Concerns About Sikhri

[S1ngh]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ing_Asian_men./

Forward to 1hr 20

Did a good job, best I've heard yet

Just because a person agrees with one issue with the panth and he do well to defend that in public but at the same time disagrees with Gurbani and attempted to change gurbani in the past doesn't mean that we need to put him or his organization as our community leader or face.

If you get chance, congrats him on his bbc talk and ask him the points that i highlighted in my last post and judge him by that

[Into the Light]

The last talk i went to of Harinder Singh's was in Southall in June this year. He gave a very powerful talk and constantly referred to Sant Jarnail Singh as our Jathedar. But during the talk, he did also say that he didn't necessarily agree with Sant Jee on all his translations of Gurbani but never the less Sant Jee still was the Sikh Panths Jathedar.

So S1ngh, maybe you right? But as afew have stated...it will probably be best to ask him personally on his vichars.

[GurSa Singh]

In reality individuals/jathas in the panth are split on many viewpoints. Even on this forum most of us will have some strong differing opinions but will also strong opinions which we all agree on.

My personal opinion is currently we are not is a strong position to stand divided, we need to recognise areas of potential and use them to our advantage. I heard Harinder Singh on the BBC programme and he clearly filled a potential articulate gap Sikhs' have not being doing for the last 27 years. This is something we need to desperately capitalise on, no one else is effectively filling that gap in the western media.

Think about this objectively, this forum has been going on for 10 years and we have shared some strong opinions but none of us have stepped up to transferring them to the mainstream media. We even have 2 Sikh TV Channels, yet till now we have no articulate, charismatic, strong English voices to put the Sikh voice of 1984 forward in the mainstream. If someone is stepping up to it, pushing the right buttons, saying the right things to the media than we should at least recognise that. If people wish to counter the individual, then they need to step up to taking on the role that individual seems capable of doing.

27 years of disagreements over individual/jatha viewpoints has left us with a weak voice in the mainstream.

[osingh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Please can someone clarify Harinder Singh's interpretation of Gurbani and Naam Simran.

Maybe it would be good if someone can contact Harinder Singh to clarify his views.

Rabb Rakhe

[SinghInTraining]

wow this guy may do some bad stuff with regards to sikhRI but he did an amassing job talking about the genocide!! really is the best I have ever heard!! Taught me a lot of stuff!

[ASB]

I have not heard anything negative from this singh, the radio interview was excellent. His talks have been good.

when someone stands up for Sikhs there is always someone ready to cast doubt and bring us back down. if you havent got anything positive to say and help us grow, crawl back under the duvet.

stop your nindya...you know who you are.

[Mehtab Singh]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ing_Asian_men./

Forward to 1hr 20

Did a good job, best I've heard yet

Very well spoken. And lets not forget that this was a talk on 1984, a topic on which all Sikhs (no matter how much they differ on their views/opinions based on the Jathebandis they claim allegiance to, their interpretation of Panthic Rehit Maryada, questions on what they consider Bani etc.) will have the same say. It would be a different story if we heard him talk about Gurbani.

But once again, I liked everything he said on this talk show regarding 1984, and I strongly suggest that THIS should be AT LEAST the ONE issue on which ALL Sikhs stay united, forever!

[Artmental]

We'll wait and see

I will only judge once I have spoken to him in person

[Sikhistan]

Never follow a person until you know him.. crazy how we never learned anything our history filled with so many traitors.

Read below:

Who is Harinder Singh and what is this SIkh Research INstidute in San Antonio TEXAS USA?? Is he starting a cult? Why is he changing accepted SIKH practises without consultiing with KHALSA PANTh???

