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Sikhs flock to freezing lake A gurdwara marks the spot where Gobind Singh found God (All photos: Heather Michaud) For Sikhs, meditating on the name of God is an integral part of spiritual life. Though this is usually done at home and in gurdwaras, there is one place where it is believed Sikhs can go to achieve greater communion with God. The place is Hemkunt - the Holy Lake of Ice - set in the Himalayas bordering Tibet and Nepal. The lake is accessible for only four months of the year - and now is the time for the faithful to make their pilgrimage. They do so for a great number of reasons. "I have been there before, but the reason I'm going this time is in my sister's memory," Ravinda Khur Clare, from Southall, west London, told the BBC World Service's Reporting Religion programme. I found I got enlightenment there which I've never experienced before Ravinda Khur Clare "She suffered from an illness of the mind, and she ended her own life last year. "In Hemkunt, she found piece of mind, she found tranquillity, and as I'm doing it in her memory I wanted to go somewhere where it was a special place for her." 'Precious place' Hemkunt is a small, icy lake 18,500 feet above sea level. Between autumn and spring its waters are frozen deep beneath the snow. A dip in the water is cold - but inspiring But from June to September, the snows clear and thousands of Sikhs from around the world flock there. It one of Sikhism's most important places of worship due to its association with the religion's 10th and final guru, Gobind Singh. "We say, where I go to, my guru has been," said Mohinda Singh Jaha, general secretary of the Sikh missionary society. "I'll be going there - that place is precious to me." Sikhs believe that at Hemkunt Gobind Singh was summoned by God to be reborn into the world to teach people the true path. The lake is frozen for most of the year A gurdwara temple has now been built on the shores of the lake to commemorate his mission. "The area is ever so nice, peaceful, all green," Rapinda Kordaliwa, who has been 11 times to Hemkunt and takes groups of pilgrims from the UK to visit, told Reporting Religion. "If you go at the end of July, you can see lotus flowering on the hills. "It's a really beautiful place." Closer to God She added that surprisingly, the freezing cold water was one of the best features of the lake. "One dip is enough, but all really love it," she said. Pilgrims visit Hemkunt from all over the world "After having a dip, you'll be surprised - you don't feel the cold at all, you feel nicely warm." And she described the moment of peace found in completing the pilgrimage. "You think you have achieved something - a goal of your life," she said. It is this aspect that many have said allows them to feel closer to God at the site. Ms K hur Clare said that, following her sister's death, she felt the pilgrimage would restore her faith. "I know I've had a relapse since losing my sister, because of the anger and having someone to blame, but I know I believe in my faith, and for me I found I got enlightenment there which I've never experienced before," she said. "I'm hoping that I'll get that again."

