495.The Man in Blue – Follow only our eternal Guru II

In Man in Blue column 494 I wrote about Guru Granth – Guru Panth, explaining  my view on other ‘granths’, and on for instance the Bible or Al Quran. In this column I will write about the Guru Granth as our leader.

On the 20th of November I was in London’s Shepherds Bush (Khalsa Jatha) Gurdwara where a Sikh Channel reporter was asking people’s views on the leadership of the panth.

The Tenth Guru told us that the Guru Granth is our eternal Guru and that the Guru Panth (those on Guru’s path) is to act under the Guru Granth’s guidance.

Jathedars without jathas are not the Guru Panth, 5 amritdhari Sikhs are not the Guru Panth and the general house of the SGPC is also not the Guru Panth.

The only time that Guru Granth – Guru Panth was practiced was during the misl period in the 18th century. The Sarbat Khalsa of those days was not perfect, but it was closer to Guru’s teachings than the present rule by the Badal Dal.

The meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa was mainly a meeting of the misl leaders. They were not Jathedars without jathas as we have today, and the misl members could try to influence their leaders or switch to another Misl if they were not happy with the leadership.

In the Sarbat Khalsa the decisions were not taken by a simple majority, serious efforts were made to get the misls as near as possible to consensus. When an agreement was reached it was called Gurmatta and it became a Hukamnama when it was proclaimed from the Akal Takhat by the Jathedar of the Budha Dal.

If we were to apply this to the UK we should have regional open forums where Sikh individuals and representatives of organisations and Gurdwaras come together to discuss Panthic issues. Decisions should be made through trying to find consensus. If there are serious conflicts, the opposing groups should constitute mutually agreed Panj Piaré to mediate between them.

The regional forums would send delegates to an UK forum, and the UK forum would send delegates to a global forum that could meet anywhere where it is free from political interference. This rules out India as it is now.

In countries with fewer Sikhs you could have just one national forum, or you could have for instance a Scandinavian or a Benelux forum. These forums acting under the guidance of the Guru Granth can only ‘rule’ those that accept their authority.

Guru Nanak wrote: ‘Truth is high, and higher still is truthful living’. People taking part in these forums should follow the Guru’s teachings of truthfulness, compassion and humility. Me, me, me should not be on the agenda.

Afghan Sikh Heroine & 2011 UNESCO Prize laureate Senator Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar

Anarkali Kaur modern day “Mata Bhago Kaur”  

France: Afghan women’s rights campaigner is the winners of a United Nations award recognizing her outstanding contributions to the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, the UN announced.

Anarkali Kaur, defender of the rights of women and minority groups in Afghanistan received the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence, was honoured in a special ceremony on 9 December 2011 at the agency’s headquarters in Paris.

Ms Honaryar is honoured for her work helping women who suffer from domestic abuse, forced marriages and gender discrimination and for her commitment to promote the ideals of human dignity, human rights, mutual respect and tolerance in her country.

After the parliamentary elections of 2010,  Anarkali Kaur became the first non-Muslim woman member of Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament.

Watch her YouTube interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDSpPYyEDSk

The Tribune – Black flags shown to PM; A handiwork of Akalis: Captain

G S Paul, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 1. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh has condemned the showing of black flags to the Prime Minister at the Golden Temple here today.

He said it was not only unfortunate but highly condemnable that the holy place of Golden Temple was used for a protest at the behest of Akalis.

The PCC president said the episode seemed to be a handiwork of the disgruntled and frustrated Akali-BJP leadership that wanted to gain cheap publicity. He said some protesters, who were Akali-BJP workers, had reached there in the garb of devotees. They had not only shown disrespect to a devout Sikh (the Prime Minister), but also violated the sanctity of the Golden Temple.

He said the Team Anna had already distanced itself from the protest, which clearly meant that the incident was stage-managed by the Akalis.

“It was simply a handiwork of the Akalis for seeking cheap publicity to make a handful of people to waive black flags to the Prime Minister using the name of social activist Anna Hazare,” he said.

“The common Punjabi feels hurt and upset over the incident as it has not brought any good name to Punjab. Only the Akalis who have already lost the battle could be expected to stoop so low to use a holy place and sacred occasion for scoring petty political points even if it meant violating the “maryada” (of the Golden Temple) in the process,” he said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120102/main2.htm

The Asian Age – Hurriyat moderates ready for talks, but not in vacuum

Yusuf Jameel, Age Correspondent

Srinagar, 2 January 2012. The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference and other like-minded Kashmiri separatists are willing to hold a dialogue with the Centre but on Sunday sought to make it clear that “talking about talks in vacuum”, a critical reference to Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s latest statement on new possibilities in the restive state, was “unacceptable”.

Mr Chidambaram had, on New Year’s Eve, said that the channels of communication with some of the separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir were open and there was a possibility of negotiation with them in the New Year if they came forward for dialogue.

“As far as talks with the separatists groups in Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, we are always open to talk to them.

It is not that the channels of communication with some of them have entirely cut off. These channels are still open and it is possible that some of them will agree to come forward for talks in 2012. If they are ready for talks, we are ready for talks,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Reacting, Kashmir chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said, “We are not, and were never, against holding talks to seek an amicable solution to the Kashmir problem. But we have said it before and reiterate today that talks ought to be meaningful and result-oriented. Unfortunately, we have had bitter experience with them… they have never shown seriousness in this matter nor do they seem to be sincere.”

The Mirwaiz also reiterated that the Hurriyat Conference was not interested in holding talks for the sake of talks and cited instances when the Centre, according to him, failed to come out with positive responses to the proposals and suggestions made by the amalgam towards confidence building in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the amalgam had given a four-point proposition that included demilitarising the state, the repeal of “black” laws, including the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act and the Public Safety Act and the release of political prisoners, to make a forward movement on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

“The home minister is publicly talking about getting rid of the AFSPA but the Army says it is against such a move.

