Ricky Gill Shies Away From His Sikh Identity

[VanHelsingh]

It's the Gurdwara prabhandaks that allow their chums (usually business partners or friends of business partners of their relatives, and so on) onto the stage on a Sunday afternoon - whilst everyone is licking their fingers after eating their kraah prashaad - that should look at themselves in the mirror.

Of course nobody is holding a gun to a voter, but as a Gurughar prabhandhak I would think it would be best to only invite those MPs to speak to the sangat who have firm and concrete policies to benefit the Sikh community. But I guess that's too much to ask for our dodgy elders.

[chatanga]

Why do we support politicians who don't do anything for us in return?

Because there is a percieved notion that they are one of "us", as stupide as it sounds.

Ricky is none but a rich kid with inflated resume.

Typical republican!

Why do our lot keep voting for these kind of candidates? Do we just see the brown face and go all weak at the knees?

yes, cos a lot of our people still think it's cowboys vs indians.

Secondanly, Sikhs in the UK (me included) should shy away from giving any advice to Americans or Canadians on how to vote. It is the dumb Sikhs of Wolverhampton who did the following:

General Election 2010 Wolverhampton Seat:

- Rob Marris (Labour), had served as chair of all parliamentary group of Sikhs, helped stop the visit of Tytler or another known Genocide culprit in the early 2000's, championed Sikh rights.

- He was up against "Paul Uppal", I believe he is a trustee of a local Gurdwara in Wolverhampton. No evidence to suggest that Paul Uppal would help out SIkhs anymore than Marris did.

- Dumbo sikhs of wolverhampton at the election, voted to kick Marris out and Uppal in. I urge wolverhampton Sikhs to come on this forum and tell us did Waheguru give you just 2 ****** brain cells or did you have one to many glassys and voted for the wrong person on the day. How the **** is Marris feeling. Helped Sikhs and got ditched by em.

Same thing happened In Southall with "Virendra Sharma" voted in against a Singh of the Khalsa who stood for Torys. Now I am a Labour man, cant stand the torys, but even I would elect to vote in a member of the great 10th prophet's brotherhood over a high caste brahmin.

Thanks Mrsingh, i am form wolverhampton, and uppals father owns Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Gurdwara. Uppal is totaly rendundant on Sikh issues, and the idiots in his ward, voted him in just cos of his brown face and thinking he is one of us, and he will do amazing things for our community.

I knew him before he got elected, and I warned some of the players at Sedgely St not to get him voted over Rob Marris, who was also the Chair of the All Party Sikh Group, and he was always at the Sikh Federation Convention every September, and always managed to get some medium-high ranking official form ther Labour Party to attend.

uppal has never been once in his life.

That tell you all about the stupidity of the Sikh elders. Its a tribal thang.

[Sherdil]

It's the Gurdwara prabhandaks that allow their chums (usually business partners or friends of business partners of their relatives, and so on) onto the stage on a Sunday afternoon - whilst everyone is licking their fingers after eating their kraah prashaad - that should look at themselves in the mirror.

Of course nobody is holding a gun to a voter, but as a Gurughar prabhandhak I would think it would be best to only invite those MPs to speak to the sangat who have firm and concrete policies to benefit the Sikh community. But I guess that's too much to ask for our dodgy elders.

Bro, you have hit the nail on the head. The people who are supposed to be representing us and leading us in the community don't have our best interests at heart. They are using us to help themselves and their buddies. Herding us like cattle towards one candidate or another, for few favors quite possibly.

That tell you all about the stupidity of the Sikh elders. Its a tribal thang.

I agree, but when are we gonna start running things? Why are our Gurdwaras run by people who just came from Punjab yesterday? There are 3rd and 4th generation Sikhs in Britain, and 2nd generation Sikhs in USA and Canada. We are better suited to representing the community than the uncle ji's.

[mrsingh12]

cheers bro, thanks for not biting my head off (was crapping it when you said you was from wolvo!!). Paul Uppal should be reported to the Akaal Takht for using Gurdwara for electoral purposes, as I would put good money on his dad owning a Gurdwara Sahib helped give him a platform for votes. I once saw a youtube video when Uppal was speaking at Sangat TV (hmm what a link!!) anniversary do, nothing personal but even Mcdonnell, Mcfadden and Marris can pronounce the fateh given by the great 10th master better than Paul f-in Uppal. Bro why did wolvo appne vote for Uppal instead of Marris? I dont get it, how can one be so dumb? HOW THE F*** DO WE EXPECT MPS TO HELP OUT SIKHS, WHEN WE REWARD THE 2nd BEST MP TO EVER REPRESENT SIKH INTERESTS (Marris) BY ENDING HIS POLITICAL CAREER!! Dumb sikhs

[Sherdil]

Who said he was Sikh anyway? Lol, Im not judging anybody but Sikhs nowadays only look at a person's name or if they wear a Kara to define whether a person is a Sikh or not. I'm not saying he has to be amritdhari or anything like that, but even so, we shouldnt just give someone the title of Sikh without knowing whether they visit the Gurdwara regularly, do they know anything about the 11 prophets of Sikhism etc. BTW, please do not interpret this post as Mona = Non-Sikh. Mona or Kesadhari, knowing something about your religion is the minimum to justify the title of Sikh.

I agree. If they aren't practicing Sikhs, then that's their perogative. But then they shouldn't come to gurdwaras asking for money and votes, and we shouldn't be giving them either. Especially when non-Sikh politicians do more for our community than they do.

Technically Ricky Gill is the first Sikh to speak at a republican national convention, but nobody even knows that he comes from a Sikh background. He does such a good job of hiding it! Everyone is giving the honor to Ishwar Singh ji, who is set to speak tonight.

