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  1. Old article from 1982, but interesting https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/26/us/sikh-guard-service-is-a-tough-force-in-new-mexico-security.html SIKH GUARD SERVICE IS A TOUGH FORCE IN NEW MEXICO SECURITY Special to the New York Times Aug. 26, 1982 4 From Jan. 1 to June 4, when there were no security guards, there were 36 burglaries in Albuquerque's Old Town, a busy tourist neighborhood of art galleries, Mexican restaurants and gift shops. Since June 4 there has not been one. That was the day the Sikhs went to work as security guards there. A growing number of residents of the state are getting used to the sight of big men in khaki uniforms with .45-caliber pistols strapped to their waists and wearing the blue turbans demanded by their religion. Operating under the name Akal Security - akal means ''deathless'' in Punjabi - the Sikhs are a growing factor in the security guard business in New Mexico's two biggest cities, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. With 40 employees and more than 100 accounts, which include patrol services were one guard can cover several sites, Akal Security is one of the biggest private security concerns in New Mexico. Providing College Security Besides being hired for such standard security sites as automobile dealers, singles' bars and supermarkets, the Sikhs have been retained to guard St. John's College at Santa Fe and the Downs thoroughbred rack track at Santa Fe as well as the Amfac Hotel at Albuquerque International Airport. There are about 200 Sikhs in the state, and they have had a settlement in the small town of Espanola, north of Santa Fe, since 1972. There are about two million Sikhs in India and a quarter of a million in Europe and throughout the United States. Their presence is difficult to overlook. The men and women and even the small children wear white tunics, tight leggings and large turbans. The Sikhs, who have a military tradition in India, are strict vegetarians and have religious beliefs against drugs, alcohol and tobacco. They have drawn many of their converts in this country from uppermiddle-class, college-educated people. At confirmation ceremonies in the new faith, most members take what they call a spiritual name by choice. Akal Security is but one of several private businesses in which the Sikhs engage in New Mexico. Others include construction, plumbing and woodworking. The Sikh religion arrived in the United States from India with a 1969 visit by a holy man, Yogi Bhajan. But while most of the counterculture communes that flourished in New Mexico a decade ago have disappeared, the Sikhs have prospered by clinging to the religion's basic beliefs, set forth 500 years ago. Sikh Dharma, as the religion is properly called throughout the world, originated in the Punjab in the 15th century and preaches the communality of all religions, the virtue of hard work and a belief in a monotheistic god. Central to the faith are the concept of the saint-soldier and the five K's, commonly referred to that way because each word has a K sound in Sikh's scriptural language, Gurmukh. They are items of apparel that Sikhs throughout the world are required to wear: a turban over unshorn hair and beards, a steel bracelet on the right wrist, a wooden comb, white cotton leggings and a dagger. Together they symbolize purity, submission to God's will and a fearlessness that has brought the Sikhs fame as soldiers over centuries of wars in India. ''We're not afraid to go out and fight for what we believe in,'' said Gurudeep Khalsa, who heads Akal Security in Albuquerque, and who was a supermarket manager in Detroit before his conversion. ''Sikhs believe that when we die, we go straight into the heart of God. That's why we're fearless.'' Although each security guard wears a badge inscribed ''In God We Trust,'' the Sikhs back their faith with training that exceeds the standards set by the state for private security guards. Part of the success of Akal Security seems to lie with the image the guards project. Akal's founder, Gurutej Singh Khalsa, wears a New Mexico Police Academy's sharpshooter medal, and the 10 non-Sikhs on the security force wear caps modeled on the headgear of the Green Berets. Some Non-Sikhs on the Force Despite the non-Sikh workers, Akal remains a religous organization in the public mind, and that has been a selling point. Akal's contract with Old Town, in fact, specifies Sikh guards only. Another part of the security force's success has to do with aggressive sales techniques. ''They're developed by the Davis Marketing Consulting Service,'' Gurudeep Khalsa said. ''Their efficiency is 105 percent,'' said Estevan Garcia, the board member of the Albuquerque Old Town Merchants Association who decided to hire Akal to patrol the area's 122 shops. ''I've had occasion to see one in action,'' said a Santa Fe police officer, Phil Gonzales. ''He knew what he was doing.'' In Santa Fe last month, several thousand people saw the Sikhs in action at a concert by the country singers Barbara Mandrell and Roger Miller at the Downs race track. The image they projected was not just one of toughness. ''That Qudrat is so talented,'' Bob Billing, the track's chief of security said of one of the guards. ''He has all of Roger Miller's songs memorized and the two of them stood there arm in arm, singing.'' A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 26, 1982, Section A, Page 16 of the National edition with the headline: SIKH GUARD SERVICE IS A TOUGH FORCE IN NEW MEXICO SECURITY. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
  2. Guest

    sikh turban case

    Does anyone have footage or images related to the mandla v lee case including things from the london demonstration, or the court hearings, or newspaper articles, or TV interviews such as the one with with Baba Puran Singh, Bhai Norang Singh, Sewa Singh mandla. any other footage showing uk sikhs is helpful too, including the 1984 protests in london in response to operation bluestar. thank you.
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