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So it's agreed that Sikhs in Punjab are heading for a world of trouble by swinging open the doors to Muslims; trouble which our people could easily avoid if they weren't clowns, but because they're misguided fools they will have to undergo the obvious trauma and horrors that Islam has in store for them in order for them to learn their lessons? I think we've been so traumatised by the Indian state's actions from the 80s onward, we've leapt into the arms of an enemy who some of us have forgotten were the original enemy! But even the word "trauma" implies we're victims of circumstances or powerless denizens without any agency of our own, which is complete rubbish considering the size of the Sikh-Punjabi ego and other areas on which we try to exert our presence. I guess the average Sikh in Punjab hasn't come across the saying, "The enemy of my enemy is not my friend."

Reminds me of this muslim AFLW player here who skipped 'pride' round because she didn't want to wear the shirt, you do you mate shouldn't be a problem but then there was this media stuff about the normally homophobic sexist white men people all of a sudden starting to give a shite about women's sport and gay representation and she copped it cause she was muslim from the white men. Others were divided cause who to support, the gay or the muslim?

ikr? lol.

I will say this, we can't use present day political situations to judge how important certain parts of our faith are. We can't judge our culture as one of where Guru Sahib would be proud of.

Let them deal with their shyte like we all have to deal with our shyte. Hard lessons are the most important ones to learn. Plus those of us outside, we have to generally deal with messes made by others, back home people generally have to deal with the kilhaaraa they've made themselves.

Having lots of Sikhs live somewhere doesn't make a place more holy than somewhere else, otherwise Patna and Hazur Sahib wouldn't be 2 of the Takhts of the faith. And you still have not denounced India for 1947-today, and until you do that, this is my last reply to you on this topic.

Out of the Sikh population in India and Pakistan combined 99.9% of Sikhs live in India so I would still advocate that if you are going on a trip to that part of the world that we as a Qaum focus our tourist dollars on east Punjab and uplifting our poor Sikhs in the process rather than enriching those who support the 1947 Pakistani Genocide of Sikhs in which 25% of the Sikhs there were killed. Obviously the more money we as overseas Sikhs invest in east Punjab the faster we can lift many of our brethren Sikhs out of poverty.

Mate, India and Pakistan government both hates us, are you going to call us to stop spending our tourist dollars in India?

1. Deep Sidhu isn't held up as Panthic hero but has given due respect for walking away from millions of dollars that he could have made as BJP MP or Advocate/Corporate Lawyer in order to stand for the rights of the poor in India. 2. Every other country has sehajdhari political leaders so why would one argue that Bhagwant Mann will do any worse of a job than Badal, Amrinder or Beanta? Surely it's about getting the least worst choice for leadership rather than insisting upon Rehit in a secular democracy. Remember barely above 50% at present when including all the Dera premi's within Sikh numbers and if you are going define only Amritdhari's as Sikhs then the percentage of Sikhs falls to 2% in east Punjab, so logically why would you expect a Kesdhari CM in a secular democracy given those numbers? It's like Muslims in California expecting the Governor's position there. Weight of numbers matter in a democracy. Of course it should, or whoever is the least worst option - which Bhagwant Mann clearly was in comparison to anti-Sikh CM's like Amrinder and Badal It is better to have hopefully an honest sehajdhari Sikh in the CM role than dishonest anti-Sikh CM's like Amrinder, Badal and Beanta. 100% agree with you. What you have said is common sense. 1. Yes he was clearly a better option that anti-Sikhs like Amrinder and Badal 2. Good. As in a secular democracy, competency to do the job matters more rather than anti-Sikh characters like Amrinder or Badal being foisted on Punjab by Delhi. 3. Good. Badal Dal have no connection to Sikhi. The societies which keep the false veneer of religion out of secular politics tend to perform better economically than theocracies, for example, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Canada etc in comparison to Pakistan, Mauritania or Afghanistan. You have pretty much answered your own question. Decent honest leadership will always be more important than Delhi's criteria of foisting anti-Sikh crooks like Amrinder and Badal simply because they look the part. I am optimistic that Punjab's economy can grow by 50% over the next 5 years or at least double within the next 10 years which is certainly likely to better going than the California economy hopefully. This is what good governance (irrespective of religious status) can achieve: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/higher-than-national-average-per-capita-income-of-telangana-doubled-in-7-years-says-cm-kcr/articleshow/85345573.cms?from=mdr