Communal Riot Victims It is easier for a whole caravan of camels to pass through the eye of a needle than for victims of communal violence to get justice in the country. This is irrespective of which political party is in power. In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the late Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguard, Congress leaders and their associates went on a killing spree. Sikhs in the national capital were systematically targetted and massacred. The murderous mobs were led by Gandhi family sycophants like H K L Bhagat who had held important positions in the Union cabinet, Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar who was acquitted in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The police officers in Delhi at that time aided and abetted and connived in the massacre of innocent Sikhs. Several cases were filed and several commissions of inquiry were appointed. But of course nothing happened and the main instigators got away scot free. This includes H K L Bhagat who was specifically identified by widows of some victims as the man who led a gang which massacred their husbands. In Mumbai in the wake of the bomb blasts which followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya the Shiv Sena went on a rampage. An entire family at Goregaon, a Mumbai suburb, were burnt alive. The Shiv Sena cadres to the shock and surprise of movers and shakers at Mumbai did not limit what they labelled a retaliatory jihad to the traditional Muslim majority areas like Bhendi Bazaar and Mohammed Ali Road. They spread out to the poshest areas in Mumbai including Peddar Road and Warden Road and specifically targeted Muslim residents in elite buildings including a senior retired secular Muslim former chief in come tax commissioner, an erudite man who tried to douse the fundamentalist flames in the community. The ad man Alyque Padamsee led a delegation to the then chief minister who was unwilling or unable to intervene. Absurdly enough, Alyque Padamsee and company were directed by the then Congress chief minister to approach Bal Thackeray, the man who had unleashed the criminal Sena lumpen on the hapless minority community. Though Sharad Pawar was the then defense minister, he took his own time to get the army to intervene. The Srikrishna Commission was appointed and after seven years of meticulous and back-breaking investigation indicted political leaders, police officers and top echelons of the Shiv Sena. But again nothing happened. In most cases the police did not file any charge sheet. The investigation was carried on in a manner as to guarantee the acquital of all the high profile accused. There have been very few convictions decades after the trials started. In fact, many of the victims are still awaiting compensation for the damage they suffered. The only people who brought some solace to the victims and tried to heal the wounds were the non-governmental organisations who on the advice of Super Cop, Julio Rebiero set up very successful Mahila committees. In Jammu and Kashmir terrorists have been targeting the Kashmiri pandits for years and driven them out of the Valley. Successive governments have not been too enthusiastic about offering protection to the community. The security forces in Kashmir have also been accused of committing crimes against the Muslims who are the majority community in Kashmir. In a well documented case, a group of innocent Sikh farmers were killed by the security forces who mistook them to be militants. The army has itself reluctantly admitted that it made a serious mistake. But of course no action was taken against the army officers involved. Gujarat is only the latest of the blots on our pretenses to secularism. Right from the beginning it was clear that the victims would not get justice. The Modi government was quick enough to arrest suspects in the Godhra massacre under POTA. But did not show any similar enthusiasm in the alleged retaliatory killing of which the worst example was the Best Bakery case. The Gujarat government’s totally partisan attitude stood exposed when all the accused in the Best Bakery case were acquitted because the key witnesses turned hostile. Unfortunately for the Modi government one of the key witnesses a brave young lady escaped to Mumbai and went public on how she and other key witnesses were bullied and intimidated into turning hostile. The likelihood now is a retrial will be ordered on the intervention of the Supreme Court. But that is not the core issue. The core issue is that neither of the two major political parties in the country or for that matter the other parties have shown any willingness to even take a firm stand against communal violence, let alone act against the criminal elements irrespective of their religions affiliation. All the political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have an extremely cynical attitude to communal violence. Most of the time it is the political parties who have instigated the communal violence in the first place. It is,therefore, hardly realistic to expect them to take any action against them. The Hindutva party of course has never made any secret of its attitude to Muslims. The Congress which spent decades bending over backwards to appease and cultivate the Muslim vote bank is also wary over antagonising the majority community. The ground reality is that the Bharatiya Janata Party has succeeded in polarising politics in the country, though hopefully not the people. Sadly the Left parties are not doing enough to confront and halt the saffron assault. The so called socialists, of course, have long since become either irrelevant or like George Fernandes have become collaborators. ******* http://www.oherald.com/newherald/newsEDN.a...ec=EDN&qNType=R

Hey if we can really scientifically prove that our turbans protect us from these microwaves.......................we can promote on wearing turbans and maybe Sikhi And I am serious . There shouldbe an epidemeological study where we divide people in 2 populations- a turban wearing group and a non turban wearing group. And then we can see relative brain neoplasia rates in 2 groups Hope it's in turban wearing peoples favour. Hopefully I will do the study when I become a doctor completely

Are the pics posted by Deep Singh of trimmed boys? Can't make out if they are or aren't

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!! Can somebody plz answer this question about Bhai Tejinderpal Singh Ji on this Forum? http://sikhbytes.guroocities.com/Discussio...ion%20Forum.htm vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

