2nd Edition

[machete]

Frontline Punjabi youth magazine

Second edition

Harpreets12@hotmail.co.uk (editor)

Disclaimer: we are a magazine open for discussion, about the social problems affecting the Punjabi community in Britain. This is the people’s magazine, and we can only keep going if we have response. We can only be liable for articles and comments from the editor. The letters sent to us are the views of that person, we can not accept liability. They are our reader’s views, if you agree or disagree with the opinions expressed lets hear from you.

Let’s get things clear once and for all!!! (About Sher-e-Punjab)

This article is aimed to put straight nonsense rumors about Sher-e-punjab. Sher-e-punjab is more commonly known as SP. SP was an organization that launched a campaign to protect the Punjabi community. Women, men, and youngsters were able to become a member and receive a regular newsletter. The SP was run by unpaid volunteers; and people from all walks of life joined the campaign. Punjabi boys, who were gangsters, were encouraged to leave their negative lifestyles and do something positive. Young Punjabi men from pubs and clubs started spending their time doing something positive instead of fighting other rival Punjabi gangs (a truce was called). Even a lot of practicing Sikhs joined the campaign; unity amongst the Punjabi community was at an all time high. Even though SP wasn’t a religious organization, the typical Punjabi boys who used to interact with practicing Sikhs started practicing Sikhi too. Reformed Women, who used to have no self respect, or date Muslim extremists, joined the campaign and educated others to learn from their mistakes.

SP defended the honor of the Punjabi people.

SP created awareness about the on-going onslaught on our community by oppressive gangs.

SP Changed lives for the better.

SP Brought hope and confidence into the Punjabi people.

For years SP did protect and serve our community.

SP unified our community and told us to stand up for our rights.

However, as the organization grew, it became harder to monitor all the members and their actions. Plus a lot of villains claimed that they were members of the SP (even if they didn’t have a membership). For example Punjabi-drug dealers, playas (a man who cheats on women) and gangsters started using the SP title. This created propaganda and a negative image, which led to the downfall of the SP movement. A lot of tension grew among the Punjabi nation, so instead of fighting amongst each other, the SP was officially shut down in 1997 by Mr. Dhesy (the Head of SP). From 1997 there was no more SP, but even after 1997 gangsters committed their gangsterism upon their own community using the SP name. These idiots and fakesters ruined a great organization; they should be ashamed of themselves. The soul purpose of shutting SP down was to ease tension with in our community. The SP name was blackened due to the fakesters, so the community lost trust in the SP.

So there isn’t a SP any more and that is a fact (and has been for 10 years). All the people claiming that they are SP know the truth. Would real lions of Punjab commit some of the actions that some fake SP members commit today? NO!!! 3 years ago fake SP members kidnapped a Punjabi kid and held his rich parents for ransom. That isn’t protecting our community, SP wasn’t a gang, it was a well researched registered organization working at every level. They done Charity events, worked with the police and government on a political level.

All this is common knowledge amongst the elder generation, but these fakesters keep continuing to fool our youngsters. There is no more SP, so stop using the name you fakesters. (No body passed down any leadership, the sp name was outlawed by the whole Punjabi community, so why some people use it today amazes me)

Written by a true Ex-Sher-e-Punjab member, Sukhdeep Kaur from Birmingham

Extremists posing as Taxi drivers continue to be a threat to our welfare.

In this day and age getting into any taxi on your own is dangerous, but in this article we will be concentrating on the dangers caused by Extremist- Muslim- drivers. Most of the time when our women see an Asian man as the driver, they think they are in safe hands. But if you do some research and ask around, I am sure some women will tell you of nasty experiences they have had at the hands of these extremist beasts. Not all cabbies are professionals; some are bogus “home-made” cabbies.

I am going to narrate sections from a recorded speech by an anonymous Punjabi woman. This speech was done a few years back at a Sikh women’s convention, the speech highlights the dangers that our women face at the hands of the extremist cabbies.

· Many Drivers will deliberately hang around schools and colleges at the end of the school day and at lunchtime. They find out from connections, which girls are Punjabi. They then find excuses and make conversation with our girls. Gradually when they have built up a friendship, they start flirting with our young girls. They start offering them free “lifts home”. This only leads to corruption, rape and sexual assaults against our girls. MOST OF THE DRIVERS ARE ALREADY MARRIED AND WANT ABIT ON THE SIDE, BLOODY PERVETS!! Some perverts own kids will be the same age as the little girls they flirt with, it’s sick!! If you are a parent tell your Kid, not to chat to any old stranger. The drivers are very clever and good at brainwashing. But if they have no initial response, they can’t do their dirt.

