As many Sikhs throughout the world are gearing up to celebrate Vaisakhi, we continuously get disheartening news as well. In Toronto there was a shameful incident this weekend.
A former judge, now a prominent Brampton lawyer, is in hospital with serious stab wounds when a mob turned deadly at a Sikh temple on Friday evening.Manjit Mangat, 53, is in hospital with multiple stab wounds to his abdomen, thighs and legs and cuts on his face after he was attacked inside the Sikh Lehar Centre, a temple at Bramsteele Rd. near Steeles Ave. and Hwy. 410.[link]
The worst exhibit I saw ..and I know BOTH sides are guilty of this, was the declaration that the other side are not Sikhs. Both sides need to mature and grow up. I hope the Sikh youth can provide a better example for our elders.[link]
Wow. The use of graphics to display information about war costs is very powerful. Look at a few graphics below published on The Guardian’s blog about the cost and size of armed forces world-wide.
War Chests: Who has the biggest military budget per year?
Last week, many in US Sikhdom celebrated the triumphs of Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi. For why you may ask? See previous coverage.
The NY Times Printed this short brief:
Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, in a turban and full beard, graduated Monday at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete Army basic training without sacrificing the articles of his faith. The Army made an exemption to a uniform policy that has effectively prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984. “I’m feeling very humbled,” said Captain Rattan, 31, a dentist. “I’m a soldier.” He had to get a waiver from the Army to be allowed to serve without sacrificing the unshorn hair mandated by his faith. An immigrant from India who arrived in New York as a teenager, Captain Rattan said it was important for him to serve a country that has given him so many opportunities. Captain Rattan and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, who will attend basic training this summer, are the first Sikhs to receive exemptions in more than 25 years. [link]
Sikhs should absolutely have the opportunity to enter the military if they so choose; I will leave my opinion on the imperial adventurism in Iraq and Afghanistan for another time. Still from talking to other Sikh friends in the military, I wonder about Sikh Coalition’s press release stating “First Sikh US Army Officer Successfully Completes Basic Training” does some disservice to others in the military. That non-keshadhari Sikhs have served in the US army in the past is well known, especially the case of Uday Singh. Although the Coalition deserves kudos for their success for creating an opening for keshadhari Sikhs to also serve, does it also play up on a class factor by celebrating only officers, rather than the many nameless ground troopers?
I read about this story and it just broke my heart. The details are tragic in and of themself, however, the indication that our community somehow failed this family is even more heartbreaking.
On February 21st, 2010 – Satnam Singh was shot to death by NYC police. A few days later his mother, Balbir Kaur, lay in a hospital bed recovering from being hit with a pan repeatedly by her son who suffered from a mental illness. When the NYC police arrived at the home – Satnam who had suffered an episode of an anxiety attack – was unable to articulate the situation. The police, seeing the mother bleeding on the couch – shot Satnam several times. He later died. Balbir Kaur’s other son, Lakhvinder Singh had in fact called the police. As he lay in a hospital bed preparing for treatment for a medical condition, he worried that he had not heard from his mother in some time. Their father, Bahadur Singh had recently traveled to Punjab and therefore, Balbir was alone at home with Satnam.
Balbir was the sole caretaker of her sons and husband. Satnam was suffering from a mental illness, Lakvinder was in a wheelchair after an accident, and Bahadur had his feet amputated due to gangrene infections. After the incident, Balbir lay in a hospital for days without a friend or family member by her side.
The local Punjabi language newspaper reports that since no one in the community knew the family, their suffering for years, including the latest episode, were unknown to anybody in Sikh circles. I somehow find it impossible to believe that the unfortunate family would never have visited any gurdwara the whole time they were there. Why did anybody not befriend them? Why was a support system not extended to them? Why was a newly migrant woman left to fend and care for her family of 3 disabled men on her own? [link]
Bhai Sarvan Singh, the head granthi at Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Vancouver has broken his own Guinness World Record of having the longest beard. His beard is now under 8 feet!
