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State Department Tells School Children "Sikhs are Terrorists" The Sikh Sentinel Wednesday, 23rd July 2003 Washington D.C.-- Parents with children in middle and high schools should be aware of a video and curriculum that was distributed throughout the country by the US State Department Bureau of Public Affairs. The video refers to the 1984 Darbar Sahib (commonly referred to as the 'Golden Temple') Attack as a siege by Sikh terrorists. 'Terrorism A War Without Borders' is the name of the video. It is six and a half minutes long and is accompanied by curriculum materials with instruction guides for teachers and activities for students. The video may have been released as early as mid 2002, but was definitely in schools by the beginning of 2003. The State Department distributed 15,000 copies of the video and curriculum to schools throughout the country. The video contains significant misrepresentations of Sikhs. It uses the term Sikh terrorist to broadly label all of the world's 24 million Sikhs - 500,000 of whom live in the United States - and wholly condemns all people of the Sikh faith. The video highlights eleven terrorist attacks throughout the world, beginning with the 1972 Munich Olympics when 'Black September' took eleven Israeli athletes hostage in an attempt to release 200 Arab prisoners. Nine hostages were killed in the rescue attempt. Other terrorist events include the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis by Iranian students, the 1988 Pan Am Plane Crash by Libyan agents; the 1995 Tokyo Nerve Gas Attack by the group 'Aum Shinrikyo,' the Oklahoma City Bombing by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols; 1997 Suicide Bombing in Israel by the group 'Hamas,' and the 911 World Trade Center by Osama Bin Laden. In all the terrorist attacks cited in the video, the perpetrators are labeled as either an individual(s) or a group of a certain nationality or a group with its own identity. But in the 1984 Attack on Darbar Sahib, the video refers to the terrorists as Sikhs. The clip shows Sikhs, easily recognizable from their turbans and beards, with weapons in the Darbar Sahib complex along with some Indian soldiers. The transcript from that segment states: "In an effort to establish an independent state, Sikh terrorists seized Darbar Sahib Shrine in Amritsar, India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a military campaign to drive out the terrorists. Hundreds were killed." The video was discovered by a Sikh teacher at a professional teacher's training conference on teaching terrorism in a classroom led by a State Department official. The expectation was that teachers would introduce this curriculum material along with the video to the classroom. This teacher did not expect such a broad defamation of the entire Sikh community worldwide. The greatest concern is that the video may come as a surprise to a Sikh middle or high school student. Sikh boys usually wear turbans by the time they are in middle or high school and may be ostracized, harassed or have to face hate crimes as a result of this video. Middle and high school years are the most volatile for students. Recent hate crimes against Sikh male students were documented in New Jersey and in California, one in middle school and one in high school. The video was brought to the attention of Sikh advocacy groups SMART, SCORE, USSA and The Sikh Coalition. Their representatives met with the Office of the Historian, US State Department, in March 2003 to request the immediate recall of all videos and curriculum in circulation. They organized a presentation and materials to provide information abo ut the attack by the Indian State on the Darbar Sahib complex in June 1984. The Sikh representatives pointed out that the video was incorrect in stating that Sikh political activists in Darbar Sahib were separatists. Jarnail Singh, the leader of the political activists that the Indian government was after, never claimed himself to be a separatist. Equating separatists to terrorists is inaccurate. For example, many citizens of Quebec, Canada, consider themselves separatists; no one considers them as terrorists. The Sikh representatives showed that the video was incorrect in stating that the Sikh political activists in Darbar Sahib were terrorists. The State Department defines terrorists as those who seek to attract publicity for their cause. But in the 1984 attack, the Indian government that cut off communication, media and public access to not only Darbar Sahib, but the entire state of Punjab. They did not want the world to know what they were about to do. The State Department defines terrorism as violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets. But, in fact, the Sikh political activists did not have any hostages. The Darbar Sahib was open to thousands of pilgrims coming and going freely from the complex. It was the Indian army that attacked and killed thousands of innocent citizens. By their own definition, the State Department was shown why it was incorrect in its classification of the Sikh political activists as terrorists and the attack as terrorism. The 1984 attack on Darbar Sahib did not fit the State Department's profile of terrorists or terrorism, and it did not qualify to be in the same league as the other acts of terrorism discussed in the video. The 1984 Attack on Darbar Sahib has an important place in history. The State Department was presented with substantial evidence that it should more appropriately be defined as 'State Terrorism.' Following the presentation, in the discussion session with State Department officials involved in the producti on of the video, it quickly became apparent that they were not willing to make any corrections. Sikh representatives tried to convey that if the State Department were willing to call Sikhs terrorists, then they should modify the video to call Timothy McVeigh a Christian terrorist and to call Hamas a Muslim terrorist group and so on. They also tried to convey the emotional devastation that a Sikh student would face if he or she had to watch this in a classroom. Sikh students, they said, may become more vulnerable to hate crimes by their peers who had seen the video. A memorandum distributed at the meeting stated that such a portrayal promotes stereotypes that have led to hundreds of hate crimes against Sikhs in the United States. Recently, the video has also come to the attention of Tarlochan Singh, chief of the National Commision for Minorities in New Delhi, India. In an interview with the Indian newspaper Deepika Global, he said, '' [the video] shows armed Sikhs fighting the Army at the Golden Temple at a time when the community is struggling to portray its culture and traditions in real ways, free of negative stereotypes and biases in post 911 America.'' The film, he added, was untimely and uncalled for. Singh has requested Foreign Secretary Kapil Sibal to seek editing of the State Department video. To show the Sikhs as terrorists will create permanent hostility among Americans against the community,'' Singh told Sibal in a letter. The article goes on to say, In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a crazy mix of terrorists, turbans and images of Osama bin Laden caused widespread confusion in America, which resulted in physical and verbal hate attacks on Sikhs. After months of attempted negotiations, the State Department has made no official statement about any of the requests to modify or recall the video and curriculum. Sources at the State Department stated that they were in the process of preparing a response which should be released soon, possibly next m onth. It will only be released to the Sikh representatives of the Sikh advocacy groups - SMART, SCORE, USSA and The Sikh Coalition - that previously met with the State Department. In an interview with a State Department official, it was revealed that the bulk of the 15,000 copies, perhaps all, were distributed at the professional teacher's training conference. The official, who declined to be named, also said that at the time of distribution, no records were made as to the school names or the contact information of persons who picked up the videos and curriculums. Therefore, a recall is not possible. When asked if the State Department could send an official letter to schools stating the misrepresentations in the video and curriculum, they again said that without a mailing list, they had nowhere to send it to. The State Department could send a letter to the conference officials where the videos and curriculums were distributed, but they seem to unable or unwilling to do that either. The State Department official did acknowledge that mistakes were made in the video and curriculum, but attributed it to a part of the learning process in creating a new program. She said, this was the first time we created a video and curriculum for schools. But the damage is done. Sikh students may have to face hate crimes and increased social and academic problem because of this video released by their own government. The official letter that the State Department is preparing for Sikh organization is not expected to contain anything significant to correct the situation. The only remedy they have to offer is that the next release of the curriculum material will contain something on tolerance and will put the situation in a different light with the reference to Sikhs as terrorists taken out of the print material only, said the official. We have no plans to redo the video. SMART, in consultation with the other Sikh organizations, is taking the lead in sending the State Department a follow-up lette r. Further action will be decided after they receive an official response. Meanwhile, there is only one month left before the beginning of the next school year. Sikh parents can take matters into their own hands and inform their children's schools of the wrongful and inflammatory nature of this video and curriculum. They can request that the video not be shown in their schools. As taxpayers with children in public middle and high schools, they have every right to do so.

