News & Update

Creating Sikh American history, SALDEF’s SikhLEADers held the first-ever Langar on Capitol Hill, introducing Congressional leaders, colleagues and neighbors to a Sikh American way of life. Reflecting the values of langar, all faiths and races were invited and sat together on the floor sharing a simple, vegetarian meal in the Rayburn Building of the U.S. House of Representatives.

National leaders, including Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA), and Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA), addressed the gathering, reflecting on Sikh American contributions, alongside their ongoing commitment to serve Sikh American communities across the nation. Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY) and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) also visited the langar.

During the event, Congresswoman Chu—a co-chair of the American Sikh Caucus—announced that the Caucus, through its co-chair Congressman David Valadao (R-CA), along with 32 other co-sponsors from around the country, introduced a resolution honoring the memory of the attack on the Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin (H.Res. 698). Congresswoman Chu also accepted the Dalip Singh Saund Award in recognition of the American Sikh Caucus’ support of the Sikh American community.

Jasjit Singh, SALDEF’S Executive Director, also spoke on the significance of Langar as a 500 year-old anti-segregation movement, and celebrated the remarkable leadership demonstrated by this year’s SikhLEAD Internship Class.

Jasjit Singh with Congresswoman Judy Chu at Langar on the Hill This event was made possible with the support of a dedicated and visionary community. SALDEF and the 2014 SikhLEAD Internship Class are in deep appreciation of all of those who contributed and joined the first-ever Langar on the Hill. Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) and his staff, including Ken Scudder, K.J. Bagchi, Kelly Honda, and Helen Beaudreau, were also instrumental in allowing the SikhLEAD Internship Class to bring their vision to fruition.

SALDEF and its SikhLEAD Class would like to thank the hundreds of community members from around the country, and the following gurdwara sangats and leadership for their support of this event: Guru Ram Das Ashram, Los Angeles, California; Khalsa Care Foundation, Pacoima, California; Illinois Sikh Community Center, Wheaton, Illinois; Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Rockville, Maryland; Guru Nanak Foundation of America, Silver Spring, Maryland; and Sikh Foundation of Virginia, Fairfax Station, Virginia. They would also like to thank Bombay Cafe of Fairfax, Virginia for their support.

The SikhLEAD Internship Class also arranged to have the remaining meals from the langar donated to the D.C. Central Kitchen, which supports shelters for the homeless across the D.C. area.

Insure that Sikh American youth have to the tools to become our future leaders and continue to pursue their dreams and create history! Support SikhLEAD today!

~ Source: www.saldef.org

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Pune: In a bid to prevent female foeticide, a private hospital has been waiving off the entire maternity charges whenever a girl-child is born.

Dr Ganesh Rak, who runs the general and maternity hospital at Hadapsar near here, celebrates birth of a girl child by waiving the entire hospitalisation bill. His staff distribute sweets to the relatives of the mother.

“I decided to waive all hospital charges for women who gives birth to a girl child, pained by the apathy shown to the mother and the child by disappointed relatives who mount a mental pressure on the pregnant woman by constantly expecting a male child,” Dr Rak, who has waived all charges in 144 such cases since last year, told PTI.

Rak, who heads the trust that runs “Medicare” hospital in the suburban Pune, said, “It has been a distressing experience to see a pregnant woman constantly suffering from expectation of delivering a male child. When the announcement is of a boy, the maternity ward is crowded with spontaneous celebrations by relatives, who, in contrast, desert it when the nurse says it is a girl.”

“I have seen the mothers who have just delivered girl child crying inconsolably. Relatives who clear the hospital bills promptly if it is a boy, are not enthusiastic about payment if it is a girl. Discharge of the patient at times, is delayed deliberately,” he said.

To counter this negative and retrograde thinking pattern and to shame the relatives who frown upon birth of girl child, Rak said the hospital decided to make the delivery of such women free of charge.

“After initial reservations, other professionals too joined the campaign, as the gynaecologist and pediatricians attached to the hospital willingly waived their own charges, lightening the financial burden on us,” he added.

~ Source: www.outlookindia.com

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MUMBAI: Kush, directed by 22-year-old Shubhashish Bhutiani, won the Satyajit Ray Foundation Short Film Competition at the recently concluded London Indian Film Festival.

