Sikhs Now: Kamaldeep Kalsi (L) and Tejdeep Rattan (R)
Two Sikh recruits in the U.S. Army, Kamaljeet Singh and Tejdeep Singh, were told they would be allowed to continue to wear their turbans as active members of the military. They describe this as being able to wear both their uniforms: that of a Sikh, and of a member of our Armed Forces. Now Army personnel have back-pedaled, claiming a 1981 ban prohibits soldiers from wearing “overt” articles of faith — including the dastar.
Despite a long history of Sikh participation in armed forces worldwide, Steve Levine, a former Army lawyer from 1992-1999, speculates that there are at least two policy reasons for requiring shorn hair: unit cohesion, and the ability to wear military equipment [link]. This seems incongruous given that Sikhs had served on active duty in the Army with full daris and dastars, and were perfectly well-protected, in the past. In light of previous exemptions, lawyers for these Sikhs argue the policy is an undue burden on the free excercise of faith under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
I remember that night…election night, watching on TV students rejoicing in the streets outside of Howard University (a local Historically Black University). I’m not sure how much of it was about Obama’s policy, or just the “historic” nature of the event, but it was all summed up to me as an African-American student holding back his tears said to a reporter, “I’m just so happy to have one of our guys in power.” It was a common sentiment, but this statement stuck in my head for several days. What did he mean by this? What was his expectation of President Obama over the next 4 years? Did he think just because a black man is in office, all of a sudden the American experience will now change for black people? That the wrongs of their history will now become right? That discriminatory laws and policies toward black people will all of a sudden be overturned? If that is what he meant, then I understand the celebration…but I would celebrate with caution.
Five years ago, many Sikhs were celebrating in the streets as well. Finally, one of “our guys” had become Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh was elected selected as the 17th Prime Minister of India, by Sonia Gandhi herself. Sikhs all over the world rejoiced. Even many of the Sikh political prisoners in jail were celebrating with this victory, believing their release was now imminent.
Even some of my more progressive and panthic-minded friends got caught up in “Manmohan Singh Fever” and encouraged me to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, how could we judge him? Who knows what he may do for us?
I, however, remained skeptical.
UPDATE: The 13-year old youth who was arrested that night has been charged with assault and is scheduled to appear in court on May 19. [source] Thanks to everyone who’s given more information in the comments!
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Some tragic news is coming out of Toronto tonight from the Dixie gurdwara’s Vaisakhi celebrations. 
A Mississauga teen was stabbed in the stomach and seriously injured Tuesday night during a [Vaisakhi] celebration at the Ontario Khalsa Darbar temple in Mississauga.
The 15-year-old male was taken to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto after the stabbing at around 10 p.m. in a kitchen in the temple’s basement. The victim was conscious and breathing, a Peel police officer said at the scene, and was believed to be in serious but not life-threatening condition.
Peel police arrested a teenager at the scene who is about the same age as the victim.
The stabbing happened during Vaisaki, an annual religious festival marking the start of the new solar years that, throughout the day, draws about 30,000 people to the temple, also known as Dixie Gurdwara. [link]
An equally young suspect is in custody, though no information about motive has been released yet. If any readers in Toronto can update us, your southern neighbors would really appreciate it.
A suspect, about the same age as the victim, is in police custody. Police say the knife used in the stabbing may have been set out with some food. [link]
I’ll refrain from speculating about possible motives since there is so little information to go on right now. What I can say at this point, regardless of the back story, is that there is no acceptable justification for this senseless act of violence.
I’ll update this entry as more information is released though. Our thoughts are with the young victim, his family, and Toronto’s sangat.
OR HOW NOT TO PULL A SIKH-RELATED PUBLICITY STUNT
I will leave the PR-stunt by Congress heir-apparent, Rahul Gandhi, son of Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi, and great-grandson of Nehru and his ill-advised (or rather ill-positioned pagri) to speak for itself. A pictures is worth 1000 words and ‘ridiculous’ is one of those that come near the top for this election stop near Takht Damdama Sahib.