Simple reason Ranjeet is to decisively end any aspirations for Khalistan. Regardless of the fact that only a minority of Sikhs ever articulated in support of Khalistan. After 1984, RAW realised that most Sikhs were so enraged by the Congress Genocide of Sikhs that in the immediate aftermath of June 1984 and November 1984 it was safe to say that most Sikhs had concluded privately that Indira Gandhi had no moral authority or haq to have any connection or control over the Sikh Qaum. At that point Sikhs were around 63% of the east Punjab population and were on an upward demographic trajectory with only one united Gurdwara per pind. Furthermore, the Muslims and Christians together were collectively around 2%. And of the remainder 35% of so-called government defined Hindu's around 15% of those were non-Punjabi agricultural migrants who often attended their local village Gurdwara's and most of the indigenous so-called Hindu Punjabi's actually attended Gurdwara's too (and many could and should have been considered Nanakpanthi Sikhs). In other words out of indigenous Punjabi's the Sikhs were at least 75% plus majority with an even higher percentage of Sikhs in the villages (more like 90%) which is why incidentally the anti-Sikh pejorative of "pendu" has been heavily promoted by anti-Sikh forces in recent years in order to make Sikhs hate our own mother tongue and denigrate the overwhelmingly village background of most Sikhs. Bear in mind 1984 was a time when seven Amritdhari brothers from Patiala (whose previous family surname was Sharma) died in front of Indira Gandhi's tanks at Sri Darbar Sahib so even so-called Hindu Punjabi's were trending towards the logic and Truth of Sikhi over time. So the playbook employed upon east Punjab is that the Sikhs are the biggest threat to Delhi (not the Muslims nor the Christians). Furthermore, remember that the BJP controlled states all have around 15 to 25% of their respective populations as Muslims. So with the Indian army having an Army budget of $70billion (ten times what it was back in 1984) the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) are not overly concerned by a potential 10% Muslim minority in east Punjab so long as that helps leave Sikhs a minority there as a result. As Sikhs are seen as the main threat in east Punjab and indeed within India as we see from June 1984. The Abrahamic religions are foreign religions with foreign names and foreign loyalties. The word Hindu is an Arabic word. Sikhi is a word from Sanskrit and our Sikh names are indigenous names of primarily Sanskrit origin. Furthermore our Panj Piare were from as far and wide as Dravidian south India, from Odisha in western India, from Dwarka Nagar in Gujarat, from Uttar Pradesh and from Sialkot. So if Sikhi were to gain traction among 250 million so-called Dalits and 1,000 million poor people in India falsely defined as "Hindu's" by the Government enumerators for votebank politics then Hindutva as a concept and divide and rule tactics by the corrupt power structure would end in a self-ruled majority Sikh country with a population of 1.4 Billion. Ghar wapsi is all well and good in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat etc. However, to those who perceived Sikhs as the biggest threat to the country by launching and applauding (in the case of the BJP) the Congress Genocide of Sikhs it pays no dividends to discourage Muslims and Christians in east Punjab when they dementedly consider Sikhi a bigger philosophical threat to their corrupt interests within India among non-Abrahamic Dharmic people. With respect to the apartheid franchises devised by Indira Gandhi and Zail Sin, the reason behind that initially was that Nehru had detached the equivalent of what now in 2022 constitute today 100million erstwhile sehajdhari Sikhs outside of Punjab away from Sikhi in the 1951 census (ie 100million Nanakpanthi Sikhs of leatherworking ancestry like Dhan Dhan Baba Ravidas Ji Maharaj and Shaheed Bhai Sangat Singh Ji (leader of the Sikh fauj at Guru Sahib's behest), of Bhangi ancestry like Shaheed Bhai Jiwan Singh Ji, of Kabirpanthi Sikhs (like