singhbj singh

They took what was on offer. Greedy would rather marry their daughters to foreigners paying hefty dowry rather than local simpletons. Another factor is Sex Ratio in Punjab (893 females per 1,000 males). I support their decision in fact all illegals or ones on temporary visa should follow suit. It's better to Marry someone from a different religion, caste & language than being a wan-ker or becoming a homosexual.

Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh Read the article "Paap and Punn" at http://www.gurbani.org/gurblog/2010/12/27/paap-and-punn/ Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh

A suitable bride An adivasi girl from Odisha marries a Sikh farmer in Punjab. In the heartland of conservative Haryana, a Hindu man sets up home with his Bengali Muslim bride. These were not love matches. Caste no bar. Language no bar. Religion no bar. This is the changing face of arranged marriages in rural India. http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/india-matters/india-matters-a-suitable-bride-aired-october-2005/298519

Glasgow Gurdwara wins Community Project of the Year The Glasgow Gurdwara won Community Project of the Year at the Herald Society Awards 2013. The awards ceremony recognises the hard work of charities & voluntary organisations across Scotland. Amrik Singh Uppal, Secretary of Glasgow Gurdwara said, This award recognises the effort of the Scottish Sikh community who have worked tirelessly for over 60 years making Scotland their home and contributing positively to the local community. We look forward to welcoming even more people to the Gurdwara to share in our inclusive community services. Kirn Kaur of Young Sikh Leaders said, It was inspiring to attend the Herald Awards ceremony to see the great work which is done by charities and groups in Scotland. The recognition for the Glasgow Gurdwara will motivate even more people to get involved in our services in education, culture and faith. Source - http://www.glasgowgurdwara.org/hsacpoty/

In Pictures: Kitchen that feeds 100,000 daily http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2013/11/pictures-kitchen-feeds-100000-daily-20131117124238293396.html

Simran ji, You are right "Health before Wealth" Senior is paying for his own bad karma, giving money more importance than Gurmat can never bring peace. After winning he should build a state of art Old Age Home and live peacefully with other people who need such facility. Or move to India where you can get nurse & maids to give care at home. Many senior Doctors make house calls at reasonable rates. And experienced cook can prepare Healthy meals.

There is classic Hindi song "Na Biwi Na Bachha Na Baap Bada Na Maiyan The Whole Thing Is That Ke Bhaiya Sabse Bada Rupaiya" Frankly what you sow is what you reap ! 1.Businessmen are never ethical. 2.Disadvantages of Joint Family System - Members tend to spend more and more due to the feeling that expenses will be shared by the whole family. This makes the economic condition of family worse. When a joint family disintegrates, the commonness of property leads to family founds and often to litigation in courts of law. 3.Getting a_s kicked - Read Gurbani http://searchgurbani.com/scriptures/ggs_shabad/1890/line/2

18 November 2013 Staff celebrate National Sikh Chaplaincy month The Department of Spiritual and Pastoral Care at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust is celebrating its links forged with the Sikh community, as part of National Sikh Chaplaincy month. Throughout November, staff and visitors can say a prayer at the Queen's Medical Centre Gudwara for those recovering from an injury or illness. On 29 November, from 11am to 12pm, a Sikh chaplain from a local Gudwara has been invited to lead a special prayer called the 'ardas' which will express this sentiment. Musarrat Tariq, Pastor for NUH Trust, said: "Our Trust is very proud of its multicultural heritage and this month we will pay tribute to our special ties with the Sikh community. This is an opportunity for people who want to learn more about the Sikh religion to meet our staff, take part in prayers, and learn more about being a chaplain." Source - http://www.nuh.nhs.uk/communications-and-media/news/2013/november/staff-celebrate-national-sikh-chaplaincy-month/

