"North of 49" on Hallmark Ch. 3/28/04.

[Cali_Khalsa]

Waheguru Je Kha Khalsa, Waheguru Je Ke Fateh:

I just came across this article on the web and thought I'd pass this along to those of you who might be interested. It will air on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday March 28, 2004 @ 9am PST/12pm EST in the United States. Check your local listings for more info. Sounds interesting....

Hallmark Channel to Air Documentary on Arson at Sikh center

By WILLIAM KATES

Associated Press Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. --

The arson fire that destroyed a Sikh temple in upstate New York in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was an act of hatred and misunderstanding.

But the events instead released a force of love and forgiveness as a community united to rebuild, according to a documentary airing nationwide this weekend.

"North of 49" is an hour-long documentary on the arson at Gobind Sadan USA, a Sikh center in Palermo. It airs Sunday on the Hallmark Channel as part of the documentary series, "The World of Faith & Values."

"It is a powerful reminder of the depth of prejudice that continues to seethe beneath the surface of the democratic tolerance we claim for our nation," said Huston Smith, an award-winning author, producer and scholar on comparative religion best known for his book "The World's Religions."

"Still, good triumphs over evil in this film, for it documents the most remarkable process of forgiveness I have come across since 9-11 put that virtue on hold," said Smith, a former Syracuse University professor who now teaches at Berkeley.

Gobind Sadan - which means "God's house without walls" - is an interfaith community based on Sikh teachings tha

t includes revering all religions. The religious center was located in a 100-year-old converted farmhouse in a rural part of Oswego County, 40 miles north of Syracuse and just north of state highway 49.

Sikhs have been mistakenly associated with Arabs or Muslims because they wear turbans and have beards. Numerous hate crimes against Sikhs were reported following the Sept. 11 attacks.

On Nov. 18, 2001, four local teenagers set fire to the center. The teens told authorities they believed the temple was named Go Bin Laden and burned it because they thought worshippers there supported the terrorist attacks blamed on Osama bin Laden. Two of the teens were sentenced to prison for committing a hate crime while the other two received probation and were ordered to spend 200 hours helping rebuild the center.

The Sikhs and others who worshipped at Gobind Sadan suffered a tragic loss, but offered forgiveness to the teens at their sentencings.

"By forgiving our enemies, we have the opportunity to create peace," said Ralph Singh, co-founder of the center. "Just a few people standing firm in the principles of their faith can start to galvanize the good in a community, and start a process toward peace."

Producer Richard Breyer, a communications professor at Syracuse University, said the documentary follows the events forward in time beginning with "the clash of an exotic redneck culture and an exotic Indian culture" that led to the arson, and through the trials of the four teens, ending with the community coming together to begin building a new Sikh center.

"It's a story about promise. About a community struggling to come together in an ongoing process," Breyer said.

The new center is expected to open this summer, Singh said.

"It is helping us realize the vision of working together to rebuild a broader community based on love and understanding," Singh said.

As part of the community rebuilding, two groups of local youth, clergy and educators visited Gobind Sadan cente

rs in India.

The documentary has already been shown on public television in Syracuse and several regional markets, and in more than a dozen special screenings, including one at Harvard.

The center also is encouraging schools, churches and civic groups to use the documentary to explore issues of diversity, tolerance and forgiveness, Singh said.

The transforming power of the events became quite clear at the screening held in Palermo, Breyer said.

One of the teens involved in the arson was Cassie Hudson, who was pregnant at the time of the crime. Hudson attended the screening with her new baby. The infant became restless during the documentary and both Breyer and Singh took turns holding the baby.

"When the film was over and the lights came on, there was Ralph with the baby asleep in his arms, the baby of one of the arsonists. That's what the film is about, how love and forgiveness can heal a community," Breyer said.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll...6/APN/403260869

[Vaneet Singh]

Great...a must watch

Thanx veer ji for passing this on..

[Simran9]

dang it! I don't have hallmark channel @ @ :wub: @

somebody watch it and tell us how it was...

[DhadiMania]

does this apply to the uk as well? wot time n day?

[S1ngh]

they are not part of panth.. but yeah as they are the victim of the hate crime, we can watch this.. BUT don't think that they represent us ! they are not sikhs...

[Akaali]

, Yea, they're not sikhs. They're more of a CULT!!!!!! @ Singhs here are having a meeting as to what to do with that guy. Its the same sort of scenario as Narinder Grewal, exept this guy has a bigger following. We have a video, of how there's dancing going on in the gurdwara, this fake baba is sitting on a chair in front of Guru Granth Sahib ji, has servants around him, and most people have their backs to Guru Granth Sahib ji and face to this pakhandi baba.

I think same thing should happen, where all the sangat gets united, and goes to deal with this problem..All we need is a spark, and that spark is the video footage, I'll try to get a hold of it, and upload it.

Bhul chuk muaf!

[Deep Singh]

go Singhs GO!

[Simran9]

We have a video, of how there's dancing going on in the gurdwara, this fake baba    is sitting on a chair in front of Guru Granth Sahib ji, has servants around him, and most people have their backs to Guru Granth Sahib ji and face to this pakhandi baba.

OMG , Where Is This Happening :wub: ?

How come I never heard of this in punjabi newspaper?

[S1ngh]

Cauz these fake babaees kinda control the Punjabi Media..

[DhadiMania]

does this apply 2 the uk as well?