News & Update

Rajinder Singh Rahelu contracted polio when he was eight months old. Since then, he has not been able to walk. But he did not let his disability come in between him and his dreams. He continued to practice, and today, he has created history after winning a silver medal in powerlifting at the Commonwealth Games 2014.

Can you imagine someone whose legs are affected by polio participating in a sport at an international level that requires extreme physical strength? Rajinder Singh Rahelu is the answer to this question. Not only did he lift a weight of 180.5 kg but he also managed to grab a silver medal in the men’s heavyweight power lifting competition at the Commonwealth Games (CWG), 2014 that were recently concluded at Glasgow.

Rahelu contracted Polio when he was eight months old and has not been able to walk ever since. Born on July 22, 1973 in Jalandhar, Rahelu has been a silent witness to his family’s financial struggles. His father was a bandmaster and his mother worked as a maid.

Youngest of five siblings, Rahelu decided to discontinue his studies after completing high school. In 1996, a little encouragement from his powerlifter friend motivated Rahelu to pursue a career in this sport.

He started by lifting a weight of 75 kgs but rigorous training and motivation made him strong enough to lift a weight of 115 kgs within six months.

He grabbed his first medal in powerlifting in 1997 at the Punjab Open Meet and since then, he never looked back. The next year he won the National Powerlifting Championship at Hyderabad which gave a big push to his career.

He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in the 56 kg category. He also represented India at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and bagged the fifth position in the final standings.

When this Arjun Award-winning athlete represented India at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, he failed in all his three attempts to pick 175 Kgs, but created history at the 2014 CWG games by lifting 180.5 kgs.

Rahelu’s dedication and passion led him to this position and his continuous efforts have made Punjab government employ him as a coach at the Punjab sports department. He also trains specially-abled power lifters in Gohawar village.

“He (Rahelu) would come on a tri-cycle to our college where he practiced regularly. As his tri-cycle could not go everywhere, he would move around walking with his hands and I feel this grit has taken him so far. It was also encouraging for other sportspersons in the college,” Dr. Manjit Singh, director physical education at the Ramgarhia College in Phagwara says.

It is heroes like Rahelu that keep us inspired on our lowest days. Watching him succeed give us all hope, and that’s why we wish him success in all his future endeavors. More power to Rahelu!

Source- thebetterindia.com

For years now, the Sikh community has been ridiculed, insulted, poked fun at, and portrayed as naive idiots, foolish and an object of amusement, all “in good nature.”

While Sikhs are a fun loving community, we DO NOT like when “12 Baje Jokes” or “Santa Banta Jokes” are cracked at our expense. It is not about Sikhs not being able to take a joke, it’s about hurting our religious sentiments.

Bullying is not funny. Nor is making fun of any religion.

A PIL in the Supreme Court is asking for websites specialising in these jokes to be banned. This is our time to take action.

Sign my petition urging the Supreme Court to ban the websites that defame and insult the Sikh community.

The Supreme Court will hear the case soon. If thousands of us sign this petition, we can show it to Honorable Supreme Court of India that racism is not funny.

[button color=”color” rel=”nofollow” size=”medium” url=” www.charge.org/bansikhjokes” icon=”link” iconcolor=”white” ] Sign the Petition Now [/button]

For years now, the Sikh community has been ridiculed, insulted, poked fun at, and portrayed as naive idiots, foolish and an object of amusement, all “in good nature.”

While Sikhs are a fun loving community, we DO NOT like when “12 Baje Jokes” or “Santa Banta Jokes” are cracked at our expense. It is not about Sikhs not being able to take a joke, it’s about hurting our religious sentiments.

Bullying is not funny. Nor is making fun of any religion.

A PIL in the Supreme Court is asking for websites specialising in these jokes to be banned. This is our time to take action.

Sign my petition urging the Supreme Court to ban the websites that defame and insult the Sikh community.

The Supreme Court will hear the case soon. If thousands of us sign this petition, we can show it to Honorable Supreme Court of India that racism is not funny.

Sign The Petition : www.charge.org/bansikhjokes

A rare eyewitness’s account of Akali Nihang fighting a hand to hand battle with 4 British officers during the Anglo Sikh wars.

An account of hand to hand fighting during the Second Anglo-Sikh war as related by a British Officer.

