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Police force faith initiative: No money for non-Christian religious groups 27 February 2015 Adam Simmonds' Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has not given any money to Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or Sikh groups A project aimed at helping faith groups reduce crime has not given any money to non-Christian religious schemes. The majority of grants paid out by Northamptonshire's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) have gone to Christian groups, with the rest going to non-faith initiatives. Krishna Thakrar, of Wellingborough's Hindu Temple, said he felt "excluded." Police and crime commissioner Adam Simmonds, who runs the scheme, said it would increase community safety. Earlier this month Stephen Evans, of the National Secular Society, accused Mr Simmonds of having a "real evangelical agenda". A total of £63,410 has been given out by the OFBCI since its launch in January 2014, with about £50,000 going to Christian groups. Religious groups in Northamptonshire - Baha'i Buddhist Christian Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Source: Northampton Inter Faith Forum The Reverend David Wiseman, of Northampton Inter Faith Forum, said he was "disappointed" only Christian religious groups had received money. He said projects that had been given money were doing "really innovative work" but the OFBCI should be at a stage "where they can make an investment in other communities". "There are very active community projects for Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities," he said. Mr Thakrar was one of a number of non-Christian religious leaders contacted by the BBC who said they had never heard of the scheme. He said: "I feel we are being excluded. It should not happen. I do not think there is any excuse for it. "If those administrating it can not contact certain groups they shouldn't be running it." Aysha Warrack, a fundraiser at the Northampton Muslim women's group Pearls of Peace, said she had heard of the OFBCI. But she said her group had decided to "remain neutral," despite working closely with police informally. "There is quite a lot of reluctance and suspicion in the community," she said. "To take money from the police did not feel right." Among the groups that have received money are the Corby Street Pastors, Full Gospel Church in Rushden and non-faith organisations like ZimWomen, which works to encourage social inclusion. 'Inclusive project' The "No Tapping Out" scheme run by the Perspective Trust in Kettering and Corby received £3,000. Director Kal Budwal said the project, which combines fitness training with mentoring for troubled teenage boys, "would not have been able to move forward" without funding. The chief executive of crime2christ Social Action, Suzy van Rooyen, said a £3,000 grant had helped it in its work to inspire people not to re-offend. Openly-Christian Mr Simmonds has previously said the project would include groups of all faiths and non-religious community groups. His office has been unable to provide figures relating to how many applications it had received from non-Christian religious groups. The BBC approached Mr Simmonds for a comment on the grant figures on Wednesday, but is yet to receive a response. Source - http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-31650945

Court strikes out application to review prisons grooming policy 27 Feb 2015 TODAY reports: Mr Madan Mohan Singh, a former volunteer Sikh religious counsellor with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), had taken issue with the prisons hair grooming policy for Sikh inmates and said his right to propagate his faith had been violated, after the SPS did not renew his pass. SINGAPORE: The High Court has struck out an application by a former volunteer Sikh religious counsellor with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) who had taken issue with the prisons hair grooming policy for Sikh inmates and said his right to propagate his faith had been violated, after the SPS did not renew his volunteer pass. Justice Quentin Loh said the applicant, Mr Madan Mohan Singh, did not have reasonable cause and that his application to start judicial review proceedings on these issues was frivolous, and vexatious and/or otherwise an abuse of the processes of Court. Mr Singh, who was represented by lawyer M Ravi, had filed an application in 2013 to quash the labelling of Sikh prisoners as practising or non-practising. He had also sought a declaration that the SPS had violated his right to propagate his religion - which is contingent on him obtaining leave for the quashing order. In response, the Attorney-General applied to have these applications struck out. Based on the facts set out in Justice Lohs judgment published on Thursday (Feb 26), Mr Singh, a counsellor with the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Associations Sikh Aftercare (Counselling) Services, began volunteering with the SPS in 2000. In 2010, he wrote to the SPS requesting a review of the prisons hair grooming policy for Sikh inmates. Sikhs who have unshorn hair and beards at the point of admission can keep them unshorn during their incarceration. But those who had shorn their hair and beards at the time of admission or during incarceration would not be allowed to grow them out. In his request, Mr Singh asked the authorities to look into incidents where the policy had not been adhered to. He also objected to the terms practising and non-practising Sikhs, used at the time to distinguish between Sikh inmates with shorn and unshorn hair and beards. The SPS has since switched to using the terms shorn and unshorn. Following his request, the SPS saw a spike in the number of Sikh inmates requesting to keep their hair long. Upon investigation, it found Mr Singh had actively and persistently encouraged inmates to keep their hair and beard unshorn to challenge the policy. This was deemed a threat to prison discipline and safety. In December 2011, Mr Singh was told his volunteer pass would not be renewed. Mr Ravi had argued that Mr Singh had the right to seek the quashing order, as by not renewing his volunteer pass, the SPS was curtailing Mr Singhs right to propagate his religion to a group of Sikhs to whom he owed a duty to rehabilitate. But Justice Loh disagreed, noting that the application, interpreted substantively, was to quash the hair grooming policy, not challenge the non-renewal of Mr Singhs pass. Even if he accepted the argument that the policy was the reason for the non-renewal, this was still not an infringement of Mr Singhs constitutional rights. This was because prisons are restricted spaces, within which inmates suffer temporary exclusion from society. A person would thus ordinarily have no access to a prison, much less free access to propagate his religion to the inmates, he said. [in other words, what Mr Singh should do, is to commit a crime that would send him to prison, and then he can propagate his religion to the other Sikhs in the restricted space of the prison.] Justice Loh also noted that Mr Singh did not object to the policy in the first 10 years of his stint with the SPS. Two prominent members of the Sikh community, including chairman of the Sikh Welfare Councils Inmate Counselling Subcommittee Manmohan Singh, also filed affidavits on behalf of the Attorney-General attesting to the fairness of the policy, he said. Source - http://heresthenews.blogspot.in/2015/02/court-strikes-out-application-to-review.html

Its that time of year again ! Nihaal 2015 will be taking place on Fri Feb 27th at Bell Performing Arts Centre 6250 144th Street, Surrey, British Columbia V3X 1A1 The Event will be centered around the theme of "karam. This year, the show will feature skits, speakers, gatka, prizes, and food! Doors for the event open at 6:30PM. Tickets are only $10, with proceeds from the show benefiting Khalsa Aid (http://www.khalsaaid.org/). Tickets: Kamal's Video Palace: 604-592-9777 Tarveer Singh: 778-387-5506 Arwant Singh: 778-898-6179 Nihaal 2015 is a collaborative effort between the Sikh Students' Associations at UBC, SFU, and UFV. The aim of the SSA is to embody the aspects of Sikhismsewa, spirit, and sangatby providing Sikh students with various opportunities to embrace the essence of Sikhi. Please comment or message us if you have any questions. We hope to see you at Nihaal 2015! Source- https://www.facebook.com/events/899720986734097/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular