Vaisakhi is both a religious and cultural holiday celebrated by two different south Asian groups every year in mid-April.

Sikhs in South Jersey celebrated the holiday, which fell on Monday this year, as both a harvest festival as well as the founding day for their religion.

It is often celebrated in temples as well as within the communities in the northern Indian state of Punjab with songs, dances and lots of food.

Harleen Kaur, 11, of Vineland, said she likes celebrating the occasion because it is a reminder of her roots.

Though it is a festival she has celebrated since she was born, Kaur first realized she had a different cultural heritage than her schoolmates in kindergarten, when no one else knew what Vaisakhi was.

“It made me feel special because I was the only one to celebrate it,” Kaur said. Later on though, as she grew older, she was less vocal about the celebration.

“It felt weird that everyone else had something in common and I didn’t,” Kaur said.

Kaur, along with a few other children and teens learn a lot about their culture and religion at the Sikh temple in Vineland. One skill Kaur has developed is being able to play the harmonium. The instrument is a combination of a mini organ and accordion which is a main component to traditional music in northern India.

“I feel relaxed when I’m playing,” Kaur said.

Bangladeshis and Benglais also celebrate Vaisakhi, which signifies the start of a new year.

Bangladeshis call the day Boisakhi, and also celebrate with food, dance and music. Boisakh is the first month of the Bengali calendar and so the first day, or new year, is Pohela Boisakh (first of the month).

The Bangladeshis in South Jersey celebrated Monday night with dances at a hotel in Egg Harbor Township, though celebrations in their home country began at the break of dawn.

They recreated a mini bazar with traditional foods and clothes on sale in the tennis complex at the Howard Johnson in West Atlantic City.

Many of the children participated in dances and a fashion show- showing off their culture.

Aritra Chowdhury, 12, of Atlantic City said he enjoys the celebration because its a time to meet up with his cousins and spend time with family.

Ahsanul Kabir, of Atlantic City, said he likes having the celebrations each year so that his toddler son is exposed to the culture even though he is growing up in South Jersey.

Atlantic City mayor Don Guardian stopped by briefly during the night.

~ Anjalee Khemlani
~ Source: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/

The stalls on Dongtai Lu, Shanghai’s antique market street, are packed with vintage curios, memorabilia of Chairman Mao and postcards of Old Shanghai. When I visited, the vendors waved Old Shanghai antiques at me, sensing that I was interested in the time when the city was the Far East’s hotspot dominated by Westerners, thanks to the unequal Opium war treaties of the mid-1800s.

But I was looking for something rather specific: photographs that would help me piece together the forgotten lives of the Sikhs who lived in Shanghai for over half a century, starting from 1884.

I’ve been fascinated by Sikhs in Shanghai since 2010, when as an expatriate in that city I found a picture in a local guidebook mentioning a Sikh Gurudwara as a relic of the Old Shanghai days.

Shanghai has a tumultuous past. The treaty-port was split into foreign enclaves, each with their own judicial, economic and political laws and postal systems. Chinese residents lived in the walled portions of the city in grimy conditions. The International Settlement, a British zone with American leavening, was governed by Shanghai Municipal Council, an administrative body consisting of officials elected by taxpayers. The SMC also supervised the security of the International Settlement through the Shanghai Municipal Police.

Since 1884, the Shanghai Municipal Police began recruiting Sikh men from British India to man the chaotic traffic intersections. Attired in khakis in summers and heavy, dark coats in winter, the Sikhs never failed to attract attention. Their imposing frame, bushy beards and red turbans added the picturesque element to the very international port city of Shanghai.

In addition to finding employment as policemen, Sikhs worked as watchmen, earning money on the side as moneylenders. Indian Sikhs were also recruited for the British police force in Tientsin (Tianjin), Amoy (Xiamen) and Hankow (Hankou, Wuhan).

In the stalls of the Dongtai Lu vendors, I had to sift through stacks of photo postcards to find ones with Sikh policemen. In the eyes of Chinese, the Sikh policeman represents the humiliating British imperialism and thus earned the very derogatory sobriquet of Hong-Tou-A-san – turbaned number three, referring to their lowly placement in the social hierarchy of that era.

Unfortunately, for the very smartly bedecked Sikh policeman in Shanghai and elsewhere in China, their narratives are extremely blurred. The Sikh policeman who was a symbolic prop for the pompous British Empire in several of their colonies has remained very much in the periphery of historical chronicles and records. The dilapidated Gurudwara, more than a century old, is the only testimony to their presence here.

