mala

If this is true, then the situation needs to be escalated to a national level. Sorry to say no -one takes txt message seriously so there's no real gain in sending them out. This needs to become high profile within the Sikh media such as Sikh Channel, who have some influential weight. Now the motay prabhandaks and self proclaimed Sikh represantives need to come forward and resolve this issue. If they can have countless discussion programmes on the Sikh Channel about Sikh maslay, then they need to get off those soft Sikh channel sofas and get down to Grays. I request the Sikh Channel personalities to use their media power and help the sangat destroy these meat/alcohol gurdwara halls..

Well, you now got that crowd puller you needed! And in it's a big bold font too. Guaranteed sangat attendance now.

Well, they will be judged by the Austrian courts and the press anyway as soon as the trial begins. If some people claim that supposed "Panthic" Jathebhandi's endorsed the assination then why have no Jathebhandi's been vocal in backing the 6 "Singhs"?? Also, does anyone even know the names of the 6? If they are panthic heros to you, then tell me a bit about them.

If they were Singhs they would take responsibilty of what they done, like real Gurmukhs. They wouldn't be going through a buck passing exercise or plea bargaining with the authorties. Singhs would take the sentance with pride, I believe all these 6 men have pleaded not guilty and one is suffering from memory loss. Now 5 of these "Singhs" are disassociating themselves from anything to do with the 6th "Singh". I question if this was this really a "Panthic Sewa" and why was this specific Dehdhari targetted? In the UK, I have seen the Naamdhari guru sit on a throne next to Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji and several thousands come and matha tek the dehdhari guru. This has been happening for the last 30 years. The Radhosoami guru is always in Europe as is the Nirankari guru as are many others. Yet this does not generate an assisination. I suppose the burning question was Ramanand then targetted because of his caste?

Sorry guys, the way I read this is ..If this was some genuine sharda behind this programme or "samagam" then ALL the shaheeds of the Bluestar sakha would be remembered. This is a Sakha and not just about one Gursikh. Santji stood with the hundreds of shaheeds from the sangat (the bibya, the kids, the elders, the tyar-bar-tyar Singhs) and not on his own. Other previous Bluestar related samagams have honoured ALL the shaheeds of 84 (and fyi that includes Santji). BSSF you are being ignorent in thinking that no one has ever honoured Sant ji's Shaheedi before, and there will be (and have been for 25 years) shaheedi samagams in other Gurughars up and down the country remembering the shaheeds.

At last..Something I actually agree with Fordcapri on... I personally went to Dubai several years ago and found it a commercial, plastic city with no soul or culture. And as far as I could make out, non-arabs (except for whites) were looked down upon.

As Sikhs we are bound by Sarbat Da Bhalla. Every action we do should have a positive contribution to the world not a negative. Therefore we should carefully think about what we do and be willing to accept responsiblity for our doings. If that means chosing a career path which complements Sikhi, then so we should. If that means shopping responsibly, then so we should..For every negative action there is always a corrective action...Akal Purakh has given us the choice, it's up to us if we want to take the pain of the corrective action or the convenience of the negative action. In simple terms, think about this, if we are representing Guru Gobind Singh Ji then could you see our Guru selling ciggerettes, booze, being dishonest, cheating people out of money, exploiting the poor etc etc????....NO...

Good news report (at least we managed to have one)...well done to whichever proactive Midlands Gurdwara managed to get the Central News team down London to report the demo. The Central News team contacted the embassy and its the first time I have been made aware of any contact with the embassy, even if it was a non-response. Anyone one know anything more? There seems to be no reported follow up since Sunday or have I missed a Sikh Channel "special".

Shame that the maintstream media did not report on the demo.. Can someone enlighten me please..What actually happened at the demo, did our Sikh representatives get to meet the PM or enter No 10? Because from where I was all we seemed to have done was stood around, ate some langar, hear all these plump prabhandaks blow their own trumpets on stage and watch a Sikh Channel self promotion exercise taking place.... Apologies for my ignorance and annoyance but did we actually get a message to the UAE govt (as there is no media report on the demo whatsoever), any feedback about the 17 Sikhs?? I am not interested in any feedback on who came from where or how many coaches came down or Sikh channel direct debit forms...

