A CALL TO ACTION

I have heard nothing of this either in the Canadian media (currently obsessed with the Olympics) or the American media (as always, obsessed with America).  I did find this collage of news stories on YouTube.



I am annoyed. Why has not some unilateral action been taken by the Sikhs? These shaheeds are our brothers, this is our fight. We are absolute idiots if we expect satisfaction either from the government of Pakistan or from our dear friends in the government of India.

Truthfully, I expect nothing of the Akal Takht or the SGPC, but where is Damdami Taksal and Hazoor Takht. They boast of their weapons and their Sikh spirit. They kill innocent goats for their "Tilak of Blood," but seem as unwilling as the rest of the Sikhs of the region to actually do anything.

Do I have to jump on my winged horse and fly to Punjab and rally the troops myself?! I certainly hope not, as I have no winged horse and with my partially paralysed vocal chords can hardly speak above a whisper. 

 Earlier, I wrote

 THE SIKHS ARE BACK!!!

I pray I am right.

As a lone individual with grave physical disabilities, there's little I can do myself. 


 
I ask my sisters and brothers to rise up as one to end this menace once and for all. Let us forget our differences and stand united against these earthly demons and handle the situation as our forefathers and foremothers would have.

We can always go back to our infighting after the battle is won.

First published in Sikh Philosophy Network. 

Wings courtesy of rubyblossom

Slumdog Sikhs

I received this letter from IHRO today. Please read the letter and watch the video. Before going any farther, let me say I know nothing of this particular group. They seem legitimate. I do know that the conditions that our sister and brother Sikhs are living in are disgusting. I also know that we are, on the whole, a wealthy community and have the resources to alleviate these subhuman conditions.

Beyond that...idols in the Gurudwara Sahib? A lizard running across Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji? What they state at the end is absolutely true. Moist eyes will accomplish nothing. Action must be taken. I leave it to you, my dear ones to choose what action you will or won't take.

The letter:

Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa Waheguru Jee Ki Fateh

SLUMDOG SIKHS - A DOCUMENTARY ON THE PLIGHT OF SIKHS IN DELHI
Video Link: Watch Video

A study, conducted by SHS representatives, on Sikhs living in Delhi’s Sultanpuri Area has found that nearly 100% per cent of Sikhs of the area live here in sub-human conditions.
The plight of Sikhs of the area is presented through this documentary. Kindly visit the link below. Your suggestions are welcome. For any details contact info@sikhbusinesspages.com


Also Visit us at : Sikhs Helping Sikhs

We need volunteers to work on this project, so please come forward and help these Sikhs. Till now we have got a committment from various individuals and organisations for sponsoring 110 children in the area. We also have commitments from some individuals for reconstruction of Gurudwara Sahib.


"Save Life.. Register at www.Blood4All.co.in"
Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa Waheguru Jee Ki Fateh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM1s4CJ5-pQ

--

HOW TO TELL A SIKH FROM A TALIBAN, ILLUSTRATED EDITION

Before I start, let me say that in writing about the Taliban, I am not indicting the Muslim community, which has many good, upright adherents, some of whom I am honoured to include among my friends. Please do not construct anything I say about Taliban to apply to the millions of Muslims who are peaceful, constructive and valued citizens of countries all over the world.

Do to a certain shallow, outward physical resemblance to some Muslim extremists, our Sikh community has been under attack since the 9/11 terrorist attacks by those who don't know any better. Now events in Pakistan, where the Taliban has attacked the Sikhs of the SWAT Valley, forcing them out of their homes, make a comparison of the two groups mandatory for anyone who really wants to understand world events. (And to stop picking on innocent Sikhs, as well.)


First, what exactly happened in Pakistan? The government there has effectively turned over control of a region in the north of the country, the SWAT Valley, over to the Taliban. In a region of this valley called Orakzai live - or rather lived - a few Sikh families. These were poor Sikh farmers who had lived in peace with their neighbours for generations, who had chosen to stay in Pakistan when most Sikhs left to move to India in the Partition of 1948. These are people with few material resources who clearly love their homes and simple way of life.