A new Sikh Egreetings Service (beta version) is online now. Go to http://sikhbytes.guroocities.com/ and navigate to Greetings. Send Greetings on occassion of Prakash Utsav-Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji. And do plz give feedback & contribute any flash animations that may be suitable for above purpose

Jalandhar, July 19 (PTI): The different constituents of the Panthic Morch today merged and formed a new party "Akali Dal" to be headed by former Punjab Speaker, Ravi Inder Singh The party announced it will launch a movement to settle long pending issues, including the inter-State water dispute with Haryana, transfer of Chandigarh and other Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab and submit a memorandum to the Governor on August 13; The party has been formed on the principles of the then Shiromani Akali Dal formed in 1920. Earlier, addressing a convention organised at Gurudwara Guru Teg Bhadur here, the Convener of the erstwhile Panthic Morcha, Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi, said the prime aim of the Akali Dal would be to ensure the defeat of the Shiromani Akali Dal headed by former Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. In an unanimous resolution adopted during the convention, it criticised Badal for promoting his family interests while ignoring the dedicated workers. "Badal has promoted corruption during his stint as the Chief Minister and now he is trying to project registration of a case against him and family members by the Congress Government as a war against the Sikh community, which is highly deplorable," he said. Badal should face trial in court instead of creating confusion among the masses to gain sympathy," the resolution said

So Vicky Veerji, when can we expect to post in Punjabi on this Forum? And I would suggest to use Gurbani WebThick Font. I used it on my site and it works perfectly. SikhiToTheMax uses it too? For a long time I thought why aren't many of our sites are not written in Punjabi? The problem is different sites use different punjabi fonts. It's time now to standardise one Gurmukhi Font across all sites. May be waheguroo sevadaars can take steps in this regard. And this will help promote our language too? Won't it?