Dhan Dhan Baba Kabir Ji Maharaj), Satnami Sikhs, indigenous Assamese Sikhs, various adivasi Sikhs, Vanjara Sikhs, Sikligar Sikhs, Sindhi Sikhs etc, etc, etc. Within Punjab in order to oppose the Punjabi Suba demands at least 1million erstwhile (often illiterate) Sikhs primarily in the Doaba belt were conned and/or financially persuaded between 1951-1966 to register their children with the surnames of Ram, Kumar, Devi and Rani and to declare their mother tongue as Hindi as a result. Fast forward to the 1970's when Indira Gandhi and Zail Sin were hellbent upon opposing the Anandpur Sahib resolution, which called for a United States of India (based upon upon a federal model) in which the Indian Army, foreign affairs and a single currency (Rupee) would continue (but with an increased greater number of Sikhs being chosen upon merit in the Armed Forces rather than restricted according to their demographic weight of 2% at the time). So Sanjay Gandhi and Zail Sin came up with the brainwaves of promoting the Nirankari's and also setting in train the concept of apartheid based Dera's which was put into full motion after 1984. So long story short, if you make an indigenous people a minority in their own homeland (Sikhs were obviously always a minority in all districts of Punjab prior to 1947) then they can hardly have any realistic aspirations of independence in the current time. The natives in Canada, the natives in America, the Aborigines in Australia, the Tibetans in Chinese occupied Tibet, the Maori in New Zealand to give five easy examples are not about to get their independence back any time soon. The Anandpur Sahib Resolution which was a brilliant patriotic concept of federalism was opposed for no rhyme nor reason as the opponents of Sikhs knew that Punjab as the strongest state economy in India would flourish even more and that Sikhi would inevitably grow alongside that as Sikhs were the foremost opponents of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency period (despite demographically being a small minority in the Indian population). However, the terrorist Indira Gandhi and RAW saw Sikhs as the number one enemy (over and above Pakistan and Muslims or Christians in India) and decided to attack in June 1984 in order to crush and eradicate Sikhi from Indian soil and ensure another general election victory. By introducing apartheid dera's to a population which was solidly united in the aftermath of 1984 and encouraging the growth of Islam and Christianity in Punjab via state support is a silent non-headline grabbing form of Genocide. If, as RAW desires, 5-6 million of today's Sikhs of Ravidasi and Mazhabi heritage are successfully rebranded by the powers that be as tomorrow's Hindu Chamar and Hindu Balmiki votebank then at a stroke Sikhs will be a minority in Majha and Malwa (and left as around a 30% minority in east Punjab which is around where we were prior to August 1947 in Majha, Malwa and Doaba), all the while whilst Pakistani puppets like Pannun are milking naive Sikhs with pathetic sham referendums. The only way Sikhs can stop the rot is by ensuring the success of the Ik Nagri Ik Gurdwara campaign which aims to ensure only one Gurdwara per pind in Punjab (and locality in the west) and the end to associated matrimonial apartheid which it has promoted and enhanced which is leaving the Sikh birth rate in tatters and far below replacement level at 1.61 TFR for Sikhs. We need to focus on the poorest Sikhs within our community, on the poorest Hindu Punjabi's, on the poor non-Abrahamic agricultural workers from the same blessed land as Shaheed Bhai Jiwan Singh Ji and Dasam Pita along with the 250 million so-called Dalits outside Punjab and the 1,000 non-Abrahamic poor people in India who are falsely labelled as Hindu's by the BJP in order to cement votebank politics. If we do that Sikhs can be a 90% majority in east Punjab and the largest indigenous non-Muslim community in India of 100million plus by the middle of this century and controlling the reins to a $42trillion economy (as opposed to a small demented cabal of corrupt Hindutva crooks).