These were destroyed when the Taliban demanded that they pay a tax on non
Muslims, called a Jaziya. I have read that jaziya was originally paid by nonMuslims in lieu of military service. I have also read that it was originally a financial inducement to convert to Islam. Whatever the original purpose, in this instance, it is clearly simple extortion, not unlike "protection money" paid by business owners to organised crime to insure that the Mob will leave their businesses alone.

The amount demanded by the Taliban, was beyond the means of the community and when it was not paid, the houses of the Sikhs were razed and Sikh businesses were occupied. The Sikhs, seeing yet another massacre looming, fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and a few meager possessions.

In summary:

Lahore: The Taliban has expelled at least 50 Sikh families from the
Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after
they failed to pay 'Jazia'. The Taliban had demanded 12 million rupees ($242,840, GBP 161,271)
as protection money from the Sikhs, who have living in the region from
hundred of years, but they could arrange only 6.7 million rupees.($135,586, GBP 87,355)

Later, it was reported that the extremists occupied houses and shops
of the Sikhs in Qasim Khel and Feroz Khel areas of the Agency and
auctioned their valuables for 0.8 million rupees ( $16,190, GBP 10,750), The Daily Times
reports. Earlier, the Taliban had also demolished houses belonging to
the Sikh community in the region.

The Taliban's Orakzai Agency chief Hakeemullah Mehsud ordered the
demolition of the houses after the Sikhs failed to meet a deadline
fixed for payment.

Having established, I hope, that Sikhs are not Muslim extremists, who then are Sikhs? Briefly, a Sikh is a follower of Sikhi or Sikhism, a panentheistic (look it up!), monotheistic religion that originated in Punjab, in what is now northeastern India and southwestern Pakistan. Rather than summarise the beliefs, which is really beyond the scope of this article, I suggest you go to about.Sikhism and look around. It's interesting and educational.
The religion sprung up and developed at a time when Mughals (Muslims) had imposed a brutal dictatorship on the people of part of what is now called "the Asian subcontinent," that is India and Pakistan. I will now compare some aspects of Taliban and Sikhs.
Since people are generally more visual than verbal, I have included a picture gallery of major differences between the two groups below.
There is a certain superficial physical resemblance. The men of both groups grow beards and wear turbans. The majority of members of both groups are brown. The Taliban, however, are by and large Arabs, with Middle Eastern origins.   I stand corrected.  The Taliban are, by and large Pushtans of Afghan origins.  Although there is a growing number of Sikhs of European and African descent, most Sikhs today are still either
Punjabis or descendants of Punjabis.

Taliban discriminate against women in many ways: imposing Muslim dress which completely covers her, denies her education, restricts her movements so she is not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a male relative. (I wonder what happens to a woman who has no male relatives?)
Sikhi teaches that men and women are equals. In fact, the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Sikh Code of Conduct - forbids a woman to cover her face.

Here is an example of Sikh music, a sort of hymn called a kirtan. Notice that it has a happy sound and is a joy to hear! Also notice that it is sung by a woman!
.

I cannot give an example of Taliban music, since the Taliban ban music entirely, even to the point of killing songbirds when they controlled Afghanistan.
I cannot give a current example of Sikh government, since the Sikh Empire (1799-1849) governed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh is no longer around. However, two big differences between Sikh rule at that time and Taliban rule now are that capital punishment did not exist in the Sikh Empire, while it is common among the Taliban. And a huge difference, different religions were not only tolerated in the Sikh Empire but were actually respected, while the Taliban not only lack respect or tolerance for other religions, but also condemn all other forms of Islam, their own religion.
But enough of words. I have written enough to tell about the differences, now a few pictures to show the differences.

Note: Should anyone wish to reproduce this post, I will be happy to send you the html to make it easy for you. Just leave your e-mail in a comment or e-mail me at simayanan [at] gmail [dot] com. MHK

Hair, Hair and Hairs

I had published this post in my personal blog, sometimes - 2, thinking it a bit too light for this blog. However a couple of readers of both blogs have suggested that my Khalistani readers might also enjoy it.

