David Cameron has donned an orange headscarf as he visited a Sikh Gurdwara. The Prime Minister took along his wife, Samantha, who was celebrating her 44th birthday, for the visit to the temple in Gravesend, where they joined around 3,000 worshipers on a parade to celebrate the Vaisakhi festival.

He told the audience the Vaisakhi festival was a “big, bold” sign of their devotion.
“I wanted to make sure Downing Street was part of this too, and I’m proud to be the first Prime Minister to host a Vaisakhi reception at Number 10,” he added.

It is not the first time Mr Cameron has visited a sikh temple. In February he met worshippers at the Gurdwara SahibTemple in Leamington, Warwickshire.

And in 2013 he visited the Indian holy site of the Golden Temple of Amritsar, where he stopped short of fulfilling the Sikh community’s demand for an apology over the 1919 massacre of nearly 400 civilians at the hands of British soldiers.

~ Source: dailysikhupdates.com

मैं इसके साथ नहीं जाऊंगी…। यह मुझे मार डालेगा…। मौत से कुछ घंटे पहले महंत इंदिरेश अस्पताल सामने सड़क पर लोगों के बीच बिलखते हुए लखविंदर यही कह रही थी।

रिश्तों के भंवर में फंसी लखविंदर को समाज से मदद की उम्मीद थी, लेकिन लोग पुलिस पर जिम्मेदारी छोड़कर किनारे हो गए। लोगों की सूचना पर पुलिस के दो जवान तो आए, मगर मदद करने के बजाए समझौता कराकर चले गए। पुलिसकर्मी यदि लखविंदर को कानूनी सुरक्षा देते तो उसकी जान बच जाती।

हरिद्वार में कथित तौर पर जलाकर मारी गई विवाहिता लखविंदर की मौत के लिए जितना दोषी उसका पति और परिवार है उससे कहीं अधिक पटेलनगर थाने की पुलिस है। पुलिस वालों से लखविंदर बार बार कह रही थी उसका पति उसकी हत्या कर देगा। वह उसके साथ नहीं जाएगी, लेकिन पुलिसकर्मियों यह कहकर पल्ला झाड़ लिया कि यह घरेलू विवाद है। आपस में सुलह कर लो।

हरिद्वार जिले के रानीपुर थाना क्षेत्र के औंरगाबाद निवासी गुरमीत की पत्नी लखविंदर कौर को सोमवार रात जली अवस्था में दून के कोरोनेशन अस्पताल में भर्ती कराया गया था, जहां उसकी मौत हो गई।

मुजफ्फरनगर के गांधी कॉलोनी निवासी लखविंदर के परिजनों का आरोप है कि गुरुमीत दून में रहता है। सोमवार रात को विवाद के कारण लखविंदर पति की चलती बाइक से कूद गई थी। महंत इंदिरेश अस्पताल के सामने वह काफी देर तक अपने बचाव के लिए लोगों से मदद की गुहार लगाई थी। मौके पर लोगों का जमावड़ा भी लग गया था।

लखविंदर पति के साथ जाने को तैयार नहीं थी। आरोप है कि हंगामे की सूचना पर इंदिरेश अस्पताल स्थित पुलिस चौकी के सिपाही आए थे। पुलिसकर्मियों ने लखविंदर की आशंका को गंभीरता से नहीं लिया।

दोनों को बातचीत की नसीहत देकर चलता कर दिया। परिजनों का आरोप है कि यदि उस समय पुलिस कार्रवाई करती तो लखविंदर की जान बच जाती। हालांकि, पटेलनगर पुलिस का कहना है कि यह आपसी विवाद था।

एंड्रॉएड ऐप पर अमर उजाला पढ़ने के लिए क्लिक करें. अपने फ़ेसबुक पर अमर उजाला की ख़बरें पढ़ना हो तो यहाँ क्लिक करें.

~ Source: dehradun.amarujala

Students could learn how to tie a turban during the Sikh event Tie-A-Turban Day on Tuesday on the University Center Mall.