During that time, Shanghai’s Sikhs were enthusiastic supporters of the Ghadr Party’s fight of Indian freedom, as also for Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army.

Sikhs weren’t the only Indians in Old Shanghai. Parsi opium traders also made lucrative profits there. However, the stories of Dr Cavas Lalkaka, who was shot accidentally in 1909 in London by freedom fighter Madan Lal Dingra, and the journeys of photojournalist Sam Tata aren’t as well known as the exploits of Jamshetji Jejeebhoy, the Readymoneys and the Wadias, who used the profits of their opium trading in China to fund infrastructure in Mumbai. In fact, Shanghai once had a Parsi agiary. Shanghai was also home to Punjabi Muslims, Ismaili Merchants, Gurkhas and Sindhis, who were also frequently misclassified as Sikhs.

Yet, a few incidents catapulted Shanghai Indians to fame, providing us with a tantalising peek of what lay beneath the dull and sketchy official accounts. After all, it was Old Shanghai, the Paris of the East and city of sin.

One Shanghai Sikh who attained notoriety was Atma Singh, a policeman who brutally murdered another Sikh in 1936 for insulting his wife. He was sentenced to death. Most versions of Atma Singh’s story recall that the rope being used to hang him broke as he was on the gallows. He made headlines around the world for surviving the bungled hanging and was revered as a holy man by his compatriots, who considered it a miracle. Eventually, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

In early 1940s, the Shanghai scene was enlivened by the presence of Princess Sumaire of Patiala, a cousin of painter Amrita Sher-gill and scam artist to boot. A bigamist with a flair for losing money, she hopped around in various (and at times) dubious social circles flaunting her wealth and fashion sense. She was also labelled a nymphomaniac and lesbian by a British police official investigating her antecedents. A collaborationist under Japanese occupied Shanghai, she married a Japanese-American without divorcing her first husband in India.

By 1949, most Indians left Communist China, heading either homeward, Hong Kong or to greener shores in the West. With their departure, only the pale footprints of their China sojourn remains. It is my hope that I can excavate the archives for the very interesting, still unexplored tales of Old Shanghai Indians.

Meena Vathyam displays her latest discoveries on her Sikhs in Shanghai blog. Follow her work on Facebook here.

by Meena Vathyam
Source: scroll.in

London: British Prime Minister David Cameron has for the first time said the UK is open to having a Sikh as the head of its armed forces or as chief justice.

At a Baisakhi celebration event, Cameron heaped praise on “the hard working” Sikh community in the country and invited more from the community to enter the parliament.

“I’m proud that we have in Paul Uppal a British Sikh on Conservative benches,’’ he said. “Paul is here working hard – but we shouldn’t rest until we see more British Sikhs on green benches and red benches, until we see more British Sikhs at the top of every one of our organisations – whether that is our army, or our judiciary – not because we

should believe in tokenism, but because we won’t access the talent of our country unless we demonstrate that everyone from every background and faith can get to the top of any organization that they choose and that is so important for our country.’’

Cameron said British Sikhs have been an absolute model in terms of integrating into our communities. “Whether it is in our armed forces, or in government, or business, there’s hardly an area of natural life where the British Sikhs haven’t made a huge impact.’’

Sikh loses court battle against son A n 87­year­old British Sikh hotelier has lost a court battle against his son over the share of the family wealth, estimated to be around £800 million. Bal Mohinder Singh said a Sikh tradition obliged his son Jasminder,63, to share his wealth. However, the British judge dismissed the £50 million claim, saying the root of the problem was the difference in upbringing of the father and son. TNN

Guru Angad Dev ji (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅੰਗਦ ਦੇਵ) (Thursday March 31 1504 – Saturday April 16 1552) was the second of The Ten Gurus of Sikhism. Guru ji became Guru on Thursday, September 18 1539 following in the footsteps of Guru Nanak Dev ji, who was the founder of the Sikh religion.

Before Guru Angad Dev Ji left for his heavenly abode, he nominated Guru Amar Das as the third Guru of the Sikhs. The second Sikh Guru contributed the following to the people of the world:

To do Nishkam Sewa Selfless Service to humanity.
Completely surrender to the Will of God.
Disapproval of exhibitionism and hypocrisy.
Formalised the present form of the Gurmukhi script

Born: March 31, 1504

Place of Birth: Harike, Amritsar, Punjab, India

Life Span: 1504 to 1552 – 48 years

Parents Father: Bhai Pheru Mall Ji and Mother: Mata Sabhrai Ji (also known Daya Kaur, etc)

