lsingh

The real reason why some of the press and Indian leaders make these statements http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/india/raw.htm The RAW and the Ministry of External Affairs are provided Rs 25 crore annually as "discretionary grants" for foreign influence operations. These funds have supported organisations fighting Sikh and Kashmiri separatists in the UK, Canada and the US. An extensive network of Indian operatives is controlled by the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. The Indian embassy's covert activities are reported to include the infitration of US long distance telephone carriers by Indian operatives, with access to all kinds of information, to r blackmail relatives of US residents living in India. In 1996 an Indian diplomat was implicated in a scandal over illegal funding of political candidates in the US. Under US law foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to federal elections. The US District Court in Baltimore sentenced Lalit H Gadhia, a naturalised US citizen of Indian origin, to three months imprisonment. Gadhia had confessed that he worked as a conduit between the Indian Embassy and various Indian-American organisations for funnelling campaign contributions to influence US lawmakers. Over $46,000 from the Indian Embassy was distributed among 20 Congressional candidates. The source of the cash used by Gadhia was Devendra Singh, a RAW official assigned to the Indian Embassy in Washington. Illicit campaign money received in 1995 went to Democratic candidates including Sens. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.), Paul S. Sarbanes (D -Md.) and Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

Some other information sources on the Sikh Wars http://www.regiments.org/wars/19thcent/48sikh.htm

The BBC World Service covers the issue of Sikh identity in its religios programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programm..._religion.shtml SHORN OF IDENTITY? Sikh religious authorities are staging International Turban Pride Day. They hope to encourage a generation of young people who are dispensing with the turban in favour of "Bollywood haircuts". We hear from Sikhs in India and the UK; has the turban fallen out of favour for many people?

Why have a mela at Vaisakhi? Have the Nagar Kirtan and follow up with a Gatka display and have the mela at a non religious time

VHP/RSS/BJP are running the show, Badal and the Namdharis are their tools to bring about Hinduism in the Punjab. Criminals like Phoola are presented as heros. Sikhs are imprisoned as slaves in their own state

The Captain only did a few pro Sikh actions like the link to Nankana Sahib, but was punished by the Hindus who did not vote for him for being freindly to Sikhs. Now Congress will get a Hindu leader. PPCC chief ‘likely’ to be Hindu Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, April 5 A Hindu is likely to be made the chief of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). The Congress high command is giving it a thought, said Ashwani Kumar, union minister of state for industrial policy and promotion, here today. Ashwani Kumar, while addressing mediapersons, expressed resentment over the registration of FIRs against senior Congress leaders by the SAD-BJP government in Punjab. He said former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh would be arriving in the country on April 9.

This what Dayanad leader of the Arya Samaj said about Guru nanak Dev Ji. THis Arya Samaj did a lot of damage to Sikhs in spreading Hindu practices into Sikh teachings from the late 1870's onwards. It was only after Mahants (many followers of Arya Samaj) began installing idols and smoking inside Gurdwaras did the Sikh masses finally react. Sikhs: Page 443 (chapter IX) Guru Nanak did not possess any learning . . . he wanted to show that he had some pretensions to the knowledge of Sanskrit . . . anxious to gain public applause, fame and glory . . . He was vain . . . resorted to gain reputation and acquire fame. Page 446 . . . if Sikhs were to read vedas, they would no doubt embrace vedic religion The Arya Samaj were a direct cause of anti Sikh feeling amongst Hindus of North India, that is why they rejected Punjabi as there language after 1947 and oppossed even economic demands for the Punjab from the 60's onwards. There political wing the Jan Sangh have become merged with the BJP and RSS. Followers of Arya Samj lead a hindu demonstration in Amritsar in 1950 saying Hindu, Hindi Hindustan and Kacha, Kanga Pakistan. These Hinu organisation are major backers of the Sanatan's

This is a good book to read if you interested in Sikh Army upto 1849 and the Sikh Wars. Amazon.co.uk. The Sikh Army, 1799-1849 (Men-at-arms) (Paperback) by Ian Heath (Author), Michael Perry (Illustrator) "FOLLOWING THE DEATH IN 1707 of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, rivalry between the Mughals, Afghans and Persians had created a power vacuum in the Punjab,..." (more) RRP: £8.99 Price: £7.19 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions You Save: £1.80 (20%) Availability: In stock. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Reviews Synopsis The Sikh Wars in 1845-46 and 1848-49 saw the British Army pitted against its most formidable enemy in the whole history of British India, and perhaps of the whole expansionist phase of the 19th century British Empire. The Sikh Army created by Maharaja Ranjit Singh from the 1820s was inspired by its warrior faith, but organised, drilled, uniformed, and armed in Western style. Its artillery was unrivalled in Asia, and by the 1840s the Sikhs had 50,000-70,000 regular troops and similar numbers of irregulars. Although the British were ultimately victorious, they suffered huge casualties, and the major pitched battles of the wars more closely resembled Waterioo than the actions typically fought in this theatre.

