Sikh man is the police commissioner of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, the first Sikh to get selected to the top police post in the Muslim-majority country.

Amar Singh, 58, succeeded Tajuddin Mohamed as the city police chief on Monday.

In his speech during the ceremony at the police headquarters, Singh said that his appointment was an honour to the minority races in Malaysia, especially Sikhs who make up only 0.16% of the police force’s manpower, New Straits Times reported.

“This also proves that the force’s leadership are colourblind in promoting its officers as well as in executing our duties,” Singh said.

Singh commended his predecessor Tajuddin for bringing the crime index down by 17.6% during his tenure as the city police chief.

Singh’s appointment was announced last month. A third-generation policeman from his family, he achieved the highest ever rank by a Malaysian Sikh. His father and maternal grandfather were both policemen.

Singh’s father Ishar Singh joined the Federated Malay States Police in 1939, a year after coming to Malaya from Punjab and was a pioneer member of the police jungle squad established during the emergency.

His maternal grandfather Bachan Singh was a constable who joined the force in the early 1900s. Amar graduated in B.Sc from University of Malaya and did his LLB from the University of Buckingham, the UK. He has a diploma in Sharia Law.

– Hindustan Times

Delaware State Assembly has passed a resolution to proclaim April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’, amidst increasing hate crime incidents against Indian-Americans, particularly the Sikhs, in the US.
A resolution was passed unanimously by both the chambers of the State Assembly — the Senate and the House of Representatives. The move was welcomed by the State Governor, John Carney, who in a meeting with the Indian-American community assured all kind of help to the community, which he said of late has been experiencing a spate of hate crimes in the US.

“We have fear mongering going on at the national level, and stereotyping…and all of that. It is an embarrassment on America as a country,” Carney told a delegation of Indian-Americans led by local businessman and community leader Charanjeet Singh Minhas.

Such kinds of attack or vandalism are “completely unacceptable,” the Delaware Governor said.

Introduced in the State Senate by Senator Brown Townsend, the resolution said Delaware stands with the Sikh community in denouncing hate crimes directed towards any individual on account of their religious beliefs.
“Since September 11, 2001, the Sikhs are often mistaken for Taliban or followers of Al Qaida, owing to the commonality of their beards and turbans, and subjected to a disproportionately high rate of hate crimes, and Sikh boys suffer bullying at least twice the national bullying rate for other boys,” it said.

Minhas said Delaware, which has a small Sikh community as compared to the other States like California, New York and New Jersey, has taken lead in showing its solidarity with the people of this ethnic religious minority. — PTI

-Tribune

ਸੰਤ ਅਤਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਜਨਮ ਦਿਹਾੜੇ ਨੂੰ ਮੁਖ ਰੱਖਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰਾ ਨਾਨਕਸਰ ਚੀਮਾ ਵਿਖੇ ਨਗਰ ਕੀਰਤਨ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਇਕ ਸਥਾਨਕ ਸ਼ਰਾਰਤੀ ਅਨਸਰ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਉਰਫ ਤਾਰੀ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰਾ ਬੜੂ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਮੁੱਖ ਬਾਬਾ ਇਕਬਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਤੇ ਕਿਰਪਾਨ ਨਾਲ ਕਾਤਲਾਨਾ ਹਮਲਾ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ| ਜੈਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾ ਖਾਸ ਮੁਲਾਜ਼ਮ ਹੋਣ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਨਾਲ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਉਰਫ ਤਾਰੀ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਰਿਕਾਰਡ ਵਿਚ ਇਕ ਹਿਸਟਰੀ ਸ਼ੀਟਰ ਵੀ ਹੈ|

ਆਪ ਜੀ ਤਸਵੀਰਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਬਾਬਾ ਇਕਬਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਦੀ ਗੱਡੀ ਤੇ ਹੋਏ ਕਿਰਪਾਨ ਦੇ ਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਦੇਖ ਸਕਦੇ ਹੋ| ਸੰਗਤ ਨੇ ਆਪ ਅੱਗੇ ਵਧ ਕੇ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਕਾਬੂ ਕੀਤਾ ਅਤੇ ਪੁਲਿਸ ਤੋਂ ਸਖਤ ਕਾਰਵਾਹੀ ਦੀ ਮੰਗ ਕੀਤੀ| ਇਸ ਪੂਰੀ ਘਟਨਾ ਵਿਚ ਬਾਬਾ ਜੀ ਪ੍ਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦੀ ਮੇਹਰ ਸਦਕਾ ਸੁਰੱਖਿਅਤ ਹਨ, ਪਰ ਸੰਗਤ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਸ਼ਰਧਾਲੂਆਂ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ ਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਰੋਕਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਇਕ ਸ਼ਰਧਾਲੂ ਤਾਰਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਗੰਭੀਰ ਤੌਰ ਤੇ ਜਖਮੀ ਹੋ ਗਏ|

A group of 28 cyclists, including a female, under the banner of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’ arrived here on Saturday evening from Delhi to help NGO United Sikhs in its ‘Rescue a Family’ project and spread awareness about significance of fitness and environment issues.

While talking to TOI, founder member of ‘Turbanators: The Pedallers’, Jagdeep Singh, said they had set off from Delhi on February 23 and traversed a total distance of 485km.

Upon reaching here, the cyclists offered thanksgiving prayers at the Golden Temple and took bath in its ‘sarovar’ (sacred pond).
Some of the participants were banned from participating in cycling event because they wore a turban. “I was disqualified from cycling in 2015 because I refused to wear helmet in place of turban. I tried to put forward my views and facts to the organizers to ensure my participation. They were not ready to accept my logical arguments,” said Jagdeep adding that despite being disheartened, he decided to take part in the event.

Under ‘Rescue A Family’ project, United Sikhs provides monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to the widows of farmers who committed suicides in Punjab, help them fend for their families and send their children to school instead of engaging them in intensive farm labour, said international legal director of Untied Sikhs Mejinderpal Kaur. She said the cyclists were from diverse fields of life including finance specialists.