Wife: Mata Khivi Ji

Sons: Baba Dasu Ji and Baba Dattu Ji and Daughters: Bibi Amro Ji and Bibi Anokhi Ji

Guruship: From age 35 for 13 years: 1539 to 1552

Gurbani: Total of 63 Shabads and Saloks

Invention of Gurmukhi

Guru Angad invented the present form of the Gurmukhi script. It became the medium of writing the Punjabi language in which the hymns of the Gurus are expressed. This step had a far-reaching purpose and impact. Firstly, it gave the common people a language that is simple to learn and write. Secondly, it helped the community to dissociate itself from the very reserved and complex nature of the Sanskrit religious tradition so that the growth and development of the Sikhs could take place unhampered and unprejudiced by the backlog of the earlier religious and social philosophies and practices.

Earlier, the Punjabi language was written in the Landa or Mahajani script This had no vowel sounds, which had to be imagined or construed by the reader in order to decipher the writing. Therefore, there was the need of a script which could faithfully reproduce the hymns of the Gurus so that the true meaning and message of the Gurus could not be misconstrued and misinterpreted by each reader to suit his own purpose and prejudices. The devising of the Gurmukhi script was an essential step in order to maintain the purity of the doctrine and exclude all possibility of misunderstanding and misconstruction by any person.

Guru Angad Dev Ji’s message to the masses –

Equality
Guru Angad stood for a casteless and classless society, in which no one was superior to the other and no one, through greed or selfishness, could be allowed to encroach upon the rights of others. In short, he visualized a society in which members lived like a family, helping and supporting one another. He not only preached equality but practiced it. To promote the acceptance of human equality, Guru established a community kitchen where all sat together in a row, regardless of caste or status, and ate the same food.

Devotion and Love towards God
Guru stressed the oneness of God. The purpose of life is to seek God, find him and be united to Him. He called upon the people to give up formal and superficial rituals and rally around the Creator, who alone was Omnipotent and Omnipresent. According to Guru Angad, no one has ever found acceptance or achieved self-realization without true devotion to God.

Fearlessness
He was a constructive architect of a society which focused on the social and religious freedom and equality, promoting dignity of action without distinction of caste and status. He was born at a time when ritual, caste distinctions and superstition had reduced the people to a low level of existence. He gave them courage and uplifted them. He taught the people to lead a righteous life and show due reverence and respect to God instead of supplicating before men. By his own example he made the people fearless and put a new life and spirit in them.

Company of the Holy
Guru Angad confirms that “those who meditate on the Eternal Lord, who is fearless and is All Pervasive, are not only themselves emancipated, but they rescue many others form this net of illusion.”

Sewa
Guru Angad believed in the service and well-being of all mankind and not just of his own followers. He laid stress on character building rather than observance of rituals and formalities. The path which Guru Angad pointed out to his Sikhs for achieving enlightenment was through service and good actions and devotion and worship of one God. He asked his followers to win Divine grace by prayer, singing His praises, cultivating humility, a spirit of service and submitting at all time to His will. Paying a fine under pressure, does not bring either merit or goodness. That alone is a good deed, O Nanak, which is done by one’s own free will. Sewa has to be done selflessly.

Divinity Within
He stressed the importance of the physical body as an instrument of spiritual development. He told his followers that there was a spark of divinity in every human being. The body is the temple of God as it houses the soul. God’s presence can be felt by deeper contemplation and reflection within.

Source: http://www.sikhiwiki.org/

Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Columbia University assistant professor of international and public affairs who is also a resident physician in East Harlem in New York, is a practicing Sikh. As part of his faith, he wears an uncut beard and a turban. Last September, he was attacked not far from his home in Harlem by a group of young men who, while yelling “terrorist” and “Osama,” kicked and beat Singh, fracturing his jaw and dislodging some of his teeth.

The attack on Singh is one of the most recent in a string of attacks against Sikhs in the United States since 9/11. Because so few Sikhs live in America, widespread unfamiliarity with the faith leads some to associate the Sikh turban and beard with the images of terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

Though Sikhism is the world’s fifth-largest religion, larger even than Judaism, only about 500,000 of Sikhism’s 23 million worldwide adherents live in the United States, according to an estimate from the Sikh Coalition, one of several advocacy groups started by the Sikh community after 9/11. The vast majority of Sikhs live in India, as Sikhism’s roots go back more than 500 years to what is today the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Sikhs believe their religion was revealed to their first leader, Guru Nanak, in the late 15th century.