USA based Sikh Research Institute commits Blasphemy Changing Ardas and Dohre in Syllabus ‘Sojhi’

Students Question Harinder Singh of Sikhri About Modifications of Sikh Prayer in his Sojhi Syllabus. Concerned parents pull out children from Khalsa School Freemont

“I have decided to pull out my children from the Khalsa School at Freemont Gurdwara. The Sojhi syllabus should be recalled” said a parent, Rajendar Singh

Fremont, California, USA - University of California, Berkeley students, alumni and Sikh community members questioned Harinder Singh, executive director of the Texas-based Sikh Research Institute (SIKHRI), at a guest lecture by him on 21st February 2009, about the modifications he has made to a daily Sikh prayers –ardas & dohera, the use of disrespectful language and the changes to pronunciations and spellings of Sikh words in the SIKHRI syllabus, called Sojhi .

The students argued that these modifications were against current Sikh practices and it did not have the approval of the Sikh Panth. The Sojhi syllabus, which has been taught to Sikh children, has been sold for $5000 to an undisclosed number Gurudwaras' for Sunday School programs in North America . Parents who have discovered these modifications have decided to remove their children from the Sunday schools and blamed, firstly, Harinder Singh for not informing the Gurdwaras of the modifications; and secondly, the Gurdwaras for buying the syllabus without reviewing the content.

Harinder Singh refused to answer the students who queried him about his syllabus and the organizers of the talk affiliated at Berkeley, Hardeep Dhillon, Bhavreet Gill, Rattanamol Singh, and Amritpan Sandhu, called in the University of California Police Department, who forced these students to leave the premises. Jasjit Singh, a non-student was instrumental in organizing the event and instigating the students to call police.

Meanwhile, Harinder Singh or the SIKHRI board has not given any response to defend his position re the Sojhi syllabus. The Sohji syllabus is still available online at Sikh Research Institute. The distorted modifications of Sikh prayers and traditions in the syllabus are still available for sale with no comments posted for any corrections or any distortions

The students noted that in the Sojhi syllabus the following modifications were made by Harinder Singh of SIKHRI: Sikhri Syllabus Sojhi eSnips Folder

1. The Dohera following the Ardaas has been changed from

gurU gRMQ jI mwnIE pRgt gurW kI dyh[

Guru Granth Ji Maneo Pragat Gura ki Deh

jo pRB ko imlbo cihh Koj sbd mih lyh[

Jo Prabh Ko Milbo Cheheh Khoj Shabad Mae Laeh

to

gurU ^wlsw mwnIAih prgt gurU kI dyh[

Guru Khlasa Maneeyeh Pargat Guru Ki Deh

jo isK mo imlby cihh Koj ienhu mih lyhu[oo

Jo Sikh Mo Milbae Cheheh Khoj Inho Maeh Lae

As on Page 7-B-07 and also see 7-B-06

2. the reference to Nankana Sahib has been removed from the Sikh Ardas

3. The Sojhi syllabus uses disrespectful language when referring to the Sikh Guru Sahiban.

4. The pronunciations and spellings of Sikh terms has been changed eg Waheguru and Fateh are pronounced as Wahguru and Phatah;

5. Certain Gurbani tukks (Sikh prayers) have been called the 'Khalsa Anthem” without any authority from the Khalsa Panth.For detail analysis see the attachment “Some facts from Sojhi syllabus.doc” file (excerpts from reporter on: Sikhri Syllabus Sojhi eSnips Folder )

Harliv Singh, a student of history at Berkeley, said, “Harinder Singh from Sikh Research Institute has no right or authority to alter, truncate, or expand the form of the Sikh Ardaas. Alteration of the Sikh prayer without involving the Sarbat Khalsa is not acceptable. Neither SIKHRI nor Harinder Singh has the authority to modify the Dohera or pronunciations and spellings of Sikh words. These modifications will sow seeds of confusion amongst innocent children and undermine the Sunday School's role in education at Gurdwaras.

The protest ended when organizers of the talk associated with Jakara group at Berkeley, Hardeep Dhillon, Bhavreet Gill, Rattanamol Singh, and Amritpan Sandhu, summoned the University of California Police Department, which prompted the removal of the protesters who questioned Harinder Singh’s curriculum.