It has been suggested that it might even give nonSikhs a little insight into our attitude about hair. I don't know about that. This is just my experiences and my thoughts. Anyway, after dead children in Gaza, murdered girl-foetuses in Punjab (and elsewhere) and all that is wrong in India, maybe we Khalistanis need a little relaxation..

So here goes:


My husband is again annoyed at all the money I spend on my hair. I think this is normal. Women do tend to spend a lot of money on their hair.

I was discussing this with a friend online. What are the things most women do to their hair? Straightening, I mean, relaxing, perming, weaves, braids, extensions, all kinds of styling and, of course, cuts.






She said that she spends about $100.00 a month at the salon, in addition to home care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, gels, mousse, sprays and a weekly deep conditioner. That can easily add up to another $50.00 per month. Then there are brushes, combs, ties, and ornaments. I am going to disregard them, as I have no way to approximate that.


My expenses are somewhat less. In twenty years of marriage, I have been to a salon - not even one time. Wait, I was in a salon once. I'll tell about that later. I have never used or paid for the services of a salon even once. Well, once...I'll tell that story, too..

Given those figures, the average American woman would have spent about $36,000.00 over twenty years.

My expenses are somewhat less. I buy only three products for my hair: shampoo, conditioner and hair oil. Although I refuse to use that hair garbage from the dollar store - it makes my hair, which is very dry, break off and my scalp itch - I do not use the expensive salon items. I buy what is on sale at the local grocery/drug store. Shampoo and conditioner cost about $7.00 each for a bottle. One bottle will last me about a month. Hair oil, even imported from India is not expensive. The kind I usually use costs about $6.00 a bottle and lasts a couple of months. But let's say, I use a bottle a month. That all adds up to to $20.00 per month. Over twenty years, that adds up to a grand total of $4,800.



That means I have saved us about $31,200 over the twenty years of our marriage. I'd say I'm quite a bargain!

About that trip to the salon. A friend asked me to meet her there. With some misgivings, I agreed. I do not think any keshdhari Sikh could possibly feel comfortable in such a place. (For my nonSikh readers, being keshdhari means following the distinctively Sikh practice of leaving the hair unshorn and in its natural state.)

I am keshdhari. Going to a hair salon felt a little like going to a brothel. Interesting, a bit disgusting, quite daring and very uncomfortable. I was very much out of place, rather like a lioness at a dog show.

I first noticed the smell. A hair salon smells a bit like a chemistry lab without fume hoods. Ammonia seemed to predominate, along with some smells I couldn't identify. Someone had lit some incense, I suppose to cover up the noxious odours. It didn't work. Both my nostrils and my eyes were assaulted and I felt vaguely sick to my stomach.




The sights that met my eyes were a bit shocking. I mean, I know what goes on in these places, but to actually witness it! Here were all these women, all seemingly having a good time, mutilating their hair in various ways with these toxic chemicals. I could almost hear their tortured hairs screaming out in agony. And on the floor lay strands and strings of amputated hairs of all sorts of colours, some natural, most dyed. All dead.







My friend was in another room, but the receptionist recognised her name when I asked her. I left a note asking her to meet me at a near-by coffee shop and got out of that chamber of horrors. That was maybe 15 years ago; I have not been in one since.


I will be honest. Many years ago, while married to Mani, I did go to a hair salon for a service. I took it into my head that I wanted to get my hair professionally conditioned. I think mostly I was curious at exactly what went on in there. I found out.

I explained that I just wanted a deep conditioning. As this was in Montreal, of course it was all in French. I'll spare you and write in English. The young woman who was to serve me had bright blonde hair of an improbable shade puffed around her face to make her head look very round. She approached me. saw my neat bun and reached up to take out my kangha. I let out a yelp and fastened it to a sort of string around my neck. Jeanette - I don't remember her name, but that seems appropriate - loosened my hair which fell and fell and fell. She actually let out a little gasp and said she'd never seen such long hair. There was no approval in her voice; in fact her tone was accusatory. She picked up the ends of it and with several hmm, hmm, hmms, examined them closely "Virgin hair," she murmured.. "You have split ends. I'll have to trim them off before it can be properly conditioned."


