
JK Rowling’s Controversial New Book, “Casual Vacancy,” Has Sikhs in Uproar Because of a Lack of Exoticism, Sections on Naan-Bread Are Limited, and The Aroma of Curry is Not Even Mentioned. Akal Takht and the SGPC Are Now Involved. Dates For the Book Burning to Be Announced Via Twitter.
The burning question on everyone’s minds: Is JK Rowling an RSS agent? has finally been answered. Her latest novel, Casual Vacancy features a Sikh family, typical of RSS fiction, who are central to the plot of this novel, and are depicted as the source of morality in this otherwise very dark tale....
Speedy Singhs/Breakaway Movie: A Thinking Man’s Fillam
Posted by Navdeep Singh Dhillon in Canada, Entertainment, Film, General, History, Media, Musings on 09 28th, 2011 | 12 Comments
For the past few months, I have been inundated with information about the much-hyped Canadian-Bollywood venture, Speedy Singhs, also called Breakaway. As of September 3o, the film is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and India.
It’s interesting to note that, in the comments to another post...
Sikh Women Speak Out on Faith and Feminism in NYC
Posted by Navdeep Singh Dhillon in Activism on 06 13th, 2011 | 19 Comments
From left: Neesha Meminger, Tejpreet Kaur, Simran Kaur and Dr. Mathangi Subramanian
Last Thursday evening, I attended what was technically a panel, but ended up being an intimate discussion on a topic I never thought I would have willingly gone to: “Sikh Women Speak Out on Faith and Feminism.” Before...
The Sikh Coalition Denounces the King Hearings and Stands Up for Human Rights
Posted by Navdeep Singh Dhillon in Activism, Events, Featured Articles, Human Rights, Law, News on 03 16th, 2011 | 18 Comments
A week and a half ago I posted a blog entitled, Anti-Muslim Hate Comes to Orange County. In it, there was a video showing Muslims attending a fundraiser for homeless shelters being viciously screamed at by members of a local Tea Party group. Racial epithets and a horrific display of disrespect towards...
Anti Muslim Hate Comes to Orange County, California
Posted by Navdeep Singh Dhillon in Activism, California, Featured Articles, General, Human Rights, Musings on 03 4th, 2011 | 88 Comments
The above video took place on February 13, 2011 in Orange County, California in protest of the ICNA, an American-Muslim Relief Organization, holding a fundraiser towards money for women’s shelters, homeless shelters, and other such terrorist activities. While it is disturbing that the incident took...
Sikh Turbans, Designer Dahris, Bollywood, and Salman Rushdie?
Posted by Navdeep Singh Dhillon in Bhangra, Education, Entertainment, Punjab, Sikhi on 02 13th, 2011 | 8 Comments
The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys
It’s been a couple of years since my wife and I returned from our six-month shoe-string budget backpacking trip (I am very romantic) through India. In every city we visited, from Srinagar in the North to Thiruvananthapuram in the South, we made utterly impractical...
Miss World Punjaban 2008
Posted by Phulkari in General, Images, Media, Punjabi, Sikhi, World News on 08 28th, 2009 | No Comments
I found this video of the Miss World Punjaban 2008 contest interesting because the contestant chose to highlight her Sikh identity that is intimately linked to Punjabi culture. I find that it is easy for us to “intellectually” talk about the separation of the two identities. However, for...
The Punjab Project
Posted by Mehmaan (Guest) in Punjab on 08 14th, 2009 | 8 Comments
Blogged by: Amol Singh
A new generation of Sikh youth is coming up to age in a diaspora still unable to decently reflect or respond to the tragedies that have befallen the Panth. Although, cognizant of the injustices done to Sikhs, we have categorically failed at identifying a half-way legitimate vision...