Simran Singh, a philosophy student at Berkeley said, “I, along with some concerned students and community members politely requested Harinder Singh to explain his changes to the Ardaas, but he didn’t answer us.. He avoided our questions. Event organizers eventually succeeded in silencing the questioners by calling the police.. At this point, those of us who had questioned Harinder Singh were escorted out and left the event. We had approached him to ask him, why he had made the above changes and under who’s authority did he make those changes?.” Simran further said, “We are shocked that the Gurudwaras in the USA and Canada have implemented the Sojhi syllabus, without realizing these modifications. All the Gurudwara managements should be alerted, especially where innocent children, the future of the Sikhs is involved. Khalsa Schools at the Gurudwaras are a place where the foundation of Sikhism for the children is introduced and not a place to seminate confusion”

Amrit Kaur, a parent, from Fremont , said, “I am worried about the next generation getting mixed signals. I am surprised, even the Punjabi language has been distorted in this syllabus.”

Rajendar Singh, a concerned parent from Fremont said, “I am very disappointed with the way the Sikh Research Institute, which purports to be non-profit to promote Sikh education, has changed the Sikh tradition based on their beliefs and have implemented this in the form of a curriculum. When my children made an attempt to correct him at his seminars, they were asked not to speak. I have decided to pull out my children from the Khalsa School at Fremont . The Sojhi syllabus should be recalled.” He also said, that , “the Gurudwara managements need to be alerted and made aware that such syllabus’s shouldn’t be implemented. The sangat’s money should be spent for educating the children for the Khalsa Sunday schools but not at the cost of traditions and certainly not at the level of school children. I feel people like Harinder Singh make their impact by influencing youths and children at seminars and now through Punjabi schools when they are not watched by others. Slowly and subtly they dilute the core message of Gurbani with their own.”

Rajendar Singh also narrated an incident in 2005 when Harinder Singh conducted a seminar on Asa-Ki-Vaar in Fremont . The response to the question as to who is the Guru of the Sikhs was met by Harinder as follows: 'anyone who can read and understand the Guru Granth Saheb, and can recite gurbani verbatim is a Guru.' He said, “Even, I can be a Guru, and so can you.” Rajendar Singh’s children walked out of the conference room. Rajendar Singh insisted that, “Anyone who believes, that on being able to read and recite Gurbani verbatim, can become the Guru of the Sikhs, is a fool! We will not allow our children to follow a curriculum for the Sunday Khalsa School at Fremont Gurdwara”.

An Amritdhari girl, who is studying political science before commencing a law degree, preferring to remain anonymous, gave the following account of a seminar conducted by Harinder Singh: “During one of his seminars that I attended, the gist of Harinder Singh's teaching was that the Guru Granth Saheb Ji can’t exist without the Guru Panth. He stated that without the Guru Panth there can be no Guru Granth. He got furious when I questioned him as to what was the source for his deduction and conclusion. For my understating, I asked Harinder Singh who is our Guru, He said anyone who recites gurbani verbatim is our Guru including 'me or you' if we can recite it verbatim. All the Amritdhari Sikhs, who were present, knew he was wrong and walked out with us but the non Amritdhari Sikhs kept on listening to him. I felt like that he wanted to create a divide. He wanted us to follow him blindly as in a cult. He could be another mushroomed sect soon.. Sikhs have never been scared to challenge the wrong and he should be corrected before the damage is done and before it becomes too late”

[Sikhistan]

If i want to create followers.. i can go on to praise sant jarnail singh ji bhinderanwale and make few youtube videos about 1984 attack and having a decade long speech training under the mutli-millionaire bhapa and getting paid monthly. hell ya, it will be easy to fool sensitive naive people around the globe...

Sant Bhinderanwalay jee became "attraction commodity" for these thugs. Jeh sant hunday teh ajj ehna saray bandaran nuh gadey charaey honi c !!!

sangato take off your rose colored glasses and see the reality for god sake !!!