Nice documentary from Afghan TV

[West London Singh]

A Pakistani Pathan friend of mine sent me the link for a piece done by a TV station in Afghanistan about the Sikhs of Nangharhar in Jalalabad province celebrating Basakhi. I'd never seen it before and found it good viewing. Hope you all enjoy it too.

[DailyMail]

Very interesting indeed. I remember a similar venture by the Sikh Channel earlier this year. It's very upsetting to observe that the children didn't attend school due to racism/bullying. The irony is that whilst the Sikhs of Afghanistan have been reduced to a shadow of their former selves in terms of business and prosperity, they remain steadfast and loyal to their Sikh identity.

[West London Singh]

I didn't realise something similar had been on the Sikh Channel, daily mail. What I'd really like to see though is something about the Sikhs of Zahedan. Zahedan, of course is the wild west frontier city of Iran that straddles the border of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. I've heard from people that it is a city where everything from luxury cars, tanks, aircraft and missiles exchange hands on a large scale and that the Sikhs are at the centre of the business. I'd love to see some sort of news feature on them. In the meantime though, here's an interesting piece done by Iranian TV on the Tehran Sikhs:

[DailyMail]

WLS, the report was actually produced by a freelance chap called Bobby Bansal and he undertook the assignment to produce a documentary in Afghanistan after jumping through many hurdles, as you can imagine. The gurdwara was in a dilapidated conditon and was saturated with childen playing all day, because they didn't attend school. The lady who was speaking in the gurdwara (in the first video) is a Sikh MP in Afghanistan. Very thought provoking indeed.

I had also stumbled upon the Iranian Sikh video on youtube when seaching about a month ago and I remember thinking at the time that I should post it on here: you've beaten me to it!

Over a hundred years ago, the Sikh traders based in Kabul had spread their tentacles throughout what are now known as the central asian republics, then of course, southern Russia. Even as far as Moscow I am told. Money lending was a core speciality but whatever they could trade was fair game, as they were very shrewd businessmen. I'm sure that those in Tehran and Zaheden were probably cousins of the those traders in Kabul who had simply been rather more adventerous and ventured somewhat further.

Very little is known about the Iranian Sikhs. I recall reading an article several years ago of a well-written piece of the history of Iranian Sikhs written just after an Indian Foreign Minister had visited Tehran. He has paid his respects at the very gurdwara in the above video (if my memory serves me correctly).

I don't know much of Zaheden other than it has the second largest Sikh population in Iran and there is/was a gurdwara there. I think Guru Nanak Dev Ji visited enroute to Mecca and henceforth the gurdwara remains.

[Mehtab Singh]

Iran is the only Islamic country in/around the Middle East that allows hoisting the Nishan Sahib.

[Unbreakable]

Iran is the only Islamic country in/around the Middle East that allows hoisting the Nishan Sahib.

Don't forget the Gurdwara in Dubai. However the Nishan Sahib isn't taller than the building itself.

[TheFancyBanana]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehrPwW9aMA&feature=channel&list=UL

[Mehtab Singh]

Don't forget the Gurdwara in Dubai. However the Nishan Sahib isn't taller than the building itself.

I've been to the beautiful Gurdwara in Dubai several times this past summer. Yes the Nishan Sahib is inside the Gurdwara Sahib as well.

[Unbreakable]

I've been to the beautiful Gurdwara in Dubai several times this past summer. Yes the Nishan Sahib is inside the Gurdwara Sahib as well.

I think that was a requirement of the King of Dubai, that only official flags of the country and union will fly above their buildings.

He donated the land where the Gurdwara is built (near the jebal ali hospital) as a gesture of good will and to say Thank You, because the Sikhs in Punjab rebuilt a Shia Mosque I think which had been derelict for over 6 decades.

This is what Bhai Dhan Singh told me when I visited Dubai couple of years back. I've been there a few times during the construction phases, etc. Took me a while to find it.

The area where it is located is within a larger area where all non-muslim official places of worship are found, like Churches, etc.

The Gurdwara is lovely and the facilities are really good, I'll be stopping over when I fly to India next year.

[chatanga]

wherever there are muslims in control, they do not allow any kafirs to raise any flags higher than their mosques, or the minaret of the mosques.