Turban Awareness Day, 25 September, Brussel / Bruxelles / Brussels

Jujhar Singh outside a GO! TSO/BSO school in Sint-Truiden
We stood outside a secondary school in Hasselt and this secondary school in Sint-Truiden on 1 September, the first day of the 2011/2012 school year.

We asked :

Tulband / Turban

Waarom niet ? / Why not ?

P r e s s  r e l e a s e  1 9  S e p t e m b e r  2 0 1 1

Sikhs in België
Een platform voor Sikh organisaties en individuele Sikhs

‘Turban Awareness Day’
Tulband Dag

Tulbanddragende Sikhs willen volledig kunnen deelnemen aan het leven in België. Het Sikh geloof leert dat wij een positieve bijdrage moeten leveren aan de landen waarin wij wonen en werken.

In België – en ook in Frankrijk – ondervinden Sikhs serieuze beperkingen.

Deze maand heeft de Britse regering een Sikh met tulband benoemd tot lid van het Britse House of Lords wegens zijn bijdrage aan de goede verstandhouding tussen mensen van verschillende godsdiensten.

In Vlaanderen worden tulbanddragende Sikhs uitgesloten door de meeste secundaire scholen en ondervinden zij moeilijkheden bij het vinden van een baan.

Er zijn maar twee secundaire scholen in het zuiden van Limburg – de regio met de grootste concentratie van Sikhs – die tulbanddragende Sikhs toelaat. Dit veroorzaakt geen problemen in die school, net zoals tulbanddragende leerlingen in andere landen geen problemen veroorzaken.

Wij willen graag deelnemen aan de Belgische maatschappij. Waarom wordt dat ons moeilijk gemaakt ?

Sikhs vragen : waarom ?

In het kader van een initiatief vanuit het Verenigd Koninkrijk vragen wij op 25 september aandacht voor de ‘Turban Awareness Day’. Wij gaan die dag met een kleine groep naar Brussel en lopen van Brussel-Centraal naar het Vlaamse, Belgische en het Europese parlement en naar het Koninklijk Paleis. Op al deze adressen zullen wij een brief posten waarin we opnieuw aandacht vragen voor de problemen die tulbanddragende Sikhs ondervinden in België, vooral in het secundair onderwijs maar ook in andere maatschappelijke sectoren.

Wij vertrekken om 12.00 van het Centraal Station in Brussel (Koloniënstraat) en verwachten daar uiterlijk om 14.00 terug te keren.

Contact :
Harjinder Singh
Tiensesteenweg 37/39 bus 002, 3800 Sint-Truiden
harjindersingh_amritsar@yahoo.com
GSM 0476 026 521

Summery in English.

After the picketing of two secondary schools on 1 September we are going to Brussels on Sunday 25 September with a group of Keshdari turban wearing Sikhs. This is part of the international Turban Awareness Day.

We will walk from the Central Station, Koloniënstraat / Rue des Colonies to the Flemish, Belgian and European Parliaments and to the Royal Palace. We will start at 12.00 and return to Central Station at about 14.00. We will deliver letters dealing with the problems in secondary schools but also with other exclusions of turban wearing Sikhs in Belgium.

Contact Harjinder Singh (Man in Blue) at the above address for further information.

Tulband : Waarom niet ?
Turban : Why not

The Tribune – CM must resign, says Manpreet

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18.  Manpreet Singh Badal, president of the People’s Party of Punjab, said in a statement that the Parkash Singh Badal Government had indulged in booth-capturing, bloodshed and violence. “This was a veritable demonstration of the selfish attitude of the government to obtain petty gains.” He said a PPP activist was shot at and critically injured by the Akalis.

In view of the lawlessness that prevailed during the SGPC elections, the presiding officer at Buttar had deferred the elections.

In Kurianwala village of Gidderbaha, the Chief Minister’s home district, a PPP member protesting against booth-capturing, was shot at and rushed to hospital. His condition was stated to be critical.

Disgusted at the “jungle raj” in the state, Manpreet said the Chief Minister should resign immediately.

“If anarchy is a virtue, then Parkash Singh Badal’s Government is its incarnation. I am disgusted to learn that to win the SGPC elections, the government has left no stone unturned to abuse the law.

This clearly proves that the Badals are certain about their forthcoming shameful defeat in the Vidhan Sabha elections.

With such hooliganism, I don’t foresee their party even obtaining ten seats in the elections,” he said. “Punjab is going to the dogs because its administrators, the Badals, want a piece of flesh of victory from the SGPC elections.

Unfortunately, they are blissfully ignoring the fact that wining SGPC elections will not ensure their return to Punjab as winners. Such abominable conduct will ensure their shameful exit”, Manpreet said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110919/punjab.htm#11

The Tribune – SAD-Sant Samaj combine sweeps SGPC elections

Bags 157 out of 170 seats; turnout 62%
Polling by and large peaceful

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Sant Samaj alliance swept the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (SGPC) elections held today. The alliance won 157 out of 170 seats spread across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The alliance lost 10 seats in Punjab and three (out of 11) in Haryana. It won both seats in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. In the last General House, SAD had won 140 seats, while 30 were bagged by others.