MavsGoGreen and the Sikh community at UTA held a Tie-a-Turban event to create awareness about the Sikh religion and the significance of the turban on the Central Library mall April 14.

The turban signifies sovereignty, dedication, self-respect, courage and piety for Sikh followers, as stated by the Sikh Coalition. Gurkamal Deep Singh, computer science graduate student, said the Sikh community at UTA spent the afternoon tying turbans on students and talking to students about the Sikh religion to help create awareness about their culture.

Nearly 25 million people worldwide, and approximately 500,000 people in America, practice the Sikh religion, making Sikh the fifth largest religion in the world, according to the Sikh Coalition.

Ravneet Singh, computer science graduate student, said about 99 percent of people who wear turbans in America follow the Sikh religion. He said the Sikh community on campus wants to help the UTA community learn more about the religion and not confuse it with extremist groups.

“There have been attacks on Sikhs. They have been thought about as Taliban, so we wanted to spread more awareness,” Singh said. “This is our culture and this is our values. How are we different?”

Sukmbir Singh, computer science graduate student, said it’s becoming more of a choice for followers to choose to wear a turban, and not all followers wear one. He said men have the surname Singh, meaning lion, which derives from the ancestors being warriors, and women carry the surname Kaur, meaning princess.

Singh said the Sikh religion was formed out of Hinduism to protect the innocent. With corruption within the Hindu caste hierarchy, Sikhs turned to the teachings of Guru Nanak rejecting religious formalism in favor of hard work necessary to maintain a community’s needs.

~ Source: www.theshorthorn.com

2015 Senior Freestyle Champions were crowned at the ASICS Junior / Senior Canadian Wrestling Championships, at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, after athletes fought hard to earn the opportunity to represent Canada internationally as national team members and in Toronto at this summer’s Pan American Games.

Quite a few South Asian wrestlers won medals. In the senior championships, one among them was Gurjot Kooner (Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club – BMWC) won the silver medal in the 125 kg weight category.

The 2015 Championships saw Canada’s senior champions crowned in eight men’s and eight women’s weight-classes, with great competition supported by an appreciative Brock University crowd.

~ Source: voiceonline.com

This is an afternoon raaga.
Guru Nanak Dev ji

Ang 721
I am so hungry for Your blessed vision…I beg at Your door day after day.
Also followed by…I am a beggar at Your door….please bless me with Your charity….

So this painting was an effort to visualize …… to imagine being at the door of the Divine…being hungry for the blessed vision. At this beautiful door….it is a hopeful scene for me ….since the door is partially open …..hopeful because of the possibility of my prayer being heard…..the bright light on the other side of the door is suggestive of the Divine light.

~ Dr. Navjeet Kaur

Ideally this raag is sung in the autumn.
Guru Ram Das ji guides us …

Ang 719 …..

The Lord’s humble servant sings the praises of The Lord. Even if someone slanders the Lord’s servant he does not give up his own goodness

So for this painting my thoughts were about the wheel of life …. That cycles through the ups and downs with the joys and challenges of life. The Guru’s message is to help me keep my mind in equipoise in all situations/circumstances….it is a challenge….trying to keep my mind in equipoise in all situations… It is still it is very much a work in progress for which I seek the Guru’s grace.

I would like to share my perspective ….that in each of our minds ….that within each of us is the power and capacity to be vengeful, hateful, vengeful vs the capacity that each of us has to be grateful, love full, blissful. The Guru’s words guide us to never give up our goodness within despite the circumstance.

Gurbani gives us the courage to garner the strength within to be in equipoise ….guide to keep my mind still in all of life’s situations.

~ Dr. Navjeet Kaur

The ideal time to recite this raag is in the morning hours.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji

Ang: 713:
Know that power, wealth and pleasure are like shadows of trees….running after them in different directions, these pursuits are useless. Except for The Lord’s name… everything else is transient.

Intuitively this painting was to be about trees and shadows as well as a path through the forest.
I am lost in this forest of worldly distractions …..lost in the world of power, wealth and pleasure….. these thoughts surround me like trees in a forest…but there is also a path in the forest…..the path is the Guru’s guidance. I ask for the courage to stay in faith ….to stay on the path…… And to stay in devotion.
The light seen on the far side of the trees is suggestive of the divine light.

