BBC News – Australia uses curry to combat anti-Indian violence

Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney

Monday, 8 February 2010. The organisers of a “Vindaloo Against Violence” campaign in Australia say they have had an overwhelming response.

Australians are being urged to dine out at Indian restaurants in a show of solidarity after a string of recent assaults on foreign students.

The day of action has attracted widespread interest online, and aims to help repair Australia’s reputation.

This has been tainted by assaults on young Indians in the past year in Melbourne and Sydney.

The violence has soured diplomatic relations between Canberra and Delhi.

Overwhelming

The police have insisted that while some of the assaults were racially motivated, the majority were not and were carried out by opportunistic thugs.

The ‘Vindaloo Against Violence’ day of action is the work of Mia Northrop, a 24-year-old digital media designer in Melbourne.

She says that interest in the occasion generated by social networking websites has been overwhelming.

“We have had over 6,000 people around Australia now, not just in Melbourne, RSVP to the Facebook event,” she said.

“We have had a lot of people comment through Twitter and lots of wonderful comments coming from other Melbournians about how they are so glad there is some vehicle for them to express how they are feeling ,” she said.

“They too were frustrated that we weren’t getting that message across to the local community or to India that, yeah, we are paying attention.

“We want to be proud of Melbourne and we do value our immigrant communities.”

The grass roots event has attracted the attention of the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

His government has been forced to defend allegations from Indian politicians and sections of the media that Australia is a racist country that is not doing enough to protect foreign students.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8503416.stm

BBC News – Ceremonial dagger ‘part of the body’ say devout Sikhs

BBC News, Caroline McClatchey

Britain’s first Asian judge (Sir Mota Singh) has said Sikhs should be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers – known as Kirpans – to school and other public venues.

It follows a number of high-profile cases where Sikhs have been asked to remove the item, required by their faith, in the workplace or in the classroom.

But what exactly is a Kirpan and just how many Sikhs wear one?

Dabinderjit Singh has been wearing his Kirpan almost non-stop for 23 years.

The 44-year-old wears it in the shower (tied to his head), in bed, in the car, at his desk and on the train. The only time he takes it off is when he boards a plane.

Mr Singh, who is an adviser to the pressure group Sikh Federation UK, was keen to get across an important fact – not all Sikhs wear the Kirpan.

“Practising Sikhs are the only ones who are required to wear the Kirpan,” he said. “It is only worn by someone who lives a very strict life – that’s why only a few Sikhs become practising Sikhs.”

He estimated that fewer than 10% of Sikhs in the UK wear a Kirpan.

There is no hierarchy in Sikhism’s five “articles of faith”, which also include Kesh (unshorn hair) and Kara (steel bangle), but the Kirpan (small sword) is the article of faith around which there is the “most sensitivity”.

And by practising Sikhs, he means those boys, girls, men and women who have been baptised, wear all five articles and observe the strict code of conduct.

‘Golden decade’

Mr Singh’s day begins with a bath, he prays and meditates for an hour in the morning, and again in the evening. He is a strict vegetarian and does not drink.

“When I was a kid, only one or two Sikhs were practising in my school ” Dabinderjit Singh

Once baptised at the age of 21, he could only marry another baptised Sikh. His father was not a practising Sikh, and his mother only became one at the age of 65.

The 10th Sikh guru decreed in 1699 that baptised Sikhs should wear the five articles of faith, including the Kirpan. It had a symbolic function – to identify and unify the Sikh community – and a physical function – to defend others.

Mr Singh only uses his Kirpan to bless food after a sermon. His daggers range in length between 3in and 5in (7-13cm) and he says they are “pretty blunt”.

ARTICLES OF FAITH

Kirpan – dagger
Kara – steel bangle
Kesh – unshorn hair
Kanga – comb
Kacha – special underwear

It is worn in a sling around the body, normally under clothes, and the dagger is always buttoned into its sheath.

“When I was a kid, only one or two Sikhs were practising in my school,” he said. “In the last 10 years, more and more young people have become fascinated with their history.”

He calls it the “golden decade”, marked by several important anniversaries and events.

Public awareness

Something else has changed, he says, and that is the secular acceptance of Kirpans.

He accepts the stricter security measures on planes since 9/11 but says Sikhs can still fly with their Kirpans within the US, Australia, New Zealand, and, of course, India.

Recalling an incident at Buckingham Palace 10 years ago when he was receiving his OBE, he said there was no trouble getting in and the ceremonial guards had bigger swords than he had.

He said he “never has a problem” getting into the House of Commons, but some government buildings and tourist attractions, such as the London Eye, have refused entry to practising Sikhs.