Though, the names of the winners will be notified on September 22, the counting was done soon after the polling ended and results declared thereafter.

Punjab witnessed 62.74 per cent polling. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Nawanshahr (73 per cent) and the lowest in Amritsar (51 per cent).

The combine lost Sirsa, Ambala and Ambala SC seats in Haryana. In Punjab, it lost Joga, Garshankar, Hargobindpur, Phillaur, Dhuri, Dhuri SC, Mohali, Baba Bakala, Jandiala and Dharamkot seats. The smallest margin of votes was seen in Dharamkot (Moga) where a rebel candidate Sukhjit Singh Kaka was declared winner by a margin of only 73 votes.

Barring an incident of firing in Kurianwala village of Gidderbaha and some skirmishes across Punjab, including Buttarshri (Muktsar), the poll was by and large peaceful, notwithstanding some allegation of intimidation by non-alliance candidates.

Though, all 28 polling stations in Chandigarh were classified as sensitive, there was no report of any untoward incident from Chandigarh, Haryana or Himachal Pradesh.

Surprisingly, the alliance won some of the heavily contested constituencies, leaving nothing to the share of the main opposition – the Panthic Morcha and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), led by Simranjit Singh Mann, who incidentally himself lost the poll from Bassi Pathana. His son Eman Singh mann also lost from Bhagsar (Patiala).

Mann’s party won the Joga seat in Mansa district by defeating the SAD candidate. Phillaur also saw a close finish with the SAD nominee losing to the Panthic Morcha by a margin of 213 votes.

There are reports from Badal village that certain non-Keshdharis caste votes in the poll. All candidates in the poll had to give an undertaking that they were Keshdhari and did not shear any body hair.

A PPP worker was critically injured in a firing incident at Kurianwala in Gidderbaha. He was reportedly protesting against alleged booth capturing. He was taken to a hospital where his condition was stated to be critical.

Poll Report

The Winners

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar
Former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur
Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekwan
Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah
Chandigarh ex-Mayor Harjinder Kaur

The Losers

SAD (A) president Simranjit S Mann
Haryana Sikh leader Jagdish Singh Jhinda

The smallest margin of votes was seen in Dharamkot (Moga) where rebel candidate Sukhjit Singh Kaka won by 73 votes

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110919/main1.htm

The Hindu – Quake rocks northeast, seven killed in Sikkim

P. Sunderarajan

New Delhi, 18 September 2011. The northern and eastern parts of the country were jolted on Sunday after a powerful earthquake hit the Sikkim-Nepal border with a magnitude of 6.8 at 6.10 p.m., leaving at least 17 persons dead and more than 100 injured, besides causing extensive damage to buildings and roads.

The epicentre was about 69 km northwest of Gangtok, 119 km north-northwest of Siliguri and 272 km east of Kathmandu.

The main quake was followed by three significantly high aftershocks — 5.7 at 6.21 p.m., 5.3 at 6.42 p.m. and 4.6 at 7.24 p.m. Senior officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said more aftershocks were likely, considering the magnitude of the quake.

Tremors were felt in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Of the deaths, seven occurred in Sikkim, five in Nepal, three in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal and two in Bihar, according to reports received here.

Among the victims in Sikkim, two died at Singtham in East district, two in Rishi in West district and one at Mangan in North district, Chief Secretary Karma Gyatso said in Gangtok. Two army jawans were killed in north Sikkim, and three army vehicles including one with army personnel were reported missing, army officials said in Delhi.

Two buildings of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) collapsed in the Pegong area in north Sikkim, a senior official said.

Official sources said the casualties could go up as the affected areas were in remote areas and there was not much information flowing in. In Sikkim, there were also reports of landslips as it was raining, and power supply was seriously disrupted. Mobile phone services were not functioning and only BSNL lines were working.

Several buildings developed major cracks in the State and disaster management personnel were deployed, Mr. Gyatso said.

In Nepal, three of five deaths occurred outside the British Embassy in Kathmandu when a high brick wall collapsed.

A report from Bihar said an NTPC plant at Bhagalpur was shut down immediately after the quake as a precautionary measure. In the State, the two deaths, of a five-year-old girl and a youth, occurred in Nalanda and Darbhanga districts.

Following the disaster, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and offered all Central assistance. He directed Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth to call an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority.

“The Prime Minister himself is monitoring the developments connected to the quake,” said Mr. Seth.

It has been decided to send four IAF aircraft to Bagdogra in West Bengal — two from the Hindon airbase, one from Palam and another from Kolkata — with personnel of the National Disaster Response Force equipped with all equipment.

From Bagdogra, the personnel will be taken to Gangtok by road. This is being facilitated by the Border Security Force and the West Bengal Government, an official release said.

The Army has started relief operations and a large number of civilians have been accommodated in army areas in Gangtok, Darjeeling and Kalimgpong.