The religion grew out of a society in which both Hinduism and Islam were prevalent, but became a unique faith that taught equality among races and genders and rejected the caste system, religious rituals and pilgrimages. Sikhs worship one God and have a long history of helping the poor and oppressed. They believe in keeping their hair uncut out of respect for God’s creation. The Sikh turban, worn mostly by men but also by some women, covers the uncut hair and signifies commitment to the Sikh faith.

The Sikh Coalition estimates that over 700 hate crimes have been committed against Sikhs since the 2001 attacks. The most deadly of these occurred in August 2012, when a gunman later identified as a member of a white supremacist group opened fire in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., killing six Sikhs.

In a Consider This Q&A, Singh shares his perspective on being Sikh in the United States and the ways in which the perceptions of Sikhs in America are changing.

Q. Tell me about your experience as a practicing Sikh in New York. What reactions have you gotten over the years to your turban and beard?

A. However you present yourself, however you offer yourself up is basically how people accept their perception of you. And for the most part, I think there’s generally almost a taboo of asking what may be personal questions. What I’ve generally found is that people really remember me because of my beard and turban. And this for the most part has incredibly positive benefits professionally and personally, (but) I think that the key is that when you get beneath the surface, one layer below: Why does this guy wear a turban? Why does he grow a beard? I think there’s really not that much understanding and there might actually be a taboo about asking anything further. (Sikhs generally have) very positive interactions with other people on a day-to-day basis. But if you go a little bit deeper, I don’t think that there’s that much understanding of who Sikhs are and who they’re not … their basic belief system or structure and how that manifests itself in day-to-day life.

(For example,) why do you find so many Sikhs working on social justice issues? Is that a coincidence? Is that on purpose? Why do you see them associated with good business ethics or entrepreneurship? How did your cab driver, who’s a Sikh guy, get to be there, and why are there so many of them? I think that these kind of basic questions may not come up that often because it’s not necessarily that often that people encounter Sikhs, so it’s kind of an interesting phenomenon. At least in New York City, you kind of notice and move on.

Q. And what do you think should be done to change this, for people to have more of an understanding?

A. I think that there are three things. On one level, it’s something that every Sikh does every day, which is recognize that they may be the only Sikh person that someone may encounter in their life or in this decade or in New York. And you’re really aware of that, and so at every moment you recognize that you’re an ambassador. And at the very least, you want to convey some sense of your values in just your day-to-day interactions … The second is that that actually has to be tied to being a Sikh. There’s a lot of people who encounter a Sikh and they think, “Wow, that’s a really nice person” or “(That) was a nice interaction,” but they may not recognize that there’s so much Sikh tradition and faith that leads to that not being an uncommon occurrence. And so tying that to education in schools, advocacy and simply increasing awareness through educational means I think is pretty important. And then the third is a deeper conversation that we have to have in America, which is, it’s actually (OK) to ask questions like “Why do you believe the things you do?” or “What do you believe in? Why do you wear a turban? Do women wear turbans as well? Why do you grow your hair?” These questions — I think as a community we invite them, and as a broader society, I think, it’s really important to encourage that type of really direct questioning in a polite or forthright way. But without that, you never really get beyond the skin deep. And that leaves us in a dangerous position when the skin deep is presented or vilified or shown in media as being associated with a lot of feelings and emotions that may be negative.

Q. In December a man was sentenced to prison for three years for brutally attacking a Sikh cab driver in Seattle, and then, of course, there was the hate crime that happened to you in Harlem, and I know that there have been several such incidents since 9/11. From your perspective, do attacks like this happen a lot?

A. I think one thing is that every single time an attack happens, it’s really felt and known, and word travels very quickly. And so you really feel it in your heart … It very well could be somebody you know, and it oftentimes is … As a result, it feels like it happens very often. It certainly feels like there has been an uptick since 9/11. But at the same time, for the same reason that people feel it across the community, it’s also galvanized and brought together a pretty scattered immigrant community which has spent 20 to 30 years just trying to get on its feet economically and socially.

I also see an incredibly socially engaged group of teenagers, kids in their 20s, 30s, who are not only addressing Sikh issues but see it as a broader palette of social justice questions — whether it’s around immigration, safety in communities, bullying, gun violence — and I really see what feels to me to be a kind of renaissance of awareness that we are part of a country that itself is grappling with a lot of dissonance and really a need for social healing.

“Every single time an attack happens, it’s really felt and known, and word travels very quickly. And so you really feel it in your heart.”

