At a charity event organized by the British Community Honours Awards (BCHA) 2016 at the House of Lords on 21 October, three identity Sikhs were honoured. This was the 16th anniversary of the charity led by Yasmin Sheikh CBE (BCHA founder) and hosted by Professor Lord Patel of Bradford OBE.

The function was attended by about 150 dignitaries from diverse British communities. This was a milestone achievement for BCHA which recognized the important role which the minority communities play in the British mainstream society. Community awards are presented by the BCHA to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the welfare and integration of minority communities into mainstream British society.

The Sikhs honoured for their community work were S. Gurmukh Singh OBE (retired Principal Civil Servant), S. Karnail Singh Punnu MBE and S. Gurdev Singh Rayat BEM. All are well-known for their community services.

The awards were presented by Colonel Geoggrey Godbold (L), the Common Cryer and Serjeant-at-Arms for the City of London. Along the margins of the event, S Gurmukh Singh, a prominent Sikh community mentor, took the opportunity to raise the question of a British Sikh regiment with Col Geoffrey Godbold who is well connected with senior army personnel and himself trains army cadets.

According to Gurmukh Singh, Geoffrey Godbold was not aware that the Sikh British were lobbying for a Sikh Regiment in the UK. He expressed great admiration for the Sikhs as outstanding soldiers and was surprised to learn that UK’s Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallen, had opposed the start of a Sikh regiment saying that it would be wrong because the Sikhs are a “religion”. Gurmukh Singh has written about this and related issues concerning young Sikhs in recent weeks.

Such high profile recognition of the contribution the Sikh community is making to the British way of life, is matter of much pride for the British Sikh community.

TRIBUTES have been paid to Sir Mota Singh QC, Britain’s first ever ethnic minority judge, who died at the age of 86.

He was found unconscious and was taken to hospital, but did not recover, one report said.

His wife, Swaran Kaur, was quoted as saying, “He was a wonderful person who achieved so much in his life. He was so hard working.”

Born in 1930 in Nairobi, Kenya, Mota Singh was 16 when his father, Sardar Dalip Singh, passed away, leaving the young boy to look after his mum and five siblings.

Mota Singh completed his education in Kenya and arrived in the UK in 1956, when he studied to become a barrister. He joined the English bar in 1967 and was appointed to the bench in 1982.

He was the first person from a black and minority ethnic (BAME) background to become a judge in Britain.

Mota Singh was a recorder, before becoming a full-time circuit judge in 1982. Much of judicial career was spent at the Southwark Crown Court in London before he retired in 2002.

The judge was honoured for his services to the judiciary and his philanthropy with a knighthood in 2010.

Not one to rest on his achievements after he retired, Sir Mota Singh stayed active in the community, speaking about the merits of pluralism in society and lending his name to charitable causes.

He also served as the chairman of the disciplinary committees of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; and was a judicial member of the Parole Board too.

His faith was integral to him. He told the BBC Asian Network once: “The fact that I’m a Sikh matters more to me than anything else.

“If, for instance, when I was appointed the suggestion had been made that I could not appear unless I wore a wig and discarded my turban, I would have refused.

“I would have said I would not accept the appointment, but the question never arose and no judicial eyebrows were raised at all.”

In 2010, he also spoke in support of Sikh pupils carrying their articles of faith to school, including the ceremonial dagger.

Businesman Dr Rami Ranger of Sunmark described Sir Mota Singh as a “great ambassador for the Sikh and Indian community”.

Manmohan Singh was born in September 1906 in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan. He was the first Sikh aviator and the first Solo Indian to fly from England to India. He did his B.sc course from Bristol and after that, he did a two-year course in flying and aeronautical for which Indian government gave him a scholarship.

He was a man of strong character and determination. He will always be remembered in the history for his exceptional contribution to Indian Air force. He was passionately in love with flying and his country and he never married but he was very fond of children.

During the outbreak of world war 2, Manmohan Singh joined Indian Airforce as a pilot officer. He was later promoted flying officer and deputed for operations in the Philippines and Indonesia and given the command of a Catalina aircraft. Man Mohan Singh was martyred in action in West Australia on 3 March 1942.