From social media i see there is a huge and visible community of Sikh Punjabi community in Cali .. Frenso mainly i believe The largest Gurudwara in Sant Jose in US right. I'm sure you can find someone to meet your needs on marriage and on the other hand find Singhs with kes... See more out there with keeping Kes then Canada (just my 2cent don't get triggered)

Trying telling the sikh females to keep licenced weapons and learn shastar vidiya... the sexist b****** still believe they live in a man’s world and only men should wear shastar and learn the vidiya, totally brainwashed fat <banned word filter activated> to lazy to learn or lead disciplined lives. Look how obese they become after just one pregnancy and never even try to lose the weight gained. After all, that’s why god gave them huge traps so to eat and eat till they dead and gossip and do nindiya of everyone who walks upright with two legs. They will never learn.

The old man states that it was his father, kulwant singh, son of Hira Singh, that converted. Kulwant Singh was married to Khem Singh Bedi's granddaughter. It's interesting how he describes the process. His father had travelled to Iran and came under Islamic influence during his extended stay. Came back and started dining with muslims. Sikhs got suspicious and started harassing him to quit his islamic leaning. Kulwant singh took off with his wife, from one village to the next, with sikhs in pursuit, until he landed in a more powerful caste muslim village, where he settled in safety and cut his hair. The wife had little choice left I suppose and was renamed Zainab Bibi. The old man states that he recalls his mother as being mentally deranged during his childhood due to the trauma of separation from her whole extended family members. Even he seems to realize what an <banned word filter activated> decision his father made to convert as they lived in poverty afterwards, coming from powerful clans that owned thousands of acres of lands. At one point, the old man says his dad used to say " we come from a kaum that is the sardar of all kaums" (referring to his own Sikh origins). I'm sure kulwant singh regretted his decision, especially since 47' buried all possibility of reversal.

Don't think it's related to badals veerji. In my previous posts and in posts by other Sangat members a few years ago, they mentioned about how Khalsa Raj is in our lifetime. Many people like to dismiss this unfortunately and have no faith in Bachans of Mahapurakhs. What They tell us is just the end result. Khalsa Raj is going to happen in our lifetime, but when many people hear this they think we are referring to it happening magically without any work. All the events that are happening now are towards preparation of Khalsa Raj and all of these are in Vaheguru ji's khel. Bad times will be for those who do tyranny Bhul Chuk Maf ji Vaheguru ji ka khalsa Vaheguru ji ki fateh ji

It's about time they pivot back to the Panth, even if out of compulsion. Sadly though, many of our brethren back home will side with AAP and Kejriwals puppet, Bhagwant Mann, and actually oppose this message by pinning it as a survival attempt by Badal through proxy. Sitting from afar, it just goes to show what a convoluted mess we have back home.

sexual predator against women, and hatred against jews.

You answered your own question, they can't even do that, what i ment was read Guru Granth Sahib Ji, understand it, keep kesh, will come along naturally. Rather than growing hair for the sake of it, without knowing why.

£1.20/1.30 for Youtube premium india ...or pay the price for youtube premium UK which is £11.99. Same music, same youtube... one is almost 10% the price

@californiasardar1 What's your real reason for not wanting to become an amritdhari if you feel so very strongly about kesh especially when our religion places an emphasis on kesh upon baptism? I don't buy that "polluting genes" faux-humble nonsense; that's from the playbook of pakhandi saadhs. That may work on women, but guys don't buy it. Why does your passionate kesh-adherence remain strictly within the sphere of secularism? I'm not for one moment compelling you to take amrit. I'm just curious why someone with your mindset hasn't travelled that road upon realising a few of the valid issues you've identified. It seems like the natural next step. If you don't think you're going to get any female interest -- and if that was the overriding reason for not getting baptised -- then surely the door is open to embrace the Sikh identity in all its glory?

