Word has passed through the grapevine that a Sikh candidate is up for election as council member-at-large in the upcoming Hoboken City Council race. Meet Ravinder (“Ravi”) Bhalla, a New Jersey native and attorney currently serving as a committee member for his district. A Democrat, Bhalla is running on a platform that centers around limiting property taxes and “increasing fiscal responsibility” in addition to focusing on transparency and modernization of public archives/resources:
Hoboken is a great city, but as many people feel these days, we can do much better. Property taxes and spending are out of control. Too many important decisions are made in the shadows of City Hall and without the knowledge or involvement of ordinary citizens. [link]
Bhalla is running in an overwhelmingly white suburb of NYC that currently has only one non-white city councilmember. In exploring his own background as a practicing Sikh and as an attorney, some of his work has featured relatively prominently around civil rights issues and freedom of religion:
Prince Harry has been roundly criticized for using the term “Paki” in refering to another miliary cadet and for suggesting that another cadet looked like a “raghead.” To his credit, he has apologized.
What’s been interesting to me about this subject, first, is the discussion of whether Prince Harry deserves a pass. In a BBC article, Sunny Hundal, a Sikh, rightfully recognizes that the Prince’s casual use of “raghead” is troublesome. But, Hundal dismisses the attention paid to Prince Harry’s blunder as simple youthful indiscretion: “He’s a young person messing around and all the rest of it. Young kids say stupid things,” he said in the same BBC piece.
Sure Prince Harry is relatively young, but he is a public figure; more specifically, he is royalty who has had a fine education and upbringing, who has been on notice for years and years that what he does and says will be scrutinized and examined by the people. He should especially know this after his costume gaffe, in which he wore a Nazi uniform to a party. The mistakes of youth may explain some things, but Prince Harry is no ordinary person; nor is he so young that we can discount everything he says or does.
The other aspect of this story that piqued my interest is the apology offered by Prince Harry with respect to the “raghead” comment. On this point, a royal spokesman said, “Prince Harry used the term ‘raghead’ to mean Taliban or Iraqi insurgent.”
This apology totally misses the boat — the concern is not whether Prince Harry “meant” to apply the term to a certain group (even if the group is terrorists or horrible elements of our society); rather the concern is that the term itself is inherently inappropriate because it is used to brand and insult anyone that wears a headdress, including an Arab or a Sikh. In other words, using “raghead” does not suddenly become okay if it is correctly targeted. When it comes to this particular word, context does not matter — it is only used in a derogatory fashion, unlike other charged terms, like the “n-word”.
I hope Prince Harry learns his lesson and removes “raghead” from his vocabulary. I also hope he — or his staff — won’t come up with such lame explanations when and if he commits the next faux pas.
This past weekend at the Toronto Sikh Retreat a workshop was offered on Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. I personally think it’s great when we are given the opportunity to delve into the lives of our Gurus. We get to see Sikhi come alive through history. Our Gurus become real as we learn about Sikh principles through their life experiences. No longer are they just pictures on the walls or names to memorize, but perfect humans who overcame personal and communal challenges. Their strong convictions and stead-fast adherence to the values of humility, patience, justice, and equality during difficult times highlights the strength of Sikhi as a practical religion than just a “philosophy”. I hope more conferences and retreats will take this approach.
During the retreat Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s life and bani was discussed by participants. As a young boy he was taught by Bhai Buddha Ji and Bhai Gurdas Ji. The former taught him archery and horsemanship, while the latter focused on ancient classics. Thus, Guruji was both a fighter and intellectual that had a deep appreciation for music along with the sword. The Mahima Prakash says: “Sri Tegh Bahadur was the summit of knowledge. He was a recluse at heart, a king in demour. His patience was unmatched, so was his generosity.”
While driving yesterday I heard about an interesting news story on the local conservative talk radio station. Basically, the Mexican father of a 14 year old daughter was arrested by California authorities for selling his 14 year old daughter’s hand in marriage to an 18 year old man. Apparently in Oaxaca (pronounced Wa-ha-ka), a state in Mexico, such practice is normal.
Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, of Greenfield, California, was arrested Monday and booked into the Monterey County Jail, Greenfield police said in a statement. He faces felony charges of receiving money for causing a person to cohabitate, police said.
Martinez had arranged through a third party to have his daughter marry the older teenager, identified by authorities as Margarito de Jesus Galindo, of Gonzales, California. In exchange, Galindo was to pay Martinez $16,000 and provide him with 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine, and six cases of meat, Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier told CNN.
In the Oaxacan community, such an agreement is “normal and honorable,” he said. “In California, it’s against the law. [Source]
The story is interesting because the novelty of the situation seems to have forced people to actually think about what it means to be a melting pot or an integrated community.?The questions being asked on the?show?I was listening to were the same questions that are asked of Sikh religious practices: Where do we stop being accommodating and begin enforcing laws that protect people? How do we respect culture and enforce laws?
In Sri Lanka last week, a brave voice was silenced. The editor of the Sunday L
eader, 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 moving essay, with instructions that it be published upon his death.
A brief summary of the context, the war which Wickramatunga covered and was silenced by, can be found here.
Wickramatunga’s essay is deeply moving. You can find it in full here and here. Below is an excerpt:
No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honour to belong to all those categories and now especially the last.
I have been in the business of journalism a good long time. Indeed, 2009 will be The Sunday Leader’s 15th year. Many things have changed in Sri Lanka during that time, and it does not need me to tell you that the greater part of that change has been for the worse. We find ourselves in the midst of a civil war ruthlessly prosecuted by protagonists whose bloodlust knows no bounds. Terror, whether perpetrated by terrorists or the state, has become the order of the day. Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges. For neither group have the risks ever been higher or the stakes lower.
Why then do we do it? I often wonder that. After all, I too am a husband, and the father of three wonderful children. I too have responsibilities and obligations that transcend my profession, be it the law or journalism. Is it worth the risk? Many people tell me it is not. Friends tell me to revert to the bar, and goodness knows it offers a better and safer livelihood. Others, including political leaders on both sides, have at various times sought to induce me to take to politics, going so far as to offer me ministries of my choice. Diplomats, recognising the risk journalists face in Sri Lanka, have offered me safe passage and the right of residence in their countries. Whatever else I may have been stuck for, I have not been stuck for choice.
But there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.
It’s been a long time coming but Sikhs all across the globe seem to be making more of an effort to celebrate Lohri today, not only for their sons but also for their daughters. In Tarn Taran, Punjab, this year’s Lohri’s celebrations were dedicated to the 101 baby girls who live in the area.
“The main purpose of this celebration is to make people aware of the social evil of female foeticide. The male and female ratio is getting unbalanced with each passing day. In order to balance the gap in the Sikh society, Akal Takht has given order not to support female infanticide. Female foeticide is as bad as slaughtering a holy cow,” said Parvinder Singh. Chairman, Kalpana Chawla Pragtisheel Society.
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Also in the news today is the story of Lak[h]winder Singh, a Giani in Kelowna, Canada who was arrested and is being charged for sexual exploitation, sexual interference, two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault. The allegations that give rise to the sexual offences began in late 2007 and the victim is now 16 years old.
Lakwinder Singh, the 29-year-old preacher at a Rutland temple, Gurdwara Guru Amandas Darbar, was arrested after a family with ties to the temple brought forward allegations of sexual impropriety to police last week.
Tarsem Singh, a spokesman for the Gurdwara, said Lakwinder Singh was employed at their temple for nearly seven years, but has since been fired. In addition, the gurdwara is supporting the police’s efforts in finding any other possible victims.
While emotions often run high on this issue, an email from a friend struck me enough to think about and create a forum for the issue.