Yeah I know one needs to have the font installed in the Fonts Directory. I think most of us do have it installed as we use SIKHITOTHEMAX site too. I think it's no big deal to install a font if one wanna use his mother tongue. And yeah, we can standardise one Gurmukhi font on all sites. I think Sikhitothemax now uses Gurbani WebThick Font. We can standardise that :i:

As I am typing, I see there's a Font option. It has Arial,Times,Courier,....... Can't we have a Punjabi Font here? I think the prom is that as we would type, the text won't appear in Punjabi but it will once we preview or post it? May be I am wrong But what do u think SikhSangat? Posting topics on this Forum in our own language. :D Won't that be great. Just thought. May be Vicky veere can tell us more?

Oak Brook businessman seeks Senate BY SHAMUS TOOMEY Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted 7/16/03 With the six high-tech companies he helped create valued at more than $1 billion, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria knows how to pounce on opportunity. A non-practicing physician from Oak Brook, Kathuria began amassing his fortune with a wireless phone company in India, and since then has done everything from working with Sweden on health care issues to helping form the company that put civilian Dennis Tito in space. And now Kathu-ria, 38, sees another opportunity — this time in the battle to replace U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, an Inverness Republican who opted against a second term. Kathuria is running as a Republican in the 2004 Senate primary, a race becoming increas-ingly crowded on both sides of the aisle. “This is a strange race. The incumbent is not running and there are no favorites,” said Kathuria, the 1983 valedictorian at Downers Grove North High School. “It’s the perfect opportunity for someone to run.” He is pledging to spend $6 million or more of his own money, making him an attractive candidate for the Republican Party. And, for a party desperate to broaden its appeal in an increasingly Democratic state, Kathuria has more than just money and drive to offer. If elected, he would become the Senate’s first Sikh and its first member born in India. Kathuria emigrated to the area with his parents when he was 8 months old. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Judy Baar Topinka “wants to rebuild the Republican party,” Kathuria said. “She’s been talking about reaching out to ethnic groups and minorities. I think America’s changing. If th e Republi-can Party really wants to grow its traditional base … what better way than to elect me to the Sen-ate?” Topinka, also the state treasurer, has met with Kathuria and is encouraged by his candidacy, party spokesman Jason Gerwig said. “The chairman thinks he’s a very intelligent man, a self-starter,” he said. “He wants to give some-thing back to the people of Illinois. … It will be good for the party and for the race.” Topinka wanted former Gov. Jim Edgar to succeed Fitzgerald and passed on a chance to run herself when Edgar declined. Since then, a host of Republicans have flocked to the race or shown interest, including: former invest-ment banker Jack Ryan of Wilmette, businessmen Andy McKenna of Glenview, John Cox of Chicago and Jim Oberweis of Aurora, state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin and RTA Chairman Thomas McCracken of Darien. Kathuria is hoping the crowded field will split enough votes for him to emerge as the winner. To do so, he’s also hoping his back-ground will bring him non-traditional GOP voters. He knows he’ll be talking about his religion on the campaign trail to help people understand who he is. But he wants Illinois voters to see past his thick beard and traditional Sikh tur-ban, and see him as an America who is conservative by nature and well-schooled on a variety of issues, par-ticularly health care and small busi-ness development. He also has a self-deprecating side that he’s not afraid to show. When explaining what got him into the high-tech trade instead of the medical field, he ad-mits it was for a girl. “A friend in business school said (in 1993), ‘Let’s go to India and start a mobile carrier,’æ” he said. “The truth of the story is … I was madly in love with her but she wouldn’t give me the time of day. I figured if we went to India, she might not know anyone else and she might fall in love with me.” That dream didn’t work out, and Kathuria is not married. But the company he created later merged with another and sold for $2.9 bil-lion. Now he’s working on his latest dream. “It would really send a strong message to America,” he said