FBI COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD FOR INDIANAPOLIS SIKH KP SINGH Indianapolis, Nov 18, 2013 (Balbir Singh) An active member of the Indianapolis Community since 1967, Mr Kanwal Prakash Singh has been awarded the prestigious Community Service Award and recognition by the FBI Citizens Academy of Indianapolis this week. The award will be presented by the FBI Director himself in a couple of months. Congratulating Mr Singh, who is supporter of historic preservation, cultural diversity and the importance of arts to life and human spirit, Baljit Oberoi in a communication said This is an honor for the entire Sikh Community and we are so proud of you. We are sure such awards are inspiration to the younger generations of our community to remain engaged with the local community and contribute to the maximum extent they can. Your untiring efforts in serving the community will go a long way in creating awareness about Sikhs in the main stream and we all are grateful to you for that. It was our honor to be present in the FBI Citizens Academy's Reception when this honor was announced and gave us an opportunity to learn about various community service initiative you have been involved in. We are so blessed that you are part of our community. Maninder Walia and Harpreet Sandhu were among those who also congratulated Mr Singh said "congratulations on receiving the FBI' s volunteer Service Award, Well deserved honor,Your tireless efforts are much appreciated.Your continue involvement and influence help assure the quality of our future Sikh Leadership.Your dedicated service is a blessing to the Sikh Community. Thanking his well wishers, Kanwal Prakash Singh, who has been awarded FBI Director's Community Leadership Award, said today Thank you for your kind and thoughtful messages on my receiving the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award. I deeply appreciate your kindness and continued encouragement. I am grateful and proud for the spirited engagement, growing community involvements of Sikh Americans, and all-important media services that is connecting the NRIs and the Sikh world globally. I am sharing my sense of deep gratitude over the Award and my good fortune that has been made possible by the prayers of many who have guided and mentored me over the years. I look forward to the future with great enthusiasm, high hopes and thanksgiving. With kind regards and a Happy Thanksgiving. The citation signed by Director James B Comey , reads US Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation in recognition of outstanding service to the local community and of enduring contributions to the advancement of justice, the Directors Community Leadership Award is presented to Kanwal Prakash Singh 2013. Source - http://www.yespunjab.com/sikh/abroad/item/34446-fbi-community-service-award-for-indianapolis-sikh-kp-singh

GURU GRANTH SAHIB IN PERSIAN SCRIPT PRESENTED TO GURU GRANTH SAHIB WORLD UNIVERSITY Fatehgarh Sahib, Nov. 18, 2013 A rare copy of Guru Granth Sahib written in Persian has been presented by eminent Sikh scholar Jasbir Singh Sabar to vice-chancellor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University Gurmohan Singh. Stating that the book was retrieved from a book seller by him 50 years ago, Sabar said many incomplete Guru Granth Sahib were found in the Persian script, but it was complete and thus very special. "The translator has mentioned at the end of the book along with other notes that it is an exact replica of Guru Granth Sahib at Damdama Sahib, but in Persian,"he added. Expressing his gratitude to Sabar, the V-C said the Persian version of Guru Granth Sahib would be displayed in the university's reference library. Source - http://www.yespunjab.com/sikh/issues/item/34398-guru-granth-sahib-in-persian-script-presented-to-guru-granth-sahib-world-university