On a bit of a serious note, although I hate writing short posts without analysis, I came across a finely-written article about the ‘Shoe-hurling Sardar and Deep-rooted Sikh Grievances‘ published in a Pakistani newspaper that I wanted to bring to our readers’ attention.
I initially cringed when I read stereotypical sentences, such as:
However, Sikhs are known for their forthrightness and carrying a level head in emotionally charged situations is not one of their strengths.
Eventually I got over it and just focused on the substance of the matter. Definitely worth a read.
For my previous coverage, see here and here.
With Vaisakhi upon is, what is it you think of? Perhaps Anandpur Sahib, the city of bliss? Maybe the Panj Piaray, the five beloved ones? Or perhaps it is Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s message of fraternity and equality that resonates with you. Whatever it is that you think of, I wonder if it stirs you or moves you to see the world in a different light – in the light that our Guru hoped for us. On this day, in 1699, our Guru gave us the potential to be born again. Without caste, without discrimination, and without fear.
It is clear that issues of caste and discrimination still play a role in our communities today. However, I came across a promising article in the Guardian which discusses how a small café in India is challenging long-held caste taboos by hiring Dalit women to work within the café as waitresses. Although the Indian constitution banned untouchability sixty years ago, Dalits are still often forbidden, in villages and small towns, from doing anything other than low menial jobs. We all know it is not easy to challenge century-old beliefs, however this café is doing just that. As Sikhs, these issues should matter to us and we should stand up against injustice within any community.
An interesting paper, which I found on the Punjab Research Group site, titled “Dalits and the Emancipatory Sikh Religion” discusses the role Sikhi played in liberating Dalits.
It is beyond doubt that Sikhism emerged as an emancipator for the lowest of the low. Nanak, the first Guru, was clear when he says:
Last week, we saw the birth of a new Sikh folk hero. I am sure the dhadhi jathas (just as Chuck D called rap music the CNN of black people, dhadhi jatha is the CNN of the Sikhs) are already warming up their sarangi and dhad.
While other commenters have suggested material reasons for the turnabout in the Congress Party’s decision, I still contend that we must celebrate the Sikh masses for galvanizing the issue. The show of force came through Sikhs and their ‘rail roko’ with the shutting down of the railroad system throughout Punjab.
Although I am well aware of the political advantages that the Akali Dal and BJP sought to gain from the issue of the Delhi Pogroms of 1984, I hope for naysayers, worst of all those within our community, that like to state “the past is the past” and “let bygones be bygones” they realize the past does affect the present and life still does reside within the Sikh masses and polity.
Our so-called “leaders” rarely lead. Throughout Sikh history, it has been the masses that have had to goad these so-called leaders. Whether it was the movement to free the Gurdwaras from British-Mahant control during the early part of the 20th century or even the Sarbat Khalsa and subsequent declarations at the Akal Takht in 1986, the Sikh masses have always been the main impetus of the Qaum. The Guru Granth Sahib is our guide and the Guru Khalsa Panth (and not individual leaders, be they SAD Presidents or Jathedars) is our temporal collective body.
A few months ago, with our first TLH book club, Jodha blogged about Sikhs In Britain. The book was a fascinating insight into how the lives of Sikhs living in England have been shaped over generations. In a similar attempt to historically document the Punjabi Sikh community in the UK, The Southall Story is a project that celebrates a town that has “welcomed new communities throughout the last century, enabling them to excel and influence both the social and political structures of this country.” Through a series of public events, performances, exhibitions and forums, the project aims to educate and inspire people about their heritage.
Southall is also a place that has come to be affectionately known as Little India, but for many it is much more than that. Being a port, (Heathrow is a stones throw away), Southall has been a home to such diverse groups as the West Indians, Indians and Pakistanis in the 50′s through to the Ugandan Asians in the 70′s. Most recently, new arrivals include Sikhs from Afghanistan and Somalians.
These settlements invariably have influenced and shaped Southall. Pivotal moments such as the racist murder of teenager Gurdip Singh Chaggar in 1976… meant that as a community issues of race and gender could no longer be avoided. [link]
As we remember 1984 through concerts and acts of rebellion, let’s not forget the visceral spirit displayed by Singhs IN that time period.