In the UK a new law has been introduced to prevent religious discrimination in the workplace (There is already laws for racial discrimination). Unlike Indian laws they are actually enforced and you will see Sikhs in all areas working in the UK. I have noticed educated English people actually respect Sikhs and know about the part they played in the World Wars. It is really sad that outside the Punjab ,Sikhs are ridiculed. It might be worth telling some of these people that if it was not for the Khalsa they would have been Muslims .

BJP in control of Punjab BJP takes up DJJS issue with CM I P Singh | TNN Jalandhar: The clash between Sikh protesters and the followers of Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthaan Nurmahal (DJJS) at Phagwara earlier this week has polarised the SAD and BJP, with the latter strongly rallying behind the Sansthaan. All the 19 MLAs of the party raised the issue with chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday. According to sources, the BJP MLAs met Badal to express their concern over the protests on Thursday evening at Punjab Bhawan, Chandigarh, after the assembly session and complained that SAD leaders of Phagwara had not played a positive role in the entire episode as they sided with the protesters. Communal tension was created in the city as the Sikh protesters objected to the holding of a religious function at Hanuman Garhi Mandir situated on GT Road in Phagwara. The protesters blocked traffic on national highway on Sunday evening, the first day of the function. Though a compromise was struck between the two sides on Monday afternoon, a few hours afterwards in the evening stone-pelting occurred between the two sides which led to lathicharge and use of teargas shells and blockade of National Highway foraround two and a half hours. The tension could be eased only after a compromise was struck between the two sides on Tuesday evening after local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia intervened at the behest of the chief minister. It was being apprehended that the issue might spread to the entire state and transform from ''Sansthaan versus Sikhs'' to ''Hindus versus Sikhs''. Sources said though tension was somehow eased, BJP MLAs had taken strong exception to the protests, and party MLAs had decided to raise it with Badal. Sikh protesters were represented by SGPC member Jarnail Singh Wahid and senior SAD leader Sarwan Singh Kular in the negotiations who had also objected to the holding of the function. They objected to the siding of SAD leaders with the Sikhprotesters. It is learnt that BJP minister and MLAs led by Kalia pleaded with Badal that the preachers who spoke at the function did not utter anything which could hurt the Sikh sentiments. BJP MLA from Ludhiana (north) Harish Bedi, who was involved in the final negotiations and implementation of the compromise as he is a strong follower of the Sansthaan, was also quite vocal over the issue. Phagwara MLA and technical education minister Swarna Ram also blamed the SAD leaders of Phagwara. Sources said Badal told the BJP MLAs that he would try to resolve theissue by getting removed the misunderstanding which had led to negative remarks from Akal Takht following which Sikhs had been taking umbrage at DJJS functions.

Why not try and highlight the meaning of Vaisakhi with leaflets in English. You can cut and paste of the main the information from Sikh websites and photocopy a load ,does not take long. How about making the importance of keeping Kesh a key theme this year?

Yet another story about Sikhs abondoning their turbans this time in the New YorK times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/world/as...amp;oref=slogin

From allabout Sikhs Many a time one wrong leads to another wrong. The Government now anxious to restore the sanctity of the shrine entrusted the repairs of it to the government contractors under the supervision of Home Minister Buta Singh and a Buddha Dal Nihang, Baba Santa Singh, against the wishes of the SGPC. The gurdwaras are built by kar seva and not by paid employees. Sikhs believe that the repairing and maintenance of their holy places is a sacred duty and the work must be carried out by the holy men. The Government ignored the protest and speeded up the construction work. Buta Singh requested a number of Sikh saints to come forward and help in the reconstruction work, but all of them refused to cooperate with the government. The reconstruction went with lightening speed and was finished within three months. It is estimated that about $30 million were spent to restore the building. The whole complex remained in the possession of the army until 25 September, when the keys of the temple were handed over to the SGPC representatives. 20.7 Operation Blue Star re-invoked the tradition of Sarbat Khalsa. The first such meeting was called by Nihang Santa Singh, on 11 August 1984 to declare himself authorised to rebuild the Akal Takhat. High priests of the Sikh Takhats called a Sarbat Khalsa on 2 September and declared President Zail Singh and Home Minister Buta Singh as 'tankhahiyas' (religious offenders or renegades) and ex-communicated them from the Sikh fraternity unless they apologised and accepted the punishment given to them at the Akal Takhat. Nihang Santa Singh had already been excommunicated on 22 July. President Zail Singh later apologised and was pardoned on 25 September.