The short film was shortlisted at the Academy Awards and has bagged over 20 awards across several international film festivals in various countries, including the Best Short Film at Venice International Film Festival in 2013. Kush was short-listed by the Academy for 10 live-action shorts that will advance in the Oscar race.

It has also won awards at the Film Lab Festival and the South Asian International Film Festival, among others. Kush’s win at Venice Film Festival only makes Shubhashish the fifth Indian director after Kedar Sharma, Satyajit Ray (twice) and Mrinal Sen to bring this prestigious Award to India. And only the fifth Indian film to get shortlisted at the Oscars.

The film, which has won a national award too, is based on a true story. Set against the backdrop of prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984 and the subsequent violence against Sikhs, it shows how In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, a teacher travels back from a field trip with a group of 10-year-old students, including Kush, the only Sikh in the class.

Shubhashish made the film inspired by a true story that his teacher told him, for his graduation project at New York’s School of Visual Arts.

An excited Shubhashish said the news was yet to sink in and his focus now was to take the movie to as many people as possible.

~ By Akanksha Warrier
~ Source: http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/

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Udham Singh, a revolutionary nationalist, was born Sher Singh on 26 December 1899, at Sunam, in the then princely state of Patiala. His father, Tahal Singh, was at that time working as a watchman on a railway crossing in the neighbouring village of Upall. Sher Singh lost his parents before he was seven years and was admitted along with his brother Mukta Singh to the Central Khalsa Orphanage at Amritsar on 24 October 1907. As both brothers were administered the Sikh initiatory rites at the Orphanage, they received new names, Sher Singh becoming Udham Singh and Mukta Singh Sadhu Singh. In 1917, Udham Singh’s brother also died, leaving him alone in the world.

Udham Singh left the Orphanage after passing the matriculation examination in 1918. He was present in the Jallianvala Bag on the fateful Baisakhi day, 13 April 1919, when a peaceful assembly of people was fired upon by General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, killing over one thousand people. The event which Udham Singh used to recall with anger and sorrow, turned him to the path of revolution. Soon after, he left India and went to the United States of America. He felt thrilled to learn about the militant activities of the Babar Akalis in the early 1920’s, and returned home. He had secretly brought with him some revolvers and was arrested by the police in Amritsar, and sentenced to four years imprisonment under the Arms Act. On release in 1931, he returned to his native Sunam, but harassed by the local police, he once again returned to Amritsar and opened a shop as a signboard painter, assuming the name of Ram Muhammad Singh Azad. This name, which he was to use later in England, was adopted to emphasize the unity of all the religious communities in India in their struggle for political freedom.

Udham Singh was deeply influenced by the activities of Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary group. In 1935, when he was on a visit to Kashmlr, he was found carrying Bhagat Singh’s portrait. He invariably referred to him as his guru. He loved to sing political songs, and was very fond of Ram Prasad Bismal, who was the leading poet of the revolutionaries. After staying for some months in Kashmlr, Udham Singh left India. He wandered about the continent for some time, and reached England by the mid-thirties. He was on the lookout for an opportunity to avenge the Jalliavala Bagh tragedy. The long-waited moment at last came on 13 March 1940. On that day, at 4.30 p.m. in the Caxton Hall, London, where a meeting of the East India Association was being held in conjunction with the Royal Central Asian Society, Udham Singh fired five to six shots from his pistol at Sir Michael O’Dwyer, who was governor of the Punjab when the Amritsar massacre had taken place. O’Dwyer was hit twice and fell to the ground dead and Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for India, who was presiding over the meeting was injured. Udham Singh was overpowered with a smoking revolver. He in fact made no attempt to escape and continued saying that he had done his duty by his country.

On 1 April 1940, Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Sir Michael O’Dwyer. On 4 June 1940, he was committed to trial, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, before Justice Atkinson, who sentenced him to death. An appeal was filed on his behalf which was dismissed on 15 July 1940. On 31 July 1940, Udham Singh was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London.