"You'll do no such thing. Cut a single hair and I'll have your," I caught my breath and choked back the obscenity that had been on my lips, "cosmetology licence."

"Do you belong to some weird religious cult or something that won't let women cut their hair?"

"Or something," I growled. "And men don't cut their hair either."

"Well, you should break free and become your own woman." She picked up her scissors. "Long hair is really not becoming on you with that long neck. You have such a high forehead, you really need some cute bangs. You really need a sexy new hair style. Let me help you get free from all " - she held up my precious kesh - "this."

I admit that I sprang out of the chair and got out of there fast. I suppose she still thinks that I came from some strange cult and had inadvertently wandered into the Twentieth Century.

After that I conditioned my own hair - or rather Mani and I did each other's hair, which was not only safer, but also a lot more pleasant.

I have one more thought about long hair. I once watched on The Oprah Winfrey Show, an episode that greatly disturbed me. A bunch of women - and one man - with very long hair were to get makeovers. The main point was to cut off that awful, old-fashioned, ugly, long hair. Give these people a modern, "sexy" look. I admit they did look very different, but BETTER? Not in my opinion. I had the same reaction I have when someone suggests I'd look better if I wore make-up. I always respond,"Better? No, just different." The man went from a strong, masculine man with a full beard and mustache, and hair as long as - although not as healthy - as a keshdhari Sikh to a somewhat girlish metrosexual. I did not like at all.






At least the shorn hair was donated to Locks of Love, a charity that makes human hair wigs for children who have lost their hair, usually as the result of cancer treatments. A worthy cause.



Now, in case you are thinking that these Sikhs are a bit daft with this whole hair thing, allow me a brief explanation. We believe that our Creator knew what it was doing when it made us and we couldn't be more perfectly made. We have hair for a reason, in fact, several practical reasons which I am not going into right now. Even if we could find no practical reason for hair, the fact is that Akaal Purakh (God) gave us a gift of our hair and it is for us to gratefully accept and cherish this gift. (Of course, there's more to it than that, but I think that'll be enough for a start, eh?)

If we still seem a bit daft to you, that's OK. We don't mind. Most of us anyway.

WHY TRY TO FIT IN? YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

More Thoughts Of A Sleepless Night

As I write this, I have just gotten back from my daily walk, in fact I am still breathing heavily. A strange walk today. The naam-jap just refused to come, so I turned on my wrist radio - and the earbuds kept falling out of my ears. Then I stumbled over the body of a dead crow. (Death is easier than life.) I started remembering last night and a brilliant thought came to my mind: Why not a post for the Khaliblog?

So here you are.

Another sleepless night. Nothing worked. I tried muscle relaxation, I tried soothing music, I tried warm milk. I could have taken an Ambien, but I hate intoxicants, so I laid in my bed and thought about the day.

A friend had suggested to me that I'd drive anyone not into heavy-duty Khalsa-ing crazy. Really, though, off-line I do have a fairly normal life where I rarely talk about Sikh stuff. After all, Sikhi is something to do, not really something to talk about. Sikhi is a verb.

So what is being a 24/7 Sikh (is there any other kind?) all about. To begin with, it starts with what seems to be two polar opposites, the saint and the soldier, the sant-sipahi thing, closely related to the miri-piri thing. The sant-sipahi seems to have an almost Taoist flavour to it. "The good soldier is not violent. The best soldier acts without anger." No anger, no hatred. To unite the sant and the sipahi is incredibly difficult.

And it doesn't stop there. There is a third element. We are supposed to do this while living a normal life!. No monastery, no convent, no escape from the world for the Sikh. Instead pray, earn an honest living, give to charity, all while attempting to be that sant-sipahi thing. I wonder if anyone - aside from our Guru Jis, of course - have ever succeeded at this. I wonder what success in this for an ordinary Sikh, an ordinary Khalsa would look like. Well, we are supposed to do our best.