Despite Badal saying he would scrap the water agreements, under BJP pressure it did not take two weeks to reverse the decsion (If there was one in the first place) SAD volte face expected Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 28 In just one month of coming to power, the SAD volte face on scrapping Section 5 of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act (PTAA), 2004, is more or less on expected legal and political lines. Among legal luminaries and seasoned political observers, it was a foregone conclusion that the SAD will have to tone down the stance taken in its manifesto and also Parkash Singh Badal’s statement on the occasion of Hola Mohhala at Anandpur Sahib which had created a political storm of sorts. The SAD manifesto — in reference to the PTAA and Section 5 of the same Act — says “the SAD-BJP government will take political, legal and constitutional steps to redress this grievous wrong done to the people of the state”. The manifesto also says “ The Congress has systematically violated the riparian principle. The biggest blow to the state’s interests is by giving a legal guarantee to the flow of Punjab’s river waters to Haryana and Rajasthan under Clause 5. This strikes at the very roots of the riparian principle, completely contradicting Punjab’s stand that as Haryana and Rajasthan are non-riparian states, they have no right to have share in Punjab’s river waters.” At Hola Mohalla, on March 3, Badal had made it clear that he will move ahead to scrap Section 5 of the PTAA, citing riparian rights of Punjab. This had raised hackles of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Haryana Government immediately moved the Supreme Court, where the Punjab Government today submitted an affidavit in which it said the Punjab Government stands by Section 5 of the PTAA. The BJP, the SAD alliance partner, had taken a tough stance on the issue, with V.K. Malhotra, the chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha, demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should intervene and stop Badal from taking the step. Badal, who has long held his view of honouring riparian rights, probably was under pressure from his alliance partner.

Sikh society in general needs to start promoting keeping Kesh. I have seen many older Sikhs that are clean shaven riducle youngsters who keep their Kesh, many of these people actually sit on Gurdwara Committees! There seems to be complete indifference to keeping Kesh by many Gurdwaras so as not to offend people with haircuts and lose their votes.

I read somewhere that Navjot Sidhus own son had a haircut, does anybody know?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../26/wsikh26.xml Young Sikhs abandon turban in favour of 'Bollywood haircuts' By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi Last Updated: 2:06am BST 26/03/2007 For centuries one of Sikhism's most distinguishing symbols, the turban is in danger of falling out of favour. Young Sikhs are abandoning the traditional headwear, wearying of the elaborate ceremony of maintaining long hair and knotting it under six yards of starched cotton. Campaign: Navjot Singh Sidhu "Across Punjab a large number of Sikh youth have cut their hair and, sadly, the turban-tying ceremony for teenage boys has also become rare, even in villages" lamented Avtar Singh Makkar, a senior clergyman. The majority of the world's 20 million Sikhs are concentrated in rural Punjab, where barbers - who historically had to supplement their incomes due to a lack of customers - are now doing brisk business. Cutting the hair renders a Sikh apostate, or "pati", but many boys are now copying the hairstyles of Bollywood stars. Alarmed by the trend, Sikhism's leading religious group, the SGPC, has declared the April 13 harvest festival of Baisakhi as International Sikh Turban Day. In addition, two turban-tying schools have been founded in Sikhism's holiest city of Amritsar, and a competition to select "Mr Singh International", is expected to attract widespread participation. Every region in Punjab has its own distinct style of tying a turban, with each claiming theirs to be the best, and Mr Singh contestants are to be judged on how stylishly their headgear is tied. The present reigning champion, Navjot Singh Sidhu, an MP and former Test cricketer, recently held a procession in Amritsar to instill a sense of pride among Sikh youth. Meanwhile, concern over acts of violence in the West against Sikhs, mistaken for members of the Taliban, who also sport turbans, has also prompted overseas campaigns to "dignify" the headgear.