Tejpal Singh was recently appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney from the District of Columbia. With kesh and turban, Tejpal is the first Sikh attorney appointed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). DOJ appointments are highly coveted and very prestigious. The U.S. Attorneys are a vehicle by which the United States acts in court. They execute all the laws of the United States and prosecute anyone who violates those laws. Cases taken up by the U.S. Attorneys range from terrorism (terrorism against Americans abroad is prosecuted in the U.S.) and espionage to fraud and cybercrimes. The reason why the U.S. Attorney's office is difficult to get into is because of the prestige of prosecuting high profile cases. The attorneys represent the U.S. government in court and they bind the government when they prosecute federal law violations. For example, when the government goes after terrorists or mobsters, the U.S. Attorneys are the ones who prosecute them. Each state has a U.S. Attorney. Larger states may have more than one. U.S. Attorneys are normally appointed by the President and confirmed by Congress. The U.S. Attorney of each district then appoints Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Tejpal Singh was appointed by the U.S. Attorney from D.C., Roscoe C. Howard. There are approximately 2,000 Assistant U.S. Attorneys across the country. The position is highly competitive. Only one in ten applicants for Assistant U.S. Attorn ey is granted an interview, and of those, about half are offered a position. An appointment as Assistant U.S. Attorney provides an excellent opportunity for young lawyers to gain valuable litigation and trial experience in front of judges and juries. In D.C. where Tejpal Singh practices, they are responsible for local law enforcement as well - felonies, murder, rape. D.C. has the largest office in the country with 340 Assistant U.S. Attorneys. U.S. Attorneys also prosecute federal hate crimes. The U.S. Attorney's office has a Bias Crime Task Force which was established well before 9/11. Tejpal says that the objective of the task force is to reach out to the affected communities and to prevent and prosecute potential hate crimes. Part of that role is to go into the community and inform them of what hate crimes are and to let them know that the government will prosecute them. One case that Tejpal worked on with SMART before entering the office was the Gurdwara incident in D.C. in which the temporary building/trailer at the construction site was vandalized shortly after 9/11. Tejpal represented SMART in the task force and continues to sit on the task force and work on hate crimes, although it is not his primary job. Whether the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office gets involved in hate crime cases depends upon which jurisdiction that crime occurred. In other words, the D.C. office is only responsible for hate crimes that occur in D.C., and normally hate crimes are prosecuted by local law enforcement first, but under extraordinary circumstances the federal government can intervene and take over these cases. In March 2003, Tejpal Singh left private practice and resigned from SMART as a requirement for appointment at the U.S. Attorney's office. As a new appointee, Tejpal is on rotation of duties. He is currently working in the appellate section of the U.S. Attorney's Office representing the United States on criminal appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Cou rt of Appeals for the District of Columbia. His job is to make sure that criminals who are convicted by a judge or jury and appeal to get out of their sentences stay in jail. Many lawyers who come into this position move on to become judges, move to senior levels at the DOJ and others go into the private sector. When asked about his future plans, Tejpal replied, "I plan to stay at the office for a while and hope to get as much experience as I can. From there, it is nice to know I have opportunities, but I am enjoying the office at the moment." Born in Philadelphia, Tejpal Singh graduated from Boston University with a bachelors in Political Science and Philosophy, magna cum laude. He went on to receive a law degree from George Washington Law School, with honors, in 1998. After graduation, he joined Crowell and Morning LLP, where he specialized in government contracts and general litigation. As part of his practice, Tejpal worked on complex commercial litigation arising in federal and state courts, and has particular expertise in the areas of telecommunications and international litigation. He litigated cases involving the False Claims Act and the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, and participated in bid protests before the General Accounting Office. During that time, Tejpal served as Civil Rights Counsel and a Board of Directors to the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce (SMART). He worked closely with broad and diverse national coalitions to prevent hate crimes, protect civil liberties and promote diversity, and was a frequent guest speaker before national organizations on issues related to hate crimes and religious discrimination. In the wake of 9/11, Tejpal frequently met with senior officials from the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, and the FBI on matters related to the reduction and prevention of hate crimes and improper religious and racial profiling. In 2002, Tejpal was named one of the "Top 30 Most Influential Asian Pacific Americans Under 30" by the online magazine Politicalcircus.com. Tejpal is also an active member of the D.C. Bar Association, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA), the South Asian Bar Association, and the Sikh Bar. "The fact that there has never been a turbaned Sikh in the Department of Justice before is significant," says Tejpal. "Diversity is very important, particularly in the context of getting good policy and prosecution practice. Just by having a presence in the office, one can have an affect on policy - and in part determine who to arrest and what crimes to charge. With experience and moving on to senior levels, one can actually make policy - when and who to prosecute, determine the proper types of investigation, and dictate how those investigations should progress." Tejpal firmly believes that "It is important to have as many Sikh Americans in political and non-political positions as possible - to have a diverse political and executive branch of government. It gives people opportunities and opens doors that would not otherwise be open." When he was interested in law school, Tejpal says he was discouraged from going into the field because of the discrimination he might have to face. But now, he says, there are a growing number of successful Sikh American lawyers who are making a positive contribution to society. Tejpal's job is to enforce the law and protect all Americans, not just Sikh Americans. But having a Sikh presence at the DOJ, in a position of authority, who understands the concerns of Sikh Americans, helps the community as a whole. comment: The photograph was taken shortly after 9/11 at a meeting about hate crimes and racial profiling with D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams (left) and D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi (right). Source: Sikhnet.Com

