Naujawani.Com Sikh Course?

[Singhstah]

VahegurooJiKaKhalsaVahegurooJiKiFateh sangat jeeo,

Would just like to know abit about the course being offered by naujawani.com/sikhsocs.com

http://www.sikhsocs.com/University%20Sikh%20society%20-%20Sikh%20Studies%20course.pdf

Has anyone taken this course? Any thoughts to share on it? Who are the tutors that are sent to teach? Also, does anyone know anything more about naujawani.com? They seem to really be offering a lot of help financially and parchar wise which is really commendable... is it privately funded?

Thanks

[S1ngh]

I believe that naujawani.com or thesikhway.com heavily depend on ldh missionary based ideology.

[naujawanidotcom]

Hi there, my name is Harwinder Singh Mander and I run Naujawani.com. Sorry Singhstah, but there will be minimal (if any!) feedback on the Sikh Studies course that we have offered this year to university Sikh socs as it is the first year we are offering such. However, as the weeks progress perhaps some of the students taking the course will find this thread and post a reply.

When we launched the initiative of the Sikh Studies course, I had identified four tutors including myself from different regions around the UK who would take on the teaching of any study. At this time, universities from the London region were the only ones who replied to take on the course and accordingly as this is my home patch I will be tutoring all but one course. (There may be a course at Herts Uni which will be taught by a different tutor, whose region it falls into.)

Naujawani.com is a privately owned business, broadcasting Sikh and Punjabi programmes on the internet. Since 2006 we have been running an online-only 24/7 radio station and some video broadcasts. Although we are trying to concentrate on the latter, time limitations have restricted us from achieving entirely what we hoped to be achieving right now. However, at this stage in our existence we endeavoured to plough some of our finance back into the community we serve: university Sikh socs was an obvious choice amongst others. I can't say more than we are genuinely trying to advance the Sikh and Punjabi people in a World that changes pace from day to day; I am more than happy to meet and speak with anyone as it is only through conversation and collaboration that we can advance.

In response to Vsingh's comments below, Naujawani.com is only linked to TheSikhWay.com (Sikh Education Council) by me personally as I am the charity's voluntary press officer. We have offered the SEC some benefits in the past such as use of our online shop as a donation facility but this won't be the case going forward as they don't need it! The SEC does facilitate study-circles for the Ludhiana-based missionary course, however associated resources for those who have engaged in this includes a critique of the Missionary conclusions too. It was simply offered because it is still the only self-study module available on Sikh history to any person at an affordable cost.

Although the Naujawani.com/SikhSocs.com Sikh Studies course will eventually adopt material that the SEC is working on, at this moment in time it is entirely Naujawani.com designed and produced. The Sikh studies course is offered to university students so that they are able to systematically study Sikh history, ideology and culture in a manner that befits higher education. Our syllabus is based on referenced material from writers as diverse as Ganda Singh, Macauliffe, Sangat Singh, Kapur Singh, Cunningham, Professor Puran Singh, Jaswant Singh Kanwal, JS Grewal, Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair to mention just a few. We are neither based on Missionary ideology, nor Singh Sabha, Sant-Samaaj, Nihang or any other tradition. Our material is always referenced and we hope to give a balanced viewpoint of the different schools of academic thought in Sikh studies. Personally, I have undertaken the Ludhiana Missionary course, santhiya and vidhiya from Dam Dami Taksal-Gyani Hardeep Singh Hazur Sahib, and self-study led by a personal mentor who is from the Sant Samaaj tradition.

I understand from some concerned friends that a quite false picture of myself and Naujawani.com was painted by some nefarious individuals that led directly to some university Sikh socs ignoring our resources. Within Sikh circles this is nothing new and it is far from an injustice as we are not really anything special anyway. We just want to help make things better. My door is always open, feel free to contact us via the website.

[Singhstah]

Harwinder Singh ji, thank you for your very informative reply. That what was everything I needed to know. The course sounds very interesting and I can see how beneficial it would be to take it.

If all goes well I should hopefully be joining the course through my university so should be seeing you soon.

Uttam Singh

[SikhWorldTv]

wjkk wjkf pyare http://www.Naujawani.com I am vey impressed with your answer and ethos. Always stay in ChardiKla

Mere Pritama Jio

[bakaree]

Probably best in future to contact the person/organisation you have questions about rather than post on an internet forum. If Harwinder Singh did not see the thread (although I see he is a member of SS) the clarification would not have been provided, and I am sure that a few other inaccurate accusations may have been made.

I have met with Veerji to ask questions about this unique and exciting course and found him to be very pleasant, articulate and panthic.