Homeless Sikhs In London...

[JasSinghKhalsa]

Leaving all the criticism apart, Is there an online way to make a donatation to SikhChannel?

[ks55]

I am shocked that no one has continued on this thread - or lost interest. Sikh channell have housed a number of the homeless youth including the one with a leg wound been sent for treatment. They were interviewed on the channel las tnight around 10:30pm

Youth such as Bhai SUKH SINGH here are brilliant at cricising and passign judgement - now eat your own words anyone criticising

the sikh channell. The have done a brilant job and continue to do - if anyone can donate do it and speak to them directl.

I spoke with them they eeven have some lawyers who are wiling to help the immigrants with their cases etc.

SHAME ON CRITICAL PEOPLE PASSING JUDGEMENT WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE FACTS.

Easy to form an opinion in the current age and jump to conclusions.

[West London Singh]

I am shocked that no one has continued on this thread - or lost interest. Sikh channell have housed a number of the homeless youth including the one with a leg wound been sent for treatment. They were interviewed on the channel las tnight around 10:30pm

Youth such as Bhai SUKH SINGH here are brilliant at cricising and passign judgement - now eat your own words anyone criticising

the sikh channell. The have done a brilant job and continue to do - if anyone can donate do it and speak to them directl.

I spoke with them they eeven have some lawyers who are wiling to help the immigrants with their cases etc.

SHAME ON CRITICAL PEOPLE PASSING JUDGEMENT WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE FACTS.

Easy to form an opinion in the current age and jump to conclusions.

I wouldn't say they were 'interviewed'. It's been more of a very uncomfortable forced imprisonment type interrogation. Force fed into singing the praises of Sikh Channel. Even the dear old mothers from Punjab are put on air via the telephone..forced to sing the praises of the Sikh Channel. In fact....every sentence from every speaker includes the statement "Sikh Channel have done brilliant". "Its all thanks to the Sikh Channel". Even the questions to the homeless are...more often than not..structured around the following formula : "Are you gratefull to the Sikh Channel for helping you ? "......"would you no agree that the Sikh Channel is fantastic for helping you".

Honestly, I find this self promotion....self congratulating...quite nauseating. I thought the whole point of seva was supposed to be selfless seva. These young fellas are human beings. The way they're being paraded around and forced to attend interviews and answer difficult questions on air as a condition for receiving 'help' is nothing short of disgusting. This is not seva. This is blatant exploitation of vulnerable folk.

[S1ngh]

I have to agree with west London Singh.

[ks55]

agree all you want dudes - fact of the matter is that those lads are not sleeping rough anymore and sikh channell did the right thing - period

[S1ngh]

and thats a good thing too.. If their greed on self-promotion and marketing is helping others then its all about win win situation

[koonergs]

Those of you calling them drug addicts junkies etc. there's more to it. While a few may be actual drug addicts there are quite a lot among them who are doing it out of necessity. If you saw one of the earlier reports from SWAT 1-2 years ago some of the 'faujis' were saying that they turned to drugs as it was the only way they were able to sedate themselves to sleep/ given how cold/damp the conditions they found themselves in and to tolerate their hunger. If they were given suitable shelter 90% of them in my eyes wouldn't have turned to drugs.

Also these things about why sell your land to come to the UK. People in Punjab are genuinely suffering in poverty, Punjab is one of the most in-debt states in India, hence the farmer suicide epidemic. Some may have come because they thought the streets were paved with gold but others came to try and help their families back home. I've spoken to quite a few of these 'freshies' at my Gurdwara and most of them just do it to send money back home to their families so their sisters can get married and ease the debt burdens.

[S1ngh]

To make little bit clear about conditions in Punjab:

Education: They are not educated neither they are bit interested in getting proper education. More than 60 to 70% of basic Engineering admission seats stays vacant because nobody secure good marks in the entrance exams in punjab.

Farming: None of our generation wanted to do same work that our grandfathers did. whether you call it lazy or egoistic generation but it is certainly their fault not to progress ahead.