3 men beat NYC Sikh family NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A Sikh family was beaten in front of their New York home by thugs who yelled, "Go back to your country, bin Laden," police said. Surinder Singh, 41, was walking to his New York City home Sunday night when three men, noticing his turban and thick beard, began taunting him with anti-Arab epithets, the New York Daily News reported. The 41-year-old cab driver was with his wife, two children and a cousin. "I'm from India. I'm Sikh. Come on, man," Singh explained to the men, according to his cousin Lakhvir Singh Gill. The three men, all about age 19, responded by spitting on him, Gill told the News. Gill and Sikh's wife tried to intervene but they were beaten as well. A pizza deliveryman and two women, one armed with a bat, rushed over, prompting the attackers to scatter, witnesses said. Police searched the neighborhood by foot and helicopter but no one was arrested as of Monday in the case investigators labeled as a possible bias crime.

He launched space tourism, he’s ready to take off on US Senate trip Asian-Americans need a voice, says Chirinjeev Kathuria. Post 9/11, US media notes his ‘turban and beard’ S. P. Singh Chandigarh, August 4: The last time cameras chased Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria was when MirCorp, a private company in which he is a key investor, sent the world’s first civilian tourist to space. At $20 million, it was a rather costly journey for Dennis Tito, a trip which Kathuria himself wants to undertake when the cost comes down. ‘‘Thankfully, it was a two-way ticket,’’ Kathuria jokes. ‘‘We plan to revive operations, and send more people to space. MirCorp is definitely on,’’ Kathuria told The Indian Express from Chicago as he prepares for an ambitious journey. This one is to where no Indian-American has gone before — the US Senate. The turbaned Indian-born billionaire has announced his intention to run for the Republican ticket from Illinois. ‘‘We will make history,’’ Kathuria says. Media is already hot on his heels: Kathuria has featured in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times Magazine, CNN, The Today Show and BBC. The latest issue of The Economist carries a feature on The Sikh knocking at the door of the Senate. The nearly 1.6-million Indian-American community is now America’s third largest Asian group. But it has never had a representative in the Senate, not from the entire Indian subcontinent. Kathuria now plans to sell himself as the ultimate immigrant dream achieved with Republican values — apart from MirCorp, he set up X-Stream Networks Inc, which was one of the fastest-growin g ISPs in the world. Kathuria’s Medical Oasis Inc is positioned to become a premier chain of diagnostic imaging centres and has negotiated equipment vendor financing agreement for $100 million with Siemens. ‘‘Any success I owe, I owe to America’s values,’’ he says. ‘‘Winston Churchill said if you are 20 and not a liberal you have no heart, and if you are 40 and not a conservative you have no mind. So I am close to 40 and you know where I stand,’’ Kathuria recently told a meeting of Indian-Americans. The 38-year-old Kathuria, with medical and business degrees from Brown and Stanford universities, is a Conservative only in its GOP sense. He once dated a Miss India — ‘‘I won’t take her name,’’ he says. Kathuria has kept his ties with India. Born in New Delhi, where his mother worked at Lady Hardinge Hospital, he eight months old when the family moved to the US. ‘‘We were one of the first few Indians to have chosen Chicago to build our destiny,’’ he said. He co-founded Koshika Telecom which once had licenses to operate cellular mobile phone services in four states of India and invested $200 million. Every year, Kathuria makes it a point to visit India, has nostalgic memories of walks along Chandigarh’s Sukhna lake (his parents still have houses in Chandigarh and Delhi), and is closely involved with the Smithsonian to preserve the arts of the Sikhs — all of it adding to his credentials to seek votes as Indian-American with strong family values. Asked about the odds he faces in Chicago’s ethnic melting pot, Kathuria said he is confident the GOP will realise he’s the best — among the five aspirants — they’ve got. There are 12,000 Indian-Americans in Illinois, but apart from them, Kathuria is also counting on his strikingly unique appearance which, he hopes, will have a strong recall value. ‘‘The Indian community has to deliver just 100,000 votes for me to get through the primaries,’’ he says. Kathuria now has his job cut out. He is busy convincing Grover Norquist, the Republican anti-tax campaigner with White House links, and Karl Rove, President George Bush’s main strategist. ‘‘I have been speaking to people at the White House. I have met presidents of Chinese-American community and I am on the board of Japanese-American Foundation. On August 9, I will be marching with other Republican supporters of Asian-American communities,’’ he said. Kathuria’s millions will also count. The next election is being touted as the most expensive in the US Senate history. ‘‘I plan to pump in $3 million, and raise another $3-4 million for the Primaries,’’ he says. But money is perhaps the last of his problems. ‘‘A lot of people, if they mention him at all, stumble over his name. And Illinois includes not only the ethnic smorgasbord of Chicago but also a lot of farmers who wouldn’t know a Sikh if he landed in their cornfields,’’ writes The Economist.