Feud that has torn apart family behind luxury hotels A father and son, who built up one of Britain's most famous hotel chains, will go head to head in a law suit at the High Court this week By Jasper Copping7:15AM GMT 17 Nov 2013 It was a very British story of business success: how an Asian father and son came to this country, started with a post office and built a well-known hotel chain. Bal Mohinder Singh, and his eldest son, Jasminder, who came to be worth an estimated £415 million, bought a country house together, with three generations living happily under one roof. But this week they will find themselves on the opposite sides of the courtroom, as an extraordinary legal case is heard at the High Court, with father suing son. Mr Singh snr claims that his son, who is head of the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotels group, has forsaken the Sikh tradition of sharing family property by excluding him from the business. The 86-year-old moved to Britain in 1973 and ran a post office in Stamford Hill, north London, where his son, now 62, would help out. The pair moved into the hotel business, and their firm gradually bought about a dozen hotels, including the Vanderbilt and the Savoy Court in central London, with the May Fair, in Mayfair, as the flagship. Mr Singh put his son in charge because he had better English and an accountancy qualification. But after years of happy, and profitable, cooperation, the pair fell out. The older man claims that in 2010, his son forced him to retire, and has failed to share the family wealth with him. He brought the case, which starts on Tuesday, because although both men still live with their wives at Tetworth Hall, a seven-bedroom house in Berkshire, all other attempts at mediation have failed. As the head of the family. I have to be respected and the fact that I was forced to retire by Jasminder was very, very painful for me, Mr Singh snr said. I was devastated with being forced out and since then my health has failed. My wife is unwell too. When I travel to the High Court I will be in an ambulance and it will be very difficult and stressful to have to give evidence against Jasminder. He said that he spends most of his time in his room. In earlier submissions to the court, he accused his son of trying to force him and his wife, Satwant Kaur Singh, out of the property. He also said his son had refused to provide a chairlift for his mother, who can no longer climb the stairs, and had withdrawn the use of her driver and other staff. Mr Singh snr added: He is my eldest son and of course I still love him. I always will. I will not hear anybody say a bad word against him and why should they? He has worked hard too. But as I said, this is about respect and carrying on the traditions in which I have brought Jasminder up. I am getting on, in ill health and deeply wounded by all of this, but I have to find the strength to get what is mine and uphold the traditions which are so valuable to us. They are the backbone to my family. I have great faith in the British legal system as I am only fighting for what is rightfully mine. Mr Singh snr is accusing his son of failing to abide by the Mitakshara system, from the Sikh and Hindu traditions, which implies a sharing of family wealth. Although the system is not part of English law, his lawyers will argue that all family members chose to work under it and had therefore joined a common intention constructive trust. Mrs Singh and their two other children daughter, Seema, 59, and younger son Harinder, 46, both accountants are all due to give evidence on his behalf. Mr Singh snr added: We always brought our children up as Sikhs, to honour and respect others, and to put the family first. Mr Singh jnr has declined to comment on the case, but in earlier submissions he has contested this claim, saying he did not have a particularly religious upbringing, that neither of his parents regarded the family to be living under an agreement to share property, nor was there any such agreement. He also claims it was he who played the leading part in building up the family business. If the proceedings succeed, Mr Singh snr, a grandfather of seven, could secure a large share of the familys fortunes. His son is one of the countrys wealthiest Asians and his hotel chain last year acquired the Odeon in Leicester Square, to turn the site into a hotel and cinema venue. The group is worth an estimated £800 million, but much of this is held in trust. The amount being contested is thought to be about £50 million. The case is a remarkable twist in a family saga that has its roots in the Punjab province of what was then British India, where Mr Singh was born in 1927. He moved to east Africa and his eldest son was born in Tanganyika in 1951. The father ran a restaurant and nightclub in the Kenyan port of Kisumu before he moved to Britain, following the pleas of his son, who was training to be an accountant and living in a property his father owned in Finchley, north London. It was a big step, and my wife did not want to leave Kenya but I saw his point, he said. I was in my 40s and not getting any younger and I had heard wonderful things about how hard work is rewarded in Britain. Asian businessmen like me, and for that matter Jasminder, have proved to be a solid cornerstone of this great country. His wifes brothers went into the hotel business and the father and son joined them, though they soon went their separate ways. Mr Singh snr said he was only bringing the case out of respect for tradition: It is not simply about money and the millions that I am fighting my son for. Source - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10454611/Feud-that-has-torn-apart-family-behind-luxury-hotels.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509011/The-800m-hotel-boss-sued-father.html

Singh Walkway Naming Approved by Council Written by Alex Cantatore - alex@turlockcitynews.com A picturesque walkway in Turlock's North East Storm Basin will be named in honor of the city's Indian-American community, following a unanimous vote of the Turlock City Council Tuesday evening. The walkway, which runs alongside Countrywalk and Wellington lanes on either side of Christofferson Parkway, will be named Singh Walkway. We felt it was the most appropriate location in terms of naming a public facility, said Turlock Parks, Recreation, and Public Facilities Manager Allison Van Guilder. The naming was requested by Dr. Ram Sani, an Indian-American who has called Turlock home since 1970. Since then, Sani said he has seen the Indian-American community in Turlock grow by leaps and bounds. Saini noted the economic impact the Indian-American community makes in Turlock, serving as doctors, veterinarians, gas station owners, and truck drivers. I am so proud of our community, Sani said. ... We are proud to contribute something to the City of Turlock. And more and more Indian-Americans are likely to come here, he said, as the climate is similar to Punjab. It's the link to Punjab, where Sikhism is the dominant religion, that inspired Saini to request the name Singh Walkway. Singh is a middle or last name used by nearly all Sikh men, and some Hindu communities as well. The renaming was unanimously recommended by the Turlock Parks, Recreation, and Community Programs commission on Oct. 9. A sign bearing the Singh Walkway name will now be constructed near the pump station in the storm basin. Sani will pay for all costs to construct the sign, estimated at $4,000. Source - http://www.turlockcitynews.com/news/item/1356-singh-walkway-naming-approved-by-council