Suicides: They go beyond their income in order to prove that they are capable of living good lifestyle. Due to lack of education they become victim of loan sharks.

This all comes to education !!! Foreign student visa is bogus and way for punjabi youth to run away from responsibilities in punjab. However later on they bit the reality when they realize that abroad is nothing like what they see in those bollywood movies. If they really care about education then there are many fine institutions in india which are far better and waaaay cheaper than universities abroad.

[Balait_da_Sher]

I wouldn't say they were 'interviewed'. It's been more of a very uncomfortable forced imprisonment type interrogation.

Honestly, I find this self promotion....self congratulating...quite nauseating.

You are not alone in your thinking. I found the viewing quite uncomfortable especially the throwing of chocolate.

[dalsingh101]

To make little bit clear about conditions in Punjab:

Education: They are not educated neither they are bit interested in getting proper education. More than 60 to 70% of basic Engineering admission seats stays vacant because nobody secure good marks in the entrance exams in punjab.

Farming: None of our generation wanted to do same work that our grandfathers did. whether you call it lazy or egoistic generation but it is certainly their fault not to progress ahead.

Suicides: They go beyond their income in order to prove that they are capable of living good lifestyle. Due to lack of education they become victim of loan sharks.

This all comes to education !!! Foreign student visa is bogus and way for punjabi youth to run away from responsibilities in punjab. However later on they bit the reality when they realize that abroad is nothing like what they see in those bollywood movies. If they really care about education then there are many fine institutions in india which are far better and waaaay cheaper than universities abroad.

There is so much truth in what was said above. I'm not unsympathetic to the plight of these people and my heart goes out to those who have to face this freezing weather outside, Sikh or nonSikh.

That being said, we DO have to face some uncomfortable and even unpalatable truths about our people. One thing that has ALWAYS amazed me is how no one has opened up trade schools in Panjab, so freshies can learn bricklaying, carpentry, plastering etc. BEFORE they get here. The sad truth is that our people collectively are pretty dense in certain ways. How can we excuse the patent lack of foresight in terms of feedback reaching back home, that should lead to maneuvers over there that would significantly increase the employability of apnay over here? We all know damn well that the best bet for a semi-literate pendu in the UK is the construction trade, though even this is not as booming as it once was. I'm just baffled as to why apnay don't even seem to have the sense to manipulate such common knowledge to their benefit?

Underlying a lot of crap is our own enormous haumai too. I know a fair few freshies now, and truth be told, NONE of them come from what we would call poor families back home. In fact the opposite is mostly the case and they've pulled strings and greased palms to get here. But whilst they shy away from learning a trade back home (and yes, rural caste pride plays its part in this 'shame'), they have no problem with coming here and all all manner of 'lowly' jobs.

Sometimes I feel like a big aspect of all this mess is illusions of grandeur that too many apnay have and the complete mistrust we have of each other. You can tell freshies that it is proper crap out here (economy wise) and show them evidence of it, and they will STILL come charging over here like you were lying! I know a fair few intelligent, boen in UK Sikh graduates here who are now unemployed - so what of the chances of an unskilled villager from back home! Let's face it, the western economic bubble has burst with their warmongering and banking foolishness. This effects people already established here, let alone new comers. No one can afford to ignore this truth. Plus yes, I do think that Sikhs are avoiding going through the more difficult, laborious and challenging task of creating their own robust, self sufficient economy by fleeing Panjab and looking westwards for an easier option. And we have some serious unintellectual streak running through our quom.

What excuse has Panjab itself got for failing to take advantage of the huge pool of resources and goodwill from diasporic Sikhs to bolster the economy over there? I tell you, all this relying on agriculture backhome is the road to our ruin. People need to get creative over there because for all we know, in time, the west might go belly up and in future we ourselves might have to look eastwards for our own security. Stranger things have happened.

We need philanthropists and big thinkers to sort our problems out. In the meanwhile we have to do what we can to ease the lives of the unfortunates caught up in the mess. But we shouldn't ignore harsh truths whilst doing this - if only to prevent more people getting into this position.