The Tribune – marriage act row; Jathedar does a volte-face; Now, supports changes being made in marriage Act

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 17. Taking a U-turn on the issue of a separate Sikh marriage Act, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh today said the amendments being made in the Anand Marriage Act 1909 to facilitate registration of Sikh marriages were “absolutely legitimate”.

Addressing mediapersons to clear the air on the issue today, the Jathedar said the Anand Marriage Amendment Bill 2012 should be passed in Parliament and subsequently implemented at the earliest. He also appreciated the measures taken by various Sikh leaders and organisations for getting the Bill to this stage.

He attributed his support for the amendments in the Act to the fact that “a majority of Sikhs feel that these should be passed in Parliament”. He said an expert panel constituted by the SGPC had also voiced its full support to these amendments. He said all the Sikh leaders should rise above party lines to ensure that these are passed. He said a committee comprising Sikh intellectuals and legal experts would be set up if need of any further amendments was felt in future.

The Jathedar clarified that he had also opposed the proposed move of sending the draft of a complete Sikh marriage Act prepared by Khalsa College principal Dr Daljeet Singh directly to the Prime Minister while contending that any such draft should be routed through the SGPC. He said earlier too, a few drafts of the ‘Sikh Personal Law’ were prepared and if more amendments were needed in future, all these drafts will be utilised suitably. On the issue of divorce, he said the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’ (code of conduct) did not allow divorce, though re-marriage may take place under special circumstances.

Asked whether the Sikh clergy would consider changing ‘rehat maryada’, he said only the “Sarbat Khalsa” could do it. The change in the Jathedar’s stand came after SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar met him in Ludhiana yesterday. The duo later even issued a joint statement supporting the amendments in the Act.

Earlier, the Jathedar had rejected these amendments when he wondered as to how Parliament could pass it without the consent of Sikhs while talking to the media after a seminar organised by Chief Khalsa Diwan on Tuesday.

Though the SGPC and DSGMC took a conflicting stand on the issue, the move was hailed by outfits like Dal Khalsa and American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120518/punjab.htm#5

The Tribune – SGPC’s no to admissions & jobs to ‘patits’

As long as you do not shave or cut your hair you qualify, a Gursikh jivan is not required – Man in Blue

Amritsar, May 17. The SGPC has decided to strictly implement its norms to ensure that only ‘Sabat Soorat’ Sikhs (with untrimmed hair and beard) are given admissions and jobs in all SGPC-run institutions.

SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said they will strictly implement the norms from the coming academic session and will not allow ‘patits’ (apostates) to take admission in SGPC-run educational institutions. Similarly, he said, a Sikh with unshorn hair will be given priority while recruiting staff in various institutions, including educational and medical, being run by the SGPC.

The move is aimed at promoting Sikhism at a time when Sikh youth are going astray. The SGPC runs around 100 schools and degree colleges, besides one medical, one dental, two engineering and three polytechnic colleges and a university. (TNS)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120518/punjab.htm#4

The Asian Age – In LS, PC strikes Bhojpuri chord

Asian Age Corresponden

tNew Delhi, 18 May 2012. For a minister who is hesitant to speak in Hindi since it is not a language he is comfortable with, Union home minister P. Chidambaram sprung a surprise on Lok Sabha MPs on Thursday when he uttered a sentence in Bhojpuri. It was a gesture that won the home minister, whose mother tongue is Tamil, applause from both fellow MPs and Speaker Meira Kumar.

“Hum rauwa sabke bhavna samjhatani (I understand everyone’s sentiments)” is what Mr Chidambaram told a number of agitated MPs in the House who were demanding inclusion of the Bhojpuri language in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution.

The sentence had reportedly been penned in English for the home minister by fellow Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam. It is a sentence he uttered twice to the delight of other MPs.

Though spoken with an anglicised accent, just the fact that the minister had attempted to speak a few words in Bhojpuri appeared to disarm the MPs, many of whom had stood in the aisle next to the front row to push for the cause of Bhojpuri. It is a language spoken in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Speaker Meira Kumar, herself an advocate of the Bhojpuri cause, remarked: “I have never seen him speaking in Hindi but he has spoken in Bhojpuri. He has expressed the hope that he will come back with good news. I hope he will come back soon.” The issue of Bhojpuri’s inclusion in the VIII Schedule came up during a calling attention moved by three MPs — Jagdambika Pal (Congress), Shailendra Kumar (SP) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD). All three made a feisty cause for the inclusion of Bhojpuri in the VIII Schedule.

In his response to the strong espousal of Bhojpuri, Mr Chidambaram said that the MPs had “made out a very strong and powerful case for inclusion of Bhojpuri language in the VIII Schedule”. He added, “I am at a disadvantage. I wish I could have replied, at least, in Hindi. Now, let me say in Bhojpuri that ‘hum rauwa sabke bhavna samjhatani’”.

http://www.asianage.com/india/ls-pc-strikes-bhojpuri-chord-789

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

On the 19th of April I went to Vilvoorde 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. 

21 April – Bristol, river Avon, Marina

21 April – Bristol, river Avon, Marina

21 April – Bristol, river Avon, Marina

21 April – Bristol, river Avon, SS Great Britain

To see more UK pictures :

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157627296796095/

More UK pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – BJD, AIADMK push for Sangma as President

Bhubhaneswar/Chennai, May 17. Injecting a new element in the Presidential race, regional parties BJD and AIADMK were today first off the bloc when they announced their joint support for former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma but his own party NCP distanced itself from his moves.

Chief Ministers of Odisha and Tamil Nadu, Naveen Patnaik and Jayalalithaa, who have lately come together on issues of federalism and met last week in Chennai, announced their support to the 65-year-old tribal leader from north-east.

“I think Mr Sangma ought to be candidate for the highest post for the Rashtrapati Bhavan,” he told reporters in Bhubhaneswar, adding he has had discussions with Jayalalithaa on the issue.

Shortly later, the AIAIDMK chief issued a statement in Chennai saying her party has decided to support the candidature of Sangma for the highest office after “due consideration”.

Recalling Sangma’s May 15 meeting with her, Jayalalithaa said he “not only belongs to a tribal community but is also eminently qualified to be the President of our great nation.”

Sangma, who has been campaigning for a tribal President, thanked the two parties for the decision but NCP chief Sharad Pawar pleaded ignorance about the development.

“I am not aware of any such development. Sangma has not spoken to us. We have had no discussions. We feel that with such a limited strength, we cannot aspire for such a major post,” Pawar told PTI.

Sangma himself said he was not lobbying as an NCP leader but in his personal capacity.

This is the first announcement by any political parties to back a particular candidate for the Presidential polls scheduled in July. There has been raging speculation that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may be elevated as President by Congress though it has not officially declared its stand.

The BJP has also yet to take a stand though its leader Sushma Swaraj had said it would oppose a Congress candidate.

Parties like Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BSP and Left parties are also playing a wait and watch game while informally some of them have indicated they have no objection to either Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari if Congress chooses to pick one of them.

When asked whether he will support any other tribal candidate, Sangma said he was not the only tribal who could be president. “Any one tribal. It can be (Tribal Affairs Minister) Kishore Chandra Deo, Arvind Netam (Congress), Kariya Munda (BJP)…it has to be a tribal this time.”

Sangma, however, said Mukherjee, who is considered a front-runner for the ruling UPA’s candidature, is “very highly qualified” for the post but said there are other qualified people and insisted that President this time should be from among tribals.

“I am very happy about it and I am extremely grateful to both the leaders (BJD’s Naveen Patnaik and AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa).

They have been very responsive to our (tribals) aspirations. So on behalf of tribals in India, which is more than 100 million, I would convey my sincere thanks to them,” he said.

He also appealed to other parties to follow suit and support the tribal cause.

In this case, he said, he was not representing NCP but the whole tribals.

“In our group there are MPs and MLAs and former MPs from all parties…I have spoken to Kishore Chandra Deo and he has said we should fight for our cause, why not? So we are all one. There is nothing like A, B or C political party,” he said.

“We belong to different political parties but we belong to tribal community. We are representing tribal community,” he said.

First clear-cut stand

This is the first announcement by any political parties to back a particular candidate for the Presidential polls scheduled in July. The BJP has also yet to take a stand though its leader Sushma Swaraj had said it would oppose a Congress candidate.

The Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BSP and the Left are also playing a wait and watch game.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120518/main2.htm

BBC News – River Avon possible site for Bristol Hindu ashes

Most Sikhs still insist to bring the ashes to Kiratpur, although this is neither supported by Gurmat nor by the Rehat Maryada – Man in Blue

Thursday 17 May 2012. Bristol’s Hindu community may be able to scatter the ashes of loved ones in the River Avon in future rather than travelling to India’s River Ganges.

The city’s new Lord Mayor Peter Main said providing a consecrated site was one of his first priorities.

Parag Bhatt, from Bristol Hindu Temple, said it was difficult for a big family or elderly relatives to travel to India.

The Environment Agency and Bristol City Council are trying to identify a site.

Mr Main said: “It’s their tradition to scatter ashes on water and quite often now they’re flown back to India to do that.

“They’re Bristolian, most are born and bred in Bristol, why shouldn’t they have somewhere in Bristol to scatter their ashes?”

‘Large costs’

Mr Bhatt said there were currently about 10,000 Hindus in Bristol and the surrounding area.

But he added: “It’s not just the Bristol Hindu community that’s going to benefit, it will be other communities like the Sikh and Buddhist as well.

“The only reason we take them to the Ganges is because they don’t have a place in Bristol or nearby where they can disperse the ashes.

“If there are elderly people in the family it can be difficult and if it’s a large family you’re going to incur large costs as well for flights.

“It’s just a matter of making it easier for the family who has just lost a loved one.”

He explained that after a cremation Hindus wait for an auspicious day to go to a riverbank and scatter the ashes.

‘Body purified’

“When the ashes are dispersed within the water the ashes actually dissolve and then they will meet one of the rivers Hindus refer to as holy.

“Somewhere in the world they all meet together so the meaning behind it is the body would be purified and after that the individual soul will go to heaven and to God.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said it was helping to identify one or more suitable sites.

“We have no objection to it, subject to meeting some simple conditions,” he said.

The agency’s website states that if a site is in regular use it needs to assess if there is enough water to disperse the ashes, if anyone is using the river just downstream and and that other river users are not going to be affected.

Scattering ashes in British rivers is not new. The River Soar in Leicestershire and the River Thames in London are already used.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-18102020