Dubious game by Zail, Buta, alleges former cop New Delhi : Retired Punjab Police chief Kirpal Dhillon has blamed late President Zail Singh and former Home Minister Buta Singh for dubious attempts to sabotage the Rajiv-Longowal accord signed in 1985 to put behind the Sikh terrorism that had then engulfed the state. He has also blamed KPS Gill, the then IG of Punjab, in his book published early this week for lapses in security that led to the killing of Akali Dal chief Harchand Singh Longowal in August 1985 and blames then Governor late Arjun Singh for giving rise to militancy in the post-Bluestar days. Longowal had credibility among Hindus and Sikhs. This did not suit Zail Singh and Buta Singh and their supporters in the Punjab Congress, who had been playing a dubious game to negate whatever Longowal and Rajiv Gandhi (then PM) were trying to achieve. Dhillon, a 1953 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has penned his memoirs: Time present and time past memories of top cop. Handpicked by then PM Indira Gandhi, Dhillon was posted as the DGP of Punjab on July 3, 1984, a month after Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. He accuses Zail-Buta duo of promoting the family of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the post-Bluestar days like in 1978 when Bhindranwale was projected as counterfoil the Akalis. They, after the death of Bhindranwale, zeroed in on his father Joginder Singh. Dhillon writes that Joginder Singh nd his outfit, the United Akali Dal, was used to derail the April 30, 1985 meeting of Akalis at Anandpur Sahib which (Parkash Singh) Badal described as the past, present and future of Punjab. Dhillon narrates another incident of October 1, 1984 when 200 extremists gathered in the Golden Temple and made seditious speeches.we later found out that this was the work of the Akali faction close to Zail Singh. He is equally harsh on Arjun Singh who was the Governor of Punjab during the Presidents rule. Before Arjun Singh arrived in March 1985, we were doing fairly well with militant violence amrkedly under control. The former DGP then goes on to elaborate the hand of the Centre in managing Punjab through Arjun Singh who got installed S S Barnala as the chief minister in September 1985. As it happened, Arjun Singh had a hand in selecting candidates for the legislative elections, both for Congress and the Akali parties..It had to be ensured that the selection of Akali candidates was made in such a way that Barnala, and not Badal, would emerge as the leader of Akalis since Arjun Singh found the former easier to manage. Source - http://freepressjournal.in/dubious-game-by-zail-buta-alleges-former-cop/

Live coverage from Nankana Sahib https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=618507761521559&set=a.357039224335082.79912.234963896542616&type=1

"Dhan Guru Nanak Dev Sahib ji" Sab nu be-ant vadhaiyan

Why aren't all Sikhs same?

http://www.gurunanaksikhacademy.co.uk/ http://secondary-schools.findthebest.co.uk/l/22628/Guru-Gobind-Singh-Khalsa-College http://www.khalsaschool.co.uk/about-us/contact-us/ http://www.khalsasecondaryschool.com/ http://www.khalsaprimaryschool.com/ http://www.khalsascienceacademy.org.uk/ http://www.nishkamschooltrust.org/ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/new-coventry-sikh-school-open-6097802

Join http://www.sdda.org.uk/index.html Or move to North America http://nasmda.org/

It's ਗਿਆਨ ਵਿਹੂਣਾ ਕਥਿ ਕਥਿ ਲੂਝੈ ॥ Giaan Vihoonaa Kathh Kathh Loojhai || गिआन विहूणा कथि कथि लूझै ॥ Without spiritual wisdom, they babble and argue. 17 ਆਸਾ ਕੀ ਵਾਰ: (ਮ: ੧) ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ : ਅੰਗ ੪੬੬ ਪੰ. ੧੫ Raag Asa Guru Nanak Dev Page:466 Line: 15 (Please copy & paste Original script with Source to avoid mistakes)