Here's a thought experiment for you. Imagine you lived in Mughal times and they had their versions of the BBC, ofcom, sky news UK, CNN. Do you think their coverage of our Gurus would have made them out as the 'good guys'? Imagine it..what would the MNN (mughal news network) say about our Gurus and ancestors who stood up against the Mughal lies and tyranny? The majority of people would have been 'turned' against them. There is a system..and our values and traditions are not compatible with it. The likes of OFCOM are gatekeepers of the system. Unfortunately the type of presenter they have on ktv ain't skilled enough to realise this..something the likes of Bhai Jagraj Singh (BoS) was skilled at because he knew how the 'system' worked.

Odd how the Islamic channels don't get cancelled..guess Muslims kick off..Sikhs just sign petitions and stuff like that

I think Bhangu's Panth Prakash sheds most light on its use. This can be supplemented with the early European spy reports on the Sikh raj. Judging by them, bhang appears to have used as some sort of psychotropic mood elevator in violent times (bhangu mentions its use at the start of the day), and also as a sleeping aid as goray specifically mention the use of bhang after long marches, being taken in the evening (a muscle relaxant and sleep aid perhaps?) Given recent research on sukha it might be that SInghs were using it to combat ptsd and to counterbalance psychopathy that is not unknown to manifest itself as a consequence of repeated exposure to bloody violence. What our ancestor's faced in the 1700s was about as gruesome and violent as it can get. You have to remember a lot of things get removed from history because it is too painful for a community. Given the enemy and their cultural norms you can bet that female family members being raped or taken away as sex slaves wasn't uncommon. People faced a lot back then.

From Macauliffe.

Find out what it was please. I think I need some for my job.

Yep you'll be surprised, the dhadi Jatha that was booked for a relatives wedding took their dose of "whatever" before performing Kirtan, as I was told, because I asked how one could stand that long in one position.

I thought they never found out what happened? What have you heard?

It's just a light-hearted way of expressing that a person wholeheartedly agrees with the opinion quoted, almost as if it were a sermon in a church or something. Like this:

Preach.

you do realise that the translation of the guru granth sahib they did is wrong and when people point it out they have done nothing to correct the mistake and this is symbolic of their hubris towards 'brown' sikhs

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-maharaja-ranjit-singh-s-statue-to-be-installed-in-france-2199038 A statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be installed in France's Saint-Tropez town, the birth place of his Army General Jean-Francois Allard, in September this year. Henri Prevosat-Allard, Deputy Mayor and in-charge of tourism of Saint-Tropez on Wednesday met Punjab Tourism Minister Sohan Singh Thandal here and invited him to the ceremony, an official release said. Henri Prevosat-Allard is a descendant of General Jean-Fran ois Allard who trained Maharaja Ranjit Singh's troops, and has announced the step as a mark of respect towards the 19th century king, Thandal said. The installation of the statue is a matter of great pride for Punjab, the minister said, adding that it will herald a new epoch of Punjab-France relations and will boost tourism. Allard will also invite Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to Saint-Tropez on September 17 when the statues of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, General Allard and his wife Bannou Pan Dei will be installed. In September, the Indian embassy in France will hold also an exhibition on the life of the king.

Whilst this is a matter of great honour and pride for the Sikh nation, one hopes that the French acknowledge that the hurt caused and disrespect they have show to the turban is unjustified, and with the deep Franco-Sikh military relationship already in place, France should know the importance of the turban better than others.