Udham Singh was essentially a man of action and save his statement before the judge at his trial, there was no writing from his pen available to historians. Recently, letters written by him to Shiv Singh Jauhal during his days in prison after the shooting of Sir Michael O’Dwyer have been discovered and published. These letters show him as a man of great courage, with a sense of humour. He called himself a guest of His Majesty King George, and he looked upon death as a bride he was going to wed. By remaining cheerful to the last and going joyfully to the gallows, he followed the example of Bhagat Singh who had been his beau ideal. During the trial, Udham Singh had made a request that his ashes be sent back to his country, but this was not allowed. In 1975, however, the Government of India, at the instance of the Punjab Government, finally succeeded in bringing his ashes home. Lakhs of people gathered on the occasion to pay homage to his memory.

~ Source: http://www.sikh-history.com/

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Offering flowers to a deity is a common practice in our society. Normally, it is done blindly. Special flowers are bought on special or important occasions. One finds several flower vendors near a place of worship and their business is brisk on religious occasions. There were plenty of flowers in my house garden and as a young lad, I loved to offer flowers to my deity. While learning Bhagat Kabir’s Dohe (couplets) in middle school, there was one, which when literally translated means, ‘In every leaf there is life and we are making a mistake when we pluck a flower’. I was gripped by surprise, after having understood the basic concept of Kabir. A soft corner in my heart developed for flowers and plants. When I was a student of architecture in Chandigarh – the garden city – I dreamt of providing plants in every home and making every city, a garden city. Living abroad in green suburbs for three decades has made me a lover of plants and flowers.

Presently in India, flowers are being used mercilessly for decoration, on all sorts of functions. Recently to welcome one politician, 5 tons of flowers were spread in a Gali (lane). On another occasion, 25 tons of rose petals were showered all along the route of a prominent politician during the recent elections. This particular practice is in India only. Once again I refer to Kabir for greater clarity. I was highly inspired by his deep insight and the value he gave to flowers. Eventually this led me search for instructions by other Bhagats, scientists, poets and the Gurus. What they have to say is amazingly simple, practical and for our own good:

ਦੂਧੁ ਤ ਬਛਰੈ ਥਨਹੁ ਬਿਟਾਰਿਓ ॥ ਫੂਲੁ ਭਵਰਿ ਜਲੁ ਮੀਨਿ ਬਿਗਾਰਿਓ ॥
ਮਾਈ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਹਾ ਲੈ ਚਰਾਵਉ ॥ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਫੂਲੁ ਅਨੂਪੁ ਨ ਪਾਵਉ ॥
ਮੈਲਾਗਰ ਬੇਰ੍ਹੇ ਹੈ ਭੁਇਅੰਗਾ ॥ ਬਿਖੁ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਬਸਹਿ ਇਕ ਸੰਗਾ ॥
ਧੂਪ ਦੀਪ ਨਈਬੇਦਹਿ ਬਾਸਾ ॥ ਕੈਸੇ ਪੂਜ ਕਰਹਿ ਤੇਰੀ ਦਾਸਾ ॥
ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਅਰਪਉ ਪੂਜ ਚਰਾਵਉ ॥ ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦਿ ਨਿਰੰਜਨੁ ਪਾਵਉ ॥
ਪੂਜਾ ਅਰਚਾ ਆਹਿ ਨ ਤੋਰੀ ॥ ਕਹਿ ਰਵਿਦਾਸ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥ (525)

Doodh(u) ta bachhar-ei thanhau bitaar-e-o. Phool(u) bhavar(i) jal(u) meen(i) bigaar-e-o.
Maaee Gobind poojaa kahaa l-ei charaavau. Avar(u) na phool(u) anoop(u) na paavau.
M-ei-laagar b-ai-r-hai h-ei bhu-e-angaa. Bikh(u) Amrit(u)baseh ik sanggaa.
Dhoop deep na-ee-b-ai-deh(i) baasaa. K-ei-sai pooj kareh t-ai-ree daasaa.
Tan(u) man(u) arpau pooj charaavau. Gur parsaad(i) Niranjan(u) paavau.
Poojaa archaa aahe na toree. Keh Ravidas kavan gat moree.