“…a party of Akhalees (fanatics) on foot stopped and fought us, in some instances very fiercely. One fold bold “Nihung” beat off four sowars (horsemen) one after another, and kept them all at bay. I then went at him myself, fearing that he would kill one of them. He instantly rushed to meet me like a tiger, closed with me, yelling “Wah Guroo ji”, and accompanying each shout with a terrific blow of his talwar. I guarded the three or four first, but he pressed so closely to my horse’s reins that I could not get a fair cut in return. At length I pressed in my turn upon him so sharply that he missed his blow, and I caught it from him, and cut him down with the right, having received no further injury than a severe cut across the fingers; I never beheld such desperation and fury in my life. It was not human scarcely…” – Rev. G.H. Hodson, Twelve years of a soldier’s life in India. Published 1859.

Source- DailySikhUpdate

Singh display impressive show of strength when ropes from all 4 motorcycles were tied to his arms and he was being pulled from opposite sides.

The Singh was able to grip control over the bikes solely with his hands to prevent the bikes from dragging him apart on either side. The stunt or show of strength was quite unique and impressed the crowds.

ਕੀ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਪਤਾ ਹੈ?
ਕਿ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਨੇ 6 ਤੋਂ 12 ਪੋਹ (21 ਤੋਂ 27 ਦਸੰਬਰ) ਤੱਕ ਇੱਕ ਹਫ਼ਤੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੀ
ਆਪਣਾ ਸਾਰਾ ਸਰਬੰਸ (ਪਰਿਵਾਰ) ਸਾਡੇ ਤੋਂ ਵਾਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਸੀ!

ਉਹ ਬੇਮਿਸਾਲ ਤੇ ਲਸਾਨੀ ਹਫ਼ਤਾ ਆਉਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਹੈ ….
ਜੇ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਲੱਗਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਦੀ ਸਾਡੇ ਲਈ ਕੀਤੀ ਇਹ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀ – ਅਦੁੱਤੀ, ਮਹਾਨ ਤੇ ਬੇਮਿਸਾਲ ਹੈ

ਤਾਂ ਆਓ! ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਇਸ ਮਹਾਨ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀ ਨੂੰ ਨਤਮਸਤਕ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਅਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਵਾਰਿਸ ਹੋਣ ਦਾ ਸਬੂਤ ਦੇਂਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਇਹ ਛੇ ਪ੍ਰਣ ਕਰੀਏ :-
1) ਇਸ ਮਹੀਨੇ ਹਰ ਰੋਜ਼ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਮਿੱਠੀ-ਪਿਆਰੀ ਯਾਦ ਵਿਚ ਇੱਕ ਪਾਠ ਜਪੁ ਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦਾ ਨਿਤਨੇਮ ਤੋਂ ਇਲਾਵਾ ਕਰਾਂਗੇ।
2) ਜੇ ਅਜੇ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਨਹੀਂ ਛਕਿਆ ਤਾਂ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਛਕ ਕੇ ਪੂਰਨ ਗੁਰਸਿੱਖ ਬਣਾਂਗੇ।
3 ਜੇ ਕੇਸ ਕਟਾਏ ਹਨ ਤਾਂ ਕੇਸਾਧਾਰੀ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਦਸਤਾਰ ਸਜਾਈਏ।
4) ਸ਼ੋਸ਼ਲ ਮੀਡੀਆ ਜਾਂ ਹੋਰ ਥਾਵਾਂ ‘ਤੇ ‘ਸਿੰਘ’ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਸਮੇਤ ਆਪਣਾ ਪੂਰਾ ਨਾਮ ਲਿਖੀਏ, ਹਰਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਭੁੱਲਰ ਤੋਂ ਹੈਰੀ ਭੁੱਲਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਬਣਨਾ।
5) ਜਿਹੜੇ ਮਾਪੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਛੋਟੇ ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਕੇਸ ਕਟਵਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ, ਉਹ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਕੇਸ ਰੱਖਣ।
6) ਇਹ ਸਾਰਾ ਮਹੀਨਾਂ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ ਜਾ ਕੇ ਕੌਮ ਤੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਚੜ੍ਹਦੀਕਲਾ ਲਈ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਕਰੀਏ।