At this point, restless, I get up and walk around the house a bit. The pain in my knee only wakes me up further. I sit in the freezing cold living room and turn on the radio to "random tuning." Guru ji uses the voice of The Eagles to ask me, "If it all fell to pieces tomorrow, would you still be mine?"

And I think that being a Sikh means not just taking my life to the limit, but then, living in the limit, metaphorically, at least. (You engineers reading this know what I'm talking about.)

Then I hear Stephan Stills off the Four-Way Street Album (1970). "But if we can't do it with a smile on our face, if we can't do it with love in our heart, then children, we ain't got no right to do it at all. That just means we ain't learned nothing yet. We're supposed to be some sort of different. Dig it! Dig it!"

And when you're looking for your freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can't find the door
(Can't find it anywhere)
When there's nothing to believe in
Still you're coming back, you're running back
You're coming back for more

So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

All pictures from Charles Meacham's series, Being Sikh. If you would like to see more - and I hope you do - go to his website, Charles Meacham Photographs, click on 'Galleries,' and go to 'Being Sikh.'

Hallowe'en and Sikhs - Again.

Last year I wrote about my dislike of Hallowe'en. That has not diminished over the last year. If you don't know about Hallowe'en, what it is, what it's all about I suggest you check out last year's blogpost about Hallowe'en..

Here is an excellent article about Sikhs and Hallowe'en by Harjinder Singh.

Halloween & The Sikhs

Harjinder Singh

http://www.akaalpublishers.com/

Halloween is a global festival which is cheerfully celebrated with kids trick or treating, people mocking and gimmicking ghosts, ghouls, goblins and demons. For Sikhs on the other hand Halloween carries a real grave significance, of real ghouls and demons, who massacred Sikhs in October and November 1984.

On Halloween, 31st October 1984, Indira Gandhi the Indian Prime Minister was assassinated. (Mai's note: executed) What followed her death was inhumane, depraved and despicable, some call it genocide others ethnic cleansing, I"ll let the readers decide what they feel. The world silently turned a blind eye to these events and rather mourned the death of Mrs Gandhi.

Sikhs were burnt alive, raped, made refugees, murdered on mass, Gurdwaras attacked and Sikh businesses singled out for attacks. All this happened in what Sikhs at the time saw as "mother India." What was the crime of these Sikhs? What had they done to bring out the demons of Halloween?

The bodyguards of Mrs Gandhi who assassinated (Mai: executed) her, were Sikhs, so the orchestrated carnage was planned to "teach the Sikhs a lesson." These children, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers and grandparents had no link to the Sikh assassins. In the times of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee, Guru Jee saw the destruction of the Mughal ruler Baabar and said,

There was so much slaughter that the people screamed. Didn't You feel compassion, Lord? O Creator Lord, You are the Master of all. If some powerful man strikes out against another man, then no one feels any grief in their mind. But if a powerful tiger attacks a flock of sheep and kills them, then its master must answer for it. This priceless country has been laid to waste and defiled by dogs, and no one pays any attention to the dead (Limb 360, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee)

These words ring true of what happened to Sikhs across India following Mrs Gandhi's death, to the extent that Guru Sahibs words above aptly describe the attacks on these common, everyday Sikhs. Sikhs were brutally and clinically attacked in cities across India, Delhi, Kanpur, Patna and the list goes on, over 10,000 Sikhs died between 31st October - 3rd November, 1984, many more refugees lived on with nightmares of what they witnessed.

Hitler killed the Jews in gas chambers which were in secret locations but in India Sikhs were killed in public. The Jews have pursued Nazis for these genocidal acts, today the culprits of Sikh genocide walk free, let's try and achieve some justice. Let's remember these Sikhs and support the surviving families and widows, so the pain of Halloween can be lessened. Please see the links below to start making practical steps in this endeavour;

Genocide of Sikhs: http://www.carnage84.com/
http://www.witness84.com/

Films: http://www.amuthefilm.com/

Human Rights: http://www.lfhri.org/ � Lawyers for Human Rights International

Books: Government-organised Carnage, by Gurcharan Singh Babbar

Events:
Candle Light Vigil, 12pm - 7pm, Wednesday 5th November, 2008
Chamberlain Square, Birmingham
http://www.boss-uk.org/

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN? YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

Defending Jagdish Tytler?