Watch below the original version of a Punjabi kavita sung by Bhai Gursharan Singh during those turbulent times in Manji Sahib Hall located in the Darbar Sahib complex . This kavita captures the mood and spirit of those days. Tigerstyle later used it in one of their Shaheedi CDs to REMEMBER that spirit.
Intellectually, we can try to REMEMBER those days; but this kavita actually makes us FEEL how it was to live through that time.
I know many will object to this post and ask how does a shoe bring justice to the thousands that lost their lives in 1984? My reply – it doesn’t.
But what it does do is highlight the farce that calls itself Indian justice.
Earlier this week, I wrote about Sikh outrage against the Congress Party’s continuance of giving electoral posts to genocidal murders. While I still hold my claim of an independent position against Parkash Badal, the Akali Dal, and the BJP’s opportunism and the Congress Party’s celebration of impunity, the action of journalist Jarnail Singh warrants commentary and analysis.
Well, it seems like the sex ratio in Punjab is not improving despite the number of trees Mrs. Badal is planting and the SGPC’s desire to raise unwanted girl children.
The Tribune reports:
In 2001, the census of India recorded Punjab’s sex ratio at 876 females for 1,000 males, one of the worst in the country. The preliminary findings of a Lucknow-based agency AMS engaged by the government to assess the current situation shows that sex-ratio in many districts of the state has plummeted further.
First, AMS’s study has called out the Punjab government’s bluff in data collection. Apparently, the data collected by Punjab government agencies painted “… an unbelievably rosy picture of the situation”. The Social Security Department and Health Department have reported two different results. These results also do not match those of AMS.
An airline with potentially the best airplane food (for those with Punjabi palates) has just launched. Akal Air has just started bi-weekly flights (Wednesdays and Saturdays) from Birmingham, UK to Amritsar, a gateway for Sikhs to 
Punjab.
Daljit Singh Birring, managing director of Akal Air, suggested that Birmingham International Airport is the “perfect base” for the airline. He said: “Access to Amritsar is of huge importance to the large Punjabi and Sikh population of the Midlands taking the pilgrimage to the Golden Temple and visiting family and friends.” [cheapflights uk]
The new flights are good news for the large Asian community in the Midlands. “Birmingham is the perfect base for Akal Air. Access to Amritsar is of huge importance to the large Punjabi and Sikh population of the Midlands taking the pilgrimage to the Golden Temple and visiting family and friends, as well as for business people trading with India’s emerging and developing economy,” says Akal Air managing director, Daljit Singh Birring. [link]
It seems that hospitality will be a major feature of the airline.
Akal Air customers will always be treated with respect, due care and consideration and be offered a pleasant flight experience by all Akal Air staff from Check-in, boarding, in-flight through to baggage claim. [Akal Air]
Happy travels to all in Birmingham! I hope to see Akal Air expand in the near future.
I recently stumbled on a report from the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHC), titled Torture in India 2008: A State of Denial. This document claims to be “the first nationwide assessment of the use of torture in India.”
ACHC is a Delhi-based organization focused on protecting human rights throughout Asia, with what appears to be a specific focus on South Asia. I’m not familiar with this organization, so I’d be curious to hear if others can support or disprove their work.
The report focuses on the use of torture by police and security forces from routine arrests to counter-insurgency operations. Although it is clearly a preliminary analysis, it’s findings are quite alarming. The report notes:
The statistics of NHRC imply that in the last five years 7,468 persons at an average of 1,494 persons per year or four persons in a day died in police and prison custody in India. However, these figures represent only a fraction of the actual cases of torture. Cases of torture not resulting in death are not recorded.
Particularly troublesome was the section on custodial torture of women and children.
Tajinder (foreground) and Shalinder (background) Bansra.
Shalinder Kaur Basran is one of 19 recipients of the Carnegie Medal for heroism for intervening in a murderous domestic violence altercation in which a husband stabbed his wife. At the time, it was one of three cases in which desi-Canadian women had been killed by their families.