· Drivers also wait outside Bhangra gigs (mainly Punjabi girls attend these events) at closing times. This gives them the perfect opportunity, as a woman will just jump in the cab wanting to get home quickly and safely. These women are highly likely to be intoxicated; therefore the drivers can easily attack the woman without much resistance. These women become the perfect target, because when they are drunk, the police don’t take them seriously (if it gets that far). The drivers walk away free from court. This situation is understandable, if you were the jury, you would probably favor (take the word) the sober person, it’s logical.

· These drivers are potential hazards due to the nature of their job; they become vital resource centers for other extremists. For example: they spend their whole day talking to all sorts of people, they hear all types of gossip on the streets, and they pick up people from their homes. They can follow anyone and no-one would think nothing of it, “it’s just a lost cabbie”, that is the common approach.

Prevention methods:

If you are at school and know of any Punjabi girl associating with a pervert, act now, because the girl could become a victim of a serious crime or even lose her life. (Some of these perverts are dangerous people). Inform an appropriate adult, every parent has the right to know if their kid is in danger. Imagine if it was your little girl. When getting a cab, travel in a group and try not to be left in the cab alone. Better still is to make arrangements with a friend to give you a lift or pick you up. Make sure the cabbie is registered ask to see their ID, try and remember the name.

Remember Prevention is better than cure, it pays to be cautious

We were sent this e-mail, it sounds like a Hate crime to me, what do you think?

Subject: FW: Ajeet (around 17 years old), please read!!!

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:26:19 +0000

this email was sent to someone telling them of the following incident

Ajeet was in the Bull-ring on Monday, just after 2pm. She was going to meet the rest of her Year 13 General Studies group in Victoria Square. She'd just been to a shop. She was going up the escalator on level 2, and a group of 6 or 7 boys (who she says looked like Muslims to the best of her knowledge) followed behind. She heard them strike a match and thought they were lighting a cigarette. They suddenly stepped back, and she didn't know why - though she could smell smoke, out of no-where she saw smoke around her. An English man rushed up and was tapping her on her back, putting something out. The boys had set her hair on fire. Her hair was very long, and in a plait. She'd lost about 6 inches straightaway. She was in a bit of a shock and couldn't have reached her back to put anything out herself. (It wouldn't have been possible, the police said later). She just looked at her hair - it fell from her hands. But the guy who helped her confronted the gang, saying 'What did you do?? That didn't set fire to it-self! The gang didn't say anything, just looked at each other, and backed away up the other escalator, and disappeared. The English guy took her into Vision Express and asked them to call security. The police came quickly, and a black woman said she saw the gang. She walked around with a police officer to see if they could see them, but they'd gone. The guy, who helped, saved her from being seriously injured. He said he wouldn't have let the flames get any higher. The police said that if Ajeet had been wearing hairspray or other hair products, her hair would have gone up immediately. She would have lost everything, and her skin would have been seriously burned.

They recorded this as a serious assault and are looking at the

Bull-ring's CCTV to try and identify these individuals.

When the police took a statement from Ajeet (I was there by the time she was at the end of her statement), they asked if we had any idea what the motive for this attack might have been. We can't say for sure if the gang thought Ajeet was Sikh or not. They did have the appearance of Moslem boys, though. Maybe it was just a spontaneous mindless act - people who think nothing of setting an innocent girl's hair on fire. I wonder what else they are capable of? They're cowardly people.

I just want you to send an e-mail out to other Sikhs so they know to be careful, and especially in places where you can't see what others are doing. If in doubt, keep a distance. Or if on escalators, turn sideways so you keep others in your peripheral vision - so you don't completely turn your back. Ajeet is so glad her hair was uncut. Thank God it was so long, that it gave her time - and so glad she doesn't use any hair products. Most hair products are flammable, and not needed. I am talking to the Bullring's management at the moment, discussing how they monitor gangs or groups of youths who aren't interested in shopping. That particular group is probably lying low at the moment because they were confronted, and might have moved on somewhere else for the moment.

If anyone knows or hears anymore regarding this incident please let us know, the perpetrators must be named and shamed. They must be stopped from committing further crimes like this.

Interview with Sikh Unit members (Punjabi rap group from Hackney)

Interview conducted by Simran Kaur on 21st October 2006 at “hackney fields” estate.

People being interviewed are: Killa, Assassin.