As current estimates has over 850 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths, the tragedy in Gaza will be continued with Israeli strikes. Throughout the world, we have seen breath-taking numbers of individuals take to the streets (Professor Juan Cole of Informed Comment provides a cogent argument that street protests are overall useless and believes better lobbying for the future of the struggle) denouncing and calling for an end to the current strikes.
During the summer, on the eve of the Olympic Games, a fellow Langa(w)riter asked about the question of the shaheed (the witness) in the case of injustice and abuse.
While there will be varied Sikh perspectives on the issue of the current violence (often according to age, but not always) certain Sikh groups have taken an active stand.
In 2006, Kawaljeet Tagore was fired for refusing to remove her kirpan. This month, she has filed a lawsuit, along with the Sikh Coalition and Becket Fund, against the IRS.
Kawaljeet Tagore, a Sikh American, sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Houston federal court on Jan. 6 claiming the IRS discriminated against her by prohibiting her from wearing a kirpan, a mandatory article of faith, on her job as a revenue agent at the Mickey Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston. [link]
The case is significant for a few reasons, but this is the first time someone has litigated the right to wear the kirpan specifically in a work-context. There have been other incidents (and sometimes cases) in which a Sikh’s right to wear the kirpan in an educational setting or in a vehicle or place of public accommodation has been disputed and resolved.
Balbir Singh, a Sikh, was attacked in Bellerose (an eastern neighborhood in Queens, New York) on New Year’s Eve while seemingly minding his own business. According to Balbir Singh:
“My wife and I were moving out of our house, and we had moved everything out and were cleaning the house. . . . I came outside and some guy who was standing on the corner came and punched my head and my eye.”
Balbir Singh [pictured] sustained a fractured eye socket and is unable go back to work for at least a week as the result of his injuries.
Swaranjit Singh — a Sikh who is on a local community board which has jurisdiction over Bellerose — believes the incident was a hate crime. Swaranjit Singh specifically contends that “the event was one of several attacks, verbal and physical, that Sikhs have suffered in the neighborhood.” “There is a lot of ignorance, ignorance creates fear and fear creates hatred. . . . There is a need for tolerance and respect,” Swaranjit Singh added.
The incident may be attributed, perhaps in part, to strained relations between the South Asian immigrant community and those resistant to or uncomfortable with the changing ethnic demographics of this particular area of Queens. (I stress “may” because it is unclear what the motives of the attacker were; indeed, the identity of the masked attacker is still unknown at this point.)
I was able to find only one news article reporting on this incident (it is the source for all of the quotes and information above). If anyone has other details, please share it in the comments. If I learn of anything further, I will update this post as appropriate.
As Lohiri season approaches us, the issue of gender equity was once again resurfaces. Some families will celebrate Lohiri for their daughters to show there is no difference, while others will keep it as a boy tradition. I think we should also reflect on the fact gender equity isn’t just solved by equal celebrations when from the beginning we don’t even allow daughters to be born. How many celebrations will “make-up” for the gross in-balance between the male-female ratio in our community?
The issue of female feticide in the South Asian community is an infamous issue. We have heard about the studies in India, Punjab’s high ranking, and the SGPC’s desire to raise unwanted daughters. The common source cited for killing female children is abortion- just never letting them be born. However, the issue is also prevalent in the South Asian Diaspora in America. According to The Mercury News, Indian families are 58 percent more likely to have a son after having three daughters, compared to the natural 51 percent chance.
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 came to the U.S. Dec. 22-26 to take testimony from two key witnesses who allege that former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler organized three days of violence against Sikhs in New Delhi 1984, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. [India West]
Jasbir Singh, one of the men whose testimony was taken, was a witness before the Nanavati Commission in 2004. The Nanavati Commission found that there was sufficient evidence against Tytler to open an investigation against Tytler. However, the CBI closed the investigation last year claiming that it couldn’t find the witnesses.