Dr. Prabhjot Singh

Q. And from what you have seen, are perpetrators of attacks prosecuted for their actions?

A. There’s nothing in the Sikh faith that says not to prosecute or not hold people responsible … but what we’ve seen generally is that whenever a Sikh family is asked to move into (a) prosecutorial decision, there’s really a heavy leaning towards reaching for something deeper … something more based on healing, learning, restorative justice — seeing that this isn’t necessarily even just about the perpetrator. It’s really about a broader set of issues, including education, including outreach.

Q. In your case, did anything happen to the perpetrators?

A. I fully cooperated with the NYPD and the district attorney’s office, and to my knowledge today, nobody’s been caught in the case. So, you know, to the best of my knowledge, about half a mile from where I live, about 20 to 25 people who were involved in my attack are still out there. And it certainly imbues a keen sense that we are a deeply connected community — not always for the best, but most certainly, we’re all in it together.

“I really see what feels to me to be a kind of renaissance of awareness that we are part of a country that itself is grappling with a lot of dissonance and really a need for social healing.”

Dr. Prabhjot Singh

Q. A Sikh man, Waris Ahluwalia, was featured in a Gap ad that was displayed in the New York City subway system last November. On some of the ads, people wrote racial slurs like “make bombs” and “stop driving taxis.” Gap responded by making the ad their cover photo on Twitter and tweeting their support for Ahluwalia. Was it surprising to you that people wrote racial slurs on the ads?

A. No, not at all. I mean, it’s no more surprising to me that there would be racial slurs on the ad as much as somebody would yell something at me as I walk to the hospital or to my work at Columbia. You know, it happens on a regular enough basis that it certainly doesn’t surprise anyone.

Q. Do you think most companies would have responded the way Gap did in terms of defending Waris and making the ad their cover photo on Twitter to show their support?

A. I don’t think so, not necessarily. I mean, I think that companies and marketing departments are pretty smart. They know their demographic. They know who they appeal to. Gap, I’m sure, has done some deep market research to understand that this is actually something positive for them, and I think they were rewarded for it. (We’ve seen that around the) same time A&E also defended Phil Robertson in “Duck Dynasty” because (the network) also recognized that its constituency would reward it for defending it strongly.

Q. Do you think there’s been an increase in seeing Sikh faces in advertisements and pop culture in the past few years?

A. There definitely has been an increase in just the images of Sikhs around. I have a one-and-a-half-year-old son … I couldn’t imagine when I was young to go to a Gap and see a picture of a Sikh man or a Sikh woman in the mall. And so in many ways, it’s a clearly different world just on that basis alone. And I think we end up seeing more often stories about people that are not necessarily explicitly recognized for being Sikh — for example, a successful entrepreneur, somebody who’s running for a council seat in New Jersey, a Sikh woman who’s the head of California’s GOP organizing committee — so you end up recognizing and seeing that Sikhs are a part of the fabric of American life.

“Sikhs are a part of the fabric of American life.”

Dr. Prabhjot Singh

Q. In 2012, before you were attacked yourself, you co-wrote an op-ed for The New York Times about the need for the FBI to specifically track hate crimes against Sikhs. Just last year, the FBI decided to start tracking hate crimes against Sikhs. How did you get interested in writing about this issue initially?

A. I think the issue itself is really on the community’s mind. I don’t mean to think of the Sikh community as having one kind of mind. We have a lot of incredibly different perspectives, but 700-plus attacks, hate crimes (against) Sikhs after 9/11 have really led the community to want to understand best how to resolve this problem … A New York Times op-ed (like mine) is an important visual indicator that something should change, but there is an incredible grass-roots and well-organized movement from such a large range of groups (like the Sikh Coalition and the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund) to see this change happen that when the FBI actually considered doing so, I think they really saw that it had broad support. Congressional hearings later that fall and in the spring underscored just the degree of support that was coming from congressmen, from public advocates, from citizens — some were Sikh, and many were not.

Q. What are some ways in which you think the FBI tracking hate crimes will directly benefit the Sikh community, and does this directly give Sikhs greater protections against hate crimes?

A. Surveillance itself is protective, I experienced that firsthand … Likely it will happen that other Sikhs will be attacked in hate crimes over the next years. But what we can do is really start to understand where, how and why hate crimes occur against Sikhs or other groups. And that forms the basis of being able to make specific suggestions, becoming proactive instead of defensive and preventative instead of dealing with an aftermath of these events.

Q. Having experienced a violent hate crime yourself, how will this experience impact any further work you do on behalf of the Sikh community to increase awareness or anything else?