Singh Zing Express Features Service New Delhi, August 4: Where would we have been without Kalyani Chawla? Businessman Vishal Chawla’s glamorous estranged wife was a judge at a fashion show on Saturday evening—adding a spark to an otherwise tacky affair. The event showcased designs by graduating students of the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) at Le Meridien. Unlike the NIFD show at Rajkot which was disrupted by Shiv Sainiks last week, this one had nothing to recommend it—no Katrina Kaif on the ramp, just a bunch of bad models and ordinary clothes in gaudy colours. There was redemption in the form of a sequence featuring models from Launcher, the Modeller—an agency dedicated to grooming only male Sikh models. Six models from Launcher’s first batch walked the ramp in sherwanis and jootis, complete with turbans and swords. Not surprisingly, they drew the maximum applause.

Is there going to be a Live Broadcast of this Smagam???

wonderful :

NEWS STORY Copps to announce funding for Sikh museum Historic Abbotsford temple dates to 1911 Peter O'Neil Vancouver Sun Saturday, August 02, 2003 OTTAWA -- Heritage Minister Sheila Copps will announce today a $560,000 federal grant to create North America's first museum dedicated to Sikh history. The announcement will take place at a temple in Abbotsford that was built in 1911 and was declared a national historic site by Parks Canada last year. "This is a great step in our dream of establishing the first Sikh museum in North America. It will preserve the culture and heritage of our Sikh pioneers for our younger generations," said Nachattar (Norm) Sangha, president of the Abbotsford Khalsa Diwan Society Temple. The money will be used to renovate and restore the somewhat dilapidated temple as well as to establish a museum in the basement that will commemorate Sikh history in Canada since the late 1800s. Sangha said the community first sought help to recognize the temple as a historic site in 1977, but he said most federal grants were focused on preserving Canada's European history and culture. The latest application was filed in 2000. "This was long overdue," Sangha said. "The museum will show what we went through to have the rights we have now." The federal government began restricting immigration from India in 1908 and denied Sikhs the right to vote until 1947. The museum will recognize major events such as the incident involving the vessel Komagatu Maru, which sailed into the Vancouver harbour in 1914 with 376 Sikhs aboard. Officials r efused to let the passengers land and after a two-month stalemate they were sent back to India, where they were charged with trying to overthrow the British. More than 50 Sikhs were executed. "I've always made cultural resource protection a priority and I'm proud to contribute to the preservation of this site for future generations," Copps said in a draft news release prepared for today's announcement. "This temple was a gift given to Canadians by our pioneers and it is our duty to preserve it and remember its lessons." Prominent members of the Sikh community, including federal and provincial politicians as well as B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Wally Oppal, will attend today's announcement. The Copps leadership campaign, now running a distant second to front-runner Paul Martin going into the November leadership convention, claims it has recruited roughly 8,000 of its 32,000 members in B.C. At least 80 per cent of the B.C. members are Sikh, according to one campaign official. But Sangha said the grant from Ottawa has no link to the Copps campaign. poneilcns.canwest.com For Latest Sikh news go to http://sikhbytes.guroocities.com and Navigate to SIkh News

