Filton College Bristol – Sikhs on campus : The way of the soldier saints

Sikh chaplain Javinder Singh and his ‘victim’

Sikhs on campus is an introduction to and celebration of the Sikh faith. The event was held for the second time at the Filton Campus on Tuesday 24^th April 2012 at 12:25 – 13:10, in the campus’ Studio Theatre.

Sikhs on campus was presented in three parts: ‘Kirtan’, ‘Gatka’ and ‘Langar’.

The presentation, led jointly by Javinder Singh (College Sikh Chaplain) and Harjinder Singh (‘The Man in Blue’), was attended by about 60 students, staff and guests.

The chaplaincy team is particularly grateful to Harjinder, an internationally recognised Sikh scholar and one-time Sikh Chaplain at Heathrow Airport, for travelling from his home in Belgium to be with us for this event.

• Kirtan – devotional music. Listen to the Japji Sahib video and to the Sikhs on Campus 2009 video to gain an appreciation
  Japji Sahib video :
  ttp://www.filton.ac.uk/chaplaincy/ch02/SikhsOnCampus.html 
  Sikhs on Campus 2009 video :
  http://www.filton.ac.uk/chaplaincy/ch02/SikhsOnCampus.html 
• Gatka – swordplay, martial arts and meditation. View the BBC video from the Baba Fateh Singh Gatka Akhara for an insight into its practice and meaning.
  Baba Fateh Singh Gatka Akhara video :
  http://www.filton.ac.uk/chaplaincy/ch02/SikhsOnCampus.html
• Langar – the food provided without charge at every gurdwara to all who seek sustenance, irrespective of religious faith or background. In our case this took the form of a deliciously spicy vegetarian rice dish!

Visitors to the event were able to try on a turban, inspect a display of Sikh religious artefacts, obtain explanatory literature and to familiarise themselves with the 5Ks.

The Man in Blue showing pictures of Singh & Kaur

Further information is available from the College Chaplaincy.

Sikh Women Video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7FYRuQcMyI

Chief-Chaplain Paul Smith

Anything to do with Sikhs almost always includes sharing food

The Tribune – Gurdwara near Miri Piri to house Operation Bluestar Memorial

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 14. Even as the countdown to the start of Operation Bluestar Memorial’s “kar sewa” on May 20 has begun, it has come to light that the memorial will be in the form of a gurdwara for which the left wing of the building located right next to Miri Piri at the Golden Temple Complex has been allocated.

The Damdami Taksal, whom the SGPC has assigned the task of raising the memorial, and other Panthic groups had been demanding a site near the Miri Piri, contending that it would be a “befitting location” as the then chief of the Taksal, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, “attained martyrdom” near the Miri Piri.

Earlier, there were reports of the SGPC allotting a site near Gurdwara Thara Sahib for the memorial. Sources, however, said the two sites (the one near Gurdwara Thara Sahib and the other near the Miri Piri) could be interlinked at a later stage in case of an expansion plan as they share a common wall.

The site near the Miri Piri has three floors with two rooms each. At present, The Guru Granth Sahib has been installed in its ground floor. The sources revealed that a gurdwara would be set up on the first floor of the building, while the ground floor would be utilised to acquaint the visitors with Operation Bluestar. The second floor may be used to showcase gold plates of the shrine, “bir” that bears a bullet mark and other such items to commemorate the Army operation. The gurdwara is likely to be named “Gurdwara Shahid Ganj Sahib”.

However, the exact nitty-gritty of the memorial will come to the fore after some time as right now Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh is in the process of developing the idea. He has been consulting Panthic personalities and experts to finalise the shape and design of the memorial for the past few days. He, however, has expressed his intent to preserve Maharaja Sher Singh Deodhi, located opposite the Miri Piri, as it bears bullet marks of Operation Bluestar.

SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar confirmed that the memorial would come up in the left wing of the building near the Miri Piri.

He said there would be a gurdwara while they would finalise the exact details of the memorial over the next two-three days.

He also said the site might be interlinked with the under-construction structure near Gurdwara Thara Sahib in future.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120515/punjab.htm#5

The Tribune – Prompt police action foils bid to abduct 2 sisters

Our Correspondent

Jhajjar, May 14. Swift action taken by the police today foiled an attempt to abduct two teenaged sisters at Kherka Gujjar village here.

The police not only apprehended both kidnappers near Mundakhera village located on the border of Delhi and Haryana but also recovered the girls.

Devender Dangi, PRO of the Jhajjar police, said the incident took place when Nikki (15) and her younger sister, Mamta (13), were going to their school this morning. “As both sisters reached near the school, Ravi and Paramjeet of Dulhera village who were waiting for them there, overpowered and bundled them into a car. On hearing the girls’ screams, someone informed the Police Control Room and the police immediately launched a search operation.

Dangi said the police took over an hour to nab the accused after locating their car in the Bahadurgarh area and rescued the girls. Later, both girls were handed over to their kin after getting their medical examination done at the Civil Hospital in Bahadurgarh.

The accused would be produced before a court tomorrow.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120515/haryana.htm#9

The Hindu – Pakistan rethinking on NATO supply lines

Anita Joshua

Islamabad, 14 May 2012. As negotiations with the U.S. over reopening NATO supply lines through Pakistan entered an ‘either-or’ phase with the West obliquely linking it to an invitation for next week’s Chicago conference on Afghanistan, Islamabad on Monday hinted at a readiness to “move on” and “continue to be a facilitator” in the global war on terror.

Refusing to give a direct answer on whether the NATO supply lines would be reopened, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the media that Pakistan wants to continue to be facilitator and an enabler; not a blocker. Maintaining that the objectives of Pakistan and NATO are identical, she sought to underline the fact that cooperating with the predominantly Western alliance involved more than just the U.S. but also some of its closest friends like Turkey.

Though she came for the press conference directly from a high-level meeting at the Presidency where the civil and military leadership put their heads together to evolve a response to the toughening postures of both the U.S. and NATO vis-à-vis the supply lines and financial assistance to Pakistan, Ms. Khar refused to divulge details on what transpired. However, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said there would be clarity on the issue within a couple of days.

Even with the U.S., Ms. Khar’s submission was that things were not as bleak as is being portrayed. “Both sides believe that we are currently in a positive atmosphere of dialogue trying to resolve rather than build on the issues.” Further, according to her, the world must realise that for 10 of the 12 years that Pakistan has been facilitating the war on terror, NATO supplies were allowed to move through the country into Afghanistan gratis. Only over the last two years, a nominal amount was being charged.

Given the criticism within the country regarding aligning with the U.S. in the war on terror, the Minister clearly made an attempt to change the narrative in the country by stating that “if you want to bracket Pakistan as a facilitator of the international community, then that is the right spot where Pakistan belongs in”.

Partnership approach

Referring to Parliament’s recommendations for engaging with the US, Ms. Khar said: “It is a big yes to the partnership approach”. Also, now that Parliament has spoken in favour of engagement, it has shown that those who were against aligning with the war on terror were just fringe elements as majority of the people wanted to fight terrorism.

Both Ministers were dismissive of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council — which has been spearheading protests against NATO supply lines — and Mr. Kaira went to the extent of suggesting that even protests against drone attacks were more in Punjab than in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas which bear the brunt of the Predator visits.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3418975.ece

Sint-Truiden – Brussel – Bristol vv 19/04 – 25/04 2012

On the 19th of April I went to Vilvoorde with giani Manjit Singh (Italy wala) and on the 20th I travelled from Vilvoorde to Bristol via Brussel and  London. I returned from Bristol to Sint-Truiden on the 25th of April.

Vilvoorde, 19 April – Giani Manjit Singh taking rest

Vilvoorde, 19 April – Small Divan

Vilvoorde, 19 April – Big Divan

Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji
14 Lange Molen Straat
B-1800 Vilvoorde, Vlaams Brabant

Vilvoorde, 20 April – On my way to Bristol

To see more Belgium and Netherlands gurdwara pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622147381380/

More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – High Court halts construction around Sukhna; Jolt for Tata’s Camelot project, others as court moves to save Chandigarh’s skyline

Saurabh Malik. Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14. Tata Camelot’s ambitious plan to raise skyscrapers in the vicinity of Sukhna Lake has run into another legal hurdle. Taking up the Save Sukhna case, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Punjab, Haryana and the Chandigarh Administration to not just stop construction activity in the lake’s catchment area, but also demolish, without notice, any construction being carried out against the high court mandate.