ABANDONED BRIDES: Victims of betrayal dreamed of a new life in Canada now they weep for shame MIKE ROBERTS THE PROVINCE Across India, an estimated 30,000 young women live to regret marriages that have left them alone, miserable and consumed with shame. They married Indian men living overseas in affluent countries including many from Canada known as Non-Resident Indians. But, their expectations of a happy life in a new country were quickly dashed. Here are the stories of some of Indias abandoned brides. Bent like a broken flower over a red velvet box containing her wedding photographs, Navjit Kaur Sandhu raises a delicate hand to her forehead and sobs silently. Her father, Ramesh Kumar, weeps inconsolably into the trembling curtain of his fingers. Her mother stares at the floor, as if wishing for a hole to swallow them all up. The middle-class Punjabi family is assembled in a relatives home in Maradpur, 40 kilometres away from the prying eyes and tutting tongues of neighbours at home in their village of Aujla. They have come to share with The Province their story of the familys fall from grace. Thirty-year-old Navjit, a disarmingly beautiful high school teacher with three university degrees, gathers the courage to open the box in her lap. The photographs inside tell the story of 10 days last spring during which Navjit was married to fellow Sikh Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and was quickly deserted. After the wedding, in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, the groom returned to his home in Surrey, promising he would soon send for his wife. Navjit has heard no word from him, or his family, since June 21. Navjits case aside, tens of thousands of women in India have seen their family honour and wealth sacrificed to bride-shopping Non-Resident Indians NRIs from affluent countries abroad. These men exploit the hope of many urban and rural Indian families to escape domestic poverty and cultural oppression. Experts in India estimate that fraud is involved in as many as half of all NRI marriages, maybe more. In Canada, the estimates are lower between five and 10 per cent. Despite this, community leaders in B.C. insist that many NRI marriages do result in successful, lasting relationships. Canada, with its historical links to Punjab, is a primary source of the bride-hunters, who also come from England, Germany and the U.S. (Seventy per cent of Canadas 500,000 Indo-Canadians hail from Punjab; B.C. is home to half of them.) The men and in rare cases women represent only a small fraction of their community. But the damage they leave behind is a source of lifelong shame to their victims in India and considerable embarrassment to community members overseas. The phenomenon of the abandoned brides has been described by a senior judge in India as a national psychosis. (Young women) think (that) outside India, its all heaven. Therefore by some means or other, they will go. They are forgetting everything else. And the parents also say, All right, lets help her go. Its a dream. Just a dream, says Supreme Court Judge K. Sukumaran. Experts who have studied the problem say the pressure the young women face from their families is formidable. They are not empowered, independent women with a voice in their own destiny, but mere commodities in their cultures matrimonial market. Choosing a love mate is not an option, and ultimately they are twice victimized first by their families eagerness to marry them off and then by their runaway husbands heartless greed. Tales of betrayal vary only in the details among the estimated 15,000 abandoned brides in Punjab. In the neighbouring state of Gujurat, an estimated 12,000 young women have been duped. All told, as many as 30,000 women have been abandoned to live life as social outcasts. One Indian lawyer who has handled hundreds of such cases says that many involve men who have married, fleeced and divorced multiple women. And a leading Punjabi politician who heads a national campaign to combat what he calls an insidious crime says the perpetrators are brutal and cruel. avjits father pads softly across the polished marble floor and draws the shutters and drapes, shutting out the cacophony of urban India, the all-pervasive poverty his daughter had sought to escape. Outside in the blinding light and the blasting heat, the horns of transport trucks and auto-rickshaws split the ears. Beggars drag their crippled legs down busy streets and naked infants fight with pariah dogs for food scraps atop rotting garbage. Day labourers wallow barefoot in black sludge clearing blocked sewers for pennies a day. Navjit resumes her story: I posted a profile on the marriage portal, on the Internet thats how we came to meet. I was always skeptical about marrying an NRI but everyone in his village said it was a very nice family and to go ahead to make the match. There were hints of possible trouble. A family friend in Vancouver offered to meet with Jaswinder, but he declined, saying he was too busy. Navjit says she knew that Jaswinder, a machinist, had been married and divorced twice before, once in Canada and again in India. And when he arrived in India for their wedding, he talked