Badal, Tohra ask Sikhs to support BJP :D @ Thursday, 31 July , 2003, 21:21 New Delhi: Ahead of Delhi Assembly elections, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Parkash Singh Badal and re-elected SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra have called upon Sikhs in the capital to support the BJP. Describing the Congress as ''enemy of the community'' while citing historical events, Badal told a function hosted by Delhi BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana to honour the SAD and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chiefs that his party had an unflinching commitment to the ally. Both the Akali stalwarts, who had parted ways in 1999 with the unceremonious removal of Tohra as SGPC chief by the Badal-dominated Committee, asked Sikh leaders of the capital to unitedly support the BJP which aims to oust the Congress from power here. Their appeal assumes significance in view the BJP's poor showing in Sikh strongholds in the 1998 Delhi Assembly elections. The BJP could only bag 14 seats in the 70-member House, especially performing below par in the South Delhi Parliamentary constituency which has ten Assembly segments. SAD Delhi chief Avtar Singh Hit and several other members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) were present at the function which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani also. Also in attendance at the function were Union Akali Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Chairman Tarlochan Singh and senior BJP leader and South Delhi MP Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

Has there ever been a 'real' singh or kaur in a main +ve role in a Hindi Movie??? Don't expect 'so much' from them.

Jo Bole So Nihaal launched Wednesday, 30 July , 2003, 11:37 Director Rahul Rawail has launched his latest film Jo Bole So Nihaal. At a function I n Mumbai, industry folks dropped by in dozens to wish Rawail. The film made by N.R. Pachisiya stars Sunny Deol, Kamaal Khan (in a negative role). Among the guests were the two sisters, Malaika and Amrita Arora, with Arbaaz Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Kathrina Kaif, Bipasha and Aftab. Prem Kishen, his beautiful daughter Aakanksha, Mukesh Bhatt, Harry Baweja, Neha Dhupia, her Julie director Deepak Shivdasani, Vashu, Ritesh Deshmukh, Pravin Shah, Ratan Jain were present as well. Sumeet Kumar was there too. Mallika Sherawat was also present. A special promo was made for this special event and screened for the guests. This film will have Sunny Deol play a ‘Sikh in a turban’. He had earlier played similar characters in Border and Gadar and both the films were hits. Hope this is a hatrick for Sunny. The film will be released in April 2004

Sikh Man Refused Entrance To Nightclubs Managers Apparently Told Him To Remove Turban POSTED: 10:49 a.m. EDT July 30, 2003 PITTSBURGH -- A man who practices the Sikh faith says two Pittsburgh nightclubs stopped him from entering because he was wearing a turban. Harpeet Grewal says the refusals happened last year and last week at two nightclubs in Pittsburgh's Strip District. Grewal says club managers told him that unless he removed his turban, he could not enter the establishment. Grewal says he tried to explain that his turban was an article of his faith and he could not remove it, but the managers wouldn't listen. The 500-year-old Sikh faith is based in northern India. The faith requires men to keep their heads covered. About 500,000 Sikhs live in the United States and about 100 families in the area worship at a Sikh temple in Monroeville