Initially Bhai Sahib was hesitant to take part in the competition because he did not grow his long beard for publicity. He grew it as part of his Sikh faith. However, he soon realized that the publicity actually helped encourage other Sikhs to keep this article of faith.
His translator Avtar Singh Gill said to the Vancouver Sun:
“So many other Sikhs have called him, saying, ‘You’re keeping that long hair and we are cutting our beards; we should not cut them,’” Gill said. “Some of them have promised that. Now he’s more comfortable than at the start.”
I also imagine this publicity is helping educate non-Sikhs about the Sikh faith.
Just over a year ago we read about a Canadian health organization’s apology for accidently shaving off a Sikh patient’s beard. In that case, a 70-year-old patient was admitted into the intensive care unit after a shooting and while under the care of the hospital, had his beard removed by a nurse. At the time of the incident, Fraser Health Authority acknowledged their mistake in not understanding the importance of the beard for the Sikh faith and assured the community that awareness was raised across the organization.
Fraser Health Authority is now apologizing again for a similar incident which occurred at one of their nursing homes, where an elderly Sikh man’s beard was cut.
B.C.’s Fraser Health Authority is investigating why staff at a seniors care facility made the “terribly unfortunate human error” of cutting the beard off an elderly Sikh patient, the second time such an incident has occurred in the past two years. A nurse cut the man’s beard out of what she thought was medical necessity. [link]
The “medical necessity” has not been disclosed. Fraser Health Authority’s CEO, Nigel Murray, appeared on a Punjabi radio station yesterday to apologize for the incident.
I recently heard about an interesting initiative happening in Southern California- a basketball camp for kids, put on by an 
all Sikh basketball team- the Singh Sensations. [Hat tip: Simrat]
On Saturday March 13, over 100 kids from Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego gathered to participate in the first ever semi-annual Sikh basketball camp. The camp was held at Khalsa Care Foundation and next door at Pacoima Middle School. Registration began at 9 AM at Khalsa Care Foundation, and by 10 AM, over 100 participants ages 8-18 were stretching and preparing to run basketball drills in the Pacoima Middle School gym.
The camp offered athletic training- the kids ran drills- dribbling, passing, doing layups.
The camp was also part social training- members of the Singh Sensations discussed sportsmanship, teamwork, and how kids should behave on a court.
And finally, the camp was part mentoring on growing up as a Sikh- the Singh Sensations talked about how sports can be used as a metaphor for living as a Sikh. They shared problems had experienced when playing sports in high school and how they had worked through those problems.
Sports are a great way of getting kids together and engaged, and then weaving in topics – like dealing with bullying in the locker room, when growing up Sikh- that might be uncomfortable to talk about otherwise. Sounds like a great initiative!
After following some of the recent on-line debates, and discussing the topic at our local Gurbani Veechar meeting, I’ve been reflecting a bit on the concept of amrit vela in Sikhi.
To summarize the debate, many feel that amrit vela is a specific time of day (roughly three hours before dawn) where one is most attuned to Waheguru. It is the time of day where there are few distractions and one’s mind can fully focus on reflection and remembrance of Waheguru. Then there are others who feel that spirituality and reflection cannot be tied to a time of day…any time is perfect for simran, and amrit vela is more of a “state of mind” rather than a specific time. Both sides interpret various lines from Gurbani to defend their case.
I am by no means an expert on the topic. My only extended period of time waking up at amrit vela was many years ago and only for a few weeks. I’ll admit, I really enjoyed waking up before the rest of the world and designating a block of time to sit and do my paath properly, with full concentration and no other distractions – unlike now, where I often multi-task as a I rattle through my paath. However, with my poor time management as a university student, waking up at amrit vela became tougher and tougher. And after a few scary moments at the wheel driving home late at night…I decided to defer this personal goal of mine until it better suited my schedule…unfortunately, that day has yet to come.
In some countries, those that perpetrate ‘crimes against humanity’ are punished. In India, too often (depending on the political party), the perpetrators are awarded at the ballot boxes or are decorated with cabinet positions. This is the story of Kamal Nath.