~ Dr, Navjeet Kaur

This is an evening time raaga.
Guru Arjan Dev ji guides us …

Ang 701:
The company of the holy is like a boat to ferry me across the world ocean.
Also followed by …I cross the world ocean when I come in company of the holy.

Let me share my thoughts about this painting….
The evening time sky above, a solitary figure sits in the boat….
the boat is white…..suggesting my Guru’s pure guidance,
In this boat of Guru’s guidance ….. One can safely cross over…..
It is a hopeful scene for me…it’s evening time…..the shore is near …..there is the possibility of making it to ashore before nightfall….of crossing the world ocean before life’s end.
I also wanted to share my perspective that….
The journey to the Guru is a solitary journey ….for each one individually…..
Thus the solitary figure in the boat…

~ Dr. Navjeet Kaur

Growing up is a struggle for everyone.

We constantly seek the acceptance of our peers and modify ourselves to fit into the crowd. But being a Sikh and staying a Sikh in this modern world is definitely a lifetime challenge on a whole other level. I was born and raised in Singapore; a country which publicizes itself as a cosmopolitan and multi-racial society.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that racism does not exist.

Blending in was never an option for me; I would go to school every day with my hair in a long and oily braid: compliments of my mother. While I do not have any memory of being ridiculed or bullied as a kid, I do remember the curiosity of my classmates as they would ask me why I did not cut my hair.

I would always respond with a practiced reply, “It’s not allowed in my religion.”

As a child, I rarely questioned what my parents taught me about Sikhism. Since most people believe that inquisitiveness is a sign of intelligence, I would probably have been labeled as naïve or dull-witted.

I, however, would call myself innocent.

My innocence allowed me to have faith in the saakhis my mother told me every night before I slept. I was proud of being a Sikh because our Guru Sahibs were like real-life superheroes who saved lives and risked their own.

Soon enough, science or what we call “logic” got in the way of faith and the saakhis seemed more like childhood fables. Reality became cruel and so did people.

I encountered a girl in Primary School who occasionally threatened to cut my braid off just because it irked her to see me have such long hair. I was too afraid to face up to her or get my parents involved. That’s when I took my chances and turned to the last resort I had: Ardaas.

I bowed my head and put my hands together and stood in prayer in front of the Guru Granth Sahib every morning before school and asked for Baba ji to help me through this problem.

Sooner than I could have imagined, the girl stopped bothering me and school life became more bearable as I made friends with people who had no issues with Sikhism and didn’t pressurize me to stray from it.

Doing ardaas became a daily routine and it has kept me strong when life has tried to throw me off my feet.

I can count on Baba ji whenever I need him.

I won’t claim that I have unwavering faith; that would be a lie. There are times I break down and want to give up and I wonder how Baba ji could possibly get me out of my troubles.

But he always proves me wrong and I can never thank him enough for being the only solid rock in my life.

~ Source: sikhchic.com

Emotions drained me from top to bottom when I heard the case of Dowry death in Dehradun, giving me Goosebumps of to what extent is a girl is exposed to the brutalities of the society.

Marriage once looked upon as a beautiful lifelong commitment has turned into a brutal business. It has lost its meaning in the inhuman race for money. Kalyug has reached its zenith of savagery & brutality! Dowry menace has crippled our society, stained the mindset of people to an extent that it’s a curse to humanity.

A woman dies every hour in India due to the demands placed upon her family as a result of the dowry system, according to figures from the country’s National Crime Records Bureau.

Tragic Story of a distant relative Lakwinder Kaur (Sonia Kaur) who was burnt alive when her parents couldn’t meet the dowry demands of her in law family. The incident took place at Dehradun.

She tied knots to beautiful commitment on 7th July 2014 with Gurmeet Singh, stepping ahead in a new phase of life, not being aware of what a horrifying end that relationship will scare her with. This beginning gradually became the most torturing nightmare of her life. Her husband was the owner of a car rental business in Haridwar.