Golden Temple at last By Bernard Gabony BBC News Online South Asia editor Every practising Sikh aspires to visit the temple at least once This month I did something I had waited 18 years for. I travelled to the Punjabi city of Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple, the holiest place of worship for the estimated 20 million Sikhs living in India as well as the Sikh diaspora. In 1985-86 I had travelled extensively in India, from the Tibetan plateau of Ladakh in the north, to the deserts of Rajasthan, to Cape Comorin in the south, where you can watch the sun rise over the Bay of Bengal, and watch it set over the Arabian sea. But at that time the Amritsar and the Golden Temple were strictly off-limits to foreigners. For the previous year India had been convulsed by some of the worst violence in its modern history. Only those entirely devoid of all spirituality could fail to feel something of the presence of God Broadcaster Mark Tully's reflections on the Golden Temple Golden Temple photo gallery Thousands of Sikhs were butchered, most in the capital, Delhi, after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Their actions were a response to Mrs Gandhi's decision to send the Indian army into the Golden Temple complex to flush out Sikh militants fighting for an independent state. That all seemed a distant memory as I joined an estimated 100,000 people who would pour into the temple complex during the course of a steaming hot Sunday in July. 'I feel purified' The first site of the temple, surrounded by water and with its gold en roof glittering in the sun, is dazzling. "For Sikhs, to come here to bathe, or just make contact with the water is the holiest thing a Sikh can do" Satpal Singh Bhatti, a 26-year-old computer engineer from Coventry in the English Midlands told me. Men take the holy dip in the open, women bathe in closed off compartments Every practicing Sikh aspires to visit the Golden Temple at least once. Satpal was on his fifth visit. Mandip, a British woman from Leamington Spa was on her third visit. "I feel purified, cleansed," she said. Navjeet Kaur, a 21-year-old biology student from California said: "It's going to help you a lot after you die." The atmosphere in the temple complex was one of joy and celebration. And non-believing outsiders like myself were made to feel very welcome. ""This place is not just for Sikhs - Muslims Hindus or Christians can come too " Jaswinder Singh Jassi, an information officer at the temple told me. The one real crush comes after you cross the Gurus' Bridge over the water into the temple where the Sikhs' bible, the Adi Grantha, is guarded. Inside visitors make donations and offer prayers as musicians keep up a non-stop rendering of devotional song. Chapatti machine Much of the fascination of the site comes from the other buildings that make up the temple complex. There is an atmosphere of joy in the temple complex Facing the Golden Temple is the six-storey Akal Takhat, the centre of decision- making in Sikhism. The Sikhs themselves tore it down and totally rebuilt it after 1984 because of the damage inflicted by the Indian army. And then there is the enormous communal kitchen where a simple meal of dhal, chapattis (cooked lentils and unleavened bread) and water is served free. A machine there makes up to 6,000 chapattis an hour, I was told. As I left the temple a young boy with a limited grasp of numbers i n English waved some postcards of the temple under my nose. "One rupee sir," he asked. I shook my head. "OK, five rupees sir!" It was a perfect end to a perfect day - and well worth the wait. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Postscript: The contrast between the tranquillity of my day in Amritsar in 2003 with the violence at the Golden Temple in the 1980s was brought home later by the veteran broadcaster and writer Mark Tully. In his book, No Full Stops in India, he recalls entering the temple complex in 1984 after the Indian army's operation there. "The walls were pockmarked with bullet holes. Squash-head shells fired by tanks... had pulverized the frontage of the Akal Takhat, leaving hardly a pillar standing... the floors of the shrine were carpeted with spent cartridges. The white marble of the pavement... was stained with blood." The shock is all the greater because, as Tully so eloquently puts it, the Golden Temple complex is a place "where only those entirely devoid of all spirituality could fail to feel something of the presence of God". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/3106297.stm