When Bibi Shalinder and her daughter heard a fight escalating downstairs, accompanied with cries for help, they ran downstairs where they found Jatinder Waraich had stabbed his wife, Navreet. She lay bleeding on the floor, crying for help. When he advanced on her, again, Bibi Shalinder forcibly removed him (while he held his knife) from the apartment while her daughter called 911. While police arrested Jatinder, his wife, unfortunately, did not survive his attack.
Reading about this award was really bittersweet for me. On one hand, I think interjecting yourself in the heat of a fight — with someone who’s already been acting crazy and is actively wielding a weapon — requires tremendous courage and strength. On the other hand, the underlying story of domestic violence and murder is heart-breaking. It made me wonder if others would have rushed to assist Navreet Waraich, or if they would have ignored it, assuming it was a domestic disagreement.
As previously discussed, 1984 continues to haunt the psyche of a new generation of Sikhs. As justice continues to be denied to those that faced the Sikhs’ Kristallnacht in Delhi, the perpetrators of the heinous pogroms continue to roam the streets with impunity and some even continue to be awarded ministerial and cabinet positions by the government.
With the upcoming elections in India, Jagdish Tytler has been nominated by the Congress Party to run for the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) in northeast Delhi.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurbachan Singh, and SGPC officials have called for a protest outside the residence of Congress Party president, Sonia Gandhi.
No Sikh should think that the call could have been given by the Jathedar without the expressed permission of Parkash Badal and that too for electoral gain. Kaka Badal, Sukhbir Badal, has already used the issue to call for Congress Party head, Captain Amrinder Singh (scion of the house of Patiala) to resign from his position.
Does the West’s emphasis of the individual subvert community consciousness in the art world? UK-based artists Amrit and Rabindra Singh explain that the primacy of the individual versus other relationships does not resonate with art elites as naturally as it may for others:
“Western contemporary art is all about the individual, the inner self,” reflects Amrit… We were constantly being told that to be individual was healthy, that we had to be more different from each other, be influenced by different Western artists from each other, but that didn’t seem valid to us. From the point of view of Sikh, Indian or even Asian philosophy, the community comes first and the individual is second.” [emphasis added]
I thought this article was a fascinating description and reflection on the structural challenges Sikh artists, particularly Sikh women of color artists, face within the art establishment in the U.K.
The twins described their sense of community and of shared experiences when conceptualizing and creating their art. This first barrier — that art that does not conform to the frame of mainstream art teaching — seems obvious, and yet such a subtle feature that it makes it difficult to push around it. This is a fairly distinct difference (individual vs. multiple social awarenesses) of philosophical development between the canon of European/American philosophers and philosophers from the different regions of Asia, but it was fascinating to see how it repeats and excludes through artistic representation. Not only that, it creates a less obvious form of discriminatory thinking in the art academy than the standard, run-of-the-mill racism.
Last week, I posted on the Gurmat Gian Group’s performance of classical keertan. This all Sikh women’s group, expect 
for a tabla player, is based in Ludhiana, Punjab. This week, I wanted to share a brief interview with one of its members, Keerat Kaur.
1. How did you come to join the Gurmat Gian Group? How long have you been with the group? How often does the group meet?
The Gurmat Gian Group was formed by my mother Gurpreet Kaur. My mother Gurpreet Kaur and myself used to do kirtan in the weekend gatherings of Gurmat Gian Missionary Trust. These programmes are held every Saturday and Sunday. Impressed with our singing, we were asked by the organizers and especially by Rana Inderjit Singh to train young boys and girls to do kirtan. Now Gurpreet Kaur takes regular classes at the Gurmat Gian Missionary College where many girls and boys of different age groups are learning kirtan.
Encouraged to go in to recording Gurabni Kirtan lead to the formation of Gurmat Gian Group which now has 5 CDs to its credit.
I know this concert has already been discussed, but the event had been postponed to this coming Friday…and with all the local buzz…it got me thinking about how we remember 1984.
The Sikh Student Association here at the University of Maryland, in conjunction with other student groups, is sponsoring a free concert on April 3rd, 2009 to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Sikh genocide. In a previous post Truth To Power – in reference to the recent Ensaaf report, I had stated:
We must read such reports and present them … anywhere and everywhere … to anyone who will listen: our gurdwaras, our local Amnesty International chapters, student groups, talk radio, public television, newspaper op-eds, etc. We must also create awareness of these findings in whatever format we can – through music, art, theatre and poetry.