[Jonny101]

I have seen many Mona Sikhs who are very pro Sikhi and panthic at heart, those types of brothers certainly deserve votes. Main thing is to vote for the person who best deserves the vote. Who will stand up for the Sikhs when Sikhs need them. Uncle Tom types who try to hide their Sikh heritage as if it is an embarrassment to them need to be voted for. These types of coconuts only remember their Sikh heritage when it is election time and come to the Gurdwara to show how Desi they are.

Take this Uncle Tom Ricky Gill here, he mentions his Indian and African heritage yet hides his Sikh heritage. Does he deserve Sikh votes? Vote for the Gorah opposite to him instead and show this uncle Tom what Sikhs think of him. Same thing with Nicky Haley. When she needs money from the Sikh community she adds Aulakh to her name to show her Punjabi Sikh background but conveniently tries to hide her Sikh background in front of Goray every chance she gets, especially when she tries to show how strict she is in her Christian beliefs. Sikhs have plenty of such Uncle Toms in the west. They are opportunists (& crooks) and don't deserve Sikh votes or money.

[mrsingh12]

sardar ji, (im lmao btw at your uncle tom references haha), surely the fact that two individuals, whom contain the names "ricky" and "nicky" should send alarm bells ringing in terms of whether the individuals share any bavna for the Sikh religion. Tbh, its aapne who are the biggest chamche ever. I dont think the Gurdwara Sahib should be used for electrol purposes anyway, and also Sikhs should get a grip and stop being fooled into voting for someone just because they share a Panjabi surname.

P.S. Who the hell votes for Nicky whats her name on the basis that she is a "sikh".

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/us/politics/14haley.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&exprod=myyahoo

what a joke!! Apparently her old man is a propa Kesadhari Sikh and she is a converted christian who also had an Anand Karaj but whose two kids are christian but also go the Gurdwara. Messed up

[Jonny101]

One person made some very good comments on that article:

Rupinder Mohan Singh

August 28th, 2012 at 4:37 pm

It is simply this: why has he not made one public statement in which he mentions that he is Sikh? And, if being honest and transparent about his background is not what he is standing for as a politician, why is he intentionally soliciting donations at Sikh-oriented fundraisers, Gurdwaras, and other Sikh-oriented groups outside of his district?

And, when he attends these fundraisers, why is he not discussing them on his Facebook page, Twitter feed, or campaign website? There is not a single picture of him with a Sikh, or mention of it, from his campaign anywhere? Yet, behind the scenes he is courting community support.

Members of the Sikh community are giving him their hard-earned cash to support his campaign. He is taking their money and apparently turning his back towards them.

This is not about passing a “Sikh test”. This is about an apparent intentional strategy to obscure an association with the Sikh community in and outside of his district, while at the same time soliciting money and support from them.

As a Sikh American, I find THIS insulting. Our community should not be treated by anyone in this way, much less by one of our own.

Rupinder Mohan Singh

August 28th, 2012 at 10:22 pm

One last time, here is the case I am making:

1. Ricky Gill has solicited campaign donations specifically from Sikh Americans. This is undeniable. His presence at fundraisers held by the Sikh community all over California to his benefit is factual. He has benefited from Sikh community support in, and particularly outside, of his district.

2. Despite the above, Ricky Gill refuses to use the word “Sikh” anywhere. He maintains silence about his religious background. When asked, he acknowledges Indian and African roots. He has not, as far as I’ve ever seen, mentioned that he is a Sikh. When he expressed his two sentence statement of condolence about the killing of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, he did not, even then, use the word “Sikh”.

Mitt Romney acknowledges he is Mormon. Even Nikki Haley asserted her religious identity. Ricky Gill is glaringly silent about his faith.

3. Despite the solicitation of campaign funds from the Sikh community all across California, his campaign has never put up a photo of Ricky Gill at one of these events, nor can you find a single photo among the many photos on his campaign website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed of him with another Sikh (aside from his mother). There are many photos of him with Caucasians and other communities, but none with Sikhs.

That he is – at the very least – not publicizing his interactions with the Sikh American community is inequitable treatment of this community by him. This is the basis on which I use the word “discrimination”.

If he is not intending to provide Sikhs representation, he needs to make that clear at the fundraisers held by Sikhs. Has he made any such statement?

You are free to debunk anything I have said. I’ll even tell you how: show me where his campaign website or social media sites show Ricky Gill with other Sikh Americans. Show me a statement by him in media in which, when asked about his background, he uses the word “Sikh”.

This should not be hard, as he is one himself, I am sure he has encountered many Sikh Americans during his campaign. If you cannot find any, then obviously there is an attempt by his campaign not to publicize his interactions with Sikh Americans.

If the counter to my assertions here is that he is a politician and has no responsibility to represent the Sikh community, you have made my point and he should make this clear at his next fundraiser organized by a local Sikh community. However, it still does not explain why he refuses to use the word at all.

It's pretty clear here, this Ricky Gill is taking Sikhs for a ride. He solicits Sikhs for money yet tries to distance himself from Sikhs. ਇਕ ਨੰਬਰ ਦਾ ਠੱਗ ਹੈ ਇਹ. Spread the word around, don't waste your money on this guy.

[Sherdil]

(Above) Rupinder Mohan Singh makes another good point.

Mitt Romney has not backed down from his Mormon faith while running for President. Even though Mormonism is seen as a fringe group in Christianity.

There was even a Muslim congressman that insisted on taking his oath of office, using a Quran instead of the traditional bible.

So then why do Ricky and Nikki sell-out? Especially now, when the American public is going out of its way to embrace Sikhs.

[S1ngh]

There is Earth skydifference between Nikki and Ricky. Nikki and her family keep in touch with sikhi more than Ricky does. She also mentions many time of her growing up in Sikh household.