Guru Gobind Singh Jee portrayed in a violent light Waheguroo! Network News Bureau Tuesday, 29th July 2003 The BJP [bhartiya Janta Party],whose basic principles are Hindutava, have launched a new syllabus within the major educational agencies. CBSE, the Central Board of School Education celebrates its 75th Anniversary today, and NCERT is the agency based solely in Delhi. This new syllabus portrays the tenth Guru Jee in a violent light, and adds dialogue/drama to history which never occurred.The matter has been raised by Ranbir Singh Hora (Secretary Khalsa Academy,Indore) with the Prime Minister of India and other M.P.s There is only one picture provided with the text, and if one were to skip the text and first look at the picture (which is natural to do) it portrays Guru Gobind Singh Jee as a violent man. His eyes and brows create an angry face, along with the tulvaar (sword) above his head. Furthermore, reading the text of the book, there is a paragraph of a few lines which brings out sentiments that Guru Gobind Singh Jee was violent, or wished to instill fear in people. The text talks about the day the Khalsa was created, it talks about each one of the Punj Pyaray (5 Beloved Ones), after describing the first four beloved ones the following sentences (translated from Hindi) are added into the history. "Those of you who are running from my call, if you run, will you be able to save your head?" "Don't you know if you try to save your head, you're going to lose it?" "Only if you give your head to me, will you save it!" "If you want to save your head, you have to give it to me&quot ; (Repeated Twice) This makes the reader feel as if the creation of the Khalsa was some violent cult, who did ritualistic sacrifices. The text fails to give the spiritual essence of why Guru Gobind Singh Jee 'asked for a head', since it did not do that--the text should have refrained from adding this 'drama/dialogue' which never occurred in history. The children reading this should understand that a Sikh belongs to Waheguroo Jee and is willing to give his body, life, and soul. Instead the above sentences create fear, and put emphasis on the word 'ME'--which refers to Guru Gobind Singh Jee not Waheguroo Jee. When indeed, all Khalsay (including Guru Granth Sahib Jee) give their heads to the divine. Guru Jee teaches us that we should never instill fear or feel fear from others. Guru Jee made the call for those who were willing to give their head for the brotherhood, there was no punishment for those who didn't, there was no force or fear that one would die or suffer--for that would take away from the essence of Sikhism and the Khalsa. These sentences and picture need to be taken out from the text, and replaced with the correct essence of giving one's head to the divine, the violent/cult-like sentiments should be diminished as well. Waheguroo! Network News will keep you updated and provide more Panthic news breaks in the future. *Please note*:the text quoted above was on a separate page from the picture, the text above the picture is general text describing the day and what Guru Gobind Singh Jee was doing.

Map 2 has only 7 as of now Map1 has reached it's max capacity of around 50. :D )

Here is a post from AKJ.Org which I thought is important to be on this forum too The moderators of the Sikhnet Youth Forum have called the Nirankaris a group with "pure lifestyle" and have made them out to be a type of Sikh. Please email the moderators and let them know that Nirankaris are not Sikhs but in fact Narakdhaaree cult opposed to Sikhi. The number of people who read that forum is very big, and we need to make sure they are not misinformed. The links are: http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/youth.nsf/3...33;OpenDocument and http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/youth.nsf/3...33;OpenDocument

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!! Wanted to know one thing-Is Harbhajan Jogi a good man as far as Sikhism is concerned? I know he has made a lot of Sikhs in US but I don't know much about him. vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Minorities' panel chief hails RSS New Delhi, July 26. (PTI): National Minorities Commission Chairman, Tarlochan Singh, today sang paeans of praise for RSS saying the organisation had defended the Sikh community during the partition and the 1984 riots. Addressing a condolence meeting for late RSS Chief Rajendra Singh, popularly known as Rajju Bhaiya, he said "RSS and Sikhs have always fought shoulder to shoulder. Sikhs can never forget how RSS activists protected them during the partition and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots." He also recalled that at the height of the agitation for a separate Punjab state, it was the RSS which had issued a directive to the Hindus to treat Punjabi as their mother tongue. Recalling his association with RSS leaders since the time he worked as Public Relations Officer for the Bhakra Nangal project, Singh admired the organisation's good work and dedication to the country. Several Christian organisations in the recent past have been critical of the NCM Chairman's alleged "soft" corner for Sangh Parivar outfits. Lauding the simplicity and patriotism of Rajju Bhaiya, noted Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan said "he was a source of inspiration for us. We need more Rajju Bhaiyyas in the country." For Latest Sikh News go to http://sikhbytes.guroocities.com and navigate to News

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!! Amardeep Veerji u can zoom into map. vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw! vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