Q: Why did you choose the name Sikh unit for your rap group?

Killa: Before we were into Sikhi, we used to live the lifestyle that rappers chat about. We used to sell drugs, take drugs and all the rest that comes with it. We were in gangs, but once we went to a Sikhi camp and after camp we changed our lives. But we all still hanged around together as a unit. We weren’t a gangster unit no more, because instead of doing drugs we were going simran (meditation) programs, instead of beefing rival gangs, we were doing charity events. So we kept Sikh unit, meaning “we are a unit trying to live Sikhi and we are helping each other to do that”. Then once a Singh came to my house he heard some of my raps from my negative days, he said we should do something to inspire Sikh youth, everything else followed from there.

Q: what has da response been?

Assassin: we just doing our ting, we don’t want to make money; we just want to give the youth a platform. Some like it & some hate it. But we just doing our ting regardless, we know our intentions. We are aiming for the Punjabis that live the way we used to, we are talking to them in a language they understand. We aren’t here to be professional musicians we don’t even use a studio; we do our ting in a basement full of cheap old skool equipment.

Q: What are your major concerns about the Sikh youth?

The level of intoxication, drugs are ruining lives. The lack of unity, there is way too much division and hate. Gurdwaras aren’t looking after the youth, they themselves are committing practices which are taboo in sikhi at gurdwaras or gurdwara related premises.

The wearing of revealing clothes, when people go to the gurdwara. The disrespect of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, e.g. when taken to halls. The youth should come under the Nishan sahib as one, all theses sects and cults are destroying the love.

Q: how many members are there in the Sikh unit?

We started as five, now due to uncontrollable circumstances it’s down to 3. GIZZY got shot dead and JUSTICE is serving time because he murdered a man who raped his wife. RIP GIZZY, and FREE JUSTICE. That’s just how tings go in hackney, gizzy got caught slipping. He argued with the wrong people and had no tool to defend himself. Justice done what he thinks is right, but he got caught up in his rage and done it in a shopping centre in front of hundreds of people, I used to tell him just let the police deal with it, because they had caught the man, but he was on bail awaiting the trail. The worst ting was we all knew the man from school; he was local so he was in JUSTICES face all the time, this made him snap and he stabbed him to death. He hasn’t got any regrets, because he says he would rather die as a soldier instead of live like a coward, but we miss him. We are looking after his wife and kids, until he lands road again; his wife is still by his side. So it’s all good, at least that person will not be raping other women, lol

Simran: Thanks for your time, Sikh unit and all the best!!

SIKH-UNIT: Safe, anytime 1luv, yo peeps download our latest album free, from www.shaheedi.com/sikhunit bang that in Ur ride, show peeps Singh’s doing their ting too. Not all Punjabis are softies that listen to bhangra lololol

Suspension & Discrimination

Dear editor,

I Kirpal Singh without a justifiable reason was suspended from the Southall 6th Form College, on Friday the 13th of October 2006.I received a phone call from the college administration saying I have been suspended until further notice. When I questioned as to why I have been suspended I wasn’t given any reason. When I went with friends to the College to question their actions I was threatened with Police action against me if I did not leave. The incidents leading up to this are as follows, firstly as I was playing football with class mates in the park on Tuesday, two Somalian boys who go to the same college as I do began harassing me and my friends, not to cause trouble we avoided arguing and decided to walk off. As I was walking off one Somalian boy came up to me and said ‘My mate don’t like the way you look’, as he said this the other Somalian boy came up to me and began pushing me, this lead to me trying to walk off but I couldn’t as the other boy had blocked me, then one of the boys pushed me to the floor and pulled off my turban, as they did this my hair opened up and they stamped and trampled all over my turban and hair, seeing this two of my friends tried to stop it and pushed off the Somalis, they then ran off in the opposite direction. Two hours later I went to Southall College to complain about what had happened to me, as the boys studied there I saw fit to complain to the college. Upon arrival with my cousin and friends I went to the reception desk to ask if there was anyone I could complain to, the receptionist and security guards said ‘no’, hearing this I replied where else do we go? The security guard then directed us to a ‘Police Community Support Station’, which is located next to the School Gym. When we arrived to complain there the officers said they were busy on an ‘operation’ and said we are not taking reports here go somewhere else, we then said ok “where to?” they go try your local Police, we reiterated that you are the police do something about it, but they refused to do so as they were ‘busy’. Then we went back to the college and tried once more to see a high-ranking administration person but were denied to do so. By now a large crowd of college students had gathered, and a boy called Shahbaz who has relatives in the Police Force was seen going into the police compound. At this point the college security had come out to remove us from the premises but in protest we did not do so and stood there for approx 20 minutes .The officers in the compound saw this then came outside and threatened us that even if we stand on the pavement outside the college we will be arrested as other Police units will be called for assistance. Bear in mind that we were causing no type of nuisance or trouble we just wanted to relay our complaint to the college. Then a senior college worker came out and took me inside all they said was if you see the person tell us, they reluctantly decided to see me as more and more people were gathering to see what was going on. At the same time my friends were outside demanding a response from Police as to why they should move off, the Police said they were ‘intimidating’, to avoid any more problems my friends decided to move off and disperse. No effort was made either by the college or Police to note down the incident.