ਸੋ ਆਉ! ਗੁਰੂ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਜੀ ਦੀ ਇਸ ਅਨੌਖੀ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀ ਨੂੰ ਸ਼ਰਧਾ ਦੇ ਫੁੱਲ ਭੇਟ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋਏ,
ਆਪ ਵੀ ਇਹ ਪ੍ਰਣ ਕਰੀਏ ਅਤੇ ਇਸ ਮੈਸੇਜ਼ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਧ ਤੋਂ ਸ਼ੇਅਰ ਕਰਕੇ ਦੂਜਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਇਹ ਪ੍ਰਣ ਕਰਵਾਈਏ।

Japanese scholar Tomio Mizokami has translated Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Japji Sahib into Japanese.

He Graduated from the Department of Indian studies at Osaka University of Foreign Studies, 1965 and was appointed a research assistant at the Hindi Department of Osaka University of Foreign Studies, 1968.

He perused Ph.D. from the Department of Modern Indian Languages, University of Delhi, 1972. He Taught Panjabi at the summer intensive course at University of California at Berkeley. Currently he is a Professor Emeritus of Osaka University of Foreign Studies.

He Wrote 13 Publications about Punjab and Punjabi and promotes Punjabi in other countries as well.

~ Source: Daily Sikh Updates

At a time when politicians and leaders are urging people not to discriminate against Muslim Americans, or those who could be mistaken for Muslim Americans, one social media post has struck a chord.

“Let me tell you why this…isn’t funny,” Greg Worthington, a PhD student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote Sunday on Facebook. Worthington’s 400-word long caption accompanied a screenshot of Darsh Preet Singh, the first turbaned Sikh American to play basketball in the NCAA. The photograph, which has been circulated by comedians and joke websites for months, identifies Singh as “Muhammad” and calls him an “explosive” player.

On Sunday, Worthington took to Facebook to introduce Singh and explain why the “joke” in the photo was not funny. As of Tuesday morning, Worthington’s post has received more than 23,000 likes and more than 10,000 shares.

“Since receiving kind messages from Sikhs and others and reading what people have said when they shared my post, I realized that I had no idea how important it was to say something even though I knew it was extremely important to do so,” Worthington told NBC News. “A stranger who is a Sikh that shared my post wrote, ‘Greg Worthington, a friend indeed.’ It was extremely touching to know that I could be the kind of friend the Sikh community needs in times like these just by simply speaking out.”

Simran Jeet Singh, Senior Religion Fellow at The Sikh Coalition, told NBC News that the world needed “more people like Greg.”

“As it becomes increasingly acceptable to discriminate against people based on how they look, we need people of various communities to lend their voices and to remind us of our shared values,” Singh said.

In his Sunday night address from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama addressed growing anxieties against Muslim Americans, and urged all Americans to reject discrimination and “religious tests” on who is admitted into the country. “Because when we travel down that road, we lose,” Obama said. “That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values, plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our coworkers, our sports heroes, and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in the defense of our country. We have to remember that.”

~ Source- NbcNews

Comedian drop Stages Names, To Be Now Known as Shugli-Jugli

Santa-Banta have made way for Shugli-Jugli. You got it right, the plea seeking a ban on Sardar jokes online has claimed its first casualty in Punjab. Two Sikh comedians, who have been performing under the names of Santa and Banta for the last 18 years, have announced to drop their stage names and adapt new ones.

Jalandhar-based Gurpreet Singh and Prabhpreet Singh adopted the names Santa and Banta, respectively, in 1997 and rose to fame with their stage shows on social issues; their video productions especially famous among the urban population.

However, a recent plea seeking a ban on sardar jokes egged on them to give up their famous names and choose new ones. They will now be known as Shugli (Gurpreet) and Jugli (Prabhpreet). Together, they would be known as Shugli Jodi translated as the comic pair.

So, are they hurt? Not really, they say.

“For the last few years, we too have been feeling that jokes on sardars are intended more at ridiculing the community and showing it in a bad light; it is no more about healthy humour. We also felt that people might be thinking of us when they read or saw distasteful jokes online,” they said while announcing their decision here on Sunday.

And this wasn’t an unfounded doubt. “So many times have we received calls and messages from people asking us if we were churning the jokes,” they said.