A. I think two ways. One, in my own professional work, where I work on community health and health systems in America, I think something that struck me deeply is that violence and safety are as much a part of a community’s sense of its own health as diabetes and heart disease. And I think that really hit home for me just last fall, and as a result, I really had to look more deeply at how I’m going about my work so I could start to understand how to integrate that very personal insight into it. In terms of advocacy for Sikhs, I think certainly the story of what happened to me has traveled quite a bit, and I think it’s important to understand how to be an advocate for the Sikh community and at the same (time) make sure that what we learn and how we share it benefits others. So it certainly deepens my commitment and resolve to being a community advocate. But I think that the biggest takeaway is that community advocacy is both at the local level and for Sikhs across the country.

“I think there’s in no way a question that the benefits of visibly standing up for your faith and conveying it to others and allowing the community around you to see it too is absolutely worth whatever downsides may come in the process.”

Dr. Prabhjot Singh

Q. Do you think Sikhs who wear the beard and turban end up being spokespeople or even activists for the Sikh community whether or not they choose to?

A. Absolutely, and I think that that’s core to the tradition. The very founding of the Sikh tradition was based upon a social activism against inequality for women, breaking against the caste system in India, breaking against the Mughal Empire rule and forced conversion to Islam at the time. The very nature of the Sikh identity has always been in the spirit of social activism. You see us so visibly in a turban and a beard for the very basic reason that whenever we’re in a public setting, you always know who a Sikh is and what they stand for and what you should be able to expect, for being able to get help and standing up for people who need it … I think there’s in no way a question that the benefits of visibly standing up for your faith and conveying it to others and allowing the community around you to see it too is absolutely worth whatever downsides may come in the process.

Dr. Prabhjot Singh’s interview has been condensed and edited. You can learn more about his work in mobile health care by watching this video of his PopTech 2013 presentation. Learn more about Sikh awareness in post-9/11 America by checking out Colleen McKown’s article “Turbans do not equal terrorism.”

Edited by Leslie Hart
Source: http://america.aljazeera.com/

BRAMPTON — On the special occasion of Vaisakhi, the Canadian government Monday announced the implementation of a policy accommodating the wearing of kirpan — a ceremonial sword or dagger — in Canadian diplomatic missions around the world.

Under the new policy, Sikh visitors to Canadian diplomatic missions will be permitted to wear kirpans provided they are secured within a sheath, attached to a fabric belt, and worn under clothing across the torso. The individual should also be in possession of the four other Sikh articles of faith. Minister of State Tim Uppal made the announcement at a ceremony at Brampton’s Khalsa Community School to mark the birth of the Khalsa — the Order of the Pure Ones, introduced by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhs in 1699.

“Canada’s diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and freedom of religion is a fundamental Canadian value,” said Uppal, who was making the announcement on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. “Our government’s new kirpan policy will serve as an example and promote Canadian values around the world.”

The strategy follows recent accommodation policies for the kirpan in courthouses in Toronto, Alberta and British Columbia. World Sikh Organisation (WSO) works with the government to craft such policies.

“The accommodation of the kirpan at Canadian diplomatic missions around the world is a deeply significant move that shows that the Government of Canada understands and respects the significance of the kirpan to Sikhs,” said Amritpal Singh Shergill, president of WSO Canada.

~  Nouman Khalil
Source: http://www.northumberlandnews.com/

Guru Angad Dev ji (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅੰਗਦ ਦੇਵ) (Thursday March 31 1504 – Saturday April 16 1552) was the second of The Ten Gurus of Sikhism. Guru ji became Guru on Thursday, September 18 1539 following in the footsteps of Guru Nanak Dev ji, who was the founder of the Sikh religion.

Before Guru Angad Dev Ji left for his heavenly abode, he nominated Guru Amar Das as the third Guru of the Sikhs. The second Sikh Guru contributed the following to the people of the world:

• To do Nishkam Sewa Selfless Service to humanity.
• Completely surrender to the Will of God.
• Disapproval of exhibitionism and hypocrisy.
• Formalised the present form of the Gurmukhi script

Born: March 31, 1504

Place of Birth: Harike, Amritsar, Punjab, India

Life Span: 1504 to 1552 – 48 years

Parents Father: Bhai Pheru Mall Ji and Mother: Mata Sabhrai Ji (also known Daya Kaur, etc)

Wife: Mata Khivi Ji

Sons: Baba Dasu Ji and Baba Dattu Ji and Daughters: Bibi Amro Ji and Bibi Anokhi Ji

Guruship: From age 35 for 13 years: 1539 to 1552

Gurbani: Total of 63 Shabads and Saloks

Invention of Gurmukhi

Guru Angad invented the present form of the Gurmukhi script. It became the medium of writing the Punjabi language in which the hymns of the Gurus are expressed. This step had a far-reaching purpose and impact. Firstly, it gave the common people a language that is simple to learn and write. Secondly, it helped the community to dissociate itself from the very reserved and complex nature of the Sanskrit religious tradition so that the growth and development of the Sikhs could take place unhampered and unprejudiced by the backlog of the earlier religious and social philosophies and practices.