जब गुरु जी पूरब दिशा कि तरफ बनारस जा रहे थे तो रास्ते में मरदाने ने कहा महाराज! आप मुझे जंगल पहाडों में ही घुमाए जा रहे हो, मुझे बहुत भूख लगी है| अगर कुछ खाने को मिल जाये तो कुछ खाकर चलने के लायक हो जाऊंगा| उस समय गुरु जी रीठे के वृक्ष के नीचे आराम कर रहे थे| आप ने वृक्ष के ऊपर देखा और मरदाने से कहने लगे, अगर तुम्हे भूख लगी है तो रीठे कि टहनी को हिलाकर रीठे गेरकर खा लो|

मरदाने ने गुरु जी के हुक्म का पालन किया| उसने टहनी को हिलाया व रीठो को नीचे गिरा दिया| जब मरदाने ने रीठे खाए तो वो छुहारे कि तरह मीठे थे| उसने पेट भरकर रीठे खाए|

इस वृक्ष के रीठे आज भी मीठे है जो नानक मते जाने वाले प्रेमियों को प्रसाद के रूप में दिए जाते है| मीठा रीठा नानक मते से 45 मील दूर है|

Melbourne based Gurvinder Singh Atwal has been awarded the ‘Best Performance’ Freshflix Spring 2016 Film Award for his lead role in short movie ‘Big City’

Big City’ is a short drama film developed through Open Channel’s RAW NERVE initiative.

Grown from an idea out of the mind of Chris Fortuna, scripted by co-director Jordan Bond, the movie is the story of two lost souls on any other night in Melbourne.

The film is directed by Jordan Bond & Lachlan Ryan, and produced by Jarrod Theodore.

The story revolves around a drunk man (Chris, C.J. Fortuna) and a lonely taxi driver (Vijay, Gurvinder Singh Atwal) who become friends during a long drive home.

When asked ‘Why did they make ‘Big City?’ Director’s Jordan Bond & Lachlan Ryan replied:

“This is a film about moving to the city; how you can be surrounded by millions of people and still feel alone. It’s about trust, shedding your fear, and embracing new experiences. Our two lonely characters are thrown into an unexpected night of antics and must ultimately decide to take a chance on an unlikely friendship – to live in this world, or to merely exist alongside it.”

The movie has been showcased at various film festivals including prestigious Austin and Melbourne International Film Festival.

Pte. Buckam Singh may have died with only a few of his fellow soldiers around him at a Kitchener hospital 97 years ago, but his life is commemorated each year by hundreds of area Sikhs.

About 300 people gathered at Mount Hope Cemetery Sunday to pay tribute at the final resting place of Singh, a Sikh soldier who died in Kitchener and is buried here.

Local Sikhs, as well as Sikhs from Brampton and the Greater Toronto Area, gathered at the gravesite to commemorate Singh and other Sikh soldiers who served and died for Canada.

They shared prayers in Punjabi and children sang the national anthem and recited the war poem “In Flanders Fields.” Dignitaries laid wreaths at his tombstone.

Const. Amrit Kapoor of the Toronto Police Service said he came to Kitchener to honour the Sikh soldier.

“I represent my service, my heritage and my community,” he said. “I want others to see that a person like me can be a Toronto police officer. I want to give them encouragement that they can do anything they want.”

Buckam Singh’s story came to light a few years ago after Brampton’s Sandeep Singh Brar purchased Singh’s Victory medal from a pawnshop in London, England and, to his surprise, discovered that he had been a Canadian soldier.

Singh was wounded twice in the battlefields of France and Belgium — he took shrapnel in the head, and a bullet in the leg — but it was tuberculosis contracted in hospital that ultimately killed him.

He died at the Freeport military hospital. In the past, Brar has said Singh died alone, but at Sunday’s service he said he’s changed his mind after receiving an email a couple of weeks ago from a soldier who couldn’t be at the ceremony because he is deployed in Egypt.

