HSD1

On page 39 of the Osprey 'The Sikh Army 1799-1849' Book there is a picture of a Gurkha Sepoy wearing a shako (hat) with a tricolore on it. The book isnt worth buying because of the patronising way the english writer researches the Sikh Army but it does have good pictures. http://books.google.com/books?id=YIh9eQlojGsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false The Gurkhas came to the Punjab after their country had been annexed by the British. They were allowed to have their own regiments in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Army and were good in the wars with the Afghans. As time went on it became harder for Gurkhas to come to Lahore and so the regiments started recruiting other mountain people like Kashmiris etc. By the First Anglo-Sikh war the diplomatic relationship between Nepal and Britain prevented any Gurkhas coming to Punjab.

I dont think we went as far as adopting the Tricolore lol! Bare in mind that this flag was a symbol of Republicanism so it is unlikely that any Monarchy would adopt it. I think it was the Gurkha Regiment in the Fauj-i-Khas (elite royal division) that were the ones who used the Tricolore as they also said all commands in French and wore European style hats due to their commanding officer holding a Lt Colonel rank in Napoleon's Army so he wanted to relive old memories presumably! As for the Gurkhas, how many of you have heard of Balbhadra Kunwar ?

Not entirely true. In Amarpal Singh Sidhu's book on the First Anglo Sikh War he says that many European, mostly French, died at the Battle of Ferozeshah. When the traitorous generals ordered the army to evacuate the camp even though the British had been beaten back, a couple of hundred Sikhs and European diehards stayed behind to fight over 25000 British Indian troops.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_%281786%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jupiter_%281778%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sirius_%281797%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-Ger%C3%A4t_%28navigation%29 The above are pagan references used by militaries of various Christian countries. I could go on as there are hundreds of examples like this. We shouldnt read too much into Akalis or Fauj-i-AIn Regiment using symbols of our pagan Hindu heritage.

Not really. Akalis/Nihangs/whatever were against Maharaja Ranjit SIngh as they saw him as lenient on non-sikhs living under Khalsa rule and too soft with the British in India. Niddar paints a lover-dovey history of SIkhi in relation to Hinduism. The truth is that all of us Punjabi Sikhs have a hindu heritage before the last 500 years. That doesnt mean we are hindus, we are now SIkhs. Like how arabs became muslims or europeans became christians. Akalis and Nihangs have always been against Hindu power as that leads to the rule of the Brahmin, something no Sikh in their right mind would want.

1. To be frank, most of them couldnt give a monkeys. Brown folk are brown folk and not welcome in large parts of the UK outside of major urban areas. 2. No, most of these places turn into dumps because of lack of funding and ethnic tensions. If anything many young sikhs develop inferiority complexes whilst growing up in these places and take it out on their own community when they grow up. Tons of self-hating Sikhs in the UK. If they dont turn into coconuts there is a high chance they will have other problems as immigrant areas dont have the same facilities and good schools that other areas do. You'd see what I mean if you came here yourself. 3. Most of that generation are the politically correct types who have done more harm than good. As for preserving tradition and faith, that varies from family to family. 4. Lol, it varies from girl to girl. But many of them have their attitudes flavoured by their own family or experiences when in India.

Wow, the Americans really are wide awake when it comes to intelligence gathering and pulling points together. A hell of a lot different to how they are portrayed by the media. As for the leaks, it shows that there are major problems in Punjab, even though so many people are willing to say everything is fine and that ordinary people are rich etc. Thank you, Singh559

We've finally made it as a nation. I thought the day would never come when I could hold my head high knowing that a SIkh has been on Come Dine With Me.

.

So now even Sikh elders are being groomed over the internet?!?!?! Whatever next...........

Upinder is just making emotional capital out of the riots to bolster his image and career. No doubt he'll still be going on about it in 70 years time like some people do about the world wars.

History fail.

Wow, just wow. Why on earth did that family want a Gurudwara wedding? So they could have live out some politically correct fantasy? I hope the gora converted at least.

I'm all for shifting responsibility back on to the shoulders of Sikhs for issues that affect us around the world, but really, 'Sikhism's biggest threat is Sikhs'?

Yeah the bloke is a troublemaker. Supposedly he was kicked out of the secondary school he was teaching at for sending 'disturbing' messages to underage girls on Facebook. He also has links to the Hindu Forum of Britain (a front for Hindustani intelligence agencies) and The Freedom Association (a bunch of upper middle class english tw@ts determined to bring back the British Empire and reassert British hegemony around the world). He also has links to Niddar Singh and probably receives funding from one of the above groups like most other sanatans or other backstabbing Sikhs in the UK. With Sikhs like him who needs enemies?

And pigs in Eurofighter Typhoons were patrolling the skies.

Sounds dodgy. Most of the Sikhs in Italy end up in farming jobs as far as I've heard. Ask more questions.

South America, East Asia and Australia are places you should consider too. Europe is turning back to the Dark Ages. Havent heard of any, but hey, that makes you a pioneer! Good luck! And if you build your own Gurudwara please dont use the committee system.

Where did you find this?

I know what you mean but it's what I've heard was Maharajah Ranjit Singh's personal flag asked about in the OP. Something like in the second large picture you posted in post 2.

I heard it was red and green. Or had a lion on a golden background. I'm not sure to be honest. The problem with using Maharajah Ranjit's old flag is that it would represent a country that was not ruled by his successor. Unless you can find one of his descendants then we need a 'Republican' flag as Khalistan will be a secular democracy.

The fact that the collapse of the Sikh Empire caused the number of Sikhs to fall in half I dont think the British helped at all. After the wars with the Afghans there were 40,000 Sikhs in Punjab, with 60,000 having died in the wars. In the years before the Punjab-AngloHindustan Wars there were supposedly 1.5 million Sikhs in Punjab. Thats an increase of 3750% or 30 times in about a hundred years. Go figure.

http://www.sikhsangat.com/Index.php?/topic/45035-painting-on-the-wall/page__st__10 Oh look we've been here before. I quite like the points made by the guest. Wonder who it was...

The BNP are a broken force. They have major internal issues and dont seem to have recovered from what happened to them in the last general election. As for the EDL, look at what happened during the riots. Whilst Sikhs came out in force to protect religous, commercial and private property, the EDL were sitting at home munching on their Tesco Value Curries or racing around in white vans doing their Christmas shopping. Sikhs have never needed anyone to achieve anything. We can do anything by ourselves if we put our mind to it.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Tell us how it goes.