He has also heard that a Sikh was not allowed to sit his driving theory test because of his Kirpan.

But Mr Singh is hopeful that a new government code of practice will help inform the general public and the security industry about the dagger.

Didar Singh Randhawa, president of the two Sri Guru Singh Sabha temples in Southall, west London – the biggest outside India – said public awareness about the Kirpan was all-important.

Mr Randhawa referred to the high profile case of have-a-go hero Sukhwinder Singh. The 31-year-old was stabbed to death after chasing muggers in east London last month and according to Mr Randhawa, Mr Singh was wearing a Kirpan.

Mr Randhawa, who has been wearing his Kirpan for a year and a half, said there had been a few individual cases of problems in offices and schools but the main problem was the airlines.

However, he said the UK government was “more sympathetic” than many European countries and he hoped ministers would listen to their pleas and allow them to fly with the smallest Kirpans.

“The only problem is awareness,” he said. “It is a part of our bodies. It is part of our religion. I don’t like to take it off.”

http://news.bbc.co.u…/uk/8504073.stm

406.The Man in Blue – SGGS Southall’s Constitution

Mathea van Ingen
wife of my cousin Cornelis Adrianus Swenne
and their younger son

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SGGS Southall’s Constitution

This Sunday 7 February at 3 pm Park Avenue, there is an extremely important meeting, regarding the constitution of the Sabha, important changes are being brought forward, like every member should have ‘Singh’ or ‘Kaur’ in their name, this is to help control our Gurdwara from external influences. Opposition are going against such panthic changes, only you with Guru’s kirpa can help safeguard the constitution, so benti for all to attend, and pass this benti on ! Navraj Singh (Prabandhak member).

I am not going to be nasty about the above text sent to me by Navraj Singh of the Southall Singh Sabha, but I will raise some points, as is my habit.

The first time I joined the Sabha the sevadar who dealt with me got confused over my name. I had already added Harjinder Singh to my name, but my passport still had only my old first and last name. I looked like a Sikh and regularly visited the Gurdwara, but I might not have been accepted as a member of the Sabha if it wasn’t for the intervention of Himmat Singh Sohi.   

While I was there some other people who did not look like Sikhs, who had Hindu first and last names and who I had never seen in the sangat were made members without being asked any questions.

I think these examples show the dilemmas that any Gurdwara with a membership system for the purpose of election faces. The move by the Gurdwara to request all potential members to have Singh and Kaur as part of their name seems sensible.

The first point I want to raise is that people like me who are not of Sikh background and who are not from the UK, where changing your name is easy, might be caught out by this.

Secondly, I know many people with Singh and Kaur as part of their name who are not Sikhs at all, they might even look like Sikhs, but they have not a trace of Sikh behaviour.

I did meet people, both in the Panjab and in the UK, who were not Sikhs in any formal way but who regularly visited the Gurdwara, who made an honest living, shared with others and kept God in mind with everything they did. Should these be excluded from membership ?

One of the problems is that the Southall Singh Sabha is not just a local Gurdwara serving Southall, but attracts people from all over West London and surrounding areas. In a local Gurdwara, serving a neighbourhood or a town, it is much easier to know who are regularly part of the sangat and who try to live a Sikh way of life. Local Gurdwaras can base their membership on those criteria, and avoid including undesirables.

Southall, London Bridge, New Cross Gate and West India Quay

I went to see how the work to prepare for the opening of the West Croydon/New Cross Gate/Whitechapel/Shoreditch and Dalton Junction East London Line in June of this year was getting on. I took the Heathrow Connect to Paddington and from there went by Bakerloo and Jubilee Line to London Bridge.  

Heathrow Connect train from Southall to Paddington

London Bridge, Platform 9, Train to New Cross Gate

New Cross Gate, slow southbound tracks

New Cross Gate, East London Line, new southbound tracks

West India Quay seen from Canary Wharf

I cannot quite remember how I got to Canary Wharf, but I know that I gave up taking more pictures of New Cross Gate due to persistent drizzle. I think that I took a bus from New Cross Gate to Lewisham and took the DLR from there, which was probably bound for Stratford and therefore I had to change at Canary Wharf …..

Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Rahul: Oppose Sainiks by mobilising people

Edathala (Kerala), February 6

After taking on the Shiv Sena on its home turf for “Mumbai for Marathis” campaign, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the Sainiks should be opposed by mobilising people and not by violence.

Taking potshots at the Sena protest, he said there were 15 to 20 Sena workers with black flags when he boarded the suburban trains in Mumbai yesterday, but there were thousands of people to support him.