On Thursday I saw the Somalain who took my turban off, he was boasting to my friends about how he took it off and how I was harassed. upon seeing him I decided to walk in the other direction then I was surrounded by several Somalians, and they were speaking in their own language, one which I don’t understand, they were concealing something in their pockets, upon seeing this my friends tried to intervene to move me away but then the Somalians started to push and shove, one even tried to take my friends mobile away, when chased he ran into the School reception alleging that he was being ‘attacked’, when clearly him and his friends confronted me. When I went in the reception he threatened me and my friends by saying he was going to call backup from South London, I did not take notice of this and decided to go to lessons, then I saw Shahbaz (the boy whose uncle works in the Police compound next to the College gym). He went up to the Somalian, and was saying ‘ill sort this out, come with me’, he then took the Somalian to the Police compound to his uncle and his colleagues who let him in and shut the door. Now isn’t this discrimination? when I went to complain with my friends they said they were ‘busy on operations’, but when Shahbaz takes his friends to the compound which he regularly does they are not busy, the Police officers upon Shahbaz’s advice actually noted down the so called ‘attack’ on the Somali boy who along with false statements said he was attacked. So why did the officers decide the Somalians false allegations were enough for him to come in the compound and complain and not my legitimate claims, my reading glasses now have scratch marks on them (they are worth £300), and I have sharp back pains as a rock hit me when I fell and when the Somlains kicked me. Shahbaz regularly threatens people with action form his uncles who are officers, and he is known to stir up trouble in the college, he along with boys who carried out the attack on me are using the Police to their advantage, my parents are hard working law abiding citizens in this country who pay taxes, I expect the Police to be fair and unbiased, but in the case of these officers I see nothing but discrimination. As a Sikh I feel degraded my sacred Turban along with hair was pulled off and trampled on, my forefathers fought for this country in WW1 &WWII, and this is what I get in return. The officers here are taking the side of Muslims. It is important to note that to the best of my knowledge all the officers in the compound are Muslim. Shahbaz has a lot of Somali friends amongst Asian friends but when it comes down to the question of getting a turbaned Sikh in trouble he, the Somalis, and his uncles will take every chance to do so, again all of the officers who work in the compound to my knowledge are Muslims .The college is also at fault by not taking my claims seriously, I am a hard working student. I have so far been given no reason as to why I have been suspended. I would like my complaint investigated independently and action taken against all the officers involved at the compound in Beaconsfield Road Southall.

If you are a profession solicitor or you think you can help this young person Contact us:Harpreets12@hotmail.co.uk

We just do our own bhesti 1-time!!!!!!

Dear editor,

I am not going to diss bhangra, because some artists are good and have inspiring lyrics with a deep meaning. But what does annoy me is the filthy artists, who bring shame and filth into our community:

1. It would be an outrage if we watched a pornographic (porno) film as a family, but why do we listen to pornographic bhangra tunes in a car as a family? Children blast their dirty tunes while their mum is listening to Sukhmani sahib in the next room. Sister and brothers exchange dirty tunes, its madness!

2. It was eid two days ago, I was walking on Green Street, and Muslims were driving up and down. They were also blasting bhangra tunes, about prostitutes, affairs and sex. The worst and disgraceful thing is they had Punjabi women in the back of the car nodding their heads. (They had their arm out the car-window and I saw their kara)

3. I mentioned Muslims above, but that is expected off them, even our own Punjabi brothers do the same thing, I think this is worse. We are just insulting our selves, we are just dishonoring our own self-respect; and we are bringing shame on our own nation!!

I think we should boycott every fifthly artist, and the whole Punjabi nation should do their bhesti (insult them) in magazines, TV, newspapers and ETC.