Kamal Nath is India’s current Union Cabinet Minister of Road Transport and Highways. It was on many of those same roadways in Delhi that Kamal Nath in 1984 personally led thousands of paid goons in the government-sponsored pogroms against the Sikhs. Thousands were bloodily massacred; thousands were raped; many lives destroyed and devastated. Many eyewitnesses have testified that Kamal Nath lead groups to attack the Sikhs seeking shelter at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj (the historic site where the body of Guru Tegh Bahadur was cremated after his shaheedi), killing many Sikhs and destroying the grounds of the Gurdwara.
Ensaaf’s report provides detailed information on Kamal Nath’s leadership and involvement during those dark nights in Delhi. The Sikh Activist Network in Canada (one of the spearhead groups in the coalition) has also prepared a short report, highlighting specific sections written by lead human rights attorney for the Delhi widows – HS Phoolka – in regards to the role of Kamal Nath.
Now, this month he has been invited to Toronto to lecture. As Sikhs, as Canadians, as people of conscious, as humans – we must act now.
Earlier this month a congressional hearing reviewing the Transportation Security Administration’s 2011 Fiscal budget occurred in committee. Representative, John Culberson (Republican from Texas) demanded to know why the US government refuses to engage in racial and religious profiling, when screening at airports.
The Representative stated:
It is disturbing [the TSA policy against profiling]. I mean it is something that needs to change. It just defies common sense.
SALDEF responded by issuing a letter a to the Congressman reminding him it is against the US Constitution to profile based on religion. In a rising climate of gross Muslimophobia, Sikhs are ‘racialized Muslims’. We must stand in solidarity against such practices. I am glad that Sikh groups are paying attention.
Due to unforseen circumstances, we were notified that the webinar has been postponed until Saturday, March 27, 2010. Register at the link provided below.
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A few months ago, RP Singh wrote a wonderful review of a new children’s book called A Lion’s Mane by Navjot Kaur. The book takes young readers on a journey to cultures around the globe to explore the meaning of the dastaar. The book does an excellent job at celebrating diversity and encouraging inquisition in young readers. While the main character in the book is a young Sikh boy, the author and illustrator worked hard to create a story that was accessible to both young boys and young girls.
Educators are now asking – how can we create gender neutral curriculum and cultivate an environment of bias-free learning? In a webinar titled, “Gender Neutral Teaching: A Sikh Context,” the Sikh Research Institute will be opening this topic up for discussion and looking at gender neutral teaching from a Sikh context. We have an important role as a community to help to facilitate these discussions and ensure that our children and their children have the opportunity to learn in an environment that celebrates diversity. Below you will find information on how to register for this webinar. It sounds like an enlightening and much needed conversation!
Gender Neutral Teaching: A Sikh Context
Presenter: Jasmine Kaur, Director of Education at the Sikh Research Institute
Register here.
Guest blogged by Harbakhsh Grewal
At the start of this year BBC 1, Britain’s premiere tv channel, highlighted the importance of 1984 to the Sikh psyche with a film documenting the personal journey of a British Sikh woman, journalist Sonia Deol. The reaction from many Sikhs has been hostile and vocal. Did the programme insult the faith, demonise its leaders and miss a massive opportunity to set the record straight as some have claimed? And even if it did, does the presenter deserve the vitriolic response resulting in her deleting her facebook page to avoid any more abuse?
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the programme, the response to it shows the level of concern still in the community to the tragic and horrific events of 1984. However some of the criticism has been purely personal and deeply unpleasant and does nothing to redress the balance or aid the causes that those who are angry care about.
To discuss the programme in any detail requires much deliberation. And that in a sense is why the programme should be applauded: the issues covered were of such enormity and complexity the programme makers should be congratulated for daring to cover them at all in the first place – and to try and do so within an hour slot is a task of great difficulty.
And the fact that many younger Sikhs, as well as the wider non-Sikh public more generally, have discovered a whole chapter of their own community’s history in some depth and breadth I think shows that the BBC has provided a much needed service.
Those who criticise on specific issues such as the portrayal of Bhindranwale have their own points to make. But they seem at times illogical.
Many of you will recall the protests which emerged in 2004 when Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti went to stage her second play, Behzti. The play, which covered issues such as rape and violence within the setting of a gurdwara, caused an uproar in the Sikh community in Birmingham and was later canceled. Many community members welcomed the decision to cancel the play, while others argued that limiting the playwright’s free speech was actually detrimental to the Sikh community. It was nicely put in a Guardian article stating that, “The dispute became a classic conflict between the artist’s right to freedom of expression and a community’s wish to have their faith treated with dignity.”
The Rep had taken the unusual step of inviting Sikh community leaders to a private preview to air their concerns, after which they agreed not to oppose the play if the setting was moved to a community centre. Bhatti refused. “I wanted to write a play about religious hypocrisy,” she explains, “for which the setting in a gurdwara was non-negotiable. The attempt to establish a dialogue with the Sikh community was well intentioned, but ultimately misinterpreted as an invitation to rewrite my play.” [link]
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti later found a card among her Christmas mail that read: “Seasons Greetings. This will be your last Christmas. You are a disgrace to the race. Sending you lots of hate.” Bhatti was forced to go into hiding. Behzti sparked protests and death threats, and now the playwright is attempting to address the controversy in her new play, Behud – which translates colloquially as “beyond belief”.
The details are still very sketchy, but it seems that a dera associated with the highly controversial Maan Singh Pehowa was burned down in Sacramento this past weekend. Maan Singh has been accused of rape.
I write this post partially to clarify that it was not at a Gurdwara in Sacramento, as well as to give a place for discussion and thoughts. The police seem to have some indication that the fire was not an accident, although very few details are being provided. Could it be an arson against immigrants? Could it be an accident? Could it involve frictions within the Sikh community in Sacramento? I do not know. I would be interested to hear thoughts, especially from those readers in Sacramento.
A video from the local news about the fire can be viewed here.
Arundhati Roy, the author of “God of Small Things”, will be in San Francisco on March 26th at Mission High School Auditorium. The event will start at 7pm.
Tickets can be purchased here.
Roy will be reading from her latest collection of essays, “Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers”.
This reading is a charity event for the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (IPTK). The proceeds will be used to institute the Peace and Justice Grant For Scholarship and the Arts In Indian-Administered Kashmir for those residing in Indian-administered Kashmir. The grant will be housed at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.
Dear Langarites,
Over the next few weeks, we will be presenting posts by several individuals who answered our call for additional bloggers. We hope you welcome their writing and openly dialogue with them. Just this past week, you have seen two of our guest bloggers emerge. As a collective decision, several of these bloggers will join The Langar Hall team - your commentary and feedback will help us determine this next phase of our growth. Please join us in welcoming our guest bloggers!
- The Langar Hall Team
Guest blogged by Ajj Kaim
Two of my friends invited me to a Holi party in San Francisco last Friday(03/05/10). They told me the DJ was great and he always played awesome Bollywood/Bhangra music. Being an ardent dance lover this was enough motivation for me to say yes. The venue of the party was Supperclub, which seemed a lot different from any other club that I have been to. Once I was at the venue I found out that the event was organized by Asha (organization which promotes education of underpreviliged children in India) and Trikone (non-profit organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of South Asian descent) .
Over the past several months I have been accustomed to the crowd at Rikshaw Stop for Non Stop Bhangra party every month so this atmosphere was a lot different for me. The DJ kick started the evening with a good mix of Bhangra and Bollywood music. The regular flow of the party was disrupted by two “artists” who tried to entertain the crowd with tasteless mix of bollywood dance, vulgarity and modern art. I had a hard time understanding what was being appreciated by some of the on-lookers. This break lasted for about 10 minutes and after that DJ Precaution started belting some more amazing tracks. It seemed like a perfect way to unwind after a hectic week at work. And then this happened.
