Sangat Sahib Gurdwara
Palki Sahib
Palki Sahib
Liefde is de weg naar het Licht
Love is the way to the Light
To see more Sint-Truiden Gurdwara related pictures go to :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157624495772533/
More Nagar Kirtan pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 24. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has said action will be taken against any Sikh leader visiting Dera Sacha Sauda. “If we receive a complaint and proof to substantiate it, we will discuss the matter in the meeting of Sikh high priests and act as per the religious code of conduct,” he said.
Meanwhile, even as Sikh organisations have been seeking action against PPP chief Manpreet Badal for visiting Dera Sacha Sauda recently, a peep into the past reveals that the Akal Takht has never acted against any Sikh politician visiting the dera, although it is a violation of its edict dated May 20, 2007, which directs the Sikhs to socially boycott the dera.
Among the leaders who had visited the dera in the past include PCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh, Gurcharan Singh Galib (Ludhiana), Sher Singh Ghubhaiya (Ferozepur), Raninder Singh (Bathinda), Jagmeet Singh Brar (Ferozepur), and Sukhvinder Singh Danny (Faridkot).
Of these, Ghubaiya is the SAD MP from Ferozepur while the remaining leaders belong to the Congress. The SAD also faced the allegation of ensuring covert support of the dera before fielding Harsimrat Kaur from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat.
Earlier, senior vice-president of SAD Gurdev Badal had said, “It is neither wrong to visit Dera Sacha Sauda nor an aberration to seek votes from this sect which has a large following”.
New Delhi, 25 November 2011. Consensus on the inclusion of Prime Minister under the ambit of Lokpal eluded a Parliamentary panel scrutinising the bill even as it prepared to circulate a draft report of the recommendations to the members in the next few days.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and Law and Justice scrutinising the Lokpal Bill on Thursday ended its internal deliberations with “broad consensus” on most of the issues, including giving Constitutional status to Lokpal.
A draft report of the recommendations of the panel could be circulated to the members as early as Monday. (PTI)
On the 13th of October the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in partnership with The EuroIndia Centre (TEIC) and the City of Leuven in Belgium organised the 5th EuroIndia City Summit at Leuven, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium. On behalf of the Indian government the conference was attended by Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development.
As most Sikhs will know Kamal Nath was one of the Congress politicians who incited the people of Delhi to kill as many Sikhs as possible in revenge for the murder of Indira Gandhi.
For more information read my column on the subject, recently published on this blog.
Pictures kindly supplied by Sara Cosemans and Sikh for Justice
Many greybeards !
On this picture you can see at least one young person
Kamal Nath Genocide
To see more Belgian pictures go to :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/
More Belgian pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 24. While the process for the constitution of the new SGPC House has begun, the ruling SAD has been keeping the cards close to its chest regarding the co-option of members.
SAD secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema said, “We have not yet decided any names for co-option and a meeting to finalise these names would be conducted a day or two prior to December 5 when the House is to be constituted.”
Cheema denied any comment when asked whether the party would stick to the old guard or there will be new faces. He, however, hinted that senior SAD leaders like Kirpal Singh Badungar and Raghujit Singh Virk would be retained.
Badungar held the top SGPC post between 2001 and 2003 and was nominated twice in the past (1996 and 2004). It would be third nomination in a row for Virk as well after 1996 and 2004. He held the post of senior vice-president in the last House.
Meanwhile, the Amritsar administration has started the preparations for the first meeting of the new SGPC House.
Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said the venue of the meeting will be decided in consultation with the Sikh Gurdwara Election Commission. The SGPC, however, hinted at the possibility of the same being conducted at Bhai Gurdas Hall, which is on the way to the Golden Temple.
The SGPC House has a total of 191 members, of which 170 are elected members. There are 15 nominated members, out of which five are from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh while the remaining 10 come from the rest of the country. Apart from these, the jathedars of all five Takhts and the head granthi of Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar, are also the members of the House.
About co-option
- Of the total 191 members in the SGPC House, 170 are elected representatives
- 15 members are nominated to the House through co-option mode
- Of these, five are from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh
- The rest (10) come from other parts of the country
24 November 2011
Police in the Indian state of West Bengal are investigating reports that senior Maoist military leader Koteshwar Rao has been killed.
They say they are “99% sure” Mr Rao, otherwise known as Kishenji, was killed in a clash with paramilitary forces.
Police are awaiting formal identification of the body before officially pronouncing him dead.
Officials say Mr Rao was one of the rebels’ most senior leaders – his death would be a major setback for them.
Home Secretary RK Singh said Mr Rao’s reported death was a “huge setback for the Maoists as he was number three in the hierarchy”.
The rebels have not commented on the reports, but pro-Maoist intellectuals have demanded that if he is dead, his body should be returned to his home town in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The reported death of Mr Rao follows the capture in 2009 of Kobad Ghandy, a top Maoist leader and ideologue, in Delhi.
Search for aide
The BBC’s Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says that photographs of the body have been sent to Maoist prisoners in jail in the city so that they can formally identify him.
Our correspondent says his 85-year-old mother is also going to Calcutta to identify the body.
Police told the BBC that he was reportedly killed in forests in the Jamboni area of West Midnapur district during an anti-Maoist operation by the security forces.
“We had been continuously tracking him for last two days. Finally we got him at Burishol forest,” an officer involved in the operation said.
He said that about 900 paramilitary troops and state policemen took part in the operation – including elite Cobra commandos who are specially trained to fight Maoist rebels.
Police said that Mr Rao’s body had been found with an AK-47 lying beside him. They also said that they had found a hearing aid nearby. It is well known that Mr Rao had trouble with his hearing.
Three other accomplices of Mr Rao were also killed, reports said.
A big gun battle is reported to be taking place in the area where Mr Rao was believed to have been killed, police say, and a search is under way for several Maoists on the run including Mr Rao’s aide, Suchitra Mahato.
Human rights groups have called for a public inquiry to prove that Mr Rao was not killed by police in a “fake” or orchestrated encounter.
Reports of Mr Rao’s death come amid intensified anti-Maoist operations in West Bengal despite the fact that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly advocated a negotiated solution through dialogue with the rebels.
Mr Rao reportedly suffered a temporary paralysis in June 2010 when a police bullet hit him in the knee.
Normally a regular communicator with the press, little was heard of him from then until January 2011 when he issued a statement saying he expected India to succumb to a Maoist revolution by 2025.
Latest estimates suggest he commanded at least 20,000 armed fighters. They are said to get most of their weapons by raiding police bases.
The rebels have a strong presence in more than a third of India’s 600 districts, and have been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country’s biggest security threat.
The Maoists are fighting for the introduction of a communist state and for what they say is a more egalitarian society.
More than 6,000 people have died in the insurgency, which began in West Bengal in the late 1960s.
