responsibility to be cowardly. I always feel contempt for those that hide behind ‘procedure’ and ‘bureaucracy,’ especially when another’s life is at sake.

There are some videos of Navtej Singh’s friend’s testimony here and the news report here and here.