mostly about money. He would always talk about money, how he needed money, how he was short of cash, Navjit says. Her hands tremble as she fusses with her pale blue pant suit, recalling their first meeting. He told me that I was very thin. I said, We can still go back we didnt have to marry. He said, No, no, I will marry you. He would say I was not beautiful, that I was not as fair as my picture on the Internet. He was mad that I didnt have money for taxis. Navjit says her family gave Jaswinder jewelry, gold ornaments and clothes and spent $11,000 on a lavish wedding to impress his family, few of whom showed up. But her family refused to pay a dowry a tradition outlawed in India, but common among status-conscious Sikhs. The honeymoon was a disaster, Navjit says. Every day I was insulted. His behaviour was very rude and bad. I was tortured mentally by him. He never respected my parents. He never spoke nicely to them. Navjits father cringes at the memory. Im not the type of man who cries, says the retired electrical engineer. I was so upset mentally. I had hallucinations that my daughter had been killed. When I came out of it, at least my daughter was alive. Navjit says that, after Jaswinder had returned to Canada: There were no phone calls, nothing, no communication. When I did finally manage to reach him, he would say, Im not well, Im sick. I have blisters in my mouth. I cant speak. my mother is sick. I have to look after her. Once, Jaswinder called to demand a divorce, then hung up. Navjit was distraught. Now, she is at a loss what to do. Her red and gold wedding bangles jangle over her trembling arms. Im not removing my bangles because I am ashamed that people will see that my husband has left me, she sobs. Now I want to go abroad so I dont have to face insults in India. He has ruined my life, she says. He should be punished in such a manner that anyone else thinking of doing this to Indian girls will learn a lesson. Traced to his familys sprawling home in Surrey, Jaswinder Singh Sandhu is at first reluctant to discuss the marriage. I know what youre doing, you get out of here, he tells a reporter. What gives you the right to interfere in peoples lives? You guys get out of here or Im going to call the police. Jaswinder then says his marriage didnt work out, although he offers no explanation. Asked about the future, he says: Of course Im going to divorce her. Who cares about it? Increasingly agitated, Jaswinder says he never mistreated Navjit. People make fake charges, he says. Thats <banned word filter activated>. These are garbage charges. he phenomenon of betrayed brides runs deep and wide through Punjab, from poor rural villages to upscale city suburbs. It came to the attention of Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, president of the Lok Bhalai Party (Peoples Welfare Party) in 1999, when the first women, emboldened by their numbers, came forward. I decided to champion the cause of these girls, Ramoowalia says from his headquarters in Ludhiana, Punjabs largest city. He says a random survey in 100 villages last year found three or four abandoned brides in each one. He believes that in Punjab, where the Sikh religion dominates and 95 per cent of marriages are arranged, many parents are so focussed on wealth and status that they are willing to gamble their daughters futures on the chance that an NRI match will work out. Every father and mother, they want the best match for their daughter . . . [they] attach top priority to boys living abroad, he says. But these boys are often rogues, he says, with few qualifications apart from their Canadian citizenship. The girl has all the qualifications, more educated, more young, Ramoowalia says. The marriage takes place, the boys side squeezes the girls side, exploits the weakness with maximum brutality. It is not uncommon for a Canadian NRI groom to demand as much as $40,000 from a family in Punjab, he adds. All expenses are borne by the girls side. One boy came [to his wedding] in a helicopter. [Families] will be asked to give a car to the dowry. The father of the girl offers to meet every demand, even honeymoon expenses . . . he [the groom] gets the honeymoon, cash, ornaments. Because dowries are illegal in India, these unofficial transactions can seldom be traced or proven. There is no paper trail and errant husbands find it easy to make plausible denials. Ramoowalia says some NRI scoundrels return to Canada , never send for their brides, but return each year to India to use them as holiday wives. The women and their families, too ashamed to admit the marriage is a sham, play along. Ramoowalia says he has seen desperate parents sell off their lands up to $60,000 worth of property to appease a greedy son-in-law, and still their daughter ends up alone. Typically, he says, the abandoned bride will receive an envelope from Canada. She opens it, excitedly, only to discover she is divorced. You cant imagine the kind of suffering which they have to endure, he says. There are no laws to catch those guys. In nearby Chandigarh, activist lawyer Daljit Kaur says: What I see is an organized crime. In one case, she cites a woman who heard nothing from her