Please send us information of these shameless artists, we want to name and shame them!!! Contact:harpreets12@hotmail.co.uk

Disturbing trend among our women, very dangerous too!!

Dear editor,

I have noticed a growing trend amongst our girls and women, and I am becoming concerned. I don’t know whether they do this knowingly or unknowingly? Every day I see more and more Punjabi girls representing the playboy-bunny logo. How will men judge a girl wearing that? Playboy is a pornographic company; women wear that logo in the playboy strip bars, the bunny represents the prostitutes in the bars (that is the logos origin). So if you are not a prostitute why do you associate yourself with a logo that represents a prostitute? When our girls are walking the streets, with playboy tracksuits, wallets and bags can we really defend their honor if they get harassed? All men will think they are slags due to the filthy sign they wear (so I think, they are just asking for it). Once I was in the lakeside shopping centre, I see a girl with a Kara on, and she was wearing a black tight tracksuit with pink playboy bunny signs. A couple of black men approached her and she wasn’t interested they started laughing and harassing her, I said to them in a nice way: “just leave her alone!” one of them said, “Is she your sister?” I said “no”. They said “good because if she was you’re a pri*k!! Why you sticking up for her, she wants it she is a slag, only a slag would rock (wear) the playboy sign” I said “f*** it you’re right, why am I trying to defend the honor of a honor-less women?” So to all the Punjabi girls who just wear it for so called fashion think about what you are representing have some honor? If you walk around with clothes with the Nazi sign you will be thought of, as a racist. You wouldn’t wear it unless you are a racist. In the same way if you wear a playboy sign you will be thought of, as a slag. So why wear it if you are not? If you read this, you can’t use the excuse you didn’t know, lol pass this on to all Punjabi girls who wear this sign.

By Manjit Singh, from grays age 19

Editor comments:

Women that wear this sign are foolish, as this sign is based upon the degradation of women. It represents filthy and dirty women who have no self-respect. If you wear it, you are asking for trouble and everyone is going to see you as a slag.

THIS IS THE PLAY BOY SIGN

I HAVE ALSO SEEN A LOT OF OUR GIRLS WEAR THIS, IT IS BAD AND DIRTY PUBLICITY FOR OUR WOMEN.

We are considering sending an issue out every two weeks, due to public demand and the number of problems that have been sent to us. Join our yahoo group for free to receive future issues: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frontlinepunjabiyouth

Also subscribe to the free religious magazine online: www.sikhspeak.com , this is a good magazine to gain knowledge on a religious aspect, we were considering doing a religious section in our Magazine, but we came across the mentioned Magazine. We will solely concentrate on community issues.

Please write to us, letting us know about topics and issues you want us to discuss. The magazine is for our youth, so we want to represent you, so holla at us blud, lol Please send us news reports about Punjabi victims of crime in your local areas. Thanks in advance

Take care from Harpreet Kaur (Editor of Frontline Punjabi youth)

P.s, get as many people as you can to join, if you haven’t got yahoo, I.D you can still join the groups mailing list and you will still receive the magazine. Or contact harpreets12@hotmail.co.uk and we will put you on the mailing list.

[Pyara]

God bless the punjabis...& now they have their own publication.... let's see where this leads too....

[TavPrasad Singh]

All this is common knowledge amongst the elder generation, but these fakesters keep continuing to fool our youngsters. There is no more SP, so stop using the name you fakesters. (No body passed down any leadership, the sp name was outlawed by the whole Punjabi community, so why some people use it today amazes me)

Written by a true Ex-Sher-e-Punjab member, Sukhdeep Kaur from Birmingham

So once they were good, now they are bad What is the article getting at? Maybe the writer wants to dig at the current SP lot but doesnt want to upset the others who are part of SP. Sorry but you can please everyone.

Maybe if the writer wasnt so proud about being an Ex-member then SP could have continued in the old days of glory.

Honour, Muslims, Bhangra, wow this is really a Punjabi Magazine. Even better there's no Gurmat Vichaar, this is pure Punjabi!!!

[sikhwarrior_88]

this is really gud seva, :D

a lot of these problems are occuring amongst the youth, and this publication is creating a lot of awareness.

well done 2 the people producing these.

[Pyara]

Honour, Muslims, Bhangra, wow this is really a Punjabi Magazine. Even better there's no Gurmat Vichaar, this is pure Punjabi!!!

lol.....cheeky but sadly true....

less of these :bringitondude ....more of these :e: or these :nihungsmile: and maybe some of these :T: