The Tribune – Sikh clergy honours Beant killer Rajoana; SGPC chief lays foundation stone of Bluestar Memorial

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 6. The Sikh high priests today bestowed the title of ‘Zinda Shaheed’ (living martyr) on Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for the assassination of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of Operation Bluestar at the Akal Takht here.

The clergy led by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh presented a plaque, a shawl, a ‘siropa’ and a sword to Bibi Kamaldeep Kaur, Rajoana’s sister, who received the title on his behalf. However, the title was not conferred in the main ceremony, but a couple of hours before it.

Similarly, in an apparent bid to avoid confrontation with “disgruntled” radical groups, the Sikh clergy and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar laid the foundation stone of the Operation Bluestar Memorial in the basement adjoining Gurdwara Thara Sahib in the Golden Temple Complex much before the main programme.

The development took many by surprise since the SGPC had on May 20 held a special ceremony for the launch of ‘kar sewa’ of the memorial. In his address, Giani Gurbachan Singh said the memorial would inspire generations of Sikhs. He also felicitated relatives of those killed in the Army operation. Among them were Isher Singh, son of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Gurmeet Kaur, wife of Bhai Amrik Singh, and Bibi Pyar Kaur, mother of Indira Gandhi’s assassin Satwant Singh.

Later, replying to a media query regarding former CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s opposition to the memorial, Makkar said, “He should not question construction of the memorial. But if he intends to, then he must first explain why he quit the Congress after the Army operation at the Golden Temple in 1984.” The Captain’s mindset has changed after he joined the Congress, he said.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh also wondered how the memorial would disturb peace in the state. “The Congress had attacked the Golden Temple and, therefore, the Captain’s criticism is neither strange nor relevant,” he added.

Differences among Sikh groups over the Operation Bluestar Memorial came to the fore today. SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjeet Singh Mann led the opposition and lashed out at the SGPC for handing over ‘kar sewa’ of the memorial to Damdami Taksal Chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa.

Addressing a gathering in front of the Akal Takht, he said the Damdami Taksal was no longer the same organisation once led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. “The Taksal today is openly conniving with the RSS, the BJP and its agent, the SAD,” he alleged.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120607/main3.htm

The Tribune – Couples await ‘gift money’

Balwant Garg, Tribune News Service

Faridkot, June 6. In times when honour killings are on a rise, a joint plan by the Centre and the state government to encourage inter-caste marriages in Punjab has run into rough weather.

Under the plan, a couple (with one partner a Scheduled Caste) opting for an inter-caste marriage is given a gift of Rs 50,000 by the Welfare Department for SCs and BCs with half of the sum coming from the Centre. The aim is to help the couple in distress.

But in the past four years, because of Punjab’s precarious fiscal condition, no “gift money” has been awarded to these couples. With the state government unable to contribute towards the “gift money”, a list of 552 eligible couples is pending with the state’s Welfare Department .

Many more such cases are awaiting scrutiny. In the absence of funds, the authorities are going slow on the matter. H S Nanda, Director, and Anjana Sadhu, Deputy Director, Welfare Department for SCs and STs, Punjab, declined to comment on the pending cases. Baldev Singh, a Kamboj Sikh of Naseerewala village in Dharamkot, who married an SC girl against the wishes of his family three years back, is among those awaiting the “gift money”.

Varinder Singh, an SC from Malout who had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in May, 2010, for police protection after he married an Arora girl, is yet to get any benefit. Hoshiarpur district leads in the number of inter-caste marriages in the state in the past three years (35) followed by Jalandhar (27), Amritsar (21), Ludhiana (18), Bathinda and Faridkot (13 each), Mansa (10), Muktsar (6) and Ferozepur (5).

Inter-Caste marriages since 2009

Hoshiarpur district 35 – Jalandhar district 27 – Amritsar district 21 – Ludhiana district 18 – Bathinda district 13 – Faridkot district 13 – Mansa district 10 – Muktsar district 6 – Ferozepur district 5

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120607/punjab.htm#2

The Asian Age – Parties divided on Bluestar memorial

Tanveer Thakur, Asian Age Correspondent

Chandigarh, 7 June 2012. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee’s (SGPC) decision to build a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar inside the Golden Temple on its 28th anniversary has divided the political spectrum as well as the public opinion of the state.

The Akali Dal-led Punjab government allowed the memorial immediately after it was voted back to power. The Akali Dal’s position on the issue is that there were hundreds of innocent people who were trapped inside the Golden Temple and lost their lives, so there is nothing wrong in building a memorial for them.

Its alliance partner BJP has so far remained silent, but insiders say the party is against such a memorial. But it will not be long before the BJP has to take a stand on this issue.

The biggest problem with the upcoming memorial is that the right-wing Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal, which was once headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, has been chosen by the Akali Dal and the SGPC to build the memorial. It is Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who, along with his armed supporters, moved into the Golden Temple complex and occupied it.

The Opposition Congress has taken a diametrical opposite view on the memorial. State Congress president Amarinder Singh has said that Punjab does not need an Operation Bluestar memorial. He said that Punjab can ill-afford to have things like a Bluestar memorial. “The impact of Operation Bluestar is still felt on the economy of the state. This kind of move will discourage investors from coming to Punjab,” he said.