It's a real mystery!!

Bhai Sahib, the whole issue is that the Dubai authorities picked up 17 random Indian punjabis who were in different parts of Dubai and charged them with the murder of a Pakistani man and bootleging (ie the sale of alcohol). Some had just arrived in Dubai, some were working, some were sleeping and some were just picked up at the airport because they were catching flights. The rest of the story and confessions have been fabricated and under Sharia law the 17 were sentanced to death. I dont know what the intentions of the Dubai police was, but I do know Sikhs and Indians are looked down on by the local ruling Arabs. Also they authroities want to send a message to the bootlegers that they will not tolerate alcohol in Dubai (but allow it to be sold to Westerners in the hotels). The incident allegedly took place over a year ago and it looks like the Dubai Sharia police want to make a massive example to show they are in contrrol and the 17 randomly chosen are just victims in this. Incidently all the open executions in UAE since 1997 a large portion seem to have been foreign individuals ranging from pakistanis, indians, indonesians. Fews Arab have been executed in the UAE since 1997. Perhaps the indians in Sharjah are being influenced by the local media.

Amazing Bachans from Babaji...

Wow!!!.....Akal Purkh Ki Fauj...amazing and inspirational pictures..I wish I had attended now, I feel like I missed out...Everyone looks so amazing in the pictures..

Isn't it amazing the people that put in women in Punj Pyare or support it don't have one source saying they can do it, but they want to ask the Gurmat side where is proof. I know the world works in twisted ways and your twisted thinking will work there fine, but when you come on a Sikhi site or walk into a Gurdwara take your twisted views and leave them at the door, just pick them back up at the door because surely no Gurmukh is going to take them up. For arguments sake...if we say that there is gender equality in Sikhi then why can't a women be in the Punj?.... In short 'only five' ji, there needs to be a backed up reason for the view than women cannot be in the Punj...otherwise it can be easily classified as double standards or hypocrisy...this is the kind of question a kid may ask and to not give an explanation will only cause confusion.. Based on the maintream Sikhi that most people will first interact with there's more reasons to back women being in the Punj then against...so if people are saying women cannot do the sewa then at least back it up with reasoning...

On 2 November 1984 Kamal Nath (current Indian Cabinet Minister) led and controlled a mob assault on Sri Rakaj Ganj Gurdwara (opposite the Indian Parliment), where 100s of Sikhs had taken refuge. After a seige that lasted a day, parts of the Gurdwara complex were put on fire and 2 Shaheed Singhs were burned alive by the mob. -------------------------------------------------- Mr Nath may not have been charged in a court of law in India, as he says, but his "involvement" in the 1984 cases is a matter of much documented record as Manoj Mitta and HS Phoolka point out in their book. Extracts from the chapter titled: A Tale of Two Gurudwaras *** [Page 49] ...Rakab Ganj Gurudwara, despite being across the street from Parliament House, was subjected to a prolonged siege in which its periphery was damaged, and two Sikhs were roasted alive. The attack on Rakab Ganj Gurudwara was also remarkable for the fact that it was probably the first, and so far, the only instance in the history of mass violence in India, where a political leader admitted to being on the spot. And such an instance ironically occurred in the immediate vicinity of India's parliament. The leader in question was Kamal Nath, who was at the time of the 1984 carnage, an up and coming Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh, and is now a cabinet minister holding a key economic portfolio in the Manmohan Singh government. In a siege that lasted over five hours, Kamal Nath is said to have been there for over two hours. Given the strategic location of Rakab Ganj Gurudwara, Kamal Nath's presence there was confirmed by two of the senior-most officers, Commissioner Subhash Tandan, and Additional Commissioner Guatam Kaul, as also by an independent source, The Indian Express reporter, Sanjay Suri. This is more than could be said about any of the Congress MPs from Delhi, whether HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar or Dharam Dass Shastri, as the charge of their complicity was based entirely on the testimony of victims... Extract taken from the book When A Tree Shook Delhi By By Manoj Mitta By H.S. Phoolka