Earlier, the Punjabi language was written in the Landa or Mahajani script This had no vowel sounds, which had to be imagined or construed by the reader in order to decipher the writing. Therefore, there was the need of a script which could faithfully reproduce the hymns of the Gurus so that the true meaning and message of the Gurus could not be misconstrued and misinterpreted by each reader to suit his own purpose and prejudices. The devising of the Gurmukhi script was an essential step in order to maintain the purity of the doctrine and exclude all possibility of misunderstanding and misconstruction by any person.

Guru Angad Dev Ji’s message to the masses –

Equality
Guru Angad stood for a casteless and classless society, in which no one was superior to the other and no one, through greed or selfishness, could be allowed to encroach upon the rights of others. In short, he visualized a society in which members lived like a family, helping and supporting one another. He not only preached equality but practiced it. To promote the acceptance of human equality, Guru established a community kitchen where all sat together in a row, regardless of caste or status, and ate the same food.

Devotion and Love towards God
Guru stressed the oneness of God. The purpose of life is to seek God, find him and be united to Him. He called upon the people to give up formal and superficial rituals and rally around the Creator, who alone was Omnipotent and Omnipresent. According to Guru Angad, no one has ever found acceptance or achieved self-realization without true devotion to God.

Fearlessness
He was a constructive architect of a society which focused on the social and religious freedom and equality, promoting dignity of action without distinction of caste and status. He was born at a time when ritual, caste distinctions and superstition had reduced the people to a low level of existence. He gave them courage and uplifted them. He taught the people to lead a righteous life and show due reverence and respect to God instead of supplicating before men. By his own example he made the people fearless and put a new life and spirit in them.

Company of the Holy
Guru Angad confirms that “those who meditate on the Eternal Lord, who is fearless and is All Pervasive, are not only themselves emancipated, but they rescue many others form this net of illusion.”

Sewa
Guru Angad believed in the service and well-being of all mankind and not just of his own followers. He laid stress on character building rather than observance of rituals and formalities. The path which Guru Angad pointed out to his Sikhs for achieving enlightenment was through service and good actions and devotion and worship of one God. He asked his followers to win Divine grace by prayer, singing His praises, cultivating humility, a spirit of service and submitting at all time to His will. Paying a fine under pressure, does not bring either merit or goodness. That alone is a good deed, O Nanak, which is done by one’s own free will. Sewa has to be done selflessly.

Divinity Within
He stressed the importance of the physical body as an instrument of spiritual development. He told his followers that there was a spark of divinity in every human being. The body is the temple of God as it houses the soul. God’s presence can be felt by deeper contemplation and reflection within.

Guru Amar Das Ji(Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਮਰ ਦਾਸ) (Sunday 23 May 1479 – Thursday 16 September 1574) was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Guru on Saturday, 16 April 1552 at the age of 73 following in the footsteps of Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib ji, who left for his heavenly abode on 29 March 1552 aged 48. Guru Amar Das ji was born in 1479, 10 year after Guru Nanak the First Sikh Guru and founder of the Sikh faith.

Guru Ji was the eldest son of Sri Tej Bhan Ji a farmer and trader and Mata Lachmi Ji, his devoted mother. He was a shopkeeper and lived in a village called Basarke which is near Amritsar. The third Sikh Guru was married to Mata Mansa Devi and they had four children – Two sons named Bhai Mohan and Bhai Mohri and two daughters named Bibi Dani Ji and younger daughter named Bibi Bhani Ji. Bibi Bhani later married Bhai Jetha who became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. See article Platforms of Jetha.

The Third Sikh Guru contributed the following to the people of the world:

• All visitors to Gurdwaras were to first take Langar (Free Blessed Food) together before seeing the Guru. “First Pangat then Sangat”
• Further abolished the Caste System.
• Guru lifted the status of women and gave them equality with men. He strictly prohibited the practice of Sati (the dying of the wife on her husband’s funeral pyre), “Parrda” (veil to cover the face), etc.
• Established an Administration system for management of the increasing size of the Sikh congregations, called Manjis
• Gift of the prayer called Anand Sahib, which is one of the Five Banis recited daily by devout Sikhs.
• Established the city of Goindval on the banks of river Bias in 1552 A.D.
• The Guru contributed a total of 907 hymns to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
• Before Guru Ji died at the age of 95, he nominated Guru Ram Das (Bhai Jetha) as the fourth Guru of the Sikhs.