“He was with his family, his fellow soldiers. They were his family,” Brar told the gathered group, relaying the deployed soldier’s email comments.

Brar’s research led him to Singh’s grave in Kitchener. The annual service at the once-forgotten marker now stands as a tribute to not only Singh and his fellow Sikh soldiers, but to all who have served for Canada.

The ceremony also honoured Col. Amrik Singh Dhillon, who lived in Kitchener and died Oct. 30. His wife, Mohinder Kaur Dhillon, was presented with a framed photograph of her husband.

Dhillon served with the military in India and fought in the India-Pakistan war.

The largest police force in the US is finally allowing Sikh officers to serve in uniform without cutting their beards.
In recent years, major cities in California, Texas, Illinois and Washington, DC, have allowed turbans, while New York City – which is over 40,000 officers strong – has lagged behind.
The city’s finest will now be allowed to don uncut beards, with approval for turbans soon to follow, according to Gurvinder Singh, an officer in the NYPD’s community engagement department. Singh also leads the Sikh Officers Association.
“It took a lot of discussion and a lot of back-and-forth, and we were finally able to do it,” Singh said.
Though dialogue began with former Police Commissioner William Bratton, Singh credited new Commissioner James O’Neill with putting words into action.
Sikh Officers Association worked with New York City Department’s Equal Employment Office and Legal Bureau to allow for this new exception for Sikhs. Similar to other exceptions in the department, all officers who want to serve with beards will have to fill paperwork that will go through appropriate channels before it can get approval.
To-date, the NYPD has allowed beards for individuals who have sensitive skin, provided they obtain a doctor’s note.
Police officer Robin Alfani said this signals a significant change in policy and the department has recently been paying closer attention to religion.
Singh said he is confident that turbans will be approved by next year. The delay is due to ongoing discussions about what standard to use for tying the turban. He added that the future is bright for young Sikhs who might want to serve.

A 105-year-old Sikh helped a group of runners celebrate the group’s first birthday by taking part in a 5km run.

Fauja Singh accepted an invitation from the organisers of the Rutland Water parkrun to take part in their weekly event on the shores of the reservoir.

Mr Singh took up running in his 80s and has since completed eight marathons.

He took part in the event alongside more than 200 other runners.

Sometimes dubbed the Turbaned Tornado and Sikh Superman, he is a world record holder in his age bracket.

His current personal best time for the London Marathon in 2003 is 6 hours 2 minutes and his marathon record, for age 90-plus, is 5 hours 40 minutes at the age of 92, at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

In 2004, Mr Singh, who lives in London, was featured in an advertising campaign for sportswear manufacturer Adidas alongside David Beckham and Muhammad Ali.

Run director Paul Rogerson said: “The star attraction on the day was undoubtedly Fauja Singh the world’s oldest marathon runner, now just 105 years young, who volunteered to be our tail runner for this event.

“The man is a legend in the running world having not taken up running until aged 89 and completing eight full marathons since then.

“Now retired from competitive running we were particularly honoured to have him run with us as this was his third parkrun.”

Rutland Water parkrun director Manjinder Jagdev, of Oakham, a lecturer in education at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, said the past year has been great.

She said: “I met Fauja a few years ago and kept in touch with him. When we were looking for an idea to celebrate our first birthday I thought of him. It was a real pleasure and a privilege to have him there.

The whole park run ethos is to create a happier, healthier community. It’s free, fun and a place to socialise.

“There are parkrun groups all over the world now – allowing people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to run or walk three-miles in an informal, non-competitive setting.

“You don’t have to run – we have people who walk with children in buggies, Nordic walkers, anyone is welcome.

“It’s by a team of unpaid volunteers for the benefit of the community and is proving to be very popular.”

As well as the special guest runner, there was cake for all finishers, and party balloons and bunting on the course, with many runners in Halloween outfits.

To take part, register at www.parkrun.org.uk and head to Rutland Water on a Saturday morning for the 9am run from Normanton Church to the dam and back.

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