I wouldn't bother going India, unless you are going to the historical Gurdwaras of Sikhi or visiting close relatives. I'm here at the moment, and it's changed so much from the last time I was here. My health has been affected so much by the change of everything here, and I haven't had much of a good experience since being here. The pind life has changed too, my internet keeps cutting off, so not sure if this post will go through. Internet reception is so bad. I should be used to India as I've been enough times, but this time I am just not adjusting to it as I thought I would. People have changed, everything's changed. So far, I've experienced there is no sense of humanity like when I used to come before. Nobody's cares about nobody, everybody is all themselves, "me me me". I thought it was a western abroad issue, but here it's much worse. Totally different planet. Big culture shock, I think I'm still stuck in the old way of thinking when people were friendly and used to care. But those words are non existent here. Ok so my experience so far; - I Am ashamed to say that the airport, named after Guru Ramdas ji, has not been done proud or maintained as it should be, considering it is the land of the Gurus. The disabled services are totally ****. Excuse the language, but I know I and others along with me went through an unpleasant experience. I ended up telling off the staff and having to fight for my right of getting a wheelchair, even though it was pre-booked. And on top of it I was asked for tips, which I refused to give and gave them a few lectures on disabled rights. I was told to sit in a wheelchair which was a sheet of fabric on top of metal bars or rods, obviously I refused to sit in it as it was so painful too. Some staff tried to fob off the genuine wheelchair users, but I got so frustrated and was disgusted by it, I took my stand and I'm so glad I did. God knows what I will go through going back. - Women here are very nasty, and have attitude problems. People lie to your face just to divert you from anything good. Rest I will tell you when I come back. Only met a few young decent genuine girls who love my way of thinking. Most women will be sweet to your face but then I see them talking about me in the corner. As I have been occupied in a wedding, haven't had chance to go sight seeing or to any historical isthaans. It's so tiring here, and you just feel like going anywhere. - Weddings are a nightmare here, no system at all. The process is different aswell. The men aren't too bad with manners and social etiquette, but the women are vicious, unorganised and want to be first first first at everything, be it the Maiya or Jago or the Anand Karaj. God knows why, because they don't do nothing when they get to the front ? I've been on purpose, and been give so many looks and Mehne. Women are very judgmental here and obviously have that great talent of chuglian and lieing. But I've had the pleasure of seeing the lagis, bajigar singers. Lagis are more greedy now, and have received a few negative comments and Mehne just for being from abroad. In Uk the milni is first and then tea and then Anand Karaj. But here, it's Anand Karaj, then off to the palace and milni then tea. The thing that made me angry most was the videographers and photographers. Every second they are taking pictures or filming. Like a billion photos with the most stupidest poses lol. I think the wedding was just a film and photo shoot, didn't even feel like a wedding. I've had to defend myself at the wedding most against women, it's quite dangerous being pushed and trampled, especially when you know certain women are doing it on purpose. So I thought enough is enough and got all my energy and gave them a taste of their own medicine. Didn't like doing it, but it was the only way to save myself from injuries. But hey it worked, because now they know not to mess with me and are being polite. It's like disciplining kids. Obviously the speakers are much louder than abroad so one doesn't really get to enjoy the wedding. - Talking about system, there is no system for anything, which I already knew, but seems to have got worse. No traffic system, no social events system, no shopping system, not really a system in the few Gurdwaras I been too. The people just don't respect system. That's about it on system and organisation, the only system I seen is lieing, chuglian and evil looks. - As you know staring is the norm here, but it's now accompanied by evil dirty looks again by the women. To which I've had to respond like this ? Or ?? Or said words in English which stops the dirty looks, which never happened before I used to come, only staring was the fashion. - One has to distinguish between the genuine beggars and the fraud beggars. I've found the genuine ones won't give Mehne and didn't hassle me so much. When I said I'm sorry I don't have anything to give which I didnt, they kind of respected me for it and moved away, whereas the fake ones gave me Mehne and made negative comments. I think I've felt more humanity from the genuine poor or low class people here and been talking to them it's made me feel more welcome than the normal people. I normally talk to the kids, they are so cute. But there is not enough discipline, kids are naughtier I think here. And unlike abroad they wonder around the pind by themselves or play with friends and the parents don't know where they are. I suppose it's the norm here. - There are more dogs barking at night, having their tantrums and arguments. The time you want to go to sleep kuttea di laraiyi hojandi ??. Then the neighbours put their stereo speakers on full blast trying to be DJs playing Bhangra. So yup you guessed it, no rest. Then in the morning the Gurdwara speaker goes on the loudest volume setting, which I'm trying to get used to now. But not one, then the other Gurdwaras and Mandirs put their speakers on too. There isn't really peace of mind as i can't get any laha from Gurbani when it's that loud. I think they've put the speakers louder than last time. It's like one whole mix up of loud noises and hard to focus on what's being read. But again it's the norm here, which I'm not used to. One day I was so tired and said the Granthi didn't do paat today. Everybody was like he did, I must have been in deep sleep. That's about it really, the delights of India, it's been raining so not sure where to go. Not sure what there is to see Jalandhar area. People don't advice on where to go. Is there anything worth seeing that somebody else has around here? Need some happy therapy as long as it's not food outlets, I'd be grateful if somebody could advise any sight seeing or historical places. Thank you ji. The rest I will update when I come back. ?? Waheguru