“This is how we should oppose them. We should oppose them not by violence but by mobilising people,” he told student leaders during an unannounced brief visit here. Ignoring the protest by Shiv Sainiks, Gandhi had yesterday hopped onto Mumbai local trains abandoning his motorcade to make a last minute detour through the bastions of the Saffron outfit which had asked its cadres to greet him with black flags for opposing its “Mumbai for Marathis” campaign.

“India belongs to all Indians. If you are an Indian, you can live in any part of the country as you live in your state … whether you are a Keralite or Tamilian or Punjabi. It doesn’t matter,” Gandhi said. The Congress leader, who is trying to woo youth through interactions country-wide, stressed the need to strengthen student organisations by mobilising more workers.

Taking everyone by surprise, including the Congress state leadership and police, Gandhi arrived here this morning from Pondicherry to address about 100 elected members of the district and state level members of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and those from Lakshadweep. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100207/main5.htm

BBC News – European delegation due to visit riot hit India state

Thursday, 4 February 2010

A delegation of the European Union is due to visit a region which was hit by anti-Christian riots in the eastern Indian state of Orissa last year.

Members of a hardline Hindu organisation have protested against the visit saying it was a violation of the “sovereignty” of the country.

The violence in Kandhamal district left at least 40 people dead and more than 25,000 homeless.

The riots followed the killing of a Hindu religious leader and four others.

A local leader of the hardline Bajrang Dal Subas Chouhan has criticised the Orissa government for allowing the delegation to visit Kandhamal.

“It seems the state government wants the riots to return,” he said.

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the 11 member-delegation was going to Kandhamal to see the “development activities there”.

Christian leaders have denied that the visit would lead to religious tensions.

“Those who are opposing the visit are the perpetrators of the communal violence. So their anxiety is understandable,” Raphael Chennath said.

The delegation was originally scheduled to visit Kandhamal early last year, but the federal government refused permission because of the general elections in April.

Kandhamal district witnessed weeks of anti-Christian violence after a Hindu leader was shot dead.

The clashes erupted after hardline Hindu groups blamed Christians for the killing.

The government set up two fast-track courts to deal speedily with cases relating to the riots.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8497442.stm

From King’s Cross to Hitchin vv III

During the Christmas and New Year Holiday I went to visit the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Hitchin. In he two previous postings I went from Kings Cross to Hitchin, discovered that there is another Gurdwara on the same road and attended the bhog of Akhand Path.

Langar : sitting on the floor

Langar : table and chairs

Langar : standing at high table 

Waiting for the train back to London

That’s all folks ! 
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

Sikh News Discussion – Include Sikhs as a Separate Ethnic Catagory in the UK Census 2011

Sadh Sangat Jio,

We need to take urgent action regarding the UK Census 2011 and contact as many MPs as possible.

Please confirm which MP you have contacted !

Please send the following email to your MP by using: http://www.writetothem.com/

The letter is also now on the Sikh Federation (UK) web site and can be shared more widely with other contacts.

Dear [MP’s name]

Census 2011 – Sikh ethnic group monitoring

I am writing to you to take urgent action on behalf of the Sikh community with regards to the Census 2011 and appreciate previous efforts in this regards. On Monday 1 February the Sikh Federation (UK) released a report (http://www.sikhfederation.com/pdf/SikhsCensusJan2010.pdf) commissioned to look at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire.

An urgent meeting has been requested with Jil Matheson, the National Statistician, to discuss the findings and recommendations. The evidence-based report demonstrates the need for ONS to change the draft questionnaire for the Census 2011 and include a separate tick box for Sikhs for the ethnic group question.

An article has appeared in the Independent on Tuesday 2 February (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/census-2011-heavy-metals-not-music-its-a-religion-1886350.html) following the report.

ONS have stated in the article it has not yet finalised the ethnic group question. We therefore urge you to write to the Jil Matheson at the ONS and i) request her to urgently meet Sikh representatives to discuss the findings and recommendations contained in the report; ii) enquire how the views of elected representatives will be taken into account as regards the ethnic group question, as over 200 MPs from across the political spectrum have supported the need for Sikhs to be monitored separately as regards ethnicity; iii) ask her to respond to the systematic failings in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire highlighted in the report; and iv) seek an assurance that the findings and recommendations contained in the report are given priority and acted upon in finalising the Census 2011 questionnaire.

The Press Release issued by the Sikh Federation (UK) when launching the report is attached for information.

[Your name] [Your address]

—————————–

CAN THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS BE TRUSTED WITH THE 2011 CENSUS?