Yesterday I received a most remarkable comment on an old blog post, More On Mr. Jagdish Tytler. I will share it with you here and ask for your feedback, please.

Puneet has left a new comment on your post "More On Mr. Jagdish Tytler":

I don't know if anyone realizes this but Jagdish Tytler is really a Sikh. His mother was Dayal Kaur and father was a Kapoor.
His father had died when he was a baby and Tytler helped rear him, hence the name. Jagdish has gone to Gurudwaras his whole life and as an ode to his mother he got married in a Gurudwara by a Granthi. He would never dream of harming a Sikh because he loved his mother dearly.
Things got so twisted in 1984 and it was a case of mistaken identity. People made up stories out of rumors. He is a Sikh by blood.

I responded thus:

This is a most remarkable and controversial comment, so much so that I am going to write it up in a separate post, which I hope to get up later today. Here, I will only say that the only people who are "Sikh by blood" are our shaheeds. While one can be blessed to be born into a Sikh family, no one is born a Sikh; that is a choice, a decision. Being a Sikh is not genetic.

So...what do others say about Jagdish Tytler? From my research, whatever his mother may have been, he is no more a Sikh than was his master, Indira Gandhi. I still wish to see him dangling at the end of a rope.

After we dispose of these criminals, I'll be a good little Sikh and oppose the death penalty. No, maybe I won't. I'll be against it except for crimes against humanity. I will have to allow that one exception.

K P - Gill Tells Who He Is

I came across this story through a Google Alert and just had to share it with you.

He implies that our kakkars are "lucky charms" and says point blank that they are "just a matter of personal belief"! And at the same time he seems to believe that he is a personal agent of "God." Spiritually, he seems to be a close cousin, or maybe even a clone of George W. Bush. By the way, I did not doctor the picture; I took it straight out of the TOI.

I suggest you read this on an empty stomach.

Printed from



I AM: KPS Gill
12 Oct 2008, 1030 hrs IST, TNN



I really don’t know if I’m spiritual, for I am not cast in a traditionally religious mould. As a Sikh I revere Guru Gobind Singh, but I don't observe “paath” or prayers as an everyday ritual.

I am rather a very action-oriented person and unless I can apply something in my life, I don’t consider myself qualified enough to talk on that subject. But yes, I do believe in God and the fact that all of us are His creation. I don’t pray very particularly or visit temples regularly, but do what I feel is right as per my conscience because I feel our soul has direct communication with God.

During the days of extremism in Punjab, where I was posted as the police chief, it would be no less than a personal bereavement for me to see people around me dying everyday. I have seen despair and disappointment from very close quarters; it was so disheartening to see men and women like you and me falling victims to bullets. But somewhere inside me, I had this conviction that God had sent me to a terror-affected place with a purpose and He will give me enough power to root it out someday.

I faced death everyday, but not once did it to scare me. In fact, there was a time when every move made by my team yielded positive results and it was then that my belief became stronger that the Supreme Being himself was guiding me at every step.

Even though we were later accused of committing excesses in the name of stamping out terrorism, it didn’t waver my faith in what I did, because it was He who made me do what He wanted me to. I believed, therefore I did. I have read the Guru Granth Sahib, the Bhagvada Gita, Quran and the Bible and realised that the basic tenets of every religion are the same. So it's really very difficult to understand how people can fight in the name of religion.

Whatever set of beliefs I have today have been a result of my upbringing - not just my parents, but also the places and circumstances I was brought up in. My father served at Paonta Sahib, the place that is associated with Guru Gobind Singh. In fact, it was because of an inherent desire to follow the Guru that I have kept a beard. I don't wear any lucky charms. The five Ks, as mentioned in the Sikh religion, had a purpose to serve at the time they were conceptualised; today, they are just a matter of personal belief. Right now, I am trying to help people around me through small but meaningful ways.

(As told to Divya A)