Many former Armymen who were directly or indirectly involved with the operation want to avoid the issue.

According to Major General K.S. Bajwa (Retd), “The issue should be left in the past as the operation was not conducted by a foreign Army, but by our own.”

http://www.asianage.com/india/parties-divided-bluestar-memorial-658

29 April 2012 Luik/Liège Vaisaki Nagar Kirtan

Luik / Liège Gurdwara Divan Hall

Luik / Liège Gurdwara Divan Hall, Ardas

Luik / Liège Gurdwara Divan Hall, Sint-Truiden Singh

Luik / Liège Gurdwara Divan Hall
Granthi Singh carrying Guru Granth Sahib

Luik / Liège Gurdwara, Rue Saint Leonard, Panj Piaré

Guru Nanak Prakash Gurdwara
625 Rue Saint Leonard
B-4000 Liège

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 – Worried over US’ defence focus on Asia, India tells Panetta to re-calibrate strategy

Ajay Banerjee, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 6. Worried over United States’ new defence focus on Asia, New Delhi today told Washington to re-calibrate its strategy, as India fears that it could lead to increased militarisation of its neighbourhood.

The two sides also reached an understanding that will enable transfer of cutting edge defence technology to India. At a bilateral meeting, Defence Minister AK Antony today told his US counterpart, Secretary Defence Leon Panetta “to move at a pace (in implementing the new military strategy) which is comfortable to all countries concerned.” India was concerned at the eastward swing of the US, officials said.

Under its new strategy, termed as ‘re-balancing’, the US wants 60 per cent of its naval assets, including six sea-borne aircraft carriers, under its Pacific Area Command (PACOM). India is under the area of influence of the PACOM, the US perceives.

China has already termed the new US policy as “untimely.”

Sources explained that India’s worry is Bay of Bengal turning into a volatile zone. China already has a naval base in Hangyyi Myanmar, the US is seeking berthing right at Chittagong port in Bangladesh while India is based in good numbers at Port Blair (Andaman Nicobar Islands).

In the hour-long meeting, Panetta appreciated India’s move to maintain ties with Pakistan while terming the India-Pakistan and USA-Pakistan relations as ‘complicated’. “India and the US will need to continue to engage Pakistan, overcoming our respective – and often deep – differences with Pakistan”, Panetta said. Washington made it clear that it does not seek Indian troops in Afghanistan. However, it wants New Delhi to continue supporting the country through “trade investments, reconstruction and help for Afghan security forces” beyond the December 2014 deadline when international forces start withdrawing.

In a major policy shift, the US dropped its demand that India must sign two umbrella defence agreements. The Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and the Communications, Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), which had been the irritants, were not discussed today. Panetta made it clear “these are not issues anymore”.

During the discussion, Antony wanted both countries to move beyond the buyer-seller transactions and focus on transfer of technologies and partnerships. Panetta assured the Indian side that the US will facilitate technology access and sharing.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120607/main2.htm

BBC News – China and Russia-led Shanghai bloc eyes Afghan role

Thursday 7 June 2012. A bloc of Asian countries led by China and Russia is seeking a bigger role in Afghanistan ahead of Nato’s pullout.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, including the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is meeting in Beijing.

It should be involved in Afghanistan’s “peaceful reconstruction”, said Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The six countries have been joined by leaders from Iran, Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has been invited to the meeting as a guest and is due to be granted observer status. Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan are already observer members.

“We will intensify communication and coordination on key global and regional issues to safeguard common security and the development interests of member states,” Mr Hu said in comments published in state media on Wednesday.

The SCO group was formed in 2001 to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security. It was widely viewed as a countermeasure to curb the influence of Western alliances such as Nato.

The countries then began to develop co-ordinated measures to stabilise their economies and maintain growth in Eurasia through multilateral trade and co-operation.

The group is likely to discuss issues of stability and growth in Afghanistan as Nato forces prepare to pull out of the country by the end of 2014.

While it is unlikely to put forward specific plans, analysts say that economic cooperation is likely to lead the way for the bloc’s engagement of Afghanistan.

However, it is not looking to take on a military role in the country, said a Russian official.

“We are not talking about the Shanghai group assuming responsibility for security in Afghanistan,” Kirill Barsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the group said.

‘Mutual trust’

Nations attending the summit are also expected to further build bilateral ties.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is due to meet Mr Hu, as their countries are expected to sign an agreement for a ”strategic partnership”.

China could “play a very significant role in bringing Afghanistan and Pakistan together towards a cooperative environment in the war on terror and radicalism”, Mr Karzai said in Beijing.

Mr Putin will also meet his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ahead of talks hosted by Russia to seek diplomatic solutions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

China and Russia had earlier reinforced their opposition to foreign intervention in Syria and urged support for UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

Both countries have twice blocked UN resolutions critical of Damascus.

Beijing currently holds the UN Security Council’s rotating presidency, and Russia and China have long resisted pressure to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power amid ongoing unrest.

Beijing and Moscow also signed a series of political and trade agreements on Tuesday.

”China is Russia’s strategic partner. We enjoy mutually beneficial, mutually trusting, open cooperation in all fields,” Mr Putin told reporters.

Mr Putin had said ahead of the trip that he wanted to further boost booming bilateral trade, which reached $84bn (£55bn) last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18349607