1. The Sikh Federation (UK) will be releasing a report on Monday 1 February 2010 following research it commissioned on the selection of new ethnic groups for the Census 2011.

2. The investigative report provides evidence to show how the option of an ‘Arab’ category has been incorrectly favoured compared to other categories, including a ‘Sikh’ category.

3. The authors of the report allege a pre-determined outcome to include an ‘Arab’ category without sufficient evidence to support this conclusion.

4. The report emphasises a Sikh category has been overlooked despite Sikhs constituting one of very few legally recognised ethnic groups.

5. Parliament will in mid-February vote on the Regulation to approve the Census 2011 and in effect put a seal on the draft questionnaire.

6. The report proves the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ignored the views of hundreds of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum supporting the Sikh community in their demand and paid lip service to its own public consultation on the issue that showed considerable support for a separate Sikh category.

7. Evidence is also presented in the report that shows ONS omitted vital information, misinterpreted other information it had available and did not fully consider other relevant evidence to arrive at accurate conclusions.

8. The Sikh Federation (UK) is calling on MPs and ONS to consider the findings and recommendations in the report relating to each aspect of the ONS methodology to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and for ONS to urgently revisit its overall assessment in light of the report.

9. In the Federation’s opinion the report proposes the ONS gives the ‘Sikh’ category priority over the proposed ‘Arab’ category for the Census 2011 questionnaire.

10. The report suggests major flaws in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and raises wider issues of trust and the need for improved governance at ONS.

11. The Federation has also shared the report with lawyers to consider possible legal action. There is also talk of a call for a possible postponement in the 2011 Census; until trust in the process is restored, otherwise the information produced will not be a true reflection of British society or fit for purpose. The latter would also save tens of millions of pounds during the economic downturn.

Gurjeet Singh

National Press Secretary

BBC News – India holds interest rates and bids to curb inflation

BBC News, 29 January 2010

India’s central bank has kept interest rates unchanged but increased cash reserve requirements for lenders in a bid to contain inflation.

The three quarters of a percentage point increase in bank reserves, to 5.75%, was more than expected.

The Reserve Bank of India also lifted its inflation forecast for the end of the financial year in March to 8.5%.

It also raised its forecast for economic growth for the year ending in March, from 6% to 7.5%.

India’s economy grew 7.9% in the three months to the end of September 2009.

India’s economy is recovering faster than expected, mainly driven by government spending, which analysts calculate could have contributed as much as 40% to 50% of India’s total GDP growth in the year to September.

The Reserve Bank has pumped more than $125bn into the Indian economy since September 2008.

The Tribune – UK Institutes : Centre for refund of students’ fees

Umesh Dewan and Gagan K Teja, Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 2. Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur today said the Central government had requested the British High Commission to appoint a nodal officer for specifically dealing with the cases of those Indian students who had taken admission to the educational institutes in the UK that now falls in the “blacklisted” category.

Preneet, who was in the city, said, “If the UK appoints a nodal officer to deal with the matter, it would save the Indian students from inconvenience. We would also like that the UK facilitates Indian students in getting their fees refunded from the blacklisted institutes,” she said.

Preneet further said India had also sought a list of the blacklisted institutes from the UK. She added the Central government was expecting a positive response from the UK in this regard.

Reacting to a query regarding travel agents, who are into the illegal business of sending youth abroad on different types of visas through “wrong means”, she said it was a crucial issue and her ministry would look into the matter to ensure that no one fell prey to the travel agents.

When asked about some of the educational institutes that allegedly send the students abroad but fails to ensure their admission as promised, Preneet said the government would devise a system to keep a check on all the educational institutions offering the students to send abroad on students visa. “These institutes would be allowed to operate only after proper screening. The said system may take time but we would like to bring it in place in near future,” she asserted.

Meanwhile, expressing her views on the state of education in the state, she came down heavily on the SAD-BJP government for “miserably” failing to bring the primary education in the state on track.

Even as the Punjab government has announced that all the government schools would be fully equipped with requisite staff in the coming six months, Preneet said, “It is the utter failure and the lack of interest of the present regime to raise the standard of education.”

Preneet was critical of the government schools in the state. Expressing her deep anguish over the deplorable state of infrastructure in the government schools, she accused the state government of not “utilising” the Central funds being released for the upliftment of the government schools.

While asserting that the state government must make proper use of the funds being allotted for the school education, Preneet said, “There is an immediate need for the infrastructure upgrade of the government schools in the state. Students should be provided proper facilities and special measures should be taken to bring down the dropout rate of the students.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100203/punjab.htm#2