Canadian husband for 29 years. The wifes letters and petitions to authorities were ignored. The courts, the lawyers, they dont have sympathy, Kaur says. They dont have the political will. They are doing nothing, zero, for these girls. Rajiv Ahir, Senior Superintendent of police for the Jagraon Police District in Punjab, agrees there are few official remedies. He sees 15 to 20 abandoned bride cases each month and most, he says, involve NRIs from Canada. he long, broken road to Rupinder Kaur Chahals impoverished Punjab village is a ribbon of brown dust filled with potholes, camels, grinding tractors and sputtering mopeds. The rice fields alongside are lush and green, with fresh shoots springing from brown muddy waters. On the village outskirts, bedraggled girls hawk tin plates and wizened old Sikhs doze on wicker chairs. The painted gates to Rupinders home are shut tight as, inside, the family gathers in a sparse living room to share the story of their downfall. Rupinder wears gold earrings with a traditional turquoise pant suit. She has the equivalent of a Grade 10 education. Her eyes are downcast, and she defers to her father, Gurdev, a man of patriarchal authority. Her 18-year-old brother Amarjit, his teeth clenched, stares into space, as if visualizing some faraway foe. I wish that my daughter was not born, says her mother, Jagjit. Rupinder begins to cry. The family is strongly religious, members of an offshoot of Sikhism called Sirsawala. Pictures of their gurus adorn the walls of a courtyard next to a pungent cattle stockade. We used to meet for hymns and prayers and we met a man named Bhajan Singh, says the father. I [told him] I have two daughters and they need to get married: You are a member of the same sect, you know us, make us a good match. The matchmaker went to work. In January last year, Rupinder was introduced to Beant Singh Chahal. They were married within a month. At first, Beant insisted on a simple wedding, Gurdev says, but five days before the ceremony he began demanding money. He said he was getting a better offer of nine lahk rupees ($24,000 Cdn). He said: If you come with nine lahk rupees we will come with a wedding party, if not our answer is no. Rupinders family consulted the village council, the panchayat, and were told nothing could be done. They [the council] said we would put a pockmark on their face and a social taboo, Gurdev says. Gurdev went to relatives, neighbours and money lenders to raise the money. What could we do? he asks. The marriage cards were already sent out. Beant had already received 2.5 lahk rupees ($6,500) in jewelry and clothes prior to the wedding, according to the family. Gurdev says it was not until after the wedding he learned Beant was 52 years old. He had coloured his beard, he says defensively. There was an age problem, Rupinder says. He was as old as my father, but he treated me well. Beant returned to his home in Calgary, promising to return in three months to take Rupinder to Canada. Eight months later, Beant told Rupinder it would be seven years before she could join him. Rupinder hopes that lawyer Daljit Kaur can pursue charges under the Indian Dowry Prohibition Act against her runaway husband. ays Gurdev: Were facing major social problems here. People who weve [borrowed] money from, they come calling saying, Where is our money and why is your daughter still here? The familys 11/2 hectare property is up for sale to pay off wedding debts. I hope an airplane comes and just bombs our house and we all die. That would relieve us of all our miseries, says Jagjit. Rupinders mother still hopes her daughter will join her husband in Calgary. For her, it is better to lose a daughter to uncertainty than to lose face in the community. If he is not taking the girl there, then he should return all our money with interest, or even let her live with her in-laws here. There are no other options, she says. This is the only solution to our social stigma here. Rupinder refuses even to go outside her home. No, no, she says, when invited for a stroll. I cant go out. Within hours of being contacted by a reporter in Calgary, Beant Singh Chahal had filed sponsorship papers for Rupinder. He insisted he had never had any bad intentions toward her. Beant says he is having financial difficulties and is now living with his adult daughter (from a previous marriage). He says he is recovering from an arm injury he sustained shortly before leaving India. I got a call last night from my wife from India, claims the airport maintenance worker. I have already sponsored her, I am not holding anything up. About the age difference between himself and his wife, Beant says a matrimonial middleman told him Rupinder was closer to 35. He says he did not discover until their wedding day that she was 24. Beant claims he never received a dowry: I havent gotten a single penny from them. Asked why he told Rupinder it would take seven years to complete the sponsorship process, Beant, who emigrated from India in 2002, says he was mislead by a friend. Source - http://www.vancouverdesi.com/news/nridiaspora/abandoned-brides-victims-of-betrayal-dreamed-of-a-new-life-in-canada-now-they-weep-for-shame/365264/