“We direct Punjab and Haryana as well as the Chandigarh Administration to put their enforcement agencies in action and construction activities going on in the catchment area as per the map of the Survey of India should be stopped immediately; and any construction raised in violation of the directions issued by the court be demolished without issuing any notice,” the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Alok Singh ruled. The development is significant as the Survey of India map says Camelot project is in the catchment area.

The high court has already taken on record the map prepared by the Survey of India defining the catchment area falling in Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana. As per the map, villages of Kaimbwala and Khuda Alisher in Chandigarh, Nayagaon and part of Kansal in Punjab and parts of Saketri and Mahadevpur in Haryana form part of the catchment area. The Camelot site, located in Kansal village, falls in the Sukhna catchment area.

Otherwise also, amicus curiae or friend of the court Tanu Bedi has all along been insisting that Tata Camelot housing project would affect the fragile catchment area of the lake.

Going into the background of the controversy, the Bench asserted: “In the order dated March 14, 2011, directions were issued to restore the old glory of the lake by observing that no housing colony or building activity took place in the catchment area, either within the forest area or agriculture area. We have been apprised that despite the direction, construction activities are going on….

“Both the states, as well as the UT, shall submit their report with regard to the violation of the directions issued in the order dated March 14 last year and the action taken against the violators”.

The Bench asserted that the minutes of a meeting on the Save Sukhna issue reveal that the Survey of India map has been accepted in principle by the UT Administration.

But Punjab has adopted an “unacceptable attitude and is still making submissions that the map is unacceptable”.

The Bench added the state had endorsed the authenticity of the map during the proceedings of another petition. “Now, it cannot go back on the stand taken,” the Bench ruled.

The Bench further observed that it did not feel the necessity of experts’ sub-committee to prepare a fresh map. “The Administration shall give wide publicity to the catchment areas as depicted in the map prepared by the Survey of India and adopted by the UT Administration as the map of the catchment area so that the general public is made aware that no construction is permitted in the area,” the Bench concluded.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120515/main1.htm

Dawn – US “not impressed” with India’s efforts to cut Iran oil buys: envoy

New Delhi, 15 May 2012. The United States is not impressed with India’s efforts to cut its oil imports from Iran, a top US diplomat said on Tuesday, throwing into doubt whether New Delhi would be given a waiver from US financial sanctions before a June deadline.

As a major buyer of Iranian crude, India is crucial to US efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy until it agrees to curb its nuclear program, which the United States and other Western nations suspect is a cover to build atomic weapons.

The issue has become an irritant in ties between India and the United States.

Carlos Pascual, the US special envoy who has been negotiating with Iranian oil importers to cut their imports, met Indian foreign ministry officials on Tuesday.

“We are not too impressed today,” Pascual said when asked by Reuters how likely India was to get a waiver. Pascual was speaking before meeting the foreign ministry officials.

“We’re really going to talk about the broad developments of global energy. How we work together on these issues. It’s a great relationship,” he said.

The United States in March granted exemptions to Japan and 10 European Union nations. India and China, Iran’s biggest crude importer, remain at risk.

Washington has held up Japan as an example, saying it had cut imports despite having suffered an earthquake and tsunami that crippled its Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Japan cut volumes by almost 80 per cent in April compared with the first two months of 2012. The cuts, amounting to 250,000 barrels per day, are the steepest yet by the four Asian nations that buy most of Iran’s 2.2 million bpd of exports.

India’s crude oil imports from Iran declined by about 34 per cent in April compared with March, tanker discharge data showed last week.

Washington has not stated specifically what cuts it expects from each country, only that they must be substantial.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaned on India last week to cut its imports of Iranian oil further, and said Washington may not make a decision on whether to exempt New Delhi from financial sanctions for another two months.

Clinton, who was on a visit to India, said the United States was encouraged by the steps its ally had taken to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil, but that “even more” was needed.

http://dawn.com/2012/05/15/us-not-impressed-with-indias-efforts-to-cut-iran-oil-buys-envoy/