(The calf has contaminated the milk in the teats. The bumble bee has contaminated the flower and the fish the water. O mother! Where shall I find any offering for the Lord’s worship? I cannot find any other flowers worthy of the incomparable Lord. The snakes encircle the sandalwood trees. Poison and nectar dwell there together. Even with incense, lamps, offerings of food and fragrant flowers, how are Your slaves to worship You? I dedicate and offer my body and mind to You. By Guru’s Grace, I attain the immaculate Lord. I cannot worship You, nor offer You flowers. Says Ravidas, what shall my condition be hereafter?)

Bhagat Ravidas in the above hymn finds that there are no worthy flowers for worship. What else can he offer or do? He is crystal clear to offer body and mind to his deity. If we analyze, we find that we have not applied any physical labor or mind to the idea because the moment they are plucked or cut, fragrance and beauty starts fading. Practical service would be planting flowers in the vicinity for fragrance to one and all.

Bhagat Kabir is a very popular saint of the social reform movement. His works are taught in schools for simple wisdom. He explains the importance of flowers in the following hymn:

ਪਾਤੀ ਤੋਰੈ ਮਾਲਿਨੀ ਪਾਤੀ ਪਾਤੀ ਜੀਉ ॥
ਜਿਸੁ ਪਾਹਨ ਕਉ ਪਾਤੀ ਤੋਰੈ ਸੋ ਪਾਹਨ ਨਿਰਜੀਉ ॥
ਭੂਲੀ ਮਾਲਨੀ ਹੈ ਏਉ ॥ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਜਾਗਤਾ ਹੈ ਦੇਉ ॥
ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਪਾਤੀ ਬਿਸਨੁ ਡਾਰੀ ਫੂਲ ਸੰਕਰਦੇਉ ॥
ਤੀਨਿ ਦੇਵ ਪ੍ਰਤਖਿ ਤੋਰਹਿ ਕਰਹਿ ਕਿਸ ਕੀ ਸੇਉ ॥ (479)

Paatee tor-ei maalinee paatee paatee jeeou.
Jis(u) paahan kau paatee tor-ei So paahan nirjeeou.
Bhoolee maalnee h-ei ai-ou. Sat(i)gur(u) jaagtaa h-ei d-ai-ou.
Brahm(u) paatee Bisan(u) daaree Phool Sankardeou.
Teen(i) dev pratakh(i) toreh Kareh kis kee seou.

(You tear off the leaves, O gardener! But in every leaf, there is life. That stone idol, for which you tear off those leaves, is lifeless. In this, you are mistaken, O gardener! The True Guru is the Living Lord. Brahma is in the leaves, Vishnu is in the branches and Shiva is in the flowers. When you break these three gods, whose service are you performing?)

How true! Brahma – leaves, regenerate oxygen – source of life. Vishnu – branches, complete process of osmosis – life giver. Shiva – flower, procreation – seed multiplies – expands life.

Kabir is very sure that flowers are more important as compared to the lifeless idols. He advocates not to use flowers or leaves for pleasing the deity in the following simple and short statement enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib:

qorau n pwqI pUjau n dyvw ] rwm Bgiq ibnu inhPl syvw ] (1158)
Torau na paatee Poojau na deva. Ram bhagat(i) bin(u) nehphal sewa
(I do not pick leaves as offerings and I do not worship idols. Without devotional worship of the Lord, service is useless.)

Guru Nanak also dispels false prevailing concepts in the following Aarti verse:

DUpu mlAwnlo pvxu cvro kry sgl bnrwie PUlµq joqI ] (13)
Dhoop(u) mal-aanlo pavanh(u) chavro kar-ai Sagal banraa-e phoolant jotee
(The fragrance of sandalwood is the incense, the wind is the fan and all the vegetation are flowers in offering to You, O Luminous Lord!)

Guru Nanak provides us a unique and universal fundamental to save flowers and other natural resources. He composed the above hymn at the famous Jaganath Puri temple, after he saw natural resources being wasted just to please the deity.

