The World Sikh News – After Lakhimpur Kheri, next stop Shillong, as poor Sikhs face relocation

Published two months ago – Jagmohan Singh

Since the first at­tack on poor Sikhs in 2018 in Shillong, when an attempt was made to torch their houses and overawe them, followed by concerted media badgering of Sikhs by local leaders, under state patronage of the BJP-coalition government.

The World Sikh News has been exhorting Sikh leadership across the board to take keen and consistent interest to save the beleaguered Sikh residents, who made Shillong their home more than two centuries ago in the now-named Punjabi Lane area, still shamelessly officially called the Sweeper’s Colony road.

WSN editor Jagmohan Singh repeats the plea of wide-ranging Panthic participation and protest across India to save the habi­tat of the Shillong Sikhs.

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://www.theworldsikhnews.com/after-lakhimpur-kheri-next-stop-shillong-as-poor-sikhs-face-relocation/

The Tribune – Harjinder Singh Dhami is new SGPC president

Dhami, a Badal family loyalist, is a member of the SGPC from Sham Chaurasi segment of Hoshiarpur district

Amritsar – Panjab – India, 29 November 2021.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee honorary chief secretary Harjinder Singh Dhami on Monday became the new president of the apex religious body of the Sikhs.

Dhami succeeded Bibi Jagir Kaur as the president of the SGPC.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had on Monday announced Kaur as party candidate from the Bholath Assembly seat in Kapurthala district for the polls.

To read the full article click on the link below :

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/harjinder-singh-dhami-is-new-sgpc-president-344264

BBC News – ‘Rampant’ violence against Sikh women highlighted in report

Published 6 days ago

“Rampant, hidden” violence against women and girls from the Sikh community has been highlighted in a new report.

Of the 674 people who responded to the survey, 70% saw themselves as survivors of domestic abuse.

Only a third of victims had previously disclosed incidents, the “stark” report by Sikh Women’s Aid found.

There was an “urgent need” to stop their “casual victimisation,” said the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales Dame Vera Baird.

One in seven of the respondents said they had experienced sexual abuse as a child, which was a “shocking statistic,” said report co-author Sahdaish Pall from the Birmingham-based organisation.

One victim described being sexually abused at the age of seven by a grandfather, another was raped by “multiple family members.”

A third described being groomed by an older cousin: “He wanted to be a good husband to his future wife and practise on me.”

The prevalence of emotional abuse was also highlighted with one contributor describing her marriage to an Indian man as a “lifetime of slavery and mental abuse.”

The report said many common themes were highlighted by respondents:

• Lack of awareness on long-lasting impact abuse has
• Alcohol and drink as contributing factors
• Emotional and psychological abuse being commonplace
• Lack of belief ‘in the system’
• Police failings and ‘not being believed’
• Support services not responding
• Homophobia and lack of support for the LGBTQ Sikh community

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-59375954

The Print – Pakistani mob burns down police station over ‘blasphemy’. It just takes an allegation

Several local leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, a Deobandi Sunni political party, staged a demonstration demanding punishment for the accused.

Tenzin Zompa

Charsadda district – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Pakistan, 29 November 2021.

In yet another violent attack over rumors of blasphemy in Pakistan, a mob torched a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda district Sunday after police refused to hand over the man allegedly accused of desecrating the Quran.

According to the Mandani circle DSP Ishaq, the accused is “mentally unstable and he cannot speak” and has been taken to an unknown location.

Many Twitter users in Pakistan, including politicians, journalists, and activists, condemned the violent act. While human rights activist Salem Javed claimed that the incident occurred due to the “systematic Islamisation of the country”, a former parliamentarian pointed out “what a mere allegation of blasphemy can do in Pakistan”.

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/pakistani-mob-burns-down-police-station-over-blasphemy-it-just-takes-an-allegation/773775/

The Telegraph – Honour killing: Casteism not annihilated even after 75 years of independence, says Supreme Court

The Apex Court notes according to Dr B R Ambedkar, inter-caste marriage is one remedy to get rid of casteism in order to achieve equality.

New Delhi – India, 28 November 2021. Incidents of caste-motivated violence show that casteism has not been annihilated even after 75 years of independence and it is high time civil society reacts and responds with “strong disapproval” about the ghastly crimes committed in the name of caste, the Supreme Court has said.