She was shunned, abused and tortured for dowry for Rs 6 lakhs from past few months when she expressed her denial to pay the amount her in laws demanded.

Adding to her grave situation, she was abandoned with hunger pangs for many days, she was exposed to every extreme form of brutalities from being physically tortured to emotionally exhaust.

The Couple decided to move to Dehradun for some time followed with her in-laws. On 13th April 2015 when the situation crossed every limit .She went to police station went to lodge a complaint on 13 April 2015 Dehradun, Patel Nagar. Police paid no heed to her miseries and refused to lodge the complaint due to her husband’s high influential power.

Gurmeet Singh’s Family and relatives exhorted to the most brutal attempt of setting her on FIRE, the girl died a miserable death as 99% body was burnt.

Accused is not arrested yet. No action has been taken yet apart from Registering FIR. Accused are freely roaming.

None of the following is a factor in India’s female genocide: economics, education, class, caste, religion, and community. It involves the educated and wealthy, as well as the poor and uneducated. The skewed sex ratio adverse to the female child is a sad mirror image of the social thinking even in the 21st Century.

Every son born into a family is greedily viewed as the ‘golden goose’ who will bring in the fantasized wealth through the dowry they will demand when he gets married. The worst cases of dowry death reflect the degree of that greed. The practice of easy wealth acquisition is engulfing the society having its worst victims as females!

As of yet the system of law and order in India has shown little inclination towards bringing this situation under control. It is riddled with corruption and incompetence, and many in the government offices, police and medical establishment themselves indulge in dowry and female foeticide. The possibility for change through the official channels therefore is bleak.

Are we ashamed enough?

Dowry is an age old custom where the wife’s family has to hand over endless amounts in cash and gifts at the wedding and beyond to secure her wellbeing.

It is illegal and the punishments are severe, but the number of cases is on the rise in a country that continues to grapple with the issue of violence against women. The system has far-reaching effects on Indian society. It is the primary reason for female feticide and infanticide. Activists estimate 500,000 female fetuses are aborted illegally every year. For many families it is the boy who brings in the riches while a girl continuously depletes it.

We as human beings belong to a social group at birth and our development and growth is influenced largely by that groups’ philosophy. Being a Sikh woman by birth I have seen women being glorified as goddesses as well as downgraded. My soul was in a search for an explanation, and recently I have turned to the Sikh Scriptures (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) for an answer.

And the answers says

Guru Nanak writes.

“From the woman is our birth, in the woman’s womb are we shaped;
To the woman we are engaged, to the woman we are wedded;
The woman is our friend and from woman is the family;
Through the woman are the bonds of the world;
Why call woman evil who gives birth to the leaders of the World?
From the woman is the woman, without woman there is none”.
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 473)

The Guru reprimands those who consider women as inferior to men. He sees them as active partners in advancing goodwill, general happiness and the collective moral values of society. This declaration definitively requires women to be placed in high esteem.

Sikhism condemns prevalence of female Infanticide and the ritual of dowry in Indian society.

“O’ my Father! give me the Name of Lord God as a gift and dowry.
Let the Lord be my wear, His Glory my Beauty, that my Task be accomplished.
Blessed is the Lord’s worship; the True Guru has blessed me with it.
In all lands, nay, in all Universe Pervades the Glory of the Lord; the gift of the Lord’s (Name) is matchless;
All other Dowry displayed by the self-willed is false egoism and a vain show.”

(Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 78/79).

The Guru’s called this giving of gifts an “offer for show” of the guests and a “worthless display” which only increase the “false egotism”.

Where have we failed, as parents, teachers and leaders, that our children have forgotten all tenets of decent behavior and respect for women?

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

The country’s future will remain both visible and elusive “if we do not discover the ability to continually cleanse ourselves of retrograde habits and social ills.

As the worthy children of our Gurus, we must pledge to place Women elevated on the same standards of thinking as propagated by our gurus.

It’s time to drill our society with some sensitivity of acknowledging themselves as humans!

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~ Tapasleen Kaur