After the earthquake, the Siliguri-Gangtok road has been blocked and 10 Army Engineering columns have been deployed to open it for moving rescue and relief and other engineering equipment to the region. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2465147.ece?homepage=true

Visit to the UK from 17 till 27 June 2011

On Friday June 17 I went by Eurostar to London St Pancras and from there to the house of my brother Amrik Singh in Hayes, Middlesex, just west of Southall. In the coming weeks I will post pictures of this visit. Monday 27 June I went back to Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

25 June, Rochester Station, South East Trains

25 June, Rochester Station
Back to London Victoria and from there by Underground to Paddington

25 June, Paddington Station, Chiltern Railways
These trains to Birmingham normally leave from Marylebone Station

25 June Paddington Station, Chiltern Railways
I took the First Great Western local to Hayes & Harlington

To see my UK Public Transport pictures go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157611244941713/

More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
 Man in Blue

The Tribune – Dangerous portends for SAD, despite win

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18. Despite Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s claims that the SGPC elections were a “semi-final” before the assembly elections, to be held in about five months from now, the events that took place during the SGPC elections today, must have made Sukhbir a worried man.

For the first time in 85 years, when the SGPC elections were first (1926) held, the SAD has had to face a serious opposition. The runup to the poll was neither smooth nor without resistance.

The mood of jubilation in the Akali camp notwithstanding, realisation must have dawned on Sukhbir and his father Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the assembly elections are going to be no cakewalk. For the SGPC poll, the SAD faced limited opposition (fringe Akali elements), but for the assembly elections, the opposition would be larger and stronger.

However, the SGPC elections have certainly helped the Akalis mobilise their cadres for the big fight. A momentum has been set in motion within the party, which the Congress lacks so far. The sole activity visible in the Congress camp is Amarinder meeting party men and addressing gatherings. At several places, these meetings have seen ugly intra-party feud.

What will be of concern to the Badals is not the number of votes that their candidates secured in the SGPC elections, but the number of votes they did not. The Opposition vote in these elections is extremely significant, especially in places like Gidderbaha.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110919/punjab.htm#13

Dawn – Rs 5bn raised last year still lying unused

By Syed Irfan Raza

19 September 2011.

Islamabad: The government, through the United Nations, has launched an appeal for $356 million international assistance for the people of rain- and flood-affected areas despite the fact that it has not utilised Rs5 billion collected for flood victims last year.

According to sources, the fund set up for collecting donations last year still has Rs5 billion and despite efforts made by the National Disaster Management Authority the government is reluctant to release the amount for relief and rescue operation.

Bureaucratic hitches are said to be the main reason behind non-utilisation of the funds.

When contacted, former NDMA chairman General (retired) Nadeem Ahmed confirmed that an amount of Rs5 billion not used so far was lying with the government and because of bureaucratic hitches it was not being provided to the authority to expedite its operation in the affected areas.

“I brought the issue to the knowledge of decision-makers but the funds were not released,” he said.

The government, the NDMA and the UN launched an appeal to the international community, on Sunday, seeking $33.2 million as rapid response to the disaster so that the money could be spent on water and sanitation, food and shelter.

An official said the funds collected earlier had not been released because disaster management had become a provincial subject after the 18th Amendment.

According to official figures, more than eight million people have been affected by the heavy monsoon rains and the death toll has reached 250.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the National Assembly has written a letter to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani suggesting that the NDMA should be wrapped up because of what she called its ‘poor response’ to rescue and rehabilitation needs in Sindh.

Dr Fehmida Mirza said the NDMA had not reached the flood-hit areas even a month after the disaster. “The NDMA is earning a bad name for the government and, therefore, it should be wrapped up,” she said.

She said people in the affected areas were not blaming the NDMA but the political leaders for their plight.

Mr Gilani also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the NDMA and lashed out at its chief during a visit to Nawabshah on Friday.

However, a source in the NDMA said General (retired) Nadeem had told the speaker during a meeting last year that funds were available with the government and should be spent to provide relief to people.

NDMA spokesman Irshad Bhatti said the authority was not ready to cope with the disaster this year because the meteorological department had forecast 10 per cent less rains in Sindh. “And some of the districts hit by the floods were not  mentioned in the forecast.”

The spokesman agreed that the government had made a delayed call to the international community for help and said the NDMA had provided the help it could. “We have provided 150,000 tents, 150,000 water treatment tablets, 60,000 mosquito tents and two water treatment plants to each affected district,” he said.

He said it was not the responsibility of the provincial governments and PDMAs to provide rescue and relief goods to the affected people.

“The basic duty of the NDMA is to coordinate among different stakeholders like NGOs, philanthropists and foreign donors to generate funds and their utilisation is the responsibility of the PDMAs,” the spokesman said.

Another NDMA official said that after last year’s floods some protection measures had been suggested, including raising the canal embankments at an estimated cost of Rs48 million but it had not been done and now the government had spent over Rs2 billion on rescue and relief work.

Had the suggested measures been taken, the destruction caused by the current floods could have been minimised, he said.

The official said a fund set up by Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority for the victims of the 2005 earthquake also had Rs800 million which is not being used to help the flood-affected people.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/19/rs5bn-raised-last-year-still-lying-unused.html