The featured performer for the concert is Immortal Technique, an up-and-coming rapper who attracts a large and diverse audience, especially amongst college students. His intense style, controversial lyrics, and willingness to approach political subjects, such as the mid-east conflict, have made him a fan favorite amongst the politically aware.
It is refreshing to see students think “out-of-the-box” in remembering 1984, by attracting a mainstream artist and joining forces with other student activist groups under the tagline “Move the Movement.” The SSA plans to distribute background material on the 1984 atrocities and subsequent human rights violations, as well as feature short video clips and interviews with victims in between acts.
Radio Free Afghanistan 
just chose Anarkali Honaryar for their “Person of the Year” award. Coincidentally, Anarkali is a member of Afghanistan’s minority Sikh community. At 25 years old, Anarkali is also a physician, a human rights activist, a member of Afghanistan’s Constitution Committee, and works for the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan. Oh, and she finished high school at 12.
Wow. I think another fitting title would be Sikh Role Model of the Year (or the decade?). She has definitely just become my role model. And we can definitely add her to our list of sheroes.
Just what exactly was Anarkali given this award for?
She is well-known for helping women who suffer from domestic abuse, forced marriages, and gender discrimination. Honaryar is also an advocate on behalf of Afghanistan’s small, embattled Hindu minority, which lives in squalid conditions and faces harassment and discrimination. “We are thrilled to recognize Anarkali for her tireless work in promoting democracy, human rights, and civil society in Afghanistan,” said Radio Free Afghanistan Director Akbar Ayazi. “Anarkali has been taking part in Afghanistan’s reconstruction since she was a teenager — this recognition is well-deserved.” [Radio Free Europe]
The G20 summit, which will take place in London on April 2nd, will bring together world leaders representing 85% of the world’s output to discuss issues affecting the international financial system. The goal of this summit is to encourage world leaders to make three committments:
- First, to take whatever action is necessary to stabilize financial markets and enable families and businesses to get through the recession.
- Second, to reform and strengthen the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust.
- Third, to put the global economy on track for sustainable growth.
This week, religious leaders in Britain urged the G20 leaders not to forget their commitments to the world’s poorest people in the current economic crisis. In a joint statement, they quoted World Bank figures suggesting 53 million more people may fall into absolute poverty as a result of the crisis, and said the world’s leaders have a duty to help them.
In a communiqué issued in advance of next week’s G20 meeting in London, they call on political leaders to consider the moral issues at the root of the current financial crisis, and to pay special attention to the needs of poor, marginalised and vulnerable people: “to forget their needs would be to compound regrettable past failures with needless future injustices”. [link]
The story is hardly new. Every few weeks, we see reports by journalists that reinforce a well-known reality – many Sikh men in Punjab are cutting their hair and removing their turbans. I am hardly an alarmist. I do believe that despite the overwhelming trend, there are countercurrents as well. In an earlier post, I described what I have termed a ‘Sikh turn’.
Although many Sikh youths have for the time being removed their turbans, their sense of a religio-ethnic identity still remains strong. Maybe the temptations of modernity and especially the desires of the opposite sex are strong and many feel that at this point in their life they would rather pursue women and cannot live up to the great ideals of their Gurus. This should not be read as a rejection of those ideals but a realization of where they are and their priorities at this time. (Though this may be the case of those that remove their pagri on their own account and not in those families and children where they never had it as many in the diaspora)
As discussed previously, the ‘Sikh turn’ is occurring. The psychological tragedy of the post-1993 Sikh community is beginning to wane and we may be witnessing the dawn of a new era. It may not be in the Khalsa symbolic form that many hope, but a religio-ethnic movement is occurring. The youth are not disinterested and disconnected; they are engaged and can be mobilized. The pull of the pagri is not dead in Punjab either as we see many Bihari migrants joining the Qaum’s ranks. This is a good sign. A new generation will soon have its own version of ‘pagri sambhal jatta.’[link]
A recent article in the Washington Post revisits the issue, highlighting a looming impending court case.
