A Sikh Woman Warrior Tells Her Tale
Today, I want to share with you, Nirpreet Kaur’s story. I highlight her story for 2 reasons.
First, as we’ve discussed on this blog before, the majority of Sikh history as its been documented thus far really is his-tory. So this piece of her-story is a rare gem. And second, too often, we think...
Sikh youth stabbed at Toronto’s Dixie gurdwara
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...
Airline for Sikh pilgrims, Akal Air, launches
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...
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...
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...
My favorite Sikh bureaucrat
Harpal Singh Kapoor, Director of Miami-Dade Transit, must be the coolest bureacrat in all of Florida. At a recent office party he not only showed off some mad bhangra skills, he taught his non-Punjabi colleagues some skills too, to the beat of a live dhol.
I know there are some purists in the audience...
Happy Hola Mohalla and almost Sikh New Year!
I don’t know if it’s actually appropriate to say “Happy Hola Mohalla” or “Happy Sikh New Year” (doubt it) but these are the awkward felicitations we’re going to have since we blog in English…
According to the Nanakshahi calendar (a solar calendar which...
Despite profiling, the Search For Common Ground continues
Yet another inexplicable case of profiling has come to light. On January 26th, 36 year old Rashad Bukhari arrived from Pakistan with a valid multi-entry visa into the US. Bhukhari is a former employee of the U.S. Institute for Peace, and currently the Urdu-language editor of the Common Ground...
Wayward warriors and Sikh imagery in gang violence
While many may still be reveling in Slumdog’s Sunday limelight, a darker movie about Indo-Canadians in Vancouver (the vast majority of who are Punjabi-Sikh), aiming to shed light on gang violence, is sparking criticism. [See trailer here.]
The film titled “A Warrior’s Religion”...
Truth and hair- always assert themselves
The conflict between modern ideals of beauty and the requirements of the Sikh faith came up in a prior post. Recently, Sukhmandir Kaur Khalsa spoke eloquently on this issue in an Arkansas publication. Excerpted below are Khalsa’s perspectives on hair, beauty, and truth.
“I liken the...
UN grades India’s freedom of religion for religious minorities
The UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of religion or belief visited India last year and just released her report on the country, highlighting, among other things 2 matters that are of special concern to Sikhs: (1) the situation of religious or belief minorities (generally) and (2) justice for victims...
Abandoned Afghani bride’s struggle against Indian army doctor inspires many women
One Afghani woman has had enough. And her story has struck a chord with many Indian woman who are now supporting her struggle to hold accountable an Indian Army doctor who married and abandoned her in Kabul after three weeks of marriage. Major Pant eventually called her, after returning to India,...
Quantitative evidence against Indian authorities
Monday marked notable achievements in the human rights world, for Sikhs affected by the Indian government’s abuses in Punjab in the 80s and 90s, as well as in the arena of international criminal justice.
First, Ensaaf recently partnered with Benetech, a technology organization that has created...
What’s changed?
Yesterday, the newly inaugurated president said, “… the world has changed and we must change with it.”
But just what has changed? In the euphoria of yesterday’s ceremonies, some seemed to expect that from now on, the sun would always shine and no one would ever go hungry again. The inaugural...
A call to conscience
In Sri Lanka last week, a brave voice was silenced. The editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickramatunga, was killed by gunmen on two motorcycles on his way to work. With prescience, he had predicted his impending death, believing that he would be killed by the government. He wrote an incredibly...
CBI collects testimony from 1984 witnesses in US
The dance continues. India’s infamous Central Bureau of Investigation just made a trip to the US to record testimony from two witnesses who identified Jagdish Tytler as an organizer of three days of violence in 1984 against Sikhs in Delhi.
A team from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation...
One Sikh’s Act of Bravery
Karambir Singh Kang, the general manager of the Taj Mahal Hotel, acted with great courage during the recent Mumbai tragedy. (Thanks for the tip, It’sMe)
Karambir Singh lost his wife and two sons in the hotel when they were forced to barricade themselves inside a room on the 6th floor. They died...
Bank of America Sikh
Lookout New Yorkers! There’s a new Sikh in town! Where is he? Who is he? He’s on your subway wall… representing Bank of America, sporting a NICE pagh with the cleanest layers I’ve seen in a long time. It looks like the folks at Kenneth Cole’s might have some competition…
The...
Sikhs in the Indian Constitution
The contents of an email from Tarlochan Singh, a member of the Indian Parliament, to Jagpal Singh Tiwana were published in The Sikh Times recently. Apparently, the member of Parliament is trying to have the Indian Constitution amended so that Sikhs are no longer referred to as Hindus for the purposes...
Mumbai- November 26, 2008
Posted by Reema in General on 11 26th, 2008 | 48 Comments
If you haven’t already come across this link, CNN-IBN is streaming live (though the worst of the violence is definitely over).
Even by the standards of terrorism in India, which has suffered a rising number of terrorist attacks this year, the assaults were particularly brazen and dramatically different...