**First Ever Coventry Sikh Society Event** https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=682147508463610&set=a.570062073005488.1073741829.570050406339988&type=1&theater Talk by Jagraj Singh from Basics-of Sikhi talking about Sikhi Science & Atheism. https://www.facebook.com/events/176216362582502/

**RHUL Sikh Soc goes to Saffron Mic 2013!** https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=682126081799086&set=a.570062073005488.1073741829.570050406339988&type=1&relevant_count=1 On the Friday 22nd November, Sikhs from across the country will get together at the Paul Robeson Theatre in Hounslow to enjoy a night where Sikh issues are displayed through poetry, music, art and film. This fun-filled event has been very successful in the past with many different people bringing their own unique and innovative pieces of personal art forms to the forefront in a public forum. The doors will open promptly at 18:30pm and an eventful night will begin that is sure to impress. Tickets are only £3 for a night that will surely deliver on all fronts. Anybody interested in buying tickets, please use the link below: saffronmic.eventbrite.co.uk otherwise tickets at the door will be £5 For more details on the event join the official event page on the link below: https://www.facebook.com/events/614742228564613 with Southall Sikhs, Saffron Mic and Royal Holloway Sikh Soc.

Mata Sahib Kaur Kids Camp https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=682124395132588&set=a.570062073005488.1073741829.570050406339988&type=1&relevant_count=1

Unhappy with CM, HSGPC to campaign against Cong in run-up to 2014 elections Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (HSGPC) (ad-hoc) has announced that it would campaign against the Congress in the run-up to the elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha next year. HSGPC (ad-hoc) president Didar Singh Nalwi said chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had announced benefits for all communities at the Congress' Haryana Shakti Rally at Gohana, Sonepat, on Sunday, but did not mention anything regarding the formation of an official Sikh body in the state. Describing the Congress as "anti-minority", Nalwi said the formation of the Sikh body was in Congress' election manifesto of the assembly polls in 2005 and parliamentary elections in 2009. At present, HSGPC is an ad-hoc body. Once the state government gives a go-ahead to the formation of an official Sikh body for the state, all gurdwaras in Haryana - which are at present managed by the Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee - will come under the Haryana Sikh body. "Hooda has once again shown his bias against Sikhs. We were expecting Hooda to make an announcement, but he once again ditched the community," said Nalwi. "We feel hurt and vow to oppose the Congress." He dismissed Hooda's announcement of a minority commission in Haryana as no major achievement. "The commission's formation means nothing if the government does not keep the poll promises it made nine years ago. Formation of an official Sikh body for Haryana is also part of Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966, which has a provision to have a separate Sikh body for Haryana after states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana were carved out of Punjab," he said. Nalwi accused the party of vote-bank politics: "In December 2004 (two months before the then assembly elections), Hooda and Kumari Selja had introduced me to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. They had assured me that our demands would be met if the Congress would be voted to power. Sikhs trusted their words, but the entire Congress leadership has ditched us. We are disillusioned and openly motivate Sikhs to vote against the Congress in the general and assembly elections." Source - http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Haryana/Unhappy-with-CM-HSGPC-to-campaign-against-Cong-in-run-up-to-2014-elections/Article1-1149871.aspx

Delhi, the capital of India, became a state in 1992 under the national capital territory Act. Under this system of diarchy, the elected Government is given wide powers; except law and order that remain with the central Government. While Delhi still has to attain the status of a ‘full state’, it does have its own Legislative Assembly, High Court etc Some parts of the administration are directly controlled by the Central government – like the Delhi Police, which comes under the purview of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Source - http://zeenews.india.com/assembly-elections-2013/delhi-polls/delhi-–-the-political-capital_888598.html http://www.cse.iitd.ernet.in/~amitk/walcom/local_general.htm