This interactive feature allows the Sikhs worldwide to leave their mark on the world map by putting a flag or an icon on it. Hence, this map aims to depict the online global Sikh presence. Click here to go to Sikh Map :D )

A few time back I posted a captured image of the advertisement of the agency. See topic SIKH MODELS in Pictures section of this forum

Vote for a turban and a beard Jul 24th 2003 | CHICAGO From The Economist print edition The Sikh knocking at the door of the Senate The new Sikher WITH Lake Michigan sparkling in the distance and long beards flapping in the evening breeze, they clutched their turbans or ties and vowed to unite behind Chirinjeev Singh Kathuria. An assembly of Sikhs and Hindus and even a token Muslim set aside their differences and turned out on July 22nd on the roof of a posh downtown high-rise to endorse the first American from the Indian subcontinent ever to run for the Senate. It is not going to be easy for Mr Kathuria, a millionaire Sikh businessman and a Republican. He remembers the insults he faced in airliners and on street corners after the terrorist attacks of 2001, when his Sikh turban and beard got him mistaken for a Muslim. He still carefully keeps an American flag pinned to his lapel. There is also the fact that he is a Republican. Grover Norquist, a Republican anti-tax campaigner with influential friends in the White House, claims that “Indian-Americans are natural Republicans and natural conservatives.” They are on the whole well-educated and well-to-do; they respect family values, and like working for themselves. Bobby Jindal, a young Indian-American, is the leading Republican candidate for the governorship of Louisiana. Still, about 70% of them voted Democrat in the 2000 election. The Indian-American community more than doubled in size in the 1990s, and now totals over 1.6m. That makes it America's third-largest Asian group. Mr Norquist and Karl Rove, George Bush's main strategist, have urged their party to embrace Muslim-Americans and Americans with roots in other parts of Asia. At the moment all seven Asian-Americans in Congress—five in the House and two senators—are Democrats. Chicago United States Republicans, Democrats In Illinois, Mr Kathuria faces long odds in the competition to succeed the retiring Republican senator, Peter Fitzgerald. He is one of five Republicans who are already running for the party's nomination in the primary election in eight months' time. The fortune he built in business, while impressive, makes him just another millionaire Republican. A lot of people, if they mention him at all, stumble over his name. And Illinois includes not only the ethnic smorgasbord of Chicago but also a lot of farmers who wouldn't know a Sikh if he landed in their cornfields. Mr Kathuria, who is still only 38, remains undeterred. He is looking for votes not just among the state's Indian-Americans (there are only about 125,000 of them) but among other Asian-Americans, who altogether make up 3.4% of the population. He hopes that voters will remember him for his beard and turban when his rivals are still a bit of a blur. But a striking appearance and the immigrant vote will not suffice in the rough-and-tumble world of Illinois politics. Noting that conservatives usually dominate that state's Republican primary, Mr Kathuria announced his candidacy at a conservative forum. He sticks to the general conservative line—low taxes and close-knit families—and drapes himself in the cloak of the American dream: an immigrant made good. With medical and business degrees from Brown and Stanford universities, a period working on international health issues and a series of business ventures, he can claim some experience. He founded part of an internet firm that went public for $2.9 billion in 2000. He was involved with MirCorp, the company that sent Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, into orbit in 2001. Mr Kathur ia, who himself applied to be an astronaut, says he too will go into space one day. An ever-hopeful bachelor, he once dated a former Miss India. Enough to win the wary hearts of Illinois's voters? Mr Kathuria is more than a colourful sideshow. He talks fluently to farmers about the global agricultural market and tells small businessmen that he understands their problems. He has ideas on health-care policy and space-based defence. The state's Republican Party has not yet backed any particular candidate. The White House's influence could matter. Does Mr Rove really want to chase the Asian vote? Or is it too risky to leave a crucial Senate seat to a first-time candidate whose nickname is Baboo?