Guru Ramdas goes on to add:

ਭਰਮਿ ਭੂਲੇ ਅਗਿਆਨੀ ਅੰਧੁਲੇ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਫੂਲ ਤੋਰਾਵੈ ॥ (1264)
Bharam(i) bhool-ai agiaanee andhul-ai Bhram(i) bhram(i) phool toraav-ei
(The blind ignorant ones stray in doubt and so deluded, they pluck flowers for worship.)

Bhagat Pipa also echoes the similar feelings when he says:

ਕਾਇਅਉ ਧੂਪ ਦੀਪ ਨਈਬੇਦਾ ਕਾਇਅਉ ਪੂਜਉ ਪਾਤੀ ॥(695)
Kaa-e-au dhoop deep na-ee-b-ai-daa kaa-e-au poojau paatee
(Within the body are incense, lamps and offerings. Within the body are the flower offerings.)

A famous episode from the life of Guru Har Rai is worth mentioning here. While walking in a garden, the young Guru scuffed off and tore a flower with his long tunic (Kaliaan wala Kurta). His grandfather, Guru Hargobind, instructed him to be careful. Later in life, Guru Har Rai established best gardens in his city of residence – Kiratpur. A special herb was grown in his garden, which could save the life of the dying prince Dara Shikoh.

Bhai Vir Singh, the famous writer-poet has expressed his love for flowers in such simple words, which is easy to explain even to a grade VI student. This poem in plaque form is placed at the entrance of Rose Garden in Chandigarh. It should be placed at every flower bed and translated in different languages:

ਡਾਲੀ ਨਾਲੋਂ ਤੋੜ ਨ ਸਾਨੂੰ, ਅਸਾਂ ਹੱਟ ਮਹਿਕ ਦੀ ਲਾਈ
ਲੱਖ ਗਾਹਕ ਜੇ ਸੁੰਘੇ ਆਕੇ ਖਾਲੀ ਇਕ ਨ ਜਾਈ
ਤੂੰ ਜੇ ਇਕ ਤੋੜ ਕੇ ਲੈ ਗਿਓਂ, ਇਕ ਜੋਗਾ ਰਹਿ ਜਾਸਾਂ
ਉਹ ਭੀ ਪਲਕ ਝਲਕ ਦਾ ਮੇਲਾ, ਰੂਪ ਮਹਿਕ ਨਸ ਜਾਈ ।(Bhai Vir Singh)

Daalee naalon torh na saanoo, Asaan hatt mehak dee laaee
Lakh gaahak j-ai sungh-ai aak-ai Khaalee ikk na jaaee
Toon j-ai ikk torh k-ai l-ei gion, Ikk jogaa reh jaasaan
Oh bhee palak jhalak daa m-ai-laa, Roop mehak nas jaaee.

(Do not pluck us off our stem. We have opened a house of fragrance. Even if millions have enjoyed my fragrance, no one goes unfulfilled. If you pluck me from my source, I will be left with you only. And your joy will end in a blink of an eye. My beauty and fragrance will fade away.)

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) was a polymath, physicist, biologist, botanist, as well as an early writer of science fiction. He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, Bose made a number of pioneering discoveries in plant physiology. Using his own invention, the crescograph, to measure plant response to various stimuli and thereby scientifically proved parallelism between animal and plant tissues. He registered extremely slight movements and power of feeling in plants, exemplified by the quivering of injured plants. His books include Response in the Living and Non-Living (1902) and The Nervous Mechanism of Plants (1926).

When we do not follow the fundamental teachings, our entire system gets disturbed. Our cities are devoid of gardens and environment is polluted, for not following Bhagat Kabir and other teachers and guides. Our money is wasted and not utilized for the real and true Sewa (selfless service). We are double losers first by spending for flowers and a few hours later after they wither and emit foul smell, we spend more to clean them. Check with your banker or any one with business sense, whether such an investment will bring any return? Instead of spending thousands of rupees on flowers, why not use that money for an ever green landscape to enjoy? Land for gardening in the temple should not be an excuse. Plant where place is available in the community, village or city. Consult landscape architects, they are growing gardens on roof-tops now-a-days. Every priest should share the message of saving flowers and plants, thereby making city environment healthy.