“Saanjh”-Bay Area Sikh Retreat In Late August
Posted by Phulkari in Activism, Education, General, Punjabi, Sikhi, USA on 07 30th, 2009 | 2 Comments
“Saanjh”-the annual Bay Area Sikh Retreat is taking place Thursday, August 27th-Sunday, August 30th at the Monte Toyon campsite near Santa Cruz, California. Share your experiences and connect with other Sikhs through a Guru-inspired sangat. This year’s theme is “Developing a Panthic Vision Towards...
Hate Crimes Heat Up in Oz
A Sikh exchange student from Punjab became the 20th victim, this year, of a hate crime in Australia. His attackers attempted to rip off his turban and forcibly cut his hair. According to the AFP, this is the latest in a wave of attacks against desis in Australia.
These attacks have been the subject of...
Fear and Loathing in the Gurdwara
Earlier this week in B.C., hundreds of Sikhs protested the arrival of Mann Singh Pehowa, a granthi accused of rape, misconduct, and blasphemy.
There is, of course, an underlying issue here regarding whether or not Pehowa supports his own dera, has encouraged blasphemy, etc. There is pretty widespread...
Ravi Singh Bhalla Wins City Council Seat
Ravi Singh Bhalla was elected to the City Council in Hoboken, New Jersey this past week! A city that is less than 1% Asian and predominately white, Hobokens elected Bhalla with 5,810 votes. Bhalla had the highest number of votes amongst the 6 candidates competing for the 3 council seats.
In an e-mail...
Gurbakhash Kaur: Standing Up For Our Rights
One of the major issues affecting the Sikh community is increasing civic engagement in the United States. We often focus on getting more Sikhs to vote and lobby our politicians about the issues affecting our community. This lobbying general pertains to writing letters and signing petitions that ask...
Enjoy The Show But Leave Your Kirpan At Home
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in Bhangra, Entertainment, Europe, General, Human Rights, Law, Musings, UK on 05 4th, 2009 | 96 Comments
Vaisakhi in the diaspora usually brings two things to those living in cities with large Sikh communities: Nagar Kirtans and Vaisakhi concerts. Unfortunately, if you were an Amritdhari Sikh in London this year and you wanted to partake in both, you would have been out of luck. Tickets for the recent...
“Sikh Knowledge”
Posted by Phulkari in Activism, Canada, Entertainment, General, Human Rights, Politics, Punjabi, Sikhi on 04 24th, 2009 | 42 Comments
It seems like Canada is showcasing one socially conscious Sikh rapper after another. TLH has covered “Humble The Poet” and now here is “Sikh Knowledge” from Montreal. Sikh Knowledge raps with Lotus on issues effecting the 2nd generation and marginalized peoples.
Kanwar Anit Singh Saini, a.k.a. Sikh Knowledge,...
Afghanistan’s “Person of the Year”: a 25 yr. old Sikh
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...
Pushing Against Discrimination in the Passport Line
A couple of days ago Darshan Singh took his six-year-old son, Gurjot, to the post office to get a U.S. passport. Unfortunately, his experience is all too familiar: postal workers refused to take Gurjot’s photo, insisting he remove his “hat”:
A Frisco father says his family’s trip to...
SGPC President: “Sikh religion doesn’t permit…jeans”
SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar recently put forth the stunning idea that the Sikh religion doesn’t permit women to wear jeans. Apparently jeans, along with sleeveless shirts, “attract undue attention and distract others.” [link]
The background story:
…authorities in educational...
Beyond Diversity Days
There was an interesting story recently on Cultural Diversity Day at a local middle school. In addition to featuring dancing, self-defense, and dialogues, a few speakers lectured on their experiences or cultures, including a Sikh speaker:
Wearing a bright blue turban that matched his outfit, Gurparkash...
“Sikh Turban Week” at UT Arlington
We’ve definitely covered stories on the trials and tribulations Sikhs have faced recently in Texas. I saw this and thought it would be nice to share what students at the University of Texas – Arlington are doing to help dispel ignorance around our faith community.
The line outside the University...