Interesting painting of Hindu priests blessing the Battle standards(colours) of the British and Indian soldiers before going to fight the Sikhs http://www.britishbattles.com/second-sikh-...llianwallah.htm

I CAME ACROSS THIS SITE WHICH HAS SOME GOOD PAINTINGS AND PICTURES OF THE ANGLOS SIKH WARS 1845-46 and 1848-49 If you look down the left hand side all the Sikh war battles are listed and you can see some interesting paintings. http://www.britishbattles.com/first-sikh-war/moodkee.htm

You can find your MP on this site. Write a short note them, post or email. Explain to them about your issues. http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/

66 MP's have signed the Early Day Motion, there are many that live in Sikh areas which have not signed yet, please contact your MP. No Sikh MP has signed including Piara Khabra and Parmjit Thanda. EDM 870 ARREST AND DETENTION OF PARAMJIT SINGH IN THE PUNJAB07.02.2007 Purchase, Ken That this House notes the many representations to the Foreign Secretary made by British Sikhs on behalf of Paramjit Singh, a British citizen; is dismayed by the continuing detention of Paramjit and the second postponement of his trial; condemns the Punjab police for delaying access by the British High Commission to Paramjit amid the concerns of his family for his safety; calls on the Government to increase its efforts to ensure an expeditious and fair trial; and, in the meantime, further calls on the Government to take steps to ensure Paramjit's health and welfare is not compromised by ill-treatment while he is in custody. Signatures( 66) Conservative Party Amess, David Bottomley, Peter Conway, Derek Dorries, Nadine Evans, Nigel Horam, John Kirkbride, Julie Streeter, Gary Open: 8 Closed: 0 Labour Party Austin, John Berry, Roger Blackman-Woods, Roberta Caton, Martin Chaytor, David Cohen, Harry Cryer, Ann Dean, Janet Drew, David Flynn, Paul George, Bruce Gerrard, Neil Gibson, Ian Godsiff, Roger Hall, Patrick Hopkins, Kelvin Iddon, Brian Jenkins, Brian Jones, Lynne Keeble, Sally Kilfoyle, Peter Love, Andrew Marris, Rob Martlew, Eric McCarthy, Kerry McCarthy-Fry, Sarah McKechin, Ann Mole, Chris Morden, Jessica Mullin, Chris Olner, Bill Osborne, Sandra Purchase, Ken Sheridan, Jim Simpson, Alan Starkey, Phyllis Stewart, Ian Todd, Mark Truswell, Paul Turner, Desmond Vaz, Keith Vis, Rudi Wareing, Robert N Watson, Tom Williams, Alan Williams, Betty Wright, Tony Open: 47 Closed: 0 Liberal Democrats Baker, Norman Beith, AJ Brake, Tom Burstow, Paul George, Andrew Hancock, Mike Hemming, John Oaten, Mark Pugh, John Thurso, John Younger-Ross, Richard Open: 11 Closed: 0

Any views on what can be done to pre empt any backlash? Sikhs have always been unprepared for incidents such as 1947 and 1984. Some views 1.Raise Sikhi awarness, this can be done with people you work with, study with etc. Even our own community needs education about Sikhs. 2.Raise awarness at national level, meet your MP and tell him about Sikhs, they are always willing to meet. 3.Tell local Councils and Police to be extra alert to protect Sikh areas when an incident happens. 4. Raise awarnes through media local and national.

Another a bit of history missing in the documentary. 'After it was a certainity that Pakistan will be formed, Giani Kartar Singh in 1943 declared a call for a Separate state called Azad Punjab, to be comprised of Ambala, Jullundar, Lahore, Multan, and Lyallpur divisions. Mastar Tara Singh president of SAD and other Sikh leaders such as Giani Sher Singh, Sadhu Singh Hamdard,Amar singh Dosanjh, Ajit singh Ambalvi supported this call for Azad Punjab. Then in a speech in Amritsar in August 1944, Master Tara Singh declared that Sikhs were a nation and as such a demand was formerly put forward by Shiromani Akali Dal in a resolution passed on March 22, 1946 for a separate Sikh state.'

Another reasons why Nehru got his way was his immoral behaviour with Mountbattens wife, so had influence on his descisions. From Wikipedia It was rumoured during Mountbatten's viceroyalty, and remains widely believed, that his wife had an affair with Jawaharlal Nehru, who became India's first prime minister during their stay in India, and that the pair may have resumed that connection on Nehru's subsequent visits to England.[2] But this is denied by the Mountbatten family, although other liaisons during the couple's open marriage have been admitted. Lord Mountbatten's son-in-law and former naval aide-de-camp, Lord Brabourne, citing the extensive, preserved correspondence between his mother-in-law and Nehru, was quoted on February 12, 2003 in the Indian news periodical The Pioneer