The Nanavati Commission concluded that sufficient evidence against Tytler existed to launch an investigation. The CBI had closed the case against Tytler — still a prominent member of the Congress party — last September, saying it could not find the witnesses. It reopened the case after several media reported that Jasbir Singh was residing in Fremont, Calif. [India West]
Co-blogged by Phulkari and Sundari
Perhaps like many of you, last night was spent watching The Story of India – a BBC series being aired on PBS. The six-part series (which our UK langarites may have already seen as it was aired in the UK in 2007) is narrated by historian Michael Wood and covers 4,500 years of the subcontinent’s rich history.
The first two episodes aired last night. Episode One, aptly titled Beginnings, takes us on a journey through India, tracing the incredible richness and diversity of its people, cultures and landscapes. Through ancient manuscripts and oral tales the documentary charts the first human migrations out of Africa.
In Tamil Nadu the latest DNA research takes him to a village where everyone still bears the genetic imprint of those first “beachcombing incomers”-the “first Indians” who went on to populate the rest of the world excluding Africa. [link]
As Wood aptly says, “Mother India indeed”.
I was excited to come across information about the Jaipur Literature Festival which will be held January 21st through the 25th in Rajasthan (mainly excited because it will coincide with a trip I’m planning to take to the area!). The festival is directed by author and historian, William Dalrymple.
Entering its fourth year, the festival will be hosting some of the best-known national and international writers including Vikram Seth, Michael Ondaatje, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Colin Thubron, Patrick French, Tariq Ali, Tina Brown, Mohammed Hanif, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Coleman Barks, Pankaj Mishra, Chetan Bhagat, Ahmed Rashid, Charles Nicholl, Hari Kunzru, Michael Wood, Nandan Nilkeni, Paul Zacharia, Prasoon Joshi, Shashi Tharoor, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Tarun Tejpal, Wendy Doniger, U R Ananthamurthy, among many others.
While perusing through their list of authors, I was surprised by the small number of Sikh writers who will be in attendance leading me to ask which (if any) other Sikh authors were invited and whether Sikh authors were, in general, being recognized for their work. While we attempt to address these questions, I wanted to use this space to highlight a couple of Sikh authors who did show up on the list.
This holiday season I noticed the pinched expressions on people’s faces, the emptier stores, the going out of business sales, and the general air of unease and uncertainty as we round out of the holiday season and into a worsening (economically) new year.
Over the past few weeks, the NYT has been covering how the recession has impacted small businesses, which tend to operate under situations that make them more sensitive to the need for liquidity than larger corporations.
Even companies…, whose products and services are in demand, are being ensnared in the deepening recession…
Some 60 to 80 percent of new jobs [in the U.S.] come from small businesses, Mr. Keating said, and more than 50 percent of private sector gross domestic product is created by small business. [link]
The damage, however, is not just localized. As the slowdown in the U.S. economy drags other world economies down, slow times have also impacted small business owners in immigrant communities, including Vancouver’s Punjabi Market:
“I don’t see much of a future here,” said Virani, who is considering closing her shop.She isn’t alone. At least 10 storefronts between 48th and 51st avenues are papered over and displaying For Rent signs.
On December 19, 2008, a UPS employee delivered a package to the home of Anant Singh. Singh’s father, a turbaned Sikh, signed for the package. Rather than entering the elder Singh’s name onto the electronic tracking slip, the UPS employee noted that a “terrorist” had signed for the package (see image at right). The incident has led outraged Sikhs to demand serious action, including an apology, from UPS. (See TLH’s previous coverage here.)
Instead of taking appropriate steps to address the incident, UPS issued a curt and grossly insufficient public statement. The inadequacy of the statement adds insult to injury, and demonstrates the need for the Sikhs to continue to press UPS for a more comprehensive and meaningful remedial response.
Lakh Lakh Vaidhayan!
On behalf of the TLH family, I’d like to wish all our readers the very best for 2009.