The apex court, which delivered its verdict on a batch of pleas in a 1991 Uttar Pradesh honour killing case, in which three persons, including a woman were killed, said it had earlier issued several directions to authorities to take strong measures to prevent honour killings.

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/honour-killing-casteism-not-annihilated-even-after-75-years-of-independence-says-sc/cid/1840972

The Tribune – Prove allegations: Navjot Singh Sidhu to Sukhbir Badal

Akalis afraid of ED – trying to divert attention

Amritsar – Panjab, 27 November 2021. PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu today dared SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to prove that he ever met the DGP, then Inspector General who gave a clean chit to Akalis, while continuing his tirade against his own government.

During a visit here, Sidhu announced he would leave politics if his meeting with the DGP was proved. He called the then IG a blue-eyed boy of ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini. He stated this while reacting to Sukhbir’s statement in which he had alleged a plot against senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/prove-allegations-pcc-chief-343535

Eastern Eye – Network of fake social media profiles targeting Sikhs exposed

Pramod Thomas

New Delhi – India, 25 November 2021. A network of fake social media profiles of people claiming to be Sikhs and promoting divisive narratives, which included 80 accounts, has been exposed, the BBC reported.

A new report has identified these profiles and have now been suspended, the report added.

The network used accounts across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to promote Hindu nationalism and pro-Indian government narratives.

According to the report’s author Benjamin Strick, the target was to “alter perceptions on important issues around Sikh independence, human rights and values.”

The BBC report, however, added that there is no evidence linking this network directly with the Indian government.

To read the full article click on the link below:

Network of fake social media profiles targeting Sikhs exposed

Scroll.in – Former government officers criticise statements against civil society by Modi, other top officials

In an open letter, 102 former civil servants noted that the civil society is being demonised and held in the same category as terrorists and insurgents.

Scroll Staff

New Delhi – India, 28 November 2021. A group of 102 former civil servants on Sunday wrote an open letter to Indian citizens, criticising recent statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high-ranking officials about the country’s civil society.

“These portents indicate a deliberate strategy to deny civil society the space and wherewithal for its operation,” the letter said.

The signatories, under the Constitutional Conduct Group, include former civil servants Anita Agnihotri, Gurjit Singh Cheema, AS Dulat, KP Fabian, Wajahat Habibullah, Harsh Mander and Mira Pande.

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://scroll.in/latest/1011614/former-government-officers-criticise-statements-against-civil-society-by-modi-other-top-officials

The Asian Age – Indore cleanest city for 5th time in row in Centre’s annual cleanliness survey

Second and third positions in the cleanest city category of the Swachh Survekshan Awards, were secured by Surat and Vijayawada, respectively.

Indore – Madhya Pradesh – India, 20 November 2021. Indore was adjudged India’s cleanest city for the fifth time in a row in the Central government’s annual cleanliness survey, the results of which were announced on Saturday.

The second and third positions in the ‘cleanest city’ category of the ‘Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021’ were secured by Surat and Vijayawada, respectively.

Varanasi has been the adjudged the “cleanest Ganga town” in the survey announced by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Chhattisgarh has been adjudged India’s cleanest state. President Ram Nath Kovind gave away awards to winners on Saturday

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/201121/indore-cleanest-city-for-5th-time-in-row-in-centres-annual-cleanliness-survey.html.

The Tribune – Farm Stir anniversary: Movement of women’s emancipation, says Bhagat Singh’s niece

Aparna Banerji – Tribune News Service

Jalandhar – Panjab – India, 26 November 2021. On 18 January, when Mahila Kisan Diwas was being celebrated at the Delhi border, Gurjit Kaur, the 68-year-old niece of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, led a “jatha” of 150 women from her Ambala Jattan village in Hoshiarpur to the Singhu border.

On the diwas, she along with women from Ambala Jattan, Mangarh, Garhdiwal villages among others stood holding a poster of her uncle. As the farmers’ protests completed a year today, Gurjit again marked the occasion by participating in a march through the streets of Singhu.

Gurjit is the daughter of Bibi Parkash Kaur, sister of Bhagat Singh, who died in Toronto on September 28, 2014. From time to time, she has led “jathas” from her village and its periphery to Singhu.

To read the full article click on the link below:

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/farm-stir-anniversary-movement-of-womens-emancipation-says-bhagat-singhs-niece-343223