SSP Suspended in Gurdaspur due to Sikh Sangat Pressure and Other Updates
Posted by Jodha in General on 03 31st, 2012 | 5 Comments
News has started to trickle on this day that Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana was initially scheduled to be hung. Due to the stay ordered by President Patil of India, there is an indefinite delay.
On Gurdaspur
News media are reporting the Punjab Police has suspended SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police)...
Ranjeet Singh – CORRECTION and Other Updates
Posted by Jodha in Punjab on 03 30th, 2012 | 10 Comments
It has now been confirmed by Navkiran Singh, well-known human rights advocate and a lawyer for Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana, that Ranjeet Singh is in critical condition, but is alive. Our apologies for the incorrect information, but one can understand that with information from Punjab being limited,...
Fallen Singh – Jaspal Singh, Update, and Shiv Sena
Posted by Jodha in Punjab on 03 29th, 2012 | 12 Comments
Details are murky, so to do a full analysis at this point is difficult. Right now, we stand to document the events. According to numerous reports, Shiv Sena from mainly Gujarat and Maharastra are entering Punjab. Gurdaspur has been a long-time stronghold of the Shiv Sena as well. Those that are...
LIVE FROM AMRITSAR – Day 2 (day after the Punjab Bandh)
Posted by Mehmaan (Guest) in Punjab on 03 29th, 2012 | 4 Comments
Day 2, March 29: Day after 1st Punjab Bandh
I tend to spend my nights at the Darbar Sahib, emerging from the complex around 9 am from the Manji Sahib jorha house. What I saw this morning near the South side of the Darbar Sahib complex near Baba Atal was notedly different from the scenes described yesterday.
As...
LIVE FROM AMRITSAR – Day 1 on Punjab Bandh
Posted by Mehmaan (Guest) in Punjab on 03 29th, 2012 | 2 Comments
The following are daily live reports we have been receiving from a friend in Amritsar. This came from yesterday (March 28, 2012) on the Day of the Bandh. So long as we hear from them, we’ll keep posting. We’re posting this exactly as they wrote it – spelling, capitalizations, and...
Why We Salute Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana
Posted by Jodha in Punjab on 03 28th, 2012 | 7 Comments
News of the Punjab bandh have overwhelmingly described it as a success. The community is in a wait-and-see mode. Unfortunately I feel that the political machine is already manipulating the system to create disenchantment and disillusion.
Some are claiming that the “stay” against execution...
UPDATED: “Stay” of Execution Announced – Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana
Posted by Jodha in Punjab on 03 28th, 2012 | 4 Comments
UPDATE: In accordance to Badal’s great game, he allowed for the bandh, but won’t let this moment fall from his bony and corrupt grasp. He has already imprisoned all those that may possibly post a challenge to him. Daljit Singh Bittu and others are being imprisoned throughout Punjab as...
Zindabaad
Guest blogged by Preeti Kaur
For Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana
For everyone who flies the kesri jhaanda today
ZINDABAAD TO THE KESRI FLAG WAVING ACROSS MY HEART
ZINDABAAD TO MARCH 31, 2012
ZINDABAAD TO THE EYES
ZINDABAAD TO THE LUNGS
ZINDABAAD TO THE WRIST WHICH WEARS THE KARA TO REMAIN SHACKLED...
Worldwide Events in Honor of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana
Posted by Jodha in Activism on 03 26th, 2012 | 15 Comments
This post is a community work-in-progress. Facebook events are popping up by the hour. I am hoping we supplement the fine effort’s of Berkeley SSF’s Facebook page – Global Movement for Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana. Send links, suggestions, and details in the comment-section and...
The Wonder of the Shaheed – Shaheed da Gazab – Bhai Sahib Balwant Singh Rajoana
Posted by Jodha in Activism on 03 22nd, 2012 | 19 Comments
Kaum shaheed Guru dey buhey
Kar suthee Ardasaan
Nation at the Guru’s door
I was asleep after Ardas
These lines penned by the Panth’s last poet – Harinder Singh Mehboob. These lines ring true today, as they did nearly three decades ago.
It is the blood of the martyr that stirs a slumbering nation;...
21st Century Lynching with Impunity
17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s life was taken away from him a few weeks ago in a gated community in Florida simply because of the color of his skin. On his way back from picking up a pack of Skittles and an iced tea at the local 7-11, he was shot dead by 26-year-old George Zimmerman, who was a...
Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana
See UPDATED post from TLH here at The Wonder of the Shaheed.
On March 31st, Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana is set to be executed in Punjab for his involvement in the assassination of former chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh. It will be the first execution in Punjab’s history in 24 years.
Chief...
What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?
Author Richard Florida identifies three questions that each of us struggle with over the course of our lives.
1) What do I do with my life?
2) Who do I spend my life with?
3) Where do I want to live?
Obviously, all three are interrelated in many ways but for most of us growing up in North America the...
Plutocratic Politics of the Punjab 2012 and An NRP’s Guide to Understanding Punjab Politics
WARNING: This is long!
Last week, the Punjab election results surprised many. Most pundits had believed the cycle of anti-incumbency would continue and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) would fall to the Congress Party, under Captain Amrinder Singh’s leadership. The results were stunning and after...
Sikh Punjabi Western
Guest post by Naujawani Sardar
The title to this article might have conjured up images of a cowboy-style shoot ’em up between turban-donning, mounted riders, and whilst I would welcome development of such an idea into a film, sadly that’s not what i’m writing about. I am Sikh, Punjabi...
Reflections on Sikholars: Day 2
Posted by AmericanTurban in Events on 03 10th, 2012 | 3 Comments
In a previous post, I reflected on attending the Sikholars Sikh Graduate Student Conference at CSU East Bay in Hayward, California a few weeks ago. I commented on the first day’s presentations and panel discussions and now offer the same for the second day. As before, I will refer to Jodha’s...
Poetry Speaks to the Punjabi in [me]
I came across this poem today, and definitely wanted to share with all you Langarites. Preeti Kaur, the author from California, is able to speak to numerous aspects of self-identifying as a Punjabi. We’ve had some discussions around Punjabi and Sikh identity here before, thought it would be...
Raising Kaurs
Source: Miss Representation (click to enlarge)
Today is International Women’s Day and while our attention often (and rightfully) focuses on ways to improve the lives of women and children living across the globe, it should also be a time to reflect on ways we can positively influence the lives...
Reflecting on the Punjab 2012 Elections
Guest post by Nirbhau Kaur
[Admin note: This post was penned by the author the morning after election results were made public in Punjab.]
Pain. Disgust. Hurt. Dread. Longing. Connect, then Disconnect.
For the first time I felt these feelings in relation to Punjab – a land where I was not born,...
Circuit Bhangra, Colombia and the Power of YouTube
Posted by Jodha in Bhangra on 03 6th, 2012 | 17 Comments
A friend recently forwarded me the following video.
A few notes may suffice. What is unusual is not the ‘performative’ style that has become modern (post-1947) bhangra, nor even the type of stage (we saw Signature earlier on Britain’s Got Talent that achieve the highest level of...