How did Guru ji become a Sikh?

It is recorded that before becoming a Sikh, Bhai Amardas Ji as he was known at the time, was a very religious Vaishanavite Hindu who spent most of his life performing all of the ritual pilgrimages and fasts of a devout Hindu. One day, Bhai Amardas Sahib Ji heard some hymns of Sri Guru Nanak Dev being sung by Bibi Amro Ji Ji, the daughter of Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji Maharaj, the second Sikh Guru Sahib. Bibi Amro Ji was married to Bhai Sahib’s brother, Bhai Manak Chand Ji’ s son who was called Bhai Jasso Ji.

Bibi Amro Ji lived together with Bhai Sahib’s brother. It so happened that Bhai Sahib was at his brother’s nearby house when he heard the wonderful recitation of Gurbani by his niece-in-law. Bhai Sahib was so impressed and moved by these Shabads that he immediately decided to go to see Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji at Khadur Sahib. It is recorded that this event took place when Bhai Sahib was 61 years old.

Bhai Sahib also had a younger brother called Bhai Ishar Das whose son Bhai Gurdas Ji, was a superb poet and scholar of comparative religions who would later become the scribe that was chosen by Guru Angad Dev to pen the first edition of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj.

In 1635, upon meeting Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji, Bhai Sahib was so touched by the Guru’s message that he became a devout Sikh. Soon he became involved in Sewa (Service) to the Guru and the Community. Under the impact of the Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji and the teachings of the Gurus, Bhai Amardas Ji became a devout Sikh. He adopted Guru Ji as his spiritual guide (Guru). Bhai Sahib Ji began to live at Khadur Sahib. He used to rise early in the morning, bring water from the Beas River for Guru ji’s bath, he would wash the Guru ji’s clothes and fetch wood from the Jungle for ‘Guru ka Langar’. He was so dedicated to Sewa and the Guru and had completely extinguished pride and was totally lost in this commitment that he was considered an old man who had no interest in life, he was dubbed Amru, and generally forsaken.

However, as a result of Bhai Sahib’s commitment to Sikhi principles, dedicated service and devotion to the Sikh cause, Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji appointed Sri Guru Amar Das Sahib Ji as third Sri Guru Nanak Sahib in March 1552 at the age of 73. He established his headquarters at the newly built town of Goindwal Sahib, which Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib Ji had established.

Guruship

Soon large numbers of Sikhs started flocking to Goindwal to see the new Guru. Meanwhile, going against his father’s wishes, Datu one of Guru Angad’s sons proclaimed himself as Guru at Khadur following his father’s death. He was so jealous of Guru Amar Das that he, with a small group of his supporters, proceeded to Goindwal to confront the Guru. Upon seeing Guru Amar Das seated on a throne surrounded by his followers he said, “You were a mere menial servant of the house until yesterday; how dare you style yourself as the Master?”. At that point, Datu kicked the aged Guru Amardas ji so hard that he fell to the floor. Taking the seat of the Master he then proclaimed himself Guru to the assembly of Sikhs. The Sangat must have been shocked as this not only flew against Guru Angad’s wishes, but against centuries of respect that the people of India and the Punjab had for their elders, to kick the revered Guru was indeed – shocking.

Guru Amar Das, however, in utter humility, righted himself and caressed Datu’s foot saying, “I am old and my bones have grown very hard, I fear they have hurt your tender foot. ” After this Guru Amar Das left Goindwal that evening and returned to his native village of Basarke.

At Basarke, Guru Amar Das shut himself in a small house for solitary meditation. He had told no one where he was headed, but just in case someone tracked him down he attached a notice on the front door saying, “He who opens this door is no Sikh of mine, nor am I his Guru.” A delegation of faithful Sikhs led by Baba Buddha found the house and seeing the notice on the front door, finally chose to ‘go between the Guru’s words’, cutting a hole through a wall to reach their beloved Guru. Then Baba Buddha said to the Guru, “Guru Sahib, being a supreme yogi, we know you care for nothing in the world – neither fame, nor riches nor a following, but we cannot live without your guidance. Guru Angad has tied us to your apron, where should we go now if you do not show us the way?”

At the tearful emtreaty of the Sikhs, Guru Amar Das, overwhelmed by their devotion, returned to Goindwal where Datu, who had been unable to gather any followers of his own, had returned to Khadur.