surely that is actually degrading the security of the parkarma for the future , since when has any human been treated as better than anyone else including Guru ji that warrants building an atrium besides it will be a huge expense airconditioning 24/7 on golak money for a handful of nautankwaley

Absolutely correct DalSingh101. Two years ago, jatt sikhs were officially classified as backwards, as per their own demands. Funny old world mate.

What is the protest about?

If you stay true to yourself you'll find people with similar values just through the general course of life. From my time at uni, it was a great opportunity to meet people from around the world. Many of my best friends are from my uni days and even though they have come from different paths (Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Athiests) you come to see that good people come in many guises (idiots also come in all guises) Many of the people from the time who did the 'booze, clubs, partying' thing actually didn't make the most out of uni, as they ended up doing the same thing week in, week out, and by the end of uni they had gotten bored of what they were doing. Uni is a great time to explore new things, visit places, meet people, experience new cultures etc. I'd go down that path as those experiences are something that you will cherish later on in life than going to club x,y,z.

must be an election coming up. In light of the collusion between the Conservative government in the 80's and Indira's government, this is a good attempt to make it look like the Conservatives are 'friends' of the Sikh community and 'respect' them. Especially as the Sikh vote is important in a few marginal seats. Wise up, as such a regiment would not be allowed (just as you wouldn't have a Muslim regiment etc). They are just playing to that bit of 'ego' about 'our' historic past. Lets not forget that there were Sikhs in WW2 who also fought with the Indian National Army (who sided with The Japs / Germans), because of the treatment/policies of the British/Colonialists. If they want to look better in Sikh eyes maybe do something about the human rights issues in India (ah, they won't do that because of Indian Business interests in/with the UK and because of India's importance in that region).

I don't really blame some of the people who convert to another faith in the Punjab. If the tenents of Sikhi were practiced throughout the society they would have no reason to convert. Those who convert can be considered to be mainly in the lower socio-economic groups (plus Christianity is pushed as 'modern' i.e. Western, hence the bollywood / i want to make more money/move abroad brigade are attracted to it). Those at the 'bottom' in Punjab (just like the rest of India) are treated appallingly (i've been there many times and spoken to many in my pigeon Hindi). Put yourself in their position, if someone came along and said we will give you x,y,z and you can leave your caste at the door, then wouldn't you be interested? Sikhi offers this but doesn't deliver in the Punjab. Punjab has become a dump and and a basket case, which I doubt was done by 'accident'

For me its about choice and ethics. I became veggie after a 'eureka' moment on a survival course. I could catch, skin, gut and eat animals for food and/or live off vegetation. I couldn't actually come to killing a sentient animal just so that I could eat, when there was a choice, I made a decision to live off the vegetation (of course if there was no vegetation then I would have to face that question). When I got back to civilisation, meat just seemed unnecessary in a world of plenty. Besides the sikhi aspect of eating animals, I think the 'you are what you eat' argument is important. Would Guru Ji approve of the way animals are treated so that we can get our food today? This relates to both meat and things like milk. If you look at the way farming works today most people would question what they ate. The worst example I've seen is in the Panjab, with milk from the local village producer. I had a look around and they were injecting drug after drug into their livestock, there was no method to it, they just thought more medicine/drugs = better yields/livestock. Of course all this junk ends up where? in the milk we had delivered and drank. Today it shouldn't just be about 'what' you eat but 'where' it came from and 'how' it was produced.