Kabir and Ravidas refused to offer flowers to the deity but we offer them to our leaders, trucks and tools. Not only that, we decorate the stages and cars with these flowers. Saints, God-conscious persons, scientists, poets and the Gurus have never offered flowers to the deity, nor did they suggest to do so. Let us teach every child in school to save flowers and all natural resources so that they can cherish them when they grow up. Bhagats, learned teachers and the Gurus have ambitiously tried that practice publicly.

I am confident that flowers will not bring any happiness to our deities. On the contrary, the malpractice of offering flowers to them will bring destruction to nature, our surroundings and the environment as a whole.

The Western World is conscious of the greennees. In countries like Great Britain and Spain, people are growing flowers on top of the public transport. Why can’t we Indians bring similar greenery to our cities. This is definitely not impossible. Let the young Indians evaluate and understand their rituals and move up from the bottom of the pollution list:

ਭਰਮਿ ਭੂਲੇ ਅਗਿਆਨੀ ਅੰਧੁਲੇ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਫੂਲ ਤੋਰਾਵੈ ॥ (1264)
Bharam(i) bhool-ai agiaanee andhul-ai Bhram(i) bhram(i) phool toraav-ei.
(The blind ignorant ones stray in doubt and so deluded, they pluck flowers for worship.)

And when we are blindfolded and don’t follow good teaching, we get worst, our life is messed up.

My experiences through these pictures prove the point.

Let us have a friendly and unpolluted environment. Grow flowers wherever possible, to spread fragrance, especially in your Temple, Gurdwara, Church or Mosque.

Grow plants, which are evergreen and need no or little maintenance.

Consult a landscape architect to grow gardens on roof tops.

Sikhi is a practical-simplified-perfect-way of life.

Guru Granth Sahib teaches us delightful way of living (good+happy).
Great for today, better for tomorrow.

~ by Jasbir Singh
~ Source: Sikhnet.com

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Sikhism preaches INTER-FAITH that BINDS Communities…

SAD to see how Gurdwara Singh Sabha Saharanpur that has been running 3 Educational Institutions benefitting 6000 Muslim boys and girls out of a total of 8000 (with only 68 Sikh Students) has been attacked by inhuman miscreants!

Sikhism is an Inter-Faith that binds communities together.

We bow before and follow Guru Granth Sahib, that has Verses from 5 Muslim Bhagats including Sheikh Farid – Descendant of Prophet Mohammad!

Read more in article published in The Tribune here:

Saharanpur, July 27: Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Saharanpur, which was attacked by miscreants, is known for conducting a lot of philanthropic work, benefiting all communities in the area.

The gurdwara management has been running three educational institutes — Guru Nanak Girls Inter College, Guru Nanak Boys Inter College and Guru Teg Bahadur Public School. The total strength in these institutes is 8,000, of which 6,000 are Muslim boys and girls and Sikh students only 68.

“Nearly 3,000 students are studying in only Guru Nank Girls Inter College. The number of Muslim girl students is 1,800,” said Narinder Kohli, cashier, Gurdwara Singh Sabha.

He said they were planning to open a “degree college” near the gurdwara so that girl students didn’t have to go to another area for higher studies.

Kohli rejected the claims of the administration that a hall was being constructed on the gurdwara premises at 4 am on Saturday when people from the other community attack it.

He said anyone could visit and see whether the work was on or not. He said the pillars of 110 by 115 feet and a portion of the concrete roof of the hall were constructed several months ago.

He claimed the gurdwara management had bought the said 2,850 sq ft land from the son of Mansha Devi in 2001 where the hall was being constructed.

Gurdwara Singh Sabha president Balbir Singh Dhir said Sikhs whose population was about 7,000 in Saharanpur always worked for the betterment of all communities.

Kohli added that the Sabha bought two kothis, namely Pili Kothi and Lal Kothi, both spread in an area of 2,183 sq ft to build a degree college for girls on April 30, 2014.

“The work of demolition was going on of the Lal Kothi. The labourers work only in day time. When the miscreants attacked yesterday morning, no construction or demolition work was going on that time. Miscreants attacked the place of worship.

However, the gate of the Gurdwara was timely locked by sewadar Hardeep Singh and the Gurdwara staff and the devotees were saved,” he added.

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