As communities around the world celebrated International Women’s Day yesterday, there were several interesting articles discussing the role of women in the world. Nicholas Kristof wrote about Three Proven Steps to Advance the World’s Women (education, micronutrients, and helping women start businesses). Another article talked about The World’s Best Countries for Women. The Christian Science Monitor discussed Gender Selection – an issue which we have often dialogued about here on TLH. The article talks about the repercussions of sex selective abortion – specifically, the gender imbalance leading to fewer women available to be wives.
Villagers here say that the dearth of females has already had a direct effect on dowry customs: Dowries are getting smaller or disappearing altogether; instead, the onus is increasingly on young men to provide well for their future brides… Baljeet Singh, a 37-year-old truck driver, says he began to despair of finding a local wife once he turned 26. Men in this village, where most are farmers, consider it ideal to wed between 20 and 25. “I’m a van driver, I don’t have many prospects, and it seems that you have to have a very good job to get a bride these days,” he says. So last year, Mr Singh used his life savings to marry a 16-year-old Muslim girl from Assam; though village rumors have it that Sonu Khutum is an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. She is happy to be living in a predominantly Hindu village, she says, joggling the couple’s 7-month-old baby girl on her hip. But lonely bachelors’ new quick fix, buying brides from impoverished parts of India, seems likely to do little to enhance the status of women. [link]
Of some note to Sikhs, members of the Bachchan actor family has caught the fancy of the Indian press in relation to our faith. It started with Amitabh Bachan’s blog post, where he wrote:
Abhishek shoots Bingo in the Holy City of Amritsar and his sister Shweta joins him to pay homage and prayer at the Harmandir Saheb. I wish I could do the same, but am unable to. Soon however I shall find the time. Or as they say in such situations, when the time comes He will call you and providence shall make the right moves and ways to permit us to do so. The Sikh blood in me beckons and I must honor it. It is rather strange, but in the last few months, my attraction and interest towards my Sikh links, attain some prominence and I feel drawn towards it. Two lockets of Guru Nanak ji, Sacche Padsha, are constant on my neck – one a gift from Guddi Behenji my cousin, daughter of my Mother’s elder sister Gobind Masi ji and the other I found as a gift to me that was lying on my desk unnoticed. Now they both adorn my neck. Raj Kanwar, one of Abhishek’s early directors had presented me with a photograph of all the Guru ji’s and they now are with me at my place of worship. I seek blessings from them each morning – ‘Sat Naam Wahe Guru’ , I recite, as I touch their images and a strange sense of fulfillment and strength consumes me.[link]
Now many Indian press website running headlines – “Big B Feels Drawn Towards Sikhism” and the like. New headlines are now coming out about his son – Abhishek – performing seva at Darbar Sahib.
While many Indians and even some Sikhs are impressed, I can’t help but have little care. Maybe it is because of long allegations in the community that have never been dispelled.
Guest blogged by Brooklynwala
This week the South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection (SAMAR) along with Theaters Against War (THAW), published several letters of support they solicited for Syed Fahad Hashmi, a US citizen who has been held in solitary confinement since May 2007 in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. That’s right, solitary confinement, debatably a form of torture, for almost 3 years – not at Guantanamo Bay, but in downtown Manhattan. Fahad is awaiting trial and has not been convicted of any crime.
Journalist Chris Hedges wrote, “The case against Hashmi, like most of the terrorist cases launched by the Bush administration, is appallingly weak and built on flimsy circumstantial evidence… If it were a matter of evidence, activists like Hashmi, who is accused of facilitating the delivery of socks to al-Qaida, would probably never be brought to trial.”
I wrote a letter to Fahad last week, which you can read in its entirety below. Check out all the letters published in SAMAR here. To me, there is a deep connection between Fahad’s unjust incarceration and the discrimination and racism we as Sikhs face throughout the world. I hope that more of us get involved in the movement to free Fahad Hashmi and stop the draconian policies of the U.S. government, which continue under President Obama’s leadership.