There are other minor issues over which the disagreement within the government and various official agencies is wide open. How will they evolve consensus for the resolution of Kashmir issue?” he asked.

Elaborating on the Centre’s “failures” to address the issue, another senior amalgam leader, Prof. Abdul Gani Butt, said: “We’ve seen in the year 2011 that the government has been only talking about talks in vacuum.”

http://www.asianage.com/india/hurriyat-moderates-ready-talks-not-vacuum-050

November visit to UK 14/11 till 21/11; many pictures of trains !

19/11 – New Dockland Light Rail service from Stratford International to Canning Town
Looking at high level District Line and 2C2 platforms

19/11 – Eastbound 2C2 train just arrived at West Ham station
Due to works there was no District Line service to/from West Ham and I took a 2C2 train to Fenchurch station instead

20/11 – Hayes, Jaswinder Kaur, mother-in-law 

 20/11 – Hayes, Jaspreet Kaur, daughter-in-law

To see more 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 – A series on government performance: Youth; It’s a long queue to education, jobs

With little growth in private jobs, government employment remained the only option. Skills the youth possess are not what the industry needs, and private higher education is beyond the rural students’ reach. Result: rampant unemployment, drug addiction.

Ruchika M. Khanna, Tribune News Service

India pins much hope on its young demographic profile, expecting to take on the world with cutting-edge human resource, but Punjab — once at the forefront of development in the country — has failed to capitalise this asset.

In fact, the condition of the youth has become a blot of sorts on the state, which has earned the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of unemployment and drug addiction in the country, besides witnessing mass migration of youth to greener pastures abroad.

Though the unemployment or underemployment has more to do with the near collapse of the once-robust economy of Punjab, successive governments in the state have also failed to provide any fresh avenues for jobs by attracting large industrial investment.

The only jobs on offer for the young in recent years have been in the government sector, where the numbers are too few to count.

With the education system in the state — school, college, technical as well as university education — failing to keep pace with the needs of the industry, most big industrial houses in Ludhiana and Jalandhar have been unable to find the required skill sets among Punjabi youth. The majority of them thus hire their workforce from outside the state. It is not uncommon to find Punjabi youth with degrees in engineering or business management accepting clerical jobs in private companies.

Though not sufficient, the government did make efforts towards developing the education sector, facilitating the opening of three new universities. It set up 13 new colleges in backward and rural areas, besides other institutes.

Several welfare schemes, such as the Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme, were also introduced to promote education among girls, who were also given bicycles in Classes XI and XII to contain their dropout rate. However, not much was done to improve the course curriculum either in schools or colleges.

While there are no verified figures available, it is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the youth in the state are unemployed or underemployed. The number of unemployed youth is put at 25 lakh. There is also a large population of people who are past the age of being called “youth”, but are still unemployed.

This huge chunk of young and restless unemployed population is also considered to be a factor behind social ills such as drug addiction and the practice of seeking dowry.

SAD manifesto check

Promises kept

- Vacancies in government sector filled.

- Opening of higher-education institutes such Indian Institute of Technology (Ropar) and Indian School of Business (Mohali) facilitated.

- Promotion of sports by building stadiums, encouraging games such as kabbadi to keep youth off drugs.

- Colleges opened in rural and backward areas.

Ignored 

- Foreign collaborations for quality education for joint degrees in various courses.

- Education for employment in the IT sector through bridge courses in rural areas.

- Training in latest skills to semi-employed workers and youth.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120102/punjab.htm#5

Dawn – Restrictions on aid — new year US gift to Pakistan

Anwar Iqbal

Washington, 2 January 2012. In a move dubbed by the media as “a new year gift to Pakistan”, US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that could suspend a large chunk of the $1.1 billion military aid to the country.

The suspension is part of a massive $662 billion defence spending bill which President Obama signed on Saturday evening despite having “serious reservations” about some of its provisions.

“The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it,” Mr Obama said in a statement issued by his office. “Provisions in this bill could interfere with my constitutional foreign affairs powers.”

Mr Obama said he signed the bill chiefly because it authorises funding for the defence of the United States and its interests abroad and for vital national security programmes.

“As Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief, (I) will oppose any attempt to extend or expand them in the future, and will seek the repeal of any provisions that undermine the policies and values that have guided my administration throughout my time in office,” he said.

But there seems to be a bilateral consensus in the US Congress over the provision that seeks to suspend up to $850 million from the Pakistan Counter-Insurgency Fund.

The fund, however, can be released if Secretaries of State and Defence report to Congress that Islamabad is making progress in the war on terror and is cooperating with the US in curtailing the use of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.

IEDs are manufactured from fertilisers produced in Pakistan and smuggled to Afghanistan and are one of the major factors responsible for the death of American troops in that country.

In his comments on the bill, President Obama also cited limits on transferring detainees from the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and requirements he notify Congress before sharing some defence missile information with Russia as problematic.

The bill, approved by Congress last week after its language was revised, also slaps new sanctions on Iran aimed at reducing its oil revenues but gives the US president powers to waive penalties as required.

This provision could also affect Islamabad’s effort to build the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline as it places new restrictions on dealing with Iran’s central bank.

The US wants Pakistan to explore alternative routes, such as building a pipeline from Turkmenistan, to meet its gas needs.

Pakistan fears that the situation in Afghanistan does not allow an early construction of this pipeline while its needs are urgent as its own gas reserves have been shrinking fast, leading to widespread gas shortages affecting its industry and daily life.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/02/restrictions-on-aid-new-year-us-gift-to-pakistan.html