“Devotees throng the fog-covered holy Sikh shrine of Golden Temple in the northern
Indian city of Amritsar to offer prayers for the New Year January 1, 2009.” [Link]
The digitization of books has created a whole new way for Sikhs to access their history. I’ve stumbled onto a lot of historical Sikh literature that I had never heard of. For example, through Google’s Book Search function, I discovered a tourist guide to Punjab from the 1880’s (here’s an excerpt on visiting Amritsar).
Over the holidays, I found a scanned version of a first edition of The Life and Teachings of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur. It was written by Puran Singh and published by The Khalsa Agency in Amritsar in 1908. Puran Singh has a way with words like no other Sikh author I’ve ever encountered. His books The Spirit Born People and The Ten Masters are essential readings for anyone interested in Sikhi. In his book on Guru Tegh Bahadur he writes:
He looks upon the world with that far-seeing vacant eye with which a mariner, having lost his boat, looks upon the broad sea, seated on a rock in the middle dashed by the waves of the angry sea. The world to him is lost in the constant vision of the higher Reality of its soul. There is an intense spirit beating within his heart, which weeps ard cries at the sight of a man who is lost in the tempest of passions and remembers not the glorious life of his beyond this little life and the glorious inheritence of his in ideals of God, Love, and Truth.
He is a high abstraction in the love of God, and whenever a single thought of the world lowers his consciousness from those ethereal heights, he at once sings of God-consciousness and soars again.”Remember thy God, remember thy Lord, this is thy one duty, thy only duty,” says he.
However, what I really want to share is his opening introduction. The words are 100 years old, but just as or probably more relevant today.
In a significant development, the Government of Iraq has decided to rebuild the 15th century Sikh Guru Guru Nanak Dev’s shrine which was destroyed in the 2003 war in Baghdad. [link]
Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have visited the place on his way back from Mecca where he stopped to speak with religious leaders including the caretaker of the mausoleums of Abdul Qadir gilani and Bahlol the Wise, who were greatly impressed by his views on God and religion. A monument, in the form of a platform, was raised where Guru Nanak had sat and provided these discourses. It is documented that Sikh soldiers who went to Iraq during the First World War, 1914-18, raised a Gurdwara here, but now only a room exists which is visited by Sikh and non-Sikh Punjabis who work in Iraq. In addition, it is noted that since the gurdwara is located within a graveyard, visitors are banned from staying overnight, cooking meals or holding Langar and Kirtan. I was not able to locate any information regarding who is currently in charge of the gurdwara or what the dynamics of the gurdwara are (without Langar or Kirtan). I do wonder if a Guru Granth Sahib is kept there and, in that case, who does the seva.
As we approach the calendar year 2008, it also marks a year of our existence.
Looking at our top 10 posts in terms of the number of hits, I guess it is sort of a mixed bag on how The Langar Hall is finding its voice. Our top hit getters were usually part of the “first comers” rule. Our bloggers were the first to put up the Kenneth Cole Sikh Ad and our comment board became a one of the first internet hubs for fans to mourn the loss of Ishmeet Singh.
Still our breakthroughs, in my opinion, were our original commentary that sparked various discussions – whether it was about Sikhs and the Media in “Will the Revolution be Televised?”, the issues of drug distribution in our community in the still popular Balbir Dhami article, looking at the role and effects of Punjabi Sikhs in the ensuing mortgage crisis, or even in creating our desi list in “Sikh Medicine.”
For the full list, see below the fold:
When I was a little girl, I remember the hostile glares my father used to get as we drove together across town. Pretty much anytime the U.S. had gotten entangled in anything remotely related to Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan between the 1970s and 80s, you could bet your bottom dollar papa would get stopped at least four times on his 10 mile commute home by the police, who wanted to check if he was a “real American” who knew where his loyalties should lie.
If we flash forward to the 2000s, it had been a weird repetition of my early childhood to see open hostility resurface again over the course of the U.S. “War on Terror.” So imagine my surprise, when I found this holiday gift on one of my favorite timesucks, etsy (hat tip to Ennis!):