:nihungsmile: http://sikhbytes.guroocities.com

Hey I am really happy then. But last time when the smagam was broadcast on keertan.net the bitrate was 32kbps and my player kept on buffering. I hope the mininmum this time shall be 24kbps :D )

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa! Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!! Can the broadcast's lowest bitrate (audio ) be 24kbps ( as was in recent AKJ.org broadcast) so that people like us who have slow connections can listen to keertan without interruption. :

NCM Protests State Dept Film Showing Sikhs As Terrorists :D New Delhi, July 5 (UNI) The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has objected to a US State Department video showing gun-weilding Sikhs in the Golden Temple as terrorists, saying the film may in fact compound trouble for American Sikhs, some of whom have even been attacked after 9/11 because of their distinct identity. ''A War Without Borders', recently brought out by the US State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs to educate students about terrorism, shows armed Sikhs fighting the Army at the Golden Temple at a time when the community is struggling to portray its culture and traditions in real ways, free of negative stereotypes and biasis in post 9/11 America,'' said NCM chief Tarlochan Singh. The film, he added, was untimely and uncalled for, especially when there is peace in Punjab. Moreover, the Army attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest of the Sikh shrines, the NCM chief said, was a result of ''the faulty policy of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi''. Mr Singh has requested Foreign Secretary Kapil Sibal to seek editing in the State Department video. ''Sikhs are shown with guns inside the Darbar Sahib, the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple, in a scene under sub-heading 'The Siege of Golden Temple, Amritsar'. To show the Sikhs as terrorists will create permanent hostility among Americans against the community,'' Mr Tarlochan Singh told Mr Sibal in his let ter earlier this week. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a crazy mix of terrorists, turbans and images of Osama bin Laden caused widespread confusion in America, which resulted in physical and verbal hate attacks on Sikhs. In one such gruesome case, Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona gas station owner, was shot dead barely four days after the Osama-masterminded hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center. For latest Sikh News go toSikhbytes.Guroocities.comand navigate to News

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa! Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!! Veerji, Bhai Tejinderpal Singh Ji's Keertan can be found at following sites apart from akj.org, waheguroo. http://www.cyber-link.net/kirtan.htm :D

What do u think sikh sangat jee? This ad appeared in Hindustan Times Magazine,Delhi

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!! Khalsa.topcities.com is back as the new updated Sikhbytes The New updated site features 1) Keertan- This new section has some exclusive keertan by Dr. Tejinderpal Singh Ji (Doola Ji) which I didn’t find on other sites. In addition, there is text of each shabad in Gurmukhi/English along with translations in English. 2) Photo Gallery. This section features photos of some of the above smagams. 3) Wallpapers- Some more exclusive Khanda wallpapers. 4) Active Desktops- Wallpapers with motion ability 5) SikhMap- First of it’s kind, it depicts global Sikh presence on a world map. Go & mark your presence as a Sikh Today. 6) Chat- Start chatting with fellow Sikhs instantaneously, free!!! 7) Discussion Forum 8) Punjabi Google Search- Use your favourite search engine in Punjabi 9) News- Gives you news sorted by relevance & most recent :courtesy Google. Also features Sikh News Photos-Courtesy Yahoo! I am also planning to put videos of some of the smagams Webmaster sikhbytes.guroocities.com

It's cool